Monday, April 17, 2006 - 06:18 PM

So here I am, without a "story" to talk about on race day, and along comes this "expert"...





That is Meb in a photo at another race, still with the same white hat (toque).

I'm here at an unusual place on race day, the Media Centre of the Boston Marathon, Arbour Room of the Fairmont Copley Hotel. Sweet. Swank. Posh...what else can I say, it's first-class all the way. Every year until now, I've either run officially, or been out on a "run", getting some miles in.

Fresh goat cheese, quality meats, salads, freshly brewed coffee..oh, let's talk about the race!

So I'm in the front row, ready to get kicked out by credentials far superior to my General Access -Media" pass, and some big guy, full-on suit, credentials, patches, pins, all oozing importance and authority, and he's asking me as I take another huge bite out of my sandwich:

Q: "Where's Meb"? (the top American prospect)

A:"He's in the lead pack, wearing the white toque" is my reply...

Q: "What the heck is he doing that for"? (not exactly his words, but pretty close)

A: It's cold, he wants to feel comfortable (my expert commentary of course)...

With a serious, expert look on his face;

Q:"Who are you, are you a Doctor?"

A: No, but I've run Boston 5 times, how about you?

Q: "Do you know how much heat you lose out of your head while running a marathon?"

A: "No, not exactly, but it's cold and he (Meb) probably wants to feel comfortable, that's what I would do, it's more about "feeling good" than something technical like how many sweat beads a 125lb man loses per minute when it's 8 degrees and the wind is....

(okay, I didn't say all that, but you get the jist of where this conversation was going, it's what I wanted to say, but I'm sitting and he's standing, edge to the guy in the suit over the sweatshirt, ball cap, running pants and shoes..

A:"The heat loss while running is 1000x more for an elite athlete than an average person....(kind of what this guy said, who by now has really irritated me, even though I suspect he really is a doctor....)..

A: "I saw Meb at the Nike party Friday nite, it was indoors and it was hot, and he had a toque on there too"... (yours truly, another day, another party....)

A: "Nike probably pays him an extra $100,00 to wear a hat when he races, so I guess that could be the reason why he's wearing it" (ditto)

A: "It's 3 million bucks to the winner, so which makes more sense, do you see the Russian Woman wearing a hat? (ed. note - no other runner in either the men's or woman's Elite field is wearing a hat)

Side note: this reminds me of my good friend John Robertson, from Ancaster, a struggling golf pro, who three years ago qualified for the Bell Canadian Open, and got some money up front to use a certain driver from a manufacturer during the tournament. I watched him over the last 8 holes on Friday, he was on the cut-line, so of course John's dad is pissed because his son narrowly missed the cut and "lost" out on $10,000 (last place on the weekend) to take $1000 up front and miss most fairways in the first two rounds...(:

Back to Boston...

Wait, me and this "guy" are on hold, these olives are awesome, let me scarf a few more down and wash it with some soda...

Now the expert grabs some food, makes a few more comments, then leaves, with an air of superiority that just won't quit. No rebuttle for me here, but I take solace as I see on the t.v. screens, past the half-way mark now, and Meb is among the top three as the men's pack starts to break up....

I may have to go buy that hat....



PD