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Table of contents:

• Victory for GBTC at Lynn Woods Relay
• Yankee Homecoming Serves a Hot Course for GBTC
• President's Column
• Club Happenings
  • Ready to Relay: GBTC Prepares to Pass the Baton at Lake Winnepausauke
  • Fall Long Run Schedule
  • Tufts 10k Post Race Party at Dotty and Bill Fine's
  • Cross-Country Schedule 1998
  • Noble & Greenough 5K Cross-Country
  • GBTC Annual Meeting
  • GBTC Launches Cyberstore this Fall!
  • Welcome Baby Sophia Rose!
  • Rachel Sears bids farewell!
  • Next Board Meeting
• Track Results
  • USATF-NE Championships Wrap-Up
  • GBTC Wraps Up Indoor Track Season at Bay State Games Final
• Cross-country Results
• Road Results
• Leave the Watch at Home
• The Red Sea Boils Over
• Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K: A Native's Perspective
• Fast Food Best Bets
• The Whooping Fountain
• New England Fall Marathon Season: Made for Running
• Publication information

Victory for GBTC at Lynn Woods Relay

Jesse Darley took the first leg. After an 18 mile training run the day before, he did not have the zip to nail a speedy youngster who finished first by a few seconds. Deon Barrett took the tag. He quickly hammered his opposition and built a giant lead which he handed to motorpsycho Jim. John Blouin cruised to victory past the GBTC cheering section at the 400 "to go" mark.

The women's team arrived on time and named themselves GBTC Wiseguys. They won the open women's division, leaving Lynn victorious with a trophy in hand. The team, composed of the eponymous Susan Wiseman, Sue Bergh, Erin Cullinane, and Kerry O'Donovan, stepped up to the challenge left by last year's winning GBTC team and by the GBTC runners who were unable to race. Joanna Veltri, whose injury is healing, came to cheer.

The men's team finished in 53:57 and the women's team finished in 73:31. Both teams finished the 4x2.5 mile relay nearly three minutes ahead of the second place teams. Other club teams finished fifth, tenth, and eleventh in the men's open division and fourth and tenth in the coed division.

Russ Miller met his match when he discovered a frog in his short's pocket during a warm-up. Frogs and all, GBTC stole the show at Lynn Woods and proved their readiness for cross-country.

Yankee Homecoming Serves a Hot Course for GBTC

President's Column

Hi Everybody,

I have recently returned from a wonderful vacation on the north shore and also gave my running shoes a rest. As summer winds to a close my focus turns to September activities, in particular, the 25^th Anniversary Celebration. Many of us like myself have been away, or too busy to respond since receiving an invitation for the celebration. Perhaps your plans for September are unclear. Maybe the budget is a little tight due to vacation. The Board of Directors wants everyone to attend. If for any reason you cannot pay in advance, pay at the door. If you can't do either then pay us after the celebration. If you have a special situation that you want to chat about please call me at 617-796-6301.

Membership is approaching 200, which you may recall is the goal I set for the club at the beginning of the year. Thanks to everyone who has helped recruit new members. Many improvements continue to be discussed at the monthly Board of Directors meeting. Let us know what you think.

I am beginning to wonder (worry) what leg of Lake Winnie my team captain has assigned to me. Maybe he can be bribed. Maybe I can swap legs with someone else. Maybe I can switch teams!!!!!!!!! Lake Winnie is a great opportunity for club members to gather as an organization. Even if you are not on a team you should consider going.

CLUB HAPPENINGS. . .

Ready to Relay: GBTC Prepares to Pass the Baton at Lake Winnepausauke

KEEP IN MIND. . .
As in past years, each team will only be allowed two vehicles on the race course. Violating teams will be disqualified. Good team organization is necessary. Remember, it is your responsibility to be at your exchange point on time. The race starts at 8am on Saturday morning, September 19.

DIRECTIONS to Samoset Resort Condos in Guilford, NH.
Route 93N to exit 20, the Tilton exit. Left at the light onto Route 3N/ Route 11E At the Belknap Shopping Mall, go right when Route 3N/ Route 11E turns right. Stay on Route 11E (not 11A or 11B, etc.) when it splits from Route 3N. The road goes down a long hill, curves around, and ends at a "T" intersection. Turn left at the "T". You will pass the airport on the left. At the intersection, go straight through and pass B. May Denny's Restaurant on left. Route 11E will go downhill, curve to the left, narrow, curve to the right, and go up a hill. Samoset is just after the crest of the hill on the left, just past an Irving gas station on the right. The sign is small.

