mtv to remake "rocky horror picture show!"

hard to believe it was 33 years ago that dr. frank-n-furter (aka tim curry) invited us to "come up to the lab and see what's on the slab!" now, while very short on details, mtv announced yesterday that it will remake "the rocky horror picture show" for the small screen! i lost count years ago of how many midnight shows of this classic i attended at the old 8th street movie house in greenwich village during my high school and college days!


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in the meantime, while we await the remake, check out "hedwig and the angry inch!" i caught this 2001 film on late night t.v. a couple of weeks ago and still haven't had a chance to post a review of it yet. the short version: it's a great film, and certainly gives "rocky horror" a modern day run for it's money!

new york city half marathon preview

haile gebrselassie wins the 2007 nyc half marathon in 59:24!

i just got back from niketown with my nyc half marathon bib, chip and tech shirt. now it's official - i'm the 20th and final member of the world lung foundation team! subsequently, in an update to that post i included a link to the team's fundraising page.

if you are so inclined, and haven't already done so, PLEASE consider making a contribution to the team. this is what your support will enable:

"World Lung Foundation today announced that funds raised by its running team in the NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE will be used to provide life-saving asthma treatment to at least 1,000 children in Kenya. The grant will be provided to the Kenyan Association for Prevention of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease."

read the full press release here.
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thanks for indulging that brief public service announcement :D

as to the race itself, i ran the first nyc half in 2006 (when it was held last weekend in august). emmy and don also ran it. we drove down to the race together and, while i didn't write up a race report for that one, i've posted don's mini-report below.

the highlight of that day was, after the full loop of central park, exiting onto 7th avenue with the sounds of "welcome to the jungle" blasting out of two huge loudspeakers on either side of the avenue. we ran south down seventh avenue and made a left onto 42nd street on the way over to the west side highway. that stretch of running, especially down 42nd street, was fantastic! if there was a low point, it came on the west side when the heavens opened up and it poured! but even that was brief, and couldn't diminish the positive vibe.

i finished in 1:38:36, a 7:31 pace. but emmy's 1:31:30, a 6:59 pace, was good enough to take third place in her age group! and don finished in 2:00:33, a 9:12 pace. as don points out in his report, it took a long, long time for him to retrieve his bag after the race - the result of poor truck placement. but aside from that logistical nightmare - it was a great, if somewhat wet, day to run the streets of new york city!

for more detailed coverage of the course, check out alex's great race report from the 2007 race!
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First New York City Half-Marathon,
by Don Capone

Alarm went off at 4:27 having slept very little. Totally forgot that my Quads would keep me up all night from the Westport race and that's exactly what they did. Picked up Frank and Emmy at 5:37 in Scarsdale and headed into the City. I was told they closed out the race at 10,000 runners but the announcer said between 10 & 12 K. Anyways it was a mess of people. By the way I felt, I was doubtful I could finish. The race started in Central Park and it looked like the same ole boring Nyrrc race course of loop de loop the park but this time we did one and a quarter loops and then took a left turn onto 7th ave. WOW. Like hearing the bridge of a funky rock tune, you could just feel the lift of inspiration plus AC/DC was blaring some rock tune over the load speaker. Once on 7th ave. it started to rain but nobody cared. We were all into it big time. We ran right through Time Square (nothing boring about that) then took a right turn onto 42nd St. and headed for the West Side Drive. Took a left onto the WSD, ran past Ground Zero and finished in Battery Park. Baggage Claim was not good. Took over an hour and a half to get my stuff and a subway ride back to the car. Seventh Ave was unforgettable. Felt like an American in a great American city with great American people.

and, here is don's retelling of a running adventure that emmy took part in a week earlier, and told about on the drive down to the race:

"Crossing the Border" by Emmy (in the third person). She was on her way to Canada on a family trip right about the time they caught the terrorist whack jobs in London so security was in a heightened state so there was a longer then usual line trying to get across the border, so what does Emmy do. She jumps out of the car and decides to go for a run leaving her husband and children in the car. I kid you not. Anyways long story short...after she finishes her 5 miles she finds her husband has already crossed the border with the children and the car and she must try to walk across running shoes and all. She had to do some very fast talking to make it happen but she won the customs guy over.
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here are our 2006 mug shots,
courtesy of brightroom

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update: check out my 2008 photos and results.

check out my world lung foundation team photos.

24 hour around the lake ultra preview

a vintage picture postcard view of lake quannapowitt!

this afternoon emmy and i will drive up to the 24 hour around the lake ultra in wakefield, massachusetts. it's a repeat of last year, but without rob joining us. it's also a role reversal of sorts because last year i planned to support emmy as she ran the race - but during the week i decided to enter the race and run it as well. this year she is coming up to support me in the 24 hour race. but, like i did last year, emmy will probably sign up for the race itself and run a good portion of it!

here is my 2007 race report. last year the race was called off after 17 and a half hours! heavy rains and thunder made for safety concerns out on the course. this year no rain is in the forecast and, hopefully, we can run for the entire 24 hours! my goal for 2007 had been 20 loops of the 3.16 mile course. despite a blister that overtook the entire sole of my foot, i managed to finish 18 loops, for a total of 56.88 miles. emmy finished 24, for a total of 75.84 miles - and finished 3rd overall!

