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November 23, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Yup,
it's tacky and may be tasteless but it's a funny way to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. The original
perps, who shall remain unnamed, also sent the recipe for those inclined: Ingredients: 1 whole chicken or turkey; 1 large lemon, cut into halves; sprig of rosemary; salt and
pepper to taste; butter or olive oil, whichever you prefer; Heat oven to 350 degrees; Rub butter or oil over the skin of the
chicken/turkey until it is completely coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and any other seasonings you prefer.Take
a knife and gently separate the skin from the breast meat; Slide lemon halves under the
skin with the peel side up, one on each side. This way the juice from the lemon
will release into the breasts. Place sprig of rosemary into the chicken/turkey. Cover and bake for 30-45 minutes.
Remove cover and continue to roast until juices run clear, basting every 15-20 minutes. If you've followed these steps
correctly, your chicken/turkey should look like the one in the picture.
November 22, 2006
From the 'Do you Laugh or Cringe?' File
Good Lord......There was a photo of Michelle Lackore posted above this morning's FL Today advance of all
upcoming races this T-giving weekend. While a photo of Michelle is a good thing since she trains hard and always races
well, the caption was blatantly erroneous. It basically said that Michelle was a top contender to take the women's
win at the Space Coast Marathon this weekend. Uh.......note to whoever wrote that little gem: (1) Michelle doesn't
live here any more (2) nor is she currently registered for the race and (3)chances are that if she were to register,
it would be for the half, a race she won in 1997 and then again in 2003. We wonder who did that since (a)the reporters
don't choose photos or captions and this particular writer knows better anyway and (b) Mark DeCotis, who is the usual
editor and an editor who gets things right, was out of town covering NASCAR. It's a real 'who done it'.
That said, there are some great races coming up this weekend. The Space Coast Art Fest Turkey Trot 5K in
Cocoa Beach is always a blast and kicks off at 7:30 a.m. at the Baliwick Mall on Brevard Ave. The four-person turkey
relay adds an element of fun as the teams employ creative means to get their 12-pound bird across the finish line first.
Race Director Rebecca Sparks provides the turkeys. After the 5K, kids get a chance to strut their stuff in the Lil Goblin
quarter- and half-mile run.
Farther south the Suntree Turkeytrot begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Suntree Country
Club. Race Director Steve Baerst offers participants their choice of a 10K or 5K for only $10. T-shirts are an
extra $15 and all proceeds go to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.
On Saturday, Running Zone kicks off the weekend
with the Space Coast Marathon 5K which starts at 8 a.m. at the Cocoa Public Library. The 5K is a prelude to Sunday's
35th annual Space Coast Marathon and Half which starts and finishes at Riverfront Park in Cocoa Village. The 26.2-miler
begins at 7 a.m., followed by the Half at 7:45 a.m. For the first time in the event's history, a cash purse
of $7,500 is being offered to the winners so this year's race should see some faster times.
November 13, 2006
Boston Qualifiers, Miami Man and Temperature Extremes
When 4000 runners lined up at the start of the inaugural Outer Banks
Marathon and Half Marathon in Kitty Hawk, NC yesterday, most were wearing a 'throw-away' shirt over their racing attire.
After the first couple of miles, most of those shirts were laying on the side of the road. Bad move-but who knew a cold
front would sweep through, drenching the athletes with pouring rains and then turning them into runnersicles as temperatures
plummeted.
Cocoa's Danny Barrett and Titusville's Gary Stutte were two Florida boys who held tough and
both gents pulled off Boston qualifying times, including a PR for Barrett, 42, who hit the finish in 3:20:37. Stutte,
50, pulled in at 3:30:56 with numb fingers and an intense desire to sit in a hot tub. Big CONGRATS to both!!!
While Danny and Gary were in the deep freeze, athletes at the Miami Man Half Ironman and International-distance races in,
duh, Miami, enjoyed picture-perfect cool temps that allowed them to make the most of the flat and fast courses. To put
how great the conditions were into perspective....Elly Kabboorrd, who won her age group at Clermont's hot and hilly
Florida Challenge Half IM last month, took more than an hour off of her time in Miami yesterday, again winning her age group
with her 5:03:18.
Others completing the Miami Half Ironman-distance included Jeff Cook, 5:25:30; John Hordan,
5:00:43; Donald McKinnon, 6:02:52; Rachel Ryder, 6:14:22; Trisha Rydson, 5:27:25; Christine Sparacio, 5:59:00.
Those
who finished the International-distance triathloon included Garry Branch, 2:49:49; Pam Bress, 3:01:01; Jon Davis, 2:12:07;
Randy Hierbaum, 3rd AG, 2:10:23; Bob Lynch, 2nd Clydesdale, 2:50:18; & Kerrie Lynch, 2:41:41.
And, last,
but certainly not least, Michelle Smurl, took second in the 39-and-under age group in the International-distance duathlon!
Great job to all!
7:00 am est
November 11, 2006
The Hairy Tortoise and Other Stories
As Newman on Seinfeld would say 'we have quite the conundrum here......' We've got the results
from the Tortoise and the Hare 5K in Melbourne, but no photos. On the other hand and thanks to Cedric Ching, we've
got photos of today's Energize for Life 5K in Titusville but no official results.