HAVE AND HAVE-NOTS...
Bed linens are provided, but you must bring your own bath towel . Each unit has a full kitchen. Saturday dinner is a group meal hosted by the Club. You must bring your own beverages. Other than Saturday's dinner, members are responsible for their own food.

$$$
Please send in the remainder of you deposit ($40), if you haven't already. (you know who you are)

Fall Long Run Schedule

• September 27, Bob Ward 236 Rawson Rd. #5, Brookline, MA 617-566-1734
• October 4, Kay McDonald, KayM@metasoft.com. (will give directions)
• October 11-Melinda Casey, 7 Morse St., Watertown, MA
• October 18, Susan Richards. SRichards@hpri.com. (will give directions)
• October 25-OPEN
• November 1, Sean Mullan 66 Katherine Rd. Watertown. 617-926-5346. Mullan@East.Sun.com.

If you are interested in hosting a run for any of the remaining dates, feel free to call Frank Monkiewicz at 617-868-9000 (days) and/or 617-547-3434 (nights) or send an email to frank@frankmonkiewicz.com

Tufts 10k Post Race Party at Dotty and Bill Fine's

Cross-Country Schedule 1998

• September 12, Euro-Style relay, Franklin Park, Boston
• September 19, Boston Cross-Country Festival, Franklin Park, Women 5k, men 8k
• September 27, Yankee Runner 5 km cross-country (Grand Prix)
• October 4, Lynn Woods Grand Prix, 2.5 and 54 miles.
• October 11, 5 km Master's National USATF champs in Rochester, NY
• October 11, 5 km Franklin Park
• October 18 5km Franklin Park
• October 25 Mayor's Cup, New England Grand Prix 5km women, 8km men.
• October 31 CMS Wachusetts Deer Run 5 mile Boylston, MA
• November 1 Noble and Greenough, NE Gran Prix in Dedham sponsored by GBTC
• November 8, HFC Middlesex Fells Grand Prix
• November 15, New England Championships, Franklin Park, Grand Prix Men's open 10 km, women's 6km, masters 8 km.
• Thanksgiving Day, Maudsley Park in Newburyport
• November 29 Andover 5 km, noon.
• December 6 USATF National Club Championship in Orlando Florida

Noble & Greenough 5K Cross-Country

This meet is one of the area's finest cross country events. As a GBTC featured event, we will need volunteers to help us with this meet. Please call Karl Hoyt if you can volunteer for this one (617) 242-3446

GBTC Annual Meeting

Consider running for the Board! Board members help set the goals for the club, manage club business and activities and oversee all aspects of the club including operational, functional and social events.

GBTC Launches Cyberstore this Fall!

Special thanks to the Apparel People: Jennifer Rapaport for making club apparel a seamless reality (pun intended), Hunt LaCascia for his nifty perl scripts, Mark Tuttle for mastering the web and sharing office space at DEC, Erin Cullinane for teaching Hunt the concept of pro bono and Frank Monkiewicz for his elegant photos.

Welcome Baby Sophia Rose!

Rachel Sears bids farewell!

Next Board Meeting

Track Results

USATF-NE Championships Wrap-Up

Congratulations and many thanks to the GBTC men's and women's teams that competed in the New England Track and Field Championships held at the Northeastern University track in Dedham.

The women's team of Jennifer Rapaport, Livvy (Elizabeth) Williams, and Joanna Veltri raced well against women from all New England clubs. Jennifer and Livvy placed 4th and 5th in the 1500. Jennifer squeaked to the head of the GBTC women's 1500 meter list with a 4:47.07 displacing Joanna's 4:47.70 from indoors. Joanna ran in the elite Can-Am meet and posted a brave 10:11 3km after having lost fitness because of medial tibial pain syndrome, periostitis of the shin bone, (shin splints). Her season best of 9:56 came on May 23. These three and others have started their build-up towards cross-country, the New England Champs 8 km, the Tufts 10 km in October, the Cross-country Grand Prix and the National Cross-country championships in Orlando, Florida.

Ben Pease led the GBTC men's track team with his second place in the 800 meters followed by Mike Leding's third in the 100 meters. Dennis Floyd took fifth in the 800. Special thanks to team members Ted Bowen, Jesse Darley, Jim Reardon, and John, the mountain man, Blouin. John ran a 1500 meter personal best of 4:08. Jesse showed he has regained fitness after going to extremes of running the Boston Marathon and immediately spending a month at Mt Everest base camp. These runners and others are now training for our two men's cross-country teams.

GBTC Wraps Up Indoor Track Season at Bay State Games Final

Jim Pawlicki placed second in the open 5,000 with 15.57.20.

Adrien Grise placed 7th in the mile with 4:40.62

Jim Reardon placed second in the 3,000 with 9:24.90

Bill Newsham placed third with 9:34.60.

