Such is the state of track and field in this country that when Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke the 100-meter world record on Saturday, almost nobody cared in the least. The coveted title of World’s Fastest Man had been passed from Asafa Powell and it’s like the race had been held in Jamaica, rather than a huge meet in New York City.

Why this total lack of interest? Well, within steps of crossing the finish line in 9.72 seconds, the first thought wasn’t who is this guy and where did he come (Bolt, a Jamaican, is primarily a 200-meter runner), as much as, could he possibly be clean? It’s a good question and a sad commentary on track that any world-record holder, particularly in the sprints, is assumed to be guilty until proven innocent.

And why not? Look at recent history. Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the 100, is serving a lifetime suspension for testing positive. Maurice Greene, who won the 2000 gold medal in the 100, never tested positive but stands accused of receiving shipments of performance enhancement steroids. Tim Montgomery, who won a relay gold in Sydney and at one point was the Fastest Man in the World, is in jail for the next four years. And so is the mother of his child, Marion Jones, who won the 100 in Sydney.

It’s such a sick, dirty sport that the American sports public has completely tuned it out. Maybe a great showing in Beijing will revive track, but I doubt it. The athletes are always two steps ahead of the drug police so any world-record performance is clouded by drug suspicions. Don’t forget such cheaters as Marion Jones, Antonio Pettigrew, Sammy Sosa, Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds never failed a drug test. Heck, Ben Johnson passed countless drug tests for years before he was finally tripped up in Seoul. Florence Griffth Joyner never failed a test either. The only ones who fluck are the stupid, careless ones.

The pervasivenous of drugs in track always reminds me of a dinner I had one night in Rome with Frank Shorter in 1987 during the World Champs. Shorter has always ranted far and wide about the drug epidemic in track, probably because he was robbed of a second Olympic gold medal in 1976 by East German steroid king Waldemar Cierpinski.

Anyway, that night in Rome, Shorter was going over his list of drug cheats that included just about everyone who had won medals in Rome. When he mentioned a friend of mine who had won a gold medal in Rome, I laughed and asked him whether he was kidding. I should have known better: Shorter never kidded about drugs.

When I countered by saying so-and-so would never cheat, Shorter looked at me and said, "He/She would do anything to win. Anything."

Point, set and match to Mr. Shorter.

                         ***

1.  Angelica Kelley is the new president of the Austin Runners Club Board of Directors, replacing Muna Mitchell who did such a bang-up job in her tenure as president and board member. For the first time in several years, neither Muna or her husband David Mitchell (who was also president) will be on the board. Muna will stay on as webmaster for the time being. The incoming president is Angelica Kelley, a 36-year-old applications developer who has been an ARC member since 2001. She joined the ARC board last year as director of volunteer services. Leilani Perry is the new VP.
2. My buddy Steve Sisson has done a great job reviving the UT women’s distance program. The Longhorn men certainly get a lot of acclaim (deservedly so), but Sisson’s women are starting to make some inroads. The UT women’s team has always been dominated by its sprinters and jumpers, but two of Sisson’s runners have made it to the NCAA Track Championships in Des Moines next week. Temeka Kincy, who was a finalist last year in the 800, has qualified and so has Betzy Jimenez, a sophomore who has improved by eight seconds this spring in the 1500. Jimenez, who is from Hereford, Texas, ran 4:21.28 to finish fifth at the regionals. Hear Sisson has a great recruiting class starting in the fall.
3. There’s a new race this July 4th near Lake Travis. It’s the Lago Vista Firecracker 5-K. It’ll be on the north shore of Lake Travis and the course will have some hills, but shouldn’t be too tough. After the race, you can just hang out at the lake for a host of activities such as a parade, live music, classic cars and if you can make it, there’s a fireworks show that night. The race starts at 8 a.m. For more info, go to www.lagovistajuly4.org.
4. Also up in Lake Travis, the Lions Club will be hosting fun run/races every Tuesday night at Lakeway City Park down near the beach. The races of various distances will be held on a 1.25-mile paved loop. There will be divisions for kids (12 and under) and adults. The races begin at 6 p.m. and registration is at 5:30. For more info, call Scott Tracy at 263-7091.
5. I’ve already mentioned what a big deal the Nike Human Race is going to be on August 31st. We should be honored that Austin race is one of just four North American cities hosting a Human Race. At some of the races, Nike is expecting upward of 50,000 runners. In all, Nike is hoping one million runners will run in the combined 25 cities hosting the event. Leading the way in Austin’s race, will be our own Lance Armstrong who said: "As a committed runner, I'm proud to be participating in the Nike+ Human Race and encourage runners of all levels to join the global running community through this event." Not sure how many runners we’ll get here (after all, it’s August), but registration has for the race has opened. The downtown 10-K will start at 6:30 and the concert  will begin about 8:30. The very strong rumor is that Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals will be playing. To register, go to:  http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/humanrace/index.jsp
6. The other August race is always on my calendar: The Moonlight Margarita Run on August 7th at 8 p.m. This will be the fourth year of this big fund raiser for the good people at the Town Lake Trail Foundation and for this one they landed a new title sponsor: Freescale. The post-race party is worth the price of admission alone—a catered spread by Maudie’s—and because it’s so popular, the party sells out early every year. Right now, the Trail Foundation is offering a special price for Foundation members who register by June 15th: $30 just for the 5-K or $35 for the party -- $60 for both. The 5-K race itself is always scorcher and not just because of the blast-furnace heat (it was 99 one year). The fast course starts at The Rock underneath MoPac and heads east Cesar Chavez up to the Silicon Labs building and then turns around for a downhill second half. First one to the margaritas and beer kegs wins. (Just kidding.) Anyway, go to https://www.signmeup.com/site/reg/register.aspx?fid=DN2VBK7
7. Correction. When I covered the CapTexTri two weekends ago, I misread the results (easy to do; they were very confusing) and listed Melissa Ruthven as the first masters. But Ruthven was in the Olympic elite division and the masters title was actually won by 41-year-old Anne Smith in 2:19:44 who was in the open division. Smith’s time was actually faster anyway than Ruthven’s by 11 seconds. Anne is too modest to bring that mistake to my attention but one of her friends from Houston did. Thanks. 
8. Desiree Ficker rebounded quickly from her DNF at CapTexTri by finishing second to Kate Major last weekend at the Boise 70.3 (half Ironman) in Idaho. Des finished seven minutes down to Major, but had a solid race. So did Patrick Evoe. He placed 15th among all the pros. Both Des and Patrick (among many other Austinites) are planning to do the Coeur d’ Alene Ironman in Idaho on June 22.
9. If you didn’t get an email from AT&T, let it be known that the Austin Marathon has opened for registration for the marathon and half for the 2009 race. Both races sold out last year so…Go to www.attaustinmarathon.com.
10. In case anyone is wondering how much the city Parks and Rec Department actually spends on maintaining our beloved Lady Bird Trail, a reliable source within the department tells me it’s $1.71 million. That figure includes the salaries for five full-time maintenance workers and the staff for Zilker Park who do the same thing.

Have any juicy news for me? (It doesn’t have to be entirely true.) If you have something, send it to wish@runtex.com.