A message from the SLG founding fathers

Founding father Mark and I held an executive emergency board meeting at this year' Greta's Gallop brunch. We believe that the rules and regulations for this years SLG "Catch-me-if-you-can trophy" have not been communicated sufficiently. Consequently registration for the Chicago Marathon this year exceeded expectations and broke all records. 40.000 runners have signed up!!! Many of these entrants signed up silently hoping that they have a shot at the already legendary "Catch-me-if-you-can-trophy" which will be awarded for the first time ever. Unfortunately 39.989 entrants won't be eligible at all to participate in this highly competitive race because they don't meet all of the required entry criteria for this premier event.

These qualification criteria are strictly enforced and are follows:

1.) Participants need to be SLG members. (No worries Mike... Memberships to other clubs don't have to be renounced..you can have other clubs next to SLG)
2.) Partcipation is based upon executive decision by the coach based on past race performances (Hey...at the end of the day she is still the reigning champion. This position comes with some priviledges).

Other regulations associated with the CMIYC trophy:

3.) In the unlikely event that more then one runner leave the coach in the dust the trophy will be awarded to the overall fastest runner.
4.) The winner has to give a victory speech at the post Marathon festivities.
5.) The winner is responsible for proper storage and maintenance of the trophy throughout the year.
6.) The winner will be responsible for defending, handing over, or providing of the trophy at the next offcial SLG CMIYC event (Most likely the NYC Marathon 2007)
7.) The winner will be entitled to brag as much as he/she wants about the achievement until the next official SLG CMIYC event. (Lief, you better make sure you keep Gil in check....)

This years qualified SLG members are:

Lief....the coach and dominating queen of SLG. Consistently and easily battling off the pack for the last 2 years after reigning without any serious competition for many many years. The canny coach gave out this years motto (after which the trophy is named) and caused unparalleled -and often stealth- training activities across the SLG camp (see below). Fueled by rumors that she was suffering a "runners butt", SLG runners secretly felt that THIS might be the year and logged a few extra miles. Conspiracy theorist now begin to challenge the whole "runners butt" diagnosis after Lief -seemingly without any effort- was logging 8:30 - 8:40s in last weeks long run.

Gil ... the eternal second in his age category and representing the "premier" in the original "International Premier Running Club" is launching a new attack to push the queen from her throne. Late entrant (thanks to the persuasive skills of the coach) to the Marathon Gil quickly caught up with training and is now back to old forms. As usual his seemingly never ending chest of stories helped us through the long runs again this year. Based on the coach advise he changed his diet of 3 Gallon Gatorade and 2 pounds of Motrin a day. He runs very easily and is one of the top contenders for the trophy... unless he again goes out with a sub8/mile pace. He even decided to skip next weeks long run for a fishing trip. This guy is in shape.

Mike... the SLGer in the closet. Converted NY-Flyer (yes Flyers you did read correctly in case you accidentally landed on this Blog) showed very consistent training times. The originally postulated goal time of 3:30 was dismissed by the queen as rather unlikely and hence he was considered eligible for the CMIYC-trophy. Well, coach ... not sure if this was a wise call.... This year show-down with Gil shows how strong this guy really is. Your call!!!

Erik....the NJ rocket. The member with the most intimidating training stories!!! Reportedly logging sub8 miles for 20 mile long runs...... weekend after weekend... which was cause for some serious analysis during our Central Park long runs. How is this possible?? He got hooked up with some elite runners in NJ and was "dragged" along. Having had the privilege to train on Erik's home turf one weekend I can attest that the Middletown course is HILLY... VERY HILLY indeed. If the race tactic is right he will be all the way in the front. Ohh yeah before I forget the NJ rocket placed 3rd in a 8 mile run in NJ this year with an impressive 1:00:22 in his age category. Trying to distract everyone from this outstanding performance he attributed the 3rd place to the fact that there were many older participants ... nice try.

Philippe .... the "undercover athlete". Little is known about training methods and current condition of this talented athlete. Information only sparsely made it to the SLG headquarters. No official race times give testament as to what this runner has on his mind for this year's marathon. The last I heard was something about a 24mile (!!!!) long run without any water supply somewhere in Belgium. Other then that he hooked up with a Chicago running club and will for sure leverage the home-turf advantage mercilessly. Definitely someone that the queen has to watch out for. Hopefully he will fully disclose his training regime at the Marathon Party. I believe that Belgium beer plays a big role in his preparation.

David....founder of the Minnesota chapter (by the way... this chapter grew by whopping 100% since last year. Well done!!). I had David on my short-list for the crown already last year. This athlete is probably the most elegant SLG runner. If the tactics is right this year everything is possible.

Grant....co-founder of the Minnesota chapter. Similar to Philippe no information is available. From last year I remember Grant as strong runner in the Queens 1/2 Marathon.

Larry and Steve.... The Minnesota Terrorists. Well, go re-read the last post and you realize that these guys are not here to mess around. Ran a Marathon last weekend as preparation for Chicago!!! Give me a break! I am glad I am not in Lief's running sneakers with this crowd breathing down my neck.

Dora...the underdog. While the competitive branch of SLG may throw all tactics over board in an all-out battle for the CMIYC trophy watch who maybe laughing last. At the end of the day it is still 26.2miles. Everything is possible I'd say.

Stefan... SLG founding father without wingman. The coach considers me to be the wildcard. Not having been able to log as many miles in training this year I hope that the flat course will compensate for the lack of training. More importantly though I am concerned that I am not able to run with my wingman Mark who is unfortunately not going to start in Chicago. Having a shot at the trophy might release some adrenalin though so don't be surprised Lief when you turn around at mile 25 and I sneaked up on you. You may have to watch me finishing strong.


Clem, Patrick... sorry guys your are not elgible this year unless you run backwards and blindfolded with a 40 pounds weight belt around your hip as handicap. Although I have to warn you.... If I was you I would watch out for the runners in the next tier because I think we are in for some surprises this year.

I hope this clarifies the confusion that was out there. Good luck to everyone. Looking forward to Marathon weekend. Happy tapering and see you soon!

Let's go and catch the queen!!!