Reported by Tom Derderian on July 26, 1998

Cross-country Results

Lynn Woods 10 Mile Relay

Individual

• Jesse Darley GBTC ROCK HOPPERS 12:44, 12:45 last year
• John Blouin GBTC ROCK HOPPERS 13:21. 13:20 last year
• Deon Barrett GBTC ROCK HOPPERS 13:26
• Doug Chick GBTC SUN TEAM 14:20
• Jim Reardon GBTC ROCK HOPPERS 14:26
• Greg McGowen GBTC I TEAM 14:35
• Jim O'Leary GBTC I TEAM 14:44 , 14:51 last year
• Tom Derderian DERDERIAN HASTINGS 15:10, 15:52 last year
• Brain Beaulieu GBTC I TEAM 15:13
• Jon Ives GBTC I TEAM 15:20
• Jack Burke GBTC FROGS 15:22
• Eric Sherry GBTC MEN 15:35
• Ted Bowen GBTC MEN 15:54
• Terry O'Neil GBTC MEN 17:03
• Sue Bergh GBTC WISEGUYS 17:14
• Karl Hoyt GBTC FROGS 17:20, 15:44 last year
• Paul Hickey GBTC FROGS 17:38
• Russ Miller GBTC FROGS 17:51, 18:04 last year
• Dung Nguyen GBTC SUN TEAM 17:51, 17:27 last year
• Carmen Danforth GBTC SUN TEAM 18:23
• Kerry O'Donovan GBTC WISEGUYS 18:24, 19:32 last year (rock on!)
• Robin Hastings DERDERIAN HASTINGS 18:26
• Mike Leding GBTC MEN 18:28
• Maria Sun GBTC SUN TEAM 18:40
• Erin Cullinane GBTC WISEGUYS 18:55
• Susan Wiseman GBTC WISEGUYS 18:58
• Cynthia Hastings DERDERIAN HASTINGS 19:08, 18:23 last year
• Jane Derderian DERDERIAN HASTINGS 23:09, age 9
• Chris Fadis ran but in disguise.

Men's open

• 1. GBTC ROCK HOPPERS 53:57
• 5. GBTC I TEAM 59:52
• 10. GBTC MEN 67:00
• 11. GBTC FROGS 68:11

• 1. GBTC WISEGUYS 73:31

• 4. GBTC SUN TEAM 69:14

Road Results

July

• Bill Newsham 16:47
• Wendy Newsham 23:15

• Bill Newsham 16:42

• Joyce Dendy 34:27 4th women's open

• 32.55 CLaire McManus 2nd woman: 1st master

Wellesley, MA

• 1 JOHN KORIR 22 M CHESTNUT HIL MA 23:54
• 8 DEON M. BARRETT 25 M CANTON MA 25:52
• 16 JAMES PAWLICKI 23 M BEVERLY MA 26:37
• 17 JOHN BLOUIN 23 M W NEWTON MA 26:38
• 23 CHARLES FERGUSON 33 M WASH DC 27:20
• 26 DAVID ALLEN 30 M WALTHAM MA 27:45
• 62 JIM O'LEARY 30 M WELLESLEY MA 30:20
• 71 CHRISTOPHER HUSSEY 36 M W ROX MA 30:41
• 74 BILL NEWSHAM 33 M MILLIS MA 30:50
• 81 JONATHAN IVES 28 ARLINGTON MA 31:11
• 108 ALEX CARACUZZO 28 M BRIGHTON MA 32:23
• 133 ROB GIDDINGS 33 M MILTON MA 33:16
• 188 BOB HUNTLEY 48 M NASHUA NH 34:57
• 207 SEAN MULLIN 30 M WATERTOWN MA 35:28
• 217 DUNG NGUYEN 28 F WABAN MA 35:50
• 224 MARIA SUN 26 F BOSTON MA 36:02
• 238 KERRY O'DONOVAN 36 F BELMONT,MA 36:24
• 245 PETER DIAFERRA 37 M LEXINGTON MA 36:28
• 262 ERIN CULLINANE 26 F BOSTON MA 36:56
• 281 RUSS MILLER 51 M SUDBURY MA 37:34

Tony Sapienza Memorial 5M Haverhill, MA 7/17

• 14. Jennifer Rapaport 30:30 2nd woman

• Judy Romvos 37:16 first among women over 40

• 1 PETE HAMMER 1/251 M3039 NEWTON MA 24:27
• 17 BILL KALPAKOGLOU 9/116 M2029 SOUTH BOST MA 28:03
• 18 TOM DERDERIAN 3/196 M4049 WINTHROP MA 28:08
• 29 JAMES O'LEARY 9/251 M3039 WELLESLEY MA 28:45
• 32 SCOTT GRAHAM 9/196 M4049 DALLAS TX 28:52
• 69 ALEX CARACUZZO 22/116 M2029 BRIGHTON MA 31:11
• 73 CLAIRE MCMANUS 1/58 F4049 JAMAICA PL MA 31:17 2nd woman overall and first master.
• 90 KIRK PFRANGLE 23/196 M4049 DUNWOODY GA 31:50, Visiting GBTC star from the 1970's
• 97 RON GLENNON 25/196 M4049 QUINCY MA 32:06
• 151 CIARAN MCMANUS 39/196 M4049 JAMAICA PL MA 33:43 Claire's bro
• 627 ROBERT WARD 51/85 M5059 BROOKLINE MA 41:22

