One More Mile - Cape Cod Athletic Club

Cape Cod Athletic Club - July/Oct 2007
ture store evacuated everyone, closed
the doors and called the police. Even
after the good doctor returned and explained
to the police and hazmat teams
that it was only flour used to mark a
course for the local branch of the hashers,
the police continued to treat the
matter as a potential bioterrorism incident.
Then the city, after completely overreacting, decided
that Dr. Salchow and his sister were at fault, sued them for the
‘rescue’ costs, initially estimated at $50,000, and charged
them with a felony. Maintaining an unwavering stubbornness,
the city continued to press the case against the Salchow’s.
"They acted irresponsibly in doing something they
knew could have instilled fear," charged mayoral spokeswoman
Jessica Mayorga Friday. "They made no effort to
make us aware" of the purpose of their powdery activities.
Salchow dismissed the idea. "What, you have to call police
every time you want to run?" He asked incredulously.
"Anytime you draw something, are you going to be arrested?
If you drop flour from your shopping bag, are you going to be
arrested? The implications for privacy and safety are just immense."
In fact, FBI and other police agencies had been routinely
issuing statements about the flour marking activities of
the hash house harriers after 9/11 to prevent incidents of this
nature.
As of 1 November, charges against the Salchow’s have been
dropped in return for which Dr. Salchow and his sister will
donate $4,000 to local charities. We recommend that everyone
passing through or running in New Haven drop a little
flour off at the local police department for good luck.
From Athens To Sparta
Since 1983, ultrarunners have been meeting in Athens at the
end of September to travel over what is thought to be the most
likely course that a messenger from the Battle of Marathon
would have taken to deliver news to Athens. This rocky,
muddy 246km run through vineyards and olive groves and
over mountains has proven to be a formidable test to athletes
who attempt to finish within 36 hours, the historical time that
it took the messenger to arrive. While this year’s race was
won by ultra-phenom Scott Jurek in 23:12:14, perhaps more
worthy of note is the second place finisher, Piotr Kurylo of
Poland. Finishing in 24:29:41, Piotr ran 1800 miles from
Poland over 40 days towing a cart of his essentials and arrived
in Athens two weeks (or two days depending on your source)
prior to the start. Indeed, Piotr led for much of the race before
being passed by Jurek at about 195km. No one has reported
how … or if … he managed to make it home.
Family Sets Guinness Marathon Record
Thirteen siblings of the Weisse family of Oshkosh nabbed a
Guinness World Record as they all completed the Fox Cities
Marathon in September. Ranging in age from 54 to 33, they
all finished between 3:59 and 8 hours, the official cutoff time
for the race. The previous record of 12 was set by the Irwin
family at the Dublin Marathon in 2005.
Marathon or War Zone?
Incredible stories of rescue vehicles, wrapped bodies, insufficient
food and water, and lack of sufficient planning. A war
or the Chicago Marathon? The only large metro race that we
know of in recent history to actually be canceled halfway
through the race, thousands were left to find their way back to
the finish area and their personal belongings after being told
that they could no longer run. Officially stopped at about 3
1/2 hours, those who hadn’t made the midpoint of the race
were asked to leave the course and return to the finish. Many
past the halfway mark were asked to walk due to the incredibly
high heat and oppressive humidity. Temperatures topped
out in the 90’s in certain sections of the course. Neighboring
marathons saw a sharp upsurge in registrations from frustrated
and unhappy Chicago non-finishers.
Despite the conditions, the race saw two incredible finishes
at the front. In the men’s race, Patrick Ivuti and Jaouad
Gharib ran shoulder to shoulder from the 23rd mile and ended
with a 400m sprint from which Ivuti emerged victorious in
2:11:11.0 to Gharib’s 2:11:11.5. On the women’s side, Adriana
Pirtea looked certain to win her marathon debut with a
commanding lead of 30 seconds coming on to the finishing
straight but defending champion Berhane Adere turned on the
rockets for the last 600m and sprinted past a stunned Pirtea,
beating her by 3 seconds.
USAT News
New Name For Our Region
7 July 2007 -- We are proud to announce
that our region has been renamed USAT
Northeast. This is in an effort to more accurately
represent the states our region
includes, and also to be more in line
with naming of other USAT regions. Our
new name will be effective immediately.
2007 Rankings Are Now Available
23 August 2007 -- The USA Triathlon Membership Services
department is pleased to announce the preliminary 2007 rankings
are now posted. Members can see how their season is
progressing by going to www.usatrankings.com. In addition
to the preliminary rankings, members will see a number of
new search and reporting features they can take advantage of.
Please note the following changes and reminders when
searching the rankings:
• In the "triathlon" category (road triathlons), members
must complete a minimum of three races in the 2007 calendar
year to receive an overall ranking.
• The multi-sport disciplines of aquathlon and duathlon
now have their own rankings categories. A minimum of
two races is required for both to receive an overall ranking.
• Only current members are listed in the rankings, and to
be included in the end of year overall rankings your
membership must be current on 12/31/2007.
For more information about the 2007 rankings program,
please visit the Rankings portion of our website,
www.usatriathlon.org in the Membership section. You can
also send questions to rankings@usatriathlon.org.
Free Subscription: Good Sports E-Magazine for Parents
23 August 2007 -- In an effort to reach the goal of promoting
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