of course he did it!!!!

OK people, remember I told you about Gil really burning the road in NJ and finishing 2nd in a time of 1:36:26, without any training to speak off. He was very happy with that result until I ran into Mike Smyth, (which some people insist on calling Mike the Flyer), who told me that running faster than 1:36 would earn one a place in the Preferred Start I (instead of the lowly preferred start II) for the Chicago Marathon.
So, last Thursday, Gil called me to ask whether I would consider running the Long Island Half with him this past Sunday. I declined. I did check race results last night and could not get any evidence on line that Gil (or anybody except for the winner) had run this race....
But today, I learned diffrently. Gil did go to Long Island yesterday, Sunday May 7th, and ran the Long Island Half marathon. His car died on the way down there so he ran the last 2.5 miles to the start. Then he ran the race, and finished in 1:34:47 (chip time), 7 seconds off his overall time of 1:34:54, which placed him third in his age category.
Mm.... I guess that "Catch me if you can" is really working!!!!!!!! I guess I should be a VERY PROUD COACH.
Congratulations to Gil!!!!!!!!!!! And Mike, although you did not get to the preferred start I, you certainly planted the seed for this phenominal race.
Oh, and by the way, Gil met some people at the start, who then helped him push his defunct car to the nearest garage.
What a diffrence a week makes. Last week, "half portions" in New Jersey, this week, buddies who help you push your car.
As an aside, David Garcia, do yo see the possibilities in that slightly abstract shape of a runner to come up with a "prize winning" SLG-logo???