YANKEE HOMECOMING 3 MILE ROAD RACE 7/28

• 1 1/67 M2029 GARY MELLO 20 M 15:24 5:08
• 2 2/67 M2029 ERIK NEDEAU 26 M 15:39 5:13
• 6 4/67 M2029 DANIEL SMITH 20 M 16:41 5:34
• 7 5/67 M2029 DENNIS FLOYD 21 M 16:50 5:37
• 18 1/168 F3039 JENNIFER RAPAPORT 34 F 18:07 6:03

Male Results

• 16 JESSE DARLEY 54:08
• 18 ARNOLD SETO 54:22
• 29 DEON BARRETT 55:40
• 38 JAMES PAWLICKI 56:04
• 39 JOHN BLOUIN 56:05
• 42 DAVID ALLEN 56:18
• 62 JAMES REARDON 57:59
• 82 THOMAS COTTER 59:24
• 118 TOM DERDERIAN 1:01:31
• 157 JAMES OLEARY 1:03:32
• 194 SANDEEP PATEL 1:04:55
• 293 DOUG BURDI 1:08:15
• 354 ROB GIDDINGS 1:09:50
• 374 BILL TURNER 1:10:21
• 383 CHRIS FADDIS 1:10:35
• 439 COLUM CREED 1:11:55
• 600 RUSS MILLER 1:15:42
• 628 MARK TUTTLE 1:16:29
• 710 SEAN MULLAN 1:18:27
• 1006 PETER DIAFERIA 1:24:49
• 1080 ROBERT WARD 1:26:11
• 1299 GARY SNYDER 1:32:48
• 1377 WILLIAM DURETTE 1:36:39

Women 10 Mile Results

• 12 DARA ZALL 1:04:26
• 40 CLAIRE MCMANUS 1:08:42
• 77 PAYAL PAREKH 1:13:44
• 117 KERRY ODONOVAN 1:16:43
• 119 BELINDA CRAGO 1:16:44
• 120 RACHEL SEARS 1:16:44
• 137 CARMEN DANFORTH 1:17:50
• 164 JEAN SMITH 1:19:50
• 171 LAURIE KNAPP 1:20:08
• 202 ERIN CULLINANE 1:22:08
• 231 KIM RYAN 1:23:42
• 284 ALYSSA DUFFY1:25:48
• 307 DOROTHY FINE 1:26:46
• 614 LAURIE HICKMAN 1:40:19

MALE OPEN TEAM RESULTS

• 5. GREATER BOSTON
  54:08 54:22 55:40 56:04 56:05 ( 56:18) ( 57:59) = 4:36:19
  JESSE DARLEY, ARNOLD SETO, DEON BARRETT, JAMES PAWLICKI, JOHN BLOUIN, DAVID ALLEN, JAMES REARDON

WOMEN OPEN TEAM RESULTS

• 9. GREATER BOSTON
  1:04:26 1:08:42 1:13:44 (1:16:43) (1:16:44) (1:16:44) (1:17:50) = 3:26:52
  DARA ZALL, CLAIRE MCMANUS, PAYAL PAREKH, KERRY O'DONOVAN, BELINDA CRAGO, RACHEL SEARS, CARMEN DANFORTH

SENIOR MEN

• 12. GREATER BOSTON
  1:15:42 1:26:11 1:32:48 = 4:14:41
  RUSS MILLER, ROBERT WARD, GARY SNYDER

• 6. GREATER BOSTON
  1:08:42 1:19:50 1:26:46 = 3:55:18
  CLAIRE MCMANUS, JEAN SMITH, DOROTHY FINE

• 15. GREATER BOSTON
  1:01:31 1:10:21 1:15:42 1:26:11 1:32:48 (1:36:39) = 6:26:33
  TOM DERDERIAN, BILL TURNER, RUSS MILLER, ROBERT WARD, GARY SNYDER, WILLIAM DURETTE

August

• 47 4/43 M2024 JAMES PAWLICKI 33:16
• 123 6/183 M4549 TOM DERDERIAN 35:52
• 173 7/175 F3034 JENNIFER RAPAPORT 37:28
• 214 34/123 M2529 JONATHAN IVES 38:29
• 337 7/92 F2024 LIVVY WILLIAMS 40:50
• 460 5/87 F0119 ADELINE AZRACK 42:22
• 680 18/92 F2024 RACHEL SEARS 45:00
• 830 36/175 F4044 CYNTHIA HASTINGS 46:35

• Chris Hussey 13:44.5.
• Bill Newsham 13:44.5.
• Maria Sun 17:07

• Dara Zall ran to second place with 33:00

• Jim Pawlicki 15th 33:39
• Dennis Floyd 34:54
• Jim Reardon 35:34
• Doug Chick 36:56
• Brian Beaulieu 38:41

• Julie Donohoe 18:49 - 3rd
• Chris Hussey 16:05 - 2nd
• Matthew Hussey 400M - 5th

• 1. 15:30 5:00 Deon Barrett
• 16 18:23 5:56 Dara Zall

The Sheraton Needham was the setting once again for Greater Boston's 8th annual Heart and Soul 5k race. We had a healthy turnout of about 209 runners and our own Deon Barrett and Dara Zall finished 1st and 16th respectively. Many thanks to our friends at Niketown for helping out and providing water bottles. The post- race food was, as always, scrumptious!

