I’m lucky. I live in a quiet, southwest Austin neighborhood with wide streets, bike lanes and sidewalks. There’s not a lot of traffic and the well-lit streets are used by tons of runners, walkers and cyclists at all hours of the day and night.

Most mornings, I’m out the door with the sun and cruise for an hour or so. I’m a pretty familiar presence and most drivers are more than accommodating and give me plenty of room. That is, until the other morning.

I was just starting a long tempo run with a training buddy and moving slowly along a street I run on practically every morning. The street is exceptionally wide and relatively busy with traffic that is usually flowing in the opposite direction. This same street also has a sidewalk on one side which is crowded with kids walking or biking to a nearby elementary school.

So, here we were, meandering along, hugging the curb, talking about the Longhorns’ chances in the NCAA tournament (zilch). Then, out of nowhere, a woman in a dark-colored BMW cuts right in front of us, rolls down her window and starts hurling expletives at us that largely centered around her desire that we take our skinny butts elsewhere.

I’m stunned. My running partner is not and, aggressive sort that he is, he hurls several f-bombs right back at her. She’s livid and screaming at us to either run on the sidewalk or get off the road. My friend does little good by yelling several unflattering remarks that centered around her large posterior which was a little beside the point.

I half expect her to pull out a gun any second, but after a minute or so she begins to pull away only to stop and cut us off again and unleash another broadside or two at us how running in the streets is illegal.

But you know something? She’s right. According to a running friend who is also an APD officer, "It’s against the law to run or walk on city streets. It’s called ‘Pedestrian in the Roadway.’ But you generally won’t be convicted of anything unless there’s no sidewalk available."

That’s good to know, but even if there is a sidewalk available, Austin police are usually too busy trying to catch bad guys to write anyone a ticket for running or walking in the street. Even my APD friend admits, "I do it all the time. Concrete hurts my knees. I’ve been yelled at a bunch too, but I still run on the streets. We runners cause most of our problems by running in big training groups down major roads. Austin has a high rate of traffic fatalities and large portion of them are auto-pedestrian accidents. So it’s an area of focus for law enforcement."

So, there you have it. If you’re running anywhere on the streets (including a bike lane), you’re breaking the law. I don’t expect APD to step up its enforcement anytime soon, but it might. A little understanding and cooperation among road-hogging runners, cyclists and drivers to share the road could solve a lot of the issues.

Runners have to be more aware of traffic and that we are sharing the road—not owning it. We tend to feel above the law and invulnerable, but in any confrontation with a vehicle, we lose every time.

Even in the eyes of law.

                                              *****

1. David Fuentes, the St. Ed’s grad who is beginning to make a name for himself in area races, ventured down to San Antonio last weekend for the Trinity 5000 on the track. Fuentes won it in 15:08, three seconds off his road PR. Fuentes’ Team Mizuno teammate Dan Jess was fourth in 15:35 in his first 5-K in a year.
2. Also venturing far and wide was Benny Rodriguez of Laredo. Rodriguez, who races here frequently, finished second in the hilly Little Rock Marathon in 2:33:59. Kip Chermirmir of Austin was third in 2:34:51. Other Austinites who ran included Alexandra Hasert who was sixth woman in 3:13:15, Mark Richards in 3:38:28, John Cameron in 4:0528 and Sarah Wilson in 4:07:55.
3. One of the great veterans (and great people) of Austin running is Mary Faria who is the chief administrator for Seton Southwest Hospital. The upcoming Boston Marathon will be Mary’s 30^th marathon and she’s hoping to use her race as a way to raise money for the non-profit Seton Southwest. "I have a goal of running well in the marathon," says Mary, "but I also want to get 1000 people to donate at least $30 and sponsor me for the race." You can either send a check to Seton Southwest Goala, 7900 FM 1826, Austin 78737 or go to the website (seton.net/goal) and click down to race sponsorship to contribute that way.
4. Mr. RunFar—Raul Najera—is going to be a daddy. Najera and his girlfriend Megan Sharrock are expecting their first child sometime in September. Megan, who owns a race business, just moved here from Houston.
5. Josh Selfridge is organizing the second Pub Run on March 17^th (St. Patrick’s Day). The run-crawl starts around 7:45 p.m. in the RunTex Riverside parking lot and proceeds for about 3 ½ miles with brew stops at Barton Springs Saloon, the Tiniest Bar in Texas, Mother Egan’s Irish Pub and Fado’s (natch), Belmont, the Blind Pig and finishes up at Aussies. The run is free, but