1. Tonight’s the third of four Swedish Fish Bandit cross-country races, being put on this summer by the 3 Stories racing crew. The last one was a few weeks ago at Zilker Park and tomorrow night’s low-key race (but high-energy post-race party) will be at Pease Park at 6:30 p.m. No registration is necessary as there is no entry fee, race numbers or any of the normal accoutrements. Just run for fun. By the way, the all-comers meets 3 Stories has been putting on have been such a success, they hope to add a fourth on August 24th but don’t have a track lined up yet. They haven’t quite nailed down a site yet for the final cross-country race either.
2. This time of year it’s hard to imagine ever having to wear long sleeves, gloves and wool caps again, but if history is any indication you’ll need to pull out the warm-running clothes on December 2nd to battle the stiff north wind for the Austin Runner’s Club Decker 20-K Challenge. This will be the 29th running of Decker and for the first time in several years, the ARC is adding a Double Decker to the festivities if you want to double your pleasure of the long, grinding hills (meaning 24.8 miles). To get runners ready for Decker, the ARC is offering a three-month training program, beginning September 4th. Open only to ARC members, the program will be coached by Michael Woo who will conduct weekly sessions on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Austin HS track. For more info on Decker, the training program or to register for it go to www.austinrunners.org.
3. Lance Parker is heading to the hills of North Carolina to prepare for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials on November 3rd in New York City. Parker, his wife Jessica and their six-week old baby boy are going to Boone, North Carolina at the end of the month, primarily because of its extensive network of carriage trails and cooler weather. If Parker (who went to school there at Appalachian State) is going to do significant higher mileage (going up to 110 miles a week from 80-85) for the Trials, he wants to do the bulk of those miles on trails in the Blue Ridge Mountains rather than on the roads. The men’s Trials will be held the day before the ’07 NYC Marathon, but on an entirely different course. The Trials will be run on a tough criterium-like course which will start at Rockefeller Center and finish at the Tavern on the Green in Central Park where New York City always finishes. This will only be Parker’s second true marathon and he has an ambitious goal for the Olympic Trials: Parker wants to run in the 2:14 range.
4. A good size contingent of Austinites fared pretty well last week at the USATF National Masters Championships in Orono, Maine. Leading lady Carmen Troncoso was missing with a tender ankle, but some of the old boys took home some hardware. Mac Allen, who recently turned 50, placed fifth in the 5000 in 18:13 but redeemed himself in the 10,000 with a bronze medal time of 38:03. Chris Gunderson, 41, snagged a fourth in the 5000 in 17:34 and another fourth in the 10,000 in 35:57. Richard Mendez, who is 45, survived the first steeplechase of his life to grab fourth and also collected a fourth in the 10,000 (37:25) and 1500. Jeff Brower took a silver in the 400 and 400 hurdles.
5. If you were one of the thousands disappointed by the cancellation of the CapTexTri on Memorial Day due to the torrential rains, the Austin Triathlon is the next best thing. Although the downtown courses are not identical, the Austin Tri will start and finish at Auditorium Shores and utilize Lady Bird Lake for the 1500-meter swim. The 40-K bike course will be a two-loop course with a few hills, but the 10-K run will be mostly flat. This will be the sixth race (of seven) in the Texas Triathlon Series and it’ll be held on Labor Day, September 3rd. If you haven’t signed up, you’d better hurry. Already more than 750 have registered and there will be a cap on entrants. For more info, go to www.texastriseries.com.
6. Diana Wightman is leaving Conley Sports and the AT&T Austin Marathon at the end of September to pursue other passions and interests in the non-profit sector. Wightman was a key behind-the-scenes person in the marathon as well as the Austin Distance Challenge and the Hill Country Race Directors’ Conference.  

7.  Just received word there’s a new race in town: the Got Guts 5-K on September 9th which will start at 7 a.m. at the Randall’s at the corner of Exposition and Lake Austin Blvd. The sponsor of this is the Alamo Celiac Gluten Intolerance Group which raises money and awareness for Celiac Disease. This is a non-fatal disease which necessitates that those who suffer from it must live on a strictly gluten-free diet. There will be a gluten-free food fair after the race. For more info, go to www.gotguts5k.com.

8. Tristud James Bonney has given up his hard-earned slot for the Hawaii Ironman World Championships. Bonney punched his ticket to Hawaii with a seventh-place early in the season race at the Arizona Ironman but since then a lack of training due to injuries, time demands at work and weather forced him to reconsider doing Hawaii again. Instead, Bonney and his wife Liz Kreutz, will go to Panama City, Florida for the Florida Ironman on November 3rd.
9. Also doing Panama City, will be one of Bonney’s training partners, Patrick Evoe. In his first season as a pro, Evoe has only finished in the money once this year (at the Eagleman Half Ironman in Maryland) but is hoping to make a big splash at the Louisville Ironman (he wants to run a sub-2:50 marathon there) on August 26th and then follow that up in Panama City where Hawaii Ironman slots will be available for the ’08 race.
10. I mentioned last week some of the Jr. Olympic qualifiers from Cedar Park. The results are in and they did great. The Junior Olympians from the Cedar Park Classic Running Club had a medal haul at the AAU Junior Olympics in Knoxville last week. All-everything Ashley Isham led the way with three medals: a silver in the 2000-meter steeple (7:29) and two bronze medals in the 1500 (4:48) and 3000 (10:31). Jesse Devyln took sixth in the midget boys 3000 (10:33) and Regan Tindell was seventh in the intermediate girls 2000 steeple in 7:54. Also competing for Cedar Park in Knoxville were Amanda Russell in the intermediate girls 1500 (4:56), Hayden Fairbanks in the sub midget boys 1500 (5:23) and 3000 (11:21), Andrew Stefani in the bantam boys 1500 (5:24), Nikki Keys in the bantam girls 1500 (5:57) and Chase Isham in sub bantam boys 1500 (5:56). Micah Scott ran 13:19 in the sub midget girls 3000, Susie Kemper in the sub youth girls 1500 (5:17), Ellie Arends in the youth girls 3000 (12:19), Mario Reyes in the bantam boys 1500 (5:37) and Kristen Jones in the primary girls 800 (3:14). Awesome job.

Have any juicy news for me? (It doesn’t have to be entirely true.) If you do, email it to

wish@runtex.com.