Leave the Watch at Home

When you take a town of 16,000, swell it to about 21,000 with runners and their families (and their cars), close off 10 miles of road, and host simultaneous races, the outcome is both festive and confusing. Hopefully by now the disastrous start of this year's Yankee Homecoming in Newburyport is long since forgotten. Then again, perhaps it is not.

Bad Planning

Originally, both the 3 and 10 mile races were scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. and 6:40 p.m. respectively. Yet before the race, the race director announced that the start time for the 10-miler was 6:30 p.m., the same start time for the 3-miler. Adding to race day excitement, the starting line for the 10-miler moved and, subsequently, the course was altered. Most runners, ignorant of these changes, either arrived later than expected to congested Newburyport or were ill prepared for the 6:30 start.

Traditions

I empathize with the "elite" runners whose ambitions were thwarted. After all, starting line scrambles are inexcusable for a forty-something year old tradition (and USATF-NE championship race). Aside from pre-race hysteria, the Homecoming is really about community and tradition. It's about being a New Englander and a being a runner. The Homecoming is the final hurrah of an annual 10-day festival where native Newburyporters return to their roots for concerts, parades, parties, and a road race. Many New England towns held similar celebrations in the 1950's, but Newburyport is one of the few remaining towns that has preserved its festival as an annual tradition. As for myself, a middle of the pack runner, I had fun in the stifling July air of the Clipper City. It was quite a rush moving through the town center that was thick with vocal, jubilant onlookers.

Performance, Perseverance, Pleasure

Aside from the disorganization, I never felt quite right the entire race. My quads were cramped from start to finish and I could not find my prescribed race pace. Accepting my fate of 10 miles of suffering, I was able to enjoy the unexpected. The crowd support and spirited atmosphere somehow made it easier to overlook the bungled start, to enjoy the run, and to laugh with club members afterwards. Most of my fellow GBTCers shared similar tales of woe and for many, Doug Burdi's cries of conquest summed things up nicely, "I came, I ran, I got sick. . .I'm going home!"

The good definitely outweighed the bad that evening. Despite cramming into the backseat of a car with four guys to fight the rush hour traffic, I made some new friends in the process. I won't soon forget bailing out of the locker room queue (no time for that), bounding down the hill over the stone wall, and leaping into the throng of runners whose direction of motion was uncertain. Although I completely blew my time goal when I heeded nature's call at the Mile 2 Mobil Station, I was able to see some old friends during the run. I'm not even peeved (well, a little peeved) about not getting an official time, though I faintly recall passing through the chutes with 1:09:11 on my watch. There was more to this race than just performance. Next year, with or without the confusion, this may be the one race where I just leave my watch at home.

The Red Sea Boils Over

Hot, Humid, Sticky come to mind when I think of this year's Marathon Sports 5 Miler on July 16th. Although I ran well this summer with PRs in my last two races, my goal of breaking 35 minutes in the evening's heat was questionable. At most, Coach Ron warned me to take the first mile slow.

I arrived an hour before the start and immediately spied many red shirts in the crowds. In a field of 800 or more runners, it was comforting to see familiar faces. A few of us went out for a slow warm-up thirty minutes before race time. We returned ten minutes later drenched. "Have you ever run laps in a sauna?" I asked my fellow teammates.

The start was chaotic. Imagine 800 runners crammed into a narrow street, jostling each other for a prime starting spot, and then directed to move back 50 feet. As I made some last minute preparations, two enormous trucks drove through the crowd. "Watch your toes" someone yelled. Now that everyone re-adjusted, the gun finally sounds. I try to settle into that comfortable pace early on while searching for space amid the other runners in the crowded Wellesley streets.

The first mile is always the toughest. I thought I went out too fast, but did not fuss about it until I saw the clock at the first mile. I passed the first mile in 6:40 and put on the brakes. I passed the second mile in, "what?" - 14:00? Did I really slow down that much? I was beginning to wonder how accurate those mile markers were. I passed the 3rd mile in 21 minutes and grew tired. Maintaining that pace was tough in the oppressive heat. Some runners stopped and walked---many slowed down. I just tried to ignore the casualties. At the mile four split I clocked a 28:20. "Uh oh." Negative thoughts crept into my brain. "Why do I run? Stop it. Pretend it's the final mile repeat in track practice ... it'll be over soon."

The last mile of the race was a shaded dirt trail alongside a brook. Yet, this last mile felt longer than the entire race! I soon realized that skipping the last water stop was a mistake. I finally started to hear the crowds at the end and kicked the last 100 yards, finishing in 35:28.

