The Boston Marathon has been around for 108 years. They have this peculiar concept in the city called tradition. It is both a positive and a negative. In terms of the marathon, it is both. Race Director Dave McGillivray said, "Boston's single most important attribute is tradition." There was a song by an Australian band of the late 70s, the Split Enz titled, "History Never Repeats." How wrong they were . . . a few tidbits of history:

In 1976, after the previous year when so many runners ran lifetime bests, under near perfect conditions, the day was hot. I still have the pictures of Jack Fultz, with his Georgetown singlet running under hoses, the drops of water caught mid drop. Jack is one of those people who makes running look easy, but on that day, and any humid plus 80 degree day that you are putting out serious effort, even Jack looked worse for the wear. His victory that year was mentioned in the running mags as an off-year---the year before Bill Rodgers had run 2.09. Jack would run 2.11.25. If my mind serves me right, Jack's 2.20 was the fastest anyone could have run that day and survive to run another.

*******

In 1982, the duel between Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley came down to inches. The humidity was horrible and the temperature was very high as well. These two great marathoners dueled to the finish, and left thousands of runners wilting in the heat.

Many observers of the sport (and this one included) believe that hard, fast marathons take something out of your body, and spirit that can not be replaced. A hot, fast marathon is a career changer. I still wonder how much that took out of both of those champion runners.

*****

Race Director Dave McGillivray in his comments at Saturday's Breakfast of Champions said this--and every marathoner should be aware: "Don't make any reckless decisions."

Dave and his crew just returned from a successful U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials, where they helped Nancy Lieberman of St. Louis put on a superb event.

*******

Mt. SAC Update: Most notable performances---Shalane Flanagan ran 15.09, just missing Olympic "A" Standard and Brookline's own Jonathan Riley continues his Olympic year, getting the standard in 13.21.6.

******

My picks for 2004 Boston: a. Robert Kiprotich Cheryiot for the win, Joseph Ngeny for second, Benjamin Kimutai for third.

b. Catherine Ndereba, Elfemish Alemu, Lyubov, Demisova,

******** I am heading over the expo today, and will update again on Sunday night. Running Network will do their Boston updates from the media room on Monday, April 20, 2004.

****

Thanks again for reading our coverage and remember, if you need something on the world of athletics or running, please check out http://www.runningnetwork.com!

****** atf newswire is a publication of shooting star media, inc. www.shootingstarmediainc.com copyright 2004 by shooting star media, inc. Shooting Star Media, Inc. publications are American Track and Field, Athletes Only, California Track & Running News, and Mssouri Runner & Triathlete.

All SSM, Inc. publications are proud members of the Running Network, LLC. www.runningnetwork.com

This newsletter is published for the good of the sports. Please feel free to use anything from the newsletter, just remember to credit shooting star media,inc. For more information, please contact Larry Eder at mobile, 608.239.3785

Fr a complete 04 media kit for the runningnetwork, please check www.shootingstarmediainc.com