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here are a couple photos from 2007:

me, emmy, and rob: at the start.


midway thru: rob and emmy taking a break.

terrorism in bangalore, india

only 2 months ago i posted on the cowardly act of terror in jaipur, india, that killed over 60 people. sadly, terrorism returned to india this morning. it again reared its ugly, cowardly, head with a series of 7 small bombs that exploded across the city of bangalore. early news reports are of at least one death and at least 15 people wounded.

as i mentioned in my jaipur post, normally this blog isn't the place for news reports. but, as with the jaipur post (a city that i had just visited), i'm posting this new item because of a personal connection - a good friend of mine, vishnu, and his family, live in bangalore. this city has become the silicon valley of india - with its high concentration of technology related businesses.



coincidentally, in a running related connection, bangalore hosted its first ultras last december. not only was it a success, but the events sold out! this year the races have been moved up a month, to november.





UPDATE: the bbc reported the day after the bombing, an unexploded eigth bomb was discovered and defused by the police. in addition, a second victim died as a result of the terrorism.

katie's at summer camp!

the older girls get cabins in upper camp. this is katie's 4th summer in new hampshire, and first time bunking in upper camp.


while it doesn't look like much from this view, katie and her mom share the same packing philosophy, "too much of everything is just enough" - to borrow a phrase from the grateful dead! which is, appropriately enough, a lyric from "i need a miracle" - as in managing to fit all her stuff into the car for the trip to camp!


a better view of all her "stuff" as it waits to be unpacked and stored away in her bunk. 'though it was pointed out to me that pile did include some "stuff" that belonged to another camper! be that as it may, i think she's got enough supplies to last the month ;)



okay, now it's time for moms and dads to head home. she and her friend, reviewing their schedules, no longer need their parents around!


the view from our hotel in ashford.

i started off the day with a hilly 4 miler in and around town. after we dropped katie off, a 5 hour drive home - parts of which (mainly connecticut) included a few nasty rain squalls. but, amazingly, i made it home in time to change clothes and catch the 4:37 train into the city - and taught my wednesday night class (6-9). phew!

a long, sometimes wet, but definitely productive day!

greetings from new hampshire!

newfound lake, new hampshire

greetings from ashland, new hampshire! we drove up here last night and this morning we'll drop katie off at her summer camp! this will be her 4th summer at newfound lake which, coincidently, is the very lake the new hampshire marathon course does a loop of in early october.

on the running front, i just finished up a hilly 4 miler here in ashland. that follows up on the easy (a/k/a flat) 4 miler i ran yesterday after work and just before the drive here. i couldn't run on sunday because the chaffing from vermont was still raw, but i also took monday off as well because my legs were still in full blown recovery mode! i'll probably do another easy 4 miles tomorrow (thursday), but the main event kicks off friday night!

once again, will line up for the 24 hour around the lake ultra in wakefield, ma, this weekend. and then the mad dash to drive home saturday night for the nyc half marathon on sunday (which i'm still on fence about running - but will be there to cheer on the world lung foundation team). more on both of these events later.

right now we have to check out of this hotel and deposit katie along with her trunkload of gear at camp!

jgb band (jerry garcia band) featuring melvin seals and stu allen at sullivan hall: guest post

i'm very happy to post my good friend paul's mini-review of the jgb band ("jerry garcia band"), featuring melvin seals and stu allen at sullivan hall in new york city saturday night. i missed this show because i was in vermont for the 100 miler saturday night.



in a strange coincidence, paul's last guest post here, of the sold out pair of ratdog shows at the beacon theatre last april, was of two shows i missed because i was in north carolina, also for a 100 miler! no reflection on paul, i didn't finish either of those two 100 milers :(

more recently, paul was at the dark star orchestra show on governors island and the phil lesh and friends show at jones beach with emmy, rob and me. paul was also at the dso show at westbury in may, but we didn't get a chance to meet up with him at that venue.

after checking out his review, don't pass up the podcast of the show itself!
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Hey Frank, Don't have time to write up a full-blown review, but here's the quickie...

JGB was a blast Saturday night. Crowd was surprisingly large, about 3/4 of the place full, lots of people dancing:)Sound was crystal clear.

1st set (11:10pm - 12:20am)

Cats Down Under the Stars
Sugaree (sweet, slow jam)
Knockin on Heaven's Door (alternated back and forth between traditional arrangement and Reggae)
Let It Rock
Lay Down Sally

Those 5 tunes took 70 minutes, averaging out to 14 minutes per! Every song was jammed out to the max:)

2nd set (1am - 2:20am)

Bright Side of the Road (bright and cheery, great set opener)
Waiting for a Miracle
Evangeline
Russian Lullabye
Ruben & Cherise (best jam of the night!)
Lucky Ol Sun
Sisters & Brothers
After Midnight >
Eleanor Rigby
Jam >
After Midnight

Encore: How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You

Overall well played and very enjoyable show. My personal opinion of the song selection is I would have liked more upbeat, danceable tunes as opposed to the many slow ballads.

See ya
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check out the podcast of the show!