GBTC had an impressive showing, with Deon Barrett placing 8th, Jim Pawlicki 16th, John Blouin 17th and David Allen 26th. Kerry O'Donovan placed 2nd in her age group, winning a $40 gift certificate to Marathon sports. Post race refreshments/snacks included watermelon, ice cream, Snapple, Bertucci's pizza and fresh bread. As I headed straight for the person spraying runners with cold water from a hose I knew I would always remember to take the first one slow.

Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K: A Native's Perspective

Crossing over the Portsmouth Bridge, your eyes meet the big blue welcome sign that reads, "Maine - The Way Life Should Be." The inaugural Peoples Beach to Beacon 10k race founded by Joan Benoit Samuelson certainly lived up to that slogan as evidenced by the sheer beauty of the course along Casco Bay and the caliber of athletes present. As a Maine native, I am proud to be a part of this race and to witness Maine's placement as a destination spot for the world's elite runners.

The swarm of cars along Route 77 in Cape Elizabeth signaled the importance of this race. At 7:15 a.m., the starting line area buzzed with runners warming up and volunteers carefully orchestrating the flow of traffic. As I warmed up, I was greeted with faces from my childhood and made several quick "good-to-see-ya" and "good luck" exchanges. I lined up in the pack of eager runners and anxiously waited for the gun to signal. I never heard the gun but slowly the crowd of runners in front of me created open pockets...and I was off!

At each mile marker, we were greeted with an archway of green and white balloons, enthusiastic spectators, and a conspicuous timer. I was feeling good until I cramped at mile three. Running my second 10K race, I hoped to beat my previous time of 57:02. At about mile 4 ½, the trees thinned out and a panoramic view of Casco Bay appeared. I could not help stealing the view---jagged coastline---pounding surf---ocean vistas---my mind wandered then drifted back to reality as I crossed the finish line in 53:14.

The post-race activities buzzed under clear, blue sunny skies. Runners appeared relaxed and spirited as they gathered on the lawn in front of the Portland Head Light, the nation's first commissioned lighthouse, in

anticipation of closing ceremonies. As I munched on a bagel and gathered with friends, William Kiptum (second place finisher from Kenya) stopped and chatted with us after we inadvertently confused him with the overall winner, Johannes Mabitle. He politely set us straight. Later as I waited for my friend's mother to collect her second place prize in the Masters 60-64 category, I watched the family of Kim Jones (women's master champion) anxiously open her gift next to me.

It was just that kind of day. The way a race should be run. The Way Life Should Be

Fast Food Best Bets

Fast foods are here to stay, and thankfully many of today's quick service restaurants offer some healthful, low fat options. You can actually choose a decent sportsdiet at most places--if you make wise choices. But also be sure to pack your gym bag with supplemental carbohydrates, such as apples, oranges, pretzels, fig cookies, bagels, pita, crackers, raisins, dried fruits, juice boxes, sports bars or granola bars. That way, if you do end up succumbing to the fast-and-fatty options, you'll at least be able to add on the carbs your muscles need for energy.

Your best bets for fast-foods-that-fuel include the following options at quick service restaurants:

Best Fast Food Breakfast Bet: McDonald's offers a tasty sports breakfast: pancakes/syrup, orange juice and milk. Treat yourself to hot cocoa for a higher carb choice than coffee. Or choose their cold cereal, juice, and a muffin or English muffin with jelly.

Best Bagel Breakfast Bet: Find a deli or bagel shop with wholegrain bagels, fresh fruit, juice, and yogurt. A little lowfat cream cheese and/or jam can complete the meal.

Best Hotel Breakfast Bet: If you are staying at a hotel, save yourself time,money and temptations by bringing your own cereal, dried fruit, and spoon. Either packpowdered milk or buy a half-pint of milk at the corner store. Use a water glass or the milk carton for the cereal bowl.

Best Sandwich Bets: Seek out a deli that offers a sandwich with more bread than filling. For example, a large submarine roll provides far more carbohydrates than does a small pita. "Hold the mayo" and add moistness with lite salad dressings (if available), mustard or ketchup, tomatoes, and lettuce. Best fillings: turkey, ham, roast beef.

Best Soup Bets: Hearty bean soups, including minestrone, lentil and split pea soups, accompanied by crackers or crusty rolls provides a satisfying, carbohydrate-rich low fat meal. Chili, if not glistening with a layer of grease, can also be a good choice. For example, a Wendy's large chili with 8 saltines provides about 400 calories, of which only 25% are from fat. (Ideally, meals should be <30% fat.)

Best Chicken Sandwich Bet: Grilled chicken sandwiches are fine--except for the special sauces. The 29 grams of fat in the BK Broiler makes it almost as fatty as a double cheeseburger. Wipe that mayo off! (Or request no mayo.)