Luckily, Cedric
took a shot of the 'Henry Campbell' board which shows the names and times of the participants through finisher #78.
Sadly, though, no official results from this race have been distributed or posted.
We'll give it
our best here, however, considering that same best also includes a glass of wine filtering through the
system.
Today's second annual Tortoise race, whose proceeds will benefit the Brevard County Library Foundation,
showcased the talents of newcomer Eric Walter. The 24-year-old substitute teacher, formerly of Michigan and now residing
in Palm Bay, took the race by 20 seconds from 15-year-old Charles Ballou of Melbourne. Walter, whose wife, Christina
also won the women's 25-29 age group, broke away from the pack at the halfway mark, taking the win in 17:30.
Ballou was second in 17:50 followed by Melbourne's Joe Gayle, 18, who took third in 18:13.
On the ladies side,
24-year-old Jamie Reilly took the win in 22-flat. The real race, however, was for second place as Palm Bay's
Robin Hernandez, 41, outkicked Tina Hall by one second with her 22:19 finish. Hall, 28, of Melbourne had to settle for
third in 22:20.
Complete Tortoise and Hare 5K results, courtesy of Running Zone are posted at:
http://www.runningzone.com/results.html?id=0246
While the Tortoise placed a new king on the throne, Titusville's Energize for Life 5K brought back
a familiar face. Frank Kapr, former ROY champ and now 38-years-young, showed no mercy as he stomped his closest competitor
by more than 50 seconds. Kapr took the hometown win in 18:10 followed for second in 19:02 by Dave Van Duyne,
34, also of Titusville. 16-year-old Sam McMullen made it a Titusville trifecta as he took third in 19:27.
It was great to read (in the teeny, tiny board photo print) that Kara Neidermeier grabbed the women's win.
The 29-year-old Divine Mercy athletic director from Cape Canaveral has worked her butt off during the past year. Her
20:48 was good enough for the victory on the cross-country course. Titusville's Alexa Walter, 13, grabbed second
in 23:02 and 52-year-old Sue Strout, of Merritt Island, took third in 23:18.
Special congrats to photographer
Cedric Ching who ran a PR of 20:13 today. Whoo Hoo!
The 'Energizer' was the second in the five-race
Titusville Racing Series (TRS). Hopefully, complete results will be posted soon.
November 5, 2006
But Where is Don Ho When You Think You Need Him?
The only thing missing from yesterday's
Hawaiian-themed Spacecoast Classic 15K was a ukulele tucked under Don Ho's arm. Thankfully, the Waikiki
crooner was no where to be seen or heard. With a threat of the race being cancelled due to lack of a race director,
Marlene White graciously and competently took charge, providing more than 200 runners with a well-marked and supported course;
great t-shirts and post-race food; leis to all finishers and very unique 'surfer dude' trophies. The awards
given to the overall winners had been autographed by eight-time world surfing champ, Kelly Slater. Taking home the Slater-scrawled awards were
West Melbourne's Steve Hedgespeth, 28, and Michelle Weiler, 31, of Palm City.This was
the fourth overall win for Hedgespeth at this event and despite yesterday's brutal and dehyrating winds, the 28-year-old
Harris engineer hung tough, shaking off his competitors and running his fastest time on the course - 54:15.
Mike Wasson, 41, also of West Melbourne came through the chute in 55:55 for second followed by Ron Abel, 23, of Satellite
Beach for third in 57:11.Michelle Weiler, 31, was glad she made the drive up from Palm City, especially
after taking the women's top spot in 1:01:04. Palm Bay's Tracy Smith, improving her time on this course by more
than eight minutes over last year, took second in 1:03:15. Satellite Beaches Caitlin Reese, 24, was third
in 1:06:18.Thanks to Matt Mahoney, complete race results are posted at: http://mahoney4.home.netcom.com/scr/races/06scc.txt
This is Ironman 'Florida'?
Amid temperatures of 44 degrees and a windchill of 39, more than 2000
athletes lined up on Panama City Beach yesterday morning awaiting the start of the eighth annual Ironman Florida and 1,100
of the hardy souls were taking their inaugural shot at the 2.4-mile swim; 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run. According to Ironmanlive.com, the swimmers were met with a strong chop and currents
that threw even the pros off course. Once back on land the athletes were faced with NE winds gusting to 15mph
- but that was a good thing as gusts in excess of 30 mph on Friday had instilled terror into the hearts of many. Congratulations to local finishers Greg Akin, 37, Titusville, 13:44:34; Chris
Boozer, 37, Melbourne, 15:20:59; Deborah Ghiotto, 49, Indialantic; Molly Kirk, 42, Rockledge, 15:58:07; Rich Marino, 55, Indialantic,
13:20:05; David O'Toole, 59, Satellite Beach, 14:05:30; and Mike Smith, 49, Malabar, 12:52:09.
November 2, 2006
But Can They Beat Lance?
On Sunday, Kenyan Paul Tergat returns to NYC to defend his
marathon title. Sadly, the media focus seems to be 'how fast can Lance go?'. Locals also registered
to compete include Ernie Diaz, 26, Titusville; Sarah Guttery, 41, Titusville; Debbie Molina, 52, Merritt Island and Marty
Winkel, 62, Titusville. On-line tracking for this race is also
available at http://www.nycmarathon.org/home/index.php Good luck to all competitors!
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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!!