York City Marathon

NEW YORK -- Fred Lebow figures that when he runs the New York City Marathon today, far behind most of the 26,000 runners who will flood the city streets, no one will notice his plodding effort just to finish the race that he single-handedly made into a city-wide running extravaganza."

* Saturday: Charlotte (N.C.) Observer Marathon.* Sunday: BRRC Frozen Finger 5-Miler, 323-RUN0.* Jan. 11: MCRRC Winter Flower Run, 6 miles, Rockville, 8:30 a.m., (301) 353-0200.* Jan. 12: BRRC 10-mile championship, 323-RUN0; Tri-Maryland No Frills Biathlon (3.5 run, 14.5 bike), Salisbury, 10 a.m., 882-6103.* Marathons: Bermuda Marathon/10-K, Jan. 18-19; Shamrock Marathon, Virginia Beach, Va., March 21; London Marathon, April 12.* News & notes: An indoor triathlon at Bare Hills Athletic Club Feb. 8 will include a 10-minute row on an Ergometer, a 10-minute cycle on an Airdyne and a mile run on a 10-lap track.

Here's one for you: The tiny, picturesque seaside town of Del Mar, Calif., long noted for its racetrack, obviously wants to stick with the horsy image.The San Diego Marathon, a fixture in that city for 26 years, hoped to change its looped course to alleviate traffic problems and sought permission for a straight shot up and down the coast.Del Mar turned down the bid, a city councilwoman explaining, "I took an oath to protect the health and safety of this community and I'm not sure we could be able to do that with this race."

NEW YORK -- The standard marathon distance is 26 miles, 385 yards, unless you happen to be German Silva of Mexico, who took an alarming detour into Central Park yesterday only to slam on the brakes, retrace his steps and rescue a stirring victory from heartbreaking disaster in the strangest, closest finish ever run in the New York City Marathon.From the 23-mile mark, Silva ran shoulder to shoulder with his countryman and training partner, Benjamin Paredes, dropping a pack of runners on a hot, rainy, humid day that claimed the life of 37-year-old Pierre Marguet of Brooklyn, who went into cardiac arrest at the finish line.

It's a way for runners to get the year off on the right foot.The Renaissance AllSports Athletic Club and the Westminster Road Runners Club have been ushering in the new year for several seasons with their St. Mary's 6-Miler and Winfield Mile, respectively. And because New Year's Day falls on a Saturday this year, the Baltimore Road Runners Club will hold its Father Time Frolic 8-Miler on New Year's morning.In addition, the Howard County Striders will hold their Prediction Run 5-miler Saturday at the Locust Park Neighborhood Center.

* After some consternation (alias appearance money), Ken Martin will be back running the New York City Marathon in three weeks. Recall, Martin ran 2:09:38 last fall, best time by an American since 1983, while finishing second. He'll do well to match that this time around, with defending champ Juma Ikangaa and Olympic silver medalist Douglas Wakiihuri looming as heavy favorites.* Lynn Jennings won the big women-only Tufts 10-K in Boston Monday in 32:29, 10 seconds ahead of Ria van Landeghem . . . Depending upon her results at a half-marathon in Toronto Sunday, Joan Samuelson is thinking about hopping into the New York City Marathon Nov. 4. If she runs 1:10, she says it will be a go. She has run two sub-1:13s lately . . . Ronnie Wong's winning distance in the Chinmoy 1,300-mile race in Flushing Meadow Park was 1,177 miles spread over 18 days . . . Dave Petrie, Mike Wrobleski and Sheila Greenfield were among the finishers at the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon last weekend.

NEW YORK -- The way Eamonn Coghlan figures it, the competition will last 2 hours and 26 minutes longer than the sort he's used to. This will give him plenty of opportunity to: A) wonder what on earth he has gotten himself into, or B) come off as the most bewildered runner anyone has seen since Lonnie Smith was rounding second in Game 7 of the World Series.Coghlan, the renowned Irish miler who holds the world indoor record at that distance, will be traveling an additional 25 miles, 385 yards Sunday when he fulfills a longtime promise to race director Fred Lebow and runs the New York City Marathon.

Twenty-six people and places in the 2006 Baltimore Running Festival, one for every letter in the alphabet - or mile in the Under Armour Baltimore Marathon. A is for Mykola Antonenko, the defending champion from Ukraine. B is for Trinidad & Tobago's Pamenos Ballantyne, one of the best out of the Caribbean. C is for Kenya's David Cheruiyot, who won Houston earlier this year in 2:12. D is for Lyubov Denisova, the half marathon favorite who's gearing up for the New York City Marathon. Her best is 2:25.

Rejected by the Marines? Banned in Boston? Tired of the city that never sleeps? Well, now local runners have a marathon to call their own. Mayor Martin O'Malley and leaders of the business community announced yesterday that city streets will take a pounding Oct. 20 in the inaugural running of the Baltimore Marathon. The event will fill a glaring hole in the city's running resume -- that of being the only one of the nation's 30 largest cities to be marathon-less, organizers say. Filling the void, O'Malley said, will prove to the rest of the country that Baltimore is "a world-class city" and help persuade Olympic officials that the region is capable of playing host to the 2012 Summer Games.

NEW YORK -- The two weaved through New York City for 26.2 miles, fighting head winds in Staten Island, ignoring Hasidic protesters in Brooklyn and resisting the throngs and the tangos in Manhattan that enticed them to run even faster.Given his chance at long last, Willie Mtolo, a 28-year-old black South African, bided his time, his eyes trained on the runner ahead and his mind calculating a private race. Lisa Ondieki of Australia took a different route along the same, partitioned streets.