Best Burger Bet: If you can't find an eatery that offers more than just burgers and fries. you'll have to make the best of a bad situation. If you do order a burger, request an extra roll or extra bread. Squish the grease into the first roll, then replace it with the fatfree one. Boost carbs with fluids such as juice, soft drinks and lowfat shakes. Enjoy your gym-bag snacks (pretzels, fig bars) for dessert. Athletes with big appetites should order 2 small burgers (each with a roll) rather than a double burger with 1 roll. For a similar price, you'll get more carbs with the two rolls.

Better Red Meat Bet. Better than burgers, satisfy your meat hankering with a lean roast beef sandwich. For only 260 calories, you can get a Roy Rodgers Roast Beef Sandwich (4 grams of fat); this is preferable to the 260-calorie McDonald's hamburger (10 gms fat).

Best Salad Bar Bet: At a salad bar, be generous with the colorful vegetables, chick peas, kidney beans, pasta salads and hearty breads, and carefully choose lite dressings. Beware of Caesar Salads. For example, Boston Market's Chicken Caesar Salad with 4 tablespoons of dressing totals 670 calories, of which two-thirds are from fat (47 gm). You could have gotten a chicken breast (without skin), corn bread, steamed vegetables, and dill potatoes for only 15 gms fat and 570 calories.

Best Baked Potato Meal Bet: Your best bet is to order two potatoes, one plain and one with a topping. For example, at Wendy's, by splitting the Broccoli & Cheese topping (14 grams fat)between two spuds, you end up with a hearty 770 calorie, carbohydrate-based meal that fuels your muscles. For added protein, drink a glass of lowfat milk.

Best Pizza Bet: Order pizza that's thick with extra crust rather than extra cheese. The more dough, the more muscle fuel. For example, one slice of Pizza Hut's pan pizza (260 calories) has 10 more grams carbohydrates than does a slice of their thin 'n crispy pizza (200 calories). Pile on veggies (broccoli, peppers, mushrooms, onions) for a vitamin boost. Blot off any grease with a napkin.

Best Chicken Dinner Bet: Roasted, rotisserie or grilled chicken meals are generally preferable to fried chicken meals. But you still need to abstain from eating the skin. By removing the skin and wing from a KFC Rotisserie Gold Quarter Breast, you remove 13 grams of fat and 115 calories. If fried chicken is your only option, get the larger pieces, peel off the skin, and eat just the meat. For carbs, order extra rolls, corn on the cob, potatoes or baked beans; include nutrient-rich carrots, squash, spinach or broccoli. Although the vegetables are sometimes buttery, you can balance them in by eating lower fat foods at other meals.

Best Dessert Bet: Lowfat frozen yogurt is fun, refreshing, and carbohydrate-rich (read that loaded with sugar). Fro-yo may be a "best bet" for dessert, but don't think it's a meal replacer. Regular yogurt has far more nutritional value.

Nancy Clark, MS, RD specializes in nutrition for exercise. She offers private nutrition consultations at SportsMedicine Brookline. Her popular Sports Nutrition Guidebook, 2nd edition ($20) and The New York City Marathon Cookbook ($23) are available by sending a check payable to Sports Nutrition Services to 830 Boylston St #205, Brookline MA 02467. Or order via www.nancyclarkrd.com.

The Whooping Fountain

Not many people are familiar with the sport of cross-country running. A cross country race consists of two or more teams of seven runners racing over five to twelve kilometers of wooded, and preferably hilly terrain. A team's score is determined by the placing of its top five finishers and the team with the lowest score wins.

In a familiar way, cross-country is autumn. The autumn sport of cross-country running is a symbiosis of blazing reds, oranges and golds of dying leaves and of crisp mornings that melt into warm afternoons. Cross-country running embraces the fall. Both start in the final humid days of summer and finish in December when the earth itself seems near its very end.

Vivid scenes from my high school days are culled more from training than from competition. One Columbus Day morning, with the frost relinquishing its hoary hold on the hills of the Arnold Arboretum, my teammate Brian and I are finishing a three and a half-mile trail run. Only the steady rhythms of inhale and exhale sound. To my ears, we sound like warriors from another time, neither of us willing to relinquish the pace, nor increase the pain level by accelerating the rhythm.

Rhythm is no less important to the cross-country runner than to the jazz musician. Setting the tempo a beat too quick in the first mile meant that pain and disaster would accompany you for the last mile. The runner must control the rhythm, feel the rhythm and come to know its every nuance. When you find the right rhythm, joy, power and confidence are your companions.

After a final steep hill, we descend to the paved road and finish at the big tree. He stands with the unyielding watch in one hand and with the Marlboro cigarette in the other. Father Lawrence Corcoran was our coach. Yet, we called him "Fatha." "Coach" was too simple, too ordinary. He was part shaman, philosopher, spiritual advisor, poet, and comedian. In one hand he held a watch (the old sweep hand type and a gift from his first state championship team ) and in the other hand, he held a butt. Like a magician, he would seamlessly flick the butt away and surreptitiously withdraw a frayed notebook from his back pocket. The notebook was one of a series that contained times from every workout race run by his teams. It was entitled "Precious Files vol. V."

Fatha had coined his own lexicon over the years. The single, biggest landmark on our cross-country landscape was the "whooping fountain," a desiccated, crumbling concrete drinking fountain. It was located at the mile and a half mark of the state championship course at Franklin Park.

According to Fatha's philosophy of cross-county running, the race began at the whooping fountain. Those runners fortunate enough to embody the right rhythm would surge ahead, while those who had pounded out in haste became prisoners of fatigue and spiritual despondence. We let our opponents know we were ready for the denouement of the battle by yelling out an exuberant "whoooop" at the fountain.

During those fall afternoons, we would run by the whooping fountain and Fatha, perched above us in a tree, would lead us in our "whoops." After all, he would remind us that a good whoop at the right time could make for a great race. Likewise, whooping and cross country running make autumn a great season---if the rhythm's right.

New England Fall Marathon Season: Made for Running

Running has been around since the dawn of man, but it's pretty clear that autumn marathoning was born on October 24, 1976. On that date, the preposterous idea of taking a small four laps around Central Park and moving it across all five boroughs of New York City was realized by a visionary named Fred Lebow. The race leaped in size from a few dozen to a few thousand, and Bill Rodgers, still smarting from an Olympic disappointment a few months earlier, positively drilled a star studded international field in 2 hours, 10 minutes, and 10 seconds. The rest, as we know, is history.

Most runners would agree that fall is the best time to run in New England. Around these parts, winter can be bit too risky for going 26.2, summer is too hot, and the Boston Marathon blots out the rest of the running landscape in springtime. But fall, ah, fall. The temperature cools, the leaves turn, the running is easy.

There are many fine marathons in New England. Most all of these races are mid-sized, well-organized runs that offer a runner their best opportunity to run a fast time. Sure, New York City is not too far away for those seeking the big city mega-marathon experience, but it is the smaller gems populating the calendar that make for a truly memorable marathon experience. From late September through the weekend before Thanksgiving, you can't go wrong running 26 milers in Keene, NH, Portland, ME, Lowell, MA, Falmouth, MA, Hartford, CT, or Warwick, RI.

So here we are, 20 years after Fred Lebow got things going in New York, about to embark upon another fall marathon season.

The Clarence DeMar Marathon leads off on Sunday, September 27 in Keene, NH. The point to point, slightly downhill course offers the opportunity for a fast time if you are ready to go. On the same day the East Lyme CT Marathon is another low key race drawing a few hundred runners. Both of these races have stood the test of time.

The Maine Marathon will be held the next Sunday, October 4. The roots of this race in Portland can be traced back to when it was known as the Casco Bay. It is very well organized by the Maine Track Club, offering all the amenities of a first class race. The day before Maine is the New Hampshire Marathon, around beautiful Newfound Lake in Bristol. Not for the faint of heart, this race. It's got some hills in the early miles, but the scenic course makes it worth the effort.

Saturday, October 10th is the date for the 5th Annual Greater Hartford Marathon. Starting and finishing in Bushnell Park, this race offers a flat course, out into the suburbs and back to the Park. There are all kinds of activities, including a half marathon and 5K race.

The Baystate Marathon on Sunday October 18th is a Boston Marathon aspirant's mecca. If you look up "flat and fast" in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of the Baystate course (I think). Two loops around the Merrimack River and you are back the Vocational School with a passport to Boston. More than 40% of the field annually meets the Boston qualifying time, a claim few other marathons can make. The Greater Lowell Road Runners puts on the race, offering runners all the support they'll need to run a fast time.

The Cape Cod Marathon is next up, on Sunday, October 25th. This year the race is the USATF-NE championship event. Cape Cod has to be the quintessential marathon experience. From the moment you arrive at the Lawrence School in Falmouth until the time you leave under a cover of darkness later that afternoon, Courtney Bird and the folks at the Cape Cod Marathon will make it a day to remember. The route is bursting with scenery, from seaside vistas to tree lined roads. The best post race meal around is waiting for you back at the school, followed by the awards ceremony in the gym. Sure, the course has a few hills, but if you are fit, you can run a fast time on the course. It rewards those who have done their training.

In years past, most of the New England marathons were in November but this year the Ocean State Marathon stands alone on November 8th. The Ocean State has been around for a good while. The race has gone through a few different editions on a few different courses, but Gerry Began has kept the spirit of the original race alive. Now a point to point course from Narragansett to Warwick, the race offers some beautiful oceanside views. It is a well run event and a favorite of many veteran runners. Ocean Sate is also the most competitive of the New England fall marathons.

I don't think it is too provincial to say we have some of the best marathons in the country right here in New England. Like many other things in life, it's right here at home.

Reprinted and edited with permission from Don Allison ©Cool Sports 1998
Don's columns appear regularly on www.coolrunning.com.

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