A Bi-coastal December for SLG

The last Sunday of the year finds me compelled to look back on 2008 and our running accomplishments
Although SLG went a bit the way of the big financial institutions, maybe not monetarily but definitely in miles run by its members, there are some fine moments to reflect on with a big smile on my face.

First there was the celebration of my 50th birthday. Although we had high hopes that some SLGers would run the Manhattan half on my actual birthday, January 27th, the party did most of us in. It ended at 4 am with eggs on the windows (courtesy of some neighbors), police coming to ask us to turn down the volume a bit and Stefan, Gil and myself deciding we could pass on the run. The sole SLG-er who kept up the honor of the club was David, in from California for the party and the run. And that provided him with a fine excuse not to have stayed at the party for the best gift I could have imagined; for the woman who has everything, there was the "SLG Monty"







May 17th brought another superb running moment in my running career. Before Stefan left for his "sabbatical" in Germany for 3 months, he challenged me in the 10 k Healthy Kidney race. Lots hase been written about this before but I am still savoring the fact that I finished in 51:18 to Stefan's 51:25 net time. It was really a treat to have beaten the founding father by 1 second/mile

Just like I turned 50 in 2008, so did the NYRRC. No SLG Monty for Mary Wittenberg. Their idea of celebration consisted of a 5 mile run at 5.30 am on a Wednesday, June 4th, in the pouring rain. I remember thinking how crazy it was to get out of bed for the occasion but it seemed only fitting that the Queen of SLG did her duty and represented the club for this special occasion.

Running this past summer was a lonely affair. As I already mentioned, Stefan was in Germany for 3 months, Mike was concentrating on short distance races or not running at all, Gil once again was injured and nobody seemed to be much interested in training for whatever so, there was many a loop run in the park by just me, in my attempt to train for the Berlin marathon. I am happy to report that Gil did join me again for some longs runs towards the end of the summer.
It seemed like a good omen that my, already famous, "medal tree" arrived on September 24th, the day I left for Berlin But as most of you already know, it was a big disappointment for me as well as for super coach Clem. Of course, the fact that Gil brough the CMIYC trophy back to American soil made it all worth it.

Then, on October 19, after years of talking about this 5 k race in Scarsdale and the Stanley Newhouse trophy for the first male and female finisher over 50, Gil finally ran the race and more importantly won his trophy. I tagged along for moral support and although I did not win the trophy for first woman over 50, I did come in second.

On November 16th, Stefan recaptured his title as "Prince of short distances" by beating me fair and square in the "Race to Deliver" 4 miler, usually a race where SLG runs very strongly. Even Mark showed up for the occasion.
Around the same time, after Clem had first nudged us to go for the "Big 5", he talked about his disappointing year in running, flirted with retirement but decided that he could not stop so close to accomplishing his 100th marathon, which will be an invitational.

Anyway, I did some serious soul searching about the state of my own running and realized things were not going so well for me either. But December brought some good stuff. First, Larry and I went to visit David and Grant in Marina Del Rey in California. Besides being great hosts, showing us around in LA (where yes, there are some very interesting sites to see), and just generally pampering us, David decided that it would be a good idea to run the Los Angeles half marathon on December 7th. First I thought this was a terrible idea, but luckily I warmed up to it and trained for it some. I had no great expectations, and besides making the strategical error of not peeing before the race, so that I had to find a tree right after we started, I ran my best half marathon in over 2 years. It was a very nice course that was partly run on dirt. Despite 3 quite challenging hills, I never seem to really tire and around the 10 mile mark I saw David about 200 yards ahead of me. I tried not to look at where he was as to not get in a tizzy about catching him but around the 12th mile I did catch him. For a split second I thought that maybe we should finish together. Luckily, my competitive spirit brought me back to my senses and yes, I am proud to say that I beat David.



The weekend before Christmas brought David to New York. A 15 k race on Saturday gave David a chance for revenge. However, Friday saw a big snow storm which turned the race into a "fun run". This means that the mile markers were out, and clocks were posted but there were no official results posted. It was really great to have David here for the run, together with Gil who drove in from Scarsdale on some pretty treacherous roads and of course Stefan ran too. It may have been a "fun run" for the NYRR but that's not how SLG saw the race. Of course the King beat but may I point out that the Queen came in second, and beat David and Stefan!

So this brings me to today and thinking that it has been a bit of a difficult year for SLG but there are some signs of hope. Clem sent me an e-mail this morning, with a preliminary calendar for his marathons between now and July 4th, 2010, which is for now the tentative date for his 100th. So although it wasn't an easy year for him either, I hope he will be re-energized. He is signed up for Boston (as well as for New York on November 1st 2009) as is Gil, and I. Dora has made some noises about being there as well, but lately she has not shown a sign of life. Stefan is still interested in running Boston and I would really love to have him there so we are still trying to get him an entry. Any updates on that subject Stefan?
And although the "Big 5" may be out of reach for most of us, just today, I was reminded why I need to run. First of all, I stepped on the scale this morning, AND THAT WAS A BIG REMINDER RIGHT THERE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE IS A LOT OF EATING AND DRINKING AND NO RUNNING! Second, it is necessary for my mental health, and it makes me organize my "blog thoughts". I know it gets a bit lengthy sometimes. For those of you who are bored to tears, you can just look at the pictures. Running also gives me a chance to argue about almost anything with my most faithful running buddy, Gil. We would not have time to do it at other times.
So for now we will train for Boston, and if London may seem out of reach (and also a bit out of my interest), maybe I will create my own BIG 5! New York, Chicago, Boston, Berlin and the CCM (Clem's Centennial Marathon). I hope SLG'ers will save the date!
And if the running part of SLG will ultimately wane, I will always be gratefull for the good friends and the good times that it has given us. Proof of this came just last Saturday after the 15 k,when we had a little Christmas brunch at SLG headquarters. Good food, drinks and a very relaxed atmosphere. People were around all afternoonm shooting the breeze, hanging around doing nothing, just enjoying each other's company. So, with this last picture I wish everybody a Happy New Year!!!