City Coach | Coach Cane's Blog

Why I'll Always Be Cold In Winter

Many years ago, my father spent some time working in southern California.  When it came time to return to our fair city, there was a little going away party for him.  The hot blond receptionist asked my dad why he didn't like LA.  He responded, "you're all beautiful, but you have shit for brains". 

Every winter as it gets cold here at home, I fantasize about moving out west and finding a nice, warm Niketown with tanned, happy runners to coach.  Then I remember that I'm my father's son, and I just wouldn't make it in LA.  This recent story, as reported by Star Magazine (don't get holier than though and pretend I'm the only one who reads it), explains why.

"Jessica {Simpson} asked the sales associate helping her where the Adidas sweat pants were," a witness says. Probably at the Adidas store! "The guy thought she was joking," adds the witness. Nope - the singer just didn't realize that Niketown sells only Nike apparel. Oops!"

Is It Still Cheating?

Last week, our friend and frequent blog commenter Yan sent us a tip about a woman who ostensibly completed the marathon in 5:20+.  Seems that this woman didn't trigger a timing mat until the finish, and she only showed up in one Brightroom photo before the finish.  In said photo she was clearly walking.   Last year she registered at all the mats until the midway point, and then disappeared until the finish in 7+ hours.  The fastest half marathon time we could find for her is 3:30+, which makes the 5:20 all the more implausible.

So here's the question - if this woman did not complete 26.2 miles, is it less offensive because her times were modest?  Would it matter if she was a cancer survivor or raising money for charity?  Are others as offended by such matters as I am, or should I worry more about myself and our athletes, and not care if others cut corners?  Also, aside from cheating, is there another possible explanation for her quirky results? 

Personally, I don't care what her story is, how much of a challenge it is to do part of a marathon, or anything else.  Zoe Koplowitz takes over a day to do the marathon.  Lots of other people stay out and suffer for however many hours it takes to complete the full course.  If this woman didn't cover 26.2 miles on foot, I have as much disdain for her as for anyone else who shortens the course.  I think anyone who cheats does a disservice to everyone who completes the race and does the best they can.  Clearly there's no way to stop all cheaters, and what someone else does has no direct impact on someone else's race, but I find it disrespectful.  Right is right, and wrong is wrong.  Based on the input I've gotten from people I respect, it seems that I may be in the minority.

Another Anti-Cheater

At our year-end party, we awarded our own Jeannine Bardo with the Anti-Rosie Ruiz prize for doing four laps instead of three during the Flat as a Pancake Tri.  It seems that Jeannine would have had some competition if golfer J.P. Hayes had gone into triathlon.  Here's the AP story:

Wisconsin native J.P. Hayes disqualified himself from the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament for inadvertently using a golf ball that isn't on the list approved for competition.

It's not uncommon for PGA Tour members to call penalties on themselves in a sport that's self-policed. For Hayes, 43, it's particularly tough because it makes him ineligible to play full time on the PGA Tour in 2009.

During last Wednesday's qualifying, Hayes' caddie pulled a ball out of his golf bag and flipped it to him. After two shots he realized it wasn't the same one he had started his round with and took a two-shot penalty.

Later while relaxing in his hotel room, he realized it was not a legal ball and he reported it leading to his disqualification.

Considering all the recent talk about the rampant drafting at IMFL, as well as the more blatant examples of cheating, it's nice to see someone playing by the rules.

Math Question

According to NYRR, the course for Sunday's Knickerbocker 60k was "Start at Engineers’ Gate, located on Central Park’s East Drive near the park entrance at East 90th Street and Fifth Avenue. A 1.46-mile out-and-back to the 102nd Street Transverse is followed by nine clockwise 3.98-mile loops within Central Park along the following route: South from East 90th Street on East Drive to the 72nd Street Transverse, right/west across the transverse to West Drive, right/north on West Drive to the 102nd Street Transverse, right/east across the transverse, right/south on East Drive. On the ninth loop, the finish is at East 90th Street by Engineers’ Gate."

As our faithful reader/commenter Jesse points out, the official USATF map also shows that the loop is greater than 4 miles.   All the documentation I've ever seen says that the "inner loop" is actually 4.0439 miles.  That includes the NYRR map.  Plus, at yesterday's Race to Deliver 4-miler, the finish was slightly shy of the starting line on the loop, which also suggests that the loop is over 4 miles. Nine laps plus 1.46 miles works out to 37.8551 as opposed to 37.28, which is what 60k works out to.   Was NYRR mistaken on Saturday?   Were they just cruel and wanted to make Scott, Kwok-Mng, Ramon, Chris and the rest of the crew run an extra half mile?

Any ideas?

Race To Deliver - Race Report

Lots of good things happening at the Race to Deliver Sunday. 

1. The Jack Rabbit Beginner Running group performed admirably at their first race.


2. Sarah Wenk placed 9th out of 100+ women in her age group, while still keeping an eye on the JR group.


3. Geoff Badner returned to racing for the first time in over a year.


4. Four year old Sasha Badner (pictured left with her proud dad) earned her first medal.

Congratulations all around.

Knickerbocker 60k

Fun day out at the Knickerbocker 60k today.  Scott finished 7th overall in a time of 5:22:xx which is a 34 minute PR over last year's time. 

Also out there were Ramon Bermo (2nd place overall despite whining that he's getting old), Chris Solarz, and Kwok-Ming Cheng. 

Congratulations all around.

Finman Part 2

 I recently posted an entry about "Finman", who apparently tried to use SCUBA fins at Ironman Florida. There was widespread speculation as to Finman's real identity, but since his name was still on the official finisher's list (and I was getting notes from people claiming to be lawyers even though the Bar Association never heard of them), I chose to pull his name from my entry.  

Today Frank Cardia's name was added to the DQ list for IM Florida.

Beer Mile Report

Friday night was our season-ending social.  Coincidentally, on the way to the party, a few of our athletes happened to bump into each other at the track, and a spontaneous, totally unsanctioned Beer Mile broke out.  There were six competitors.  The results (along with age and choice of poison) are below.  Congratulations to all the competitors on all their dedication and hard training for this event.

 

 

1. Naterator, 35, Budweiser.  7:06.2
2. Michael Borden, 30, Budweiser. 8:16.4
3. Scott, 30, Budweiser.       10:13.9
4. G-Lo, 36, Budweiser.        11:20.0
5. Chunks, Heineken.           14:26.3 (includes penalty lap for earning his nickname)
6. Mr. Tiny Stomach, Yuengling 15:41 (and still counting)

Prospect Park Fall Duathlon - Race Report

Congratulations to Tom Buffolano and Michael Borden for their season ending performances at the Prospect Park Fall Duathlon this weekend.  Tom was 2nd in the 45-49 AG and Mike was 3rd in the 30-34.  Great way to end the season.

New Cheaters' Hall of Fame Nominee - Finman

At last week's NYC Marathon, our friends at NYRR employed mats at every mile from the Queensboro Bridge to the finish, therefore all but eliminating the opportunity to cut the course without it being obvious.  Of course this spoiled my fun, since there are few things that I enjoy more than sifting through 35,000 runners' results and pointing the accusing finger of blame at those who take the short way home.  Thankfully, my disappointment has been replaced with glee, as it seems that a short 24-hours before NY, there was an instantly legendary case of cheating at Ironman Florida. 

The gentleman pictured to the left (in a photo from the Slowtwitch message board) apparently attempted to bring SCUBA fins into the water at the beginning of the swim.  Discussion about this racer has overwhelmed Slowtwitch (which has shut down the thread) and other message boards.  Until we're 100% sure of the story behind this, and the identity of Finman, we'll not identify him by name.