We’re all still in shock over the death this week of our friend David Doolittle. At this time, words can’t express our sorrow (or sympathy to Martha, Travis and Laura) on the passing of this good man who was so instrumental in the growth and continued health of running and racing in Austin. Without his vision, diplomacy and business sense, we might not have the marathon we have today.

I’ll miss him.

A bunch of us are doing a hilly 16-miler on Sunday morning in memory of Dave. If you want to join us for all or part of it, we leave the Austin HS parking lot at 6 a.m. There will be water and Gatorade along the route and there’s a convenient bail-out point about halfway if you don’t want to do the entire thing.

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1. Raul Najera and the staff at Run-Far have gone global. Raul, Megan Cary and Tracy Arambula got back from Bogota, Colombia on Wednesday night where they chip timed a massive 30,000-runner race. Thursday night they were back at it, timing the more sedate Moonlight Margarita Run.
2. Dick Wilkowski, one of the top “mature” runners in town, retired last week after 37 years with IBM. Evidently, retirement isn’t sitting too well with The Man in Black. The day after Dick left IBM he went down with food poisoning and a couple of days after that, he was rushed to Seton for an emergency appendectomy. But he’s OK now and anxious to get back on the trail.
3. The third (and final) installment of the Moon Pie All Comers Track Meet Summer series will be tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the Texas School for the Deaf track, just off South 1st Street. Come early. Registration closes at 5 p.m.
4. Heads up for a feature story in the Statesman on Monday by Pam LeBlanc on Sgt. Scott Cary who heads the APD running club.
5. Looking for some Saturday morning fun with your young kids? The folks at 1379 Active Wear Store For Kids have started a Saturday morning run/walk. It's a no stress fun run or walk with your kids which starts at 9:30 at their Tarrytown store (2727 Exposition, across from Casis School). From the store, the run/walk goes to a nearby park for active games. Call 474-1379 for details.
6. Chris Gunderson, Mac Allen, Mark Cleary, Carol Fensrud and Richard Mendez are all in Maine for the USATF National Masters Meet. The only one who has reported in so far is Gundy, now a tottering old fool of 41, who finished fifth in the 5000 last night in 17:34, behind Brian Pope’s winning time of 15:55.
7. Robert Iles ran in his 25th Corporate Cup Relays in California. Iles cruised to an 18:55 for 5000 meters and 2:21 in the 800 to help his Texas Instruments team win its division.
8. Amber Galvan, the oldest daughter of San Antonio’s marathon diva Liza Hunter-Galvan who was so seriously injured in a February car accident, is recovering nicely. The 12-year-old is now running and slowly regaining full use of her faculties, reports Paul Perrone who had been staying with the Galvans before moving back to Austin.
9. This is a little late, but the distance gang from the Cedar Park Classic team qualified runners in 19 events for the AAU Junior Olympic Games National Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee which started on Monday and wraps up tomorrow. I don’t have any results from Knoxville yet, but some of the runners from Cedar Park who participated include Ashley Isham (natch), Jesse Devlyn (the younger), Hayden Fairbanks, Susie Kemper, Andrew Stefani, Chase Isham, Jesse Ataway, Mario Reyes, Amanda Russell, Ellie Arends, Kristen Jones, Nikki Keys, Micah Scott and Regan Tindell.
10. The Fila Relays are on for the fourth consecutive year at Zilker Park on August 31st at 6:30 p.m. This team-oriented event consists of four-runner teams with each leg consisting of 2 ½ miles. Last year, more than 100 teams participated and many more are expected for the ’07 race. Just the Mexican food spread from Tacodeli is worth the price of admission. For more info, go to www.fila.com/filarelays.

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