THE INSIDE LOOP

THE INSIDE LOOP

Tom Byrnes and Friends


You might’ve heard about it or perhaps read about it in the local community newspapers. A group of local Windsor Terrace teens on their way to or from a get together, a clear Friday night, June 5^th, PPSW, coming up on the Vanderbilt Street playground, on the outside sidewalk, a sudden loud noise, wood crashing, a tree falls, hitting some, crunching others, some are injured and one needs his head stapled and a stay in the hospital for further tests to determine if there was any other physical damage.

Cars not watching out, bikes in the wrong lane, broken pavement, dogs off the leash, , bad- guy- wanna- bees, and now last but certainly not the least, falling trees added to the list of what can do you in if you’re not heads up out there.

Pay attention to who and what’s going on around you. Better to listen to the sound of your footsteps hitting the road than to be absorbed in your iPod tunes and miss what could very well change your life for a while.

In direct competition with the NYRR’s Mini 10k in Central Park on Sunday June 7^th, the 20^th annual Kenny Dolan 5k in Prospect Park saw runners who preferred to stay local for a great race come out in force. PPTC was there behind the scene at the post registration table, on the starting line, at the finish line area, at the post- race BBQ, and on the victory stand as well. The post- race party that can’t be beat found PPTCers chillin’ to the beat of the "Come Hell or High Water" rock and roll band, talking running and training, races and paces, and not counting the hotdogs, hamburgers, or Buds we put away. And, hey, don’t include your trips to and from the beer tent in your weekly mileage totals! Check out the race results on our website, you’ll be PPTC proud you did!

This second weekend in June found PPTCers helping to make it happen all over the place, Wayne Bailey volunteering with T.A.’s Tour D’ Brooklyn bike event and Junior Passee hooking up with USADA with their drug testing in Central Park at the 10K.

The Al Goldstein-PPTC Summer Speed 5k’s should be another fixture to your running repertoire this summer. A grass roots road race with that down home feel, almost a loop of the park with the start north of the center loop transverse closer to the zoo and the finish across from the Lincoln Road vehicle entrance/exit on the inside loop, just north of the ice skate rink. Every other Wednesday evening this summer, usually rain or shine, registration at the Pavilion at 6:30pm and the start a little after 7pm as soon as the NYPD ensures that all the vehicles have left the course roadway. Come and get a benchmark you can use to judge your progress, or lack of it, for the 5k distance. Check the website or call the club phone 595-2049 to get the date of the next one. Bring your running relatives and friends .No tee shirts, no splits, a race for runners by those who have been there and done it themselves .It’s low key and lots of fun. It’ll be a well spent $5 for sure.

It’s June and the sun’s strength is the strongest at this time of the year! Be sun smart and do everything you can do to protect your exposed skin before a friend or doctor tells you had better see a dermatologist to get that funny piece of skin, freckle, or mole on your neck or shoulder or back or arm or hand or leg checked out.. Cover up during the hottest times of the day,10am-4pm, lather up with lotion with at least 30 Sun Protective Factor (SPF), and wear a hat and clothes that have indications on their labels that they’re made with material that will protect you from the sun’s damaging rays. Learn the warning signs of the different types of skin cancer, some more deadly than others. Don’t throw caution to the wind; your skin is an organ just like your liver and lungs. Be sun smart!

Upon learning about the tree crashing down and hitting the teens who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, I thought back to how many times over the years we might’ve passed the exact same spot while we were on the way to a loop or two or three of the outside of the park.

On a lighter note, back in the day, PPTC would gather to run on a Saturday morning and then get to the basement community room of Bobby Fisher’s apartment house on Vanderbilt Street just down the street from the accident site for fresh bagels and spreads, hot coffee and hot chocolate, giving rise to the name "bagel runs." PPTC has let these bagel runs go for a while but they were great fun and a chance to meet and greet fellow club members. The post workout Sunday brunch get-togethers Gil Torres was psyched about last year were also a great opportunity to open up and explore a ’social’ side of PPTC. After the first Summer Speed series 5K as Helen Dole was trying to keep up with me while we were biking together up the zoo hill, she mentioned PPTC’s getting together at a LNB (as in ‘local neighborhood bar’) for some post race liquid refreshments. Hey although the ad doesn’t say it exactly, "Got Ideas?" You might be surprised at how many PPTC traditions have been born out of home grown ideas, some planned and some really impromptu, to get members and friends together for good times to be shared by all. Not like the annual gala PPTC party in January but chillin’ with PPTC Let’s hear from you! Shout it out at the next PPTC monthly meeting, run it by one of the club officers or the Bored of Directors, get thee on the PPTC Yahoo group and put it into an email, call it into the PPTC club phone ,718 595 2049, talk it up at one of the PPTC weekly group runs, but whatever you do, don’t let great PPTC stuff linger in your imagination. Get your ideas out there! PPTC is your club, make it happen!

Late breaking rumor has it that the pool at the 9^th street YMCA could very well be up and running sometime this month. Prayers have been answered!

Run, bike and swim safely, be sun smart, and we’ll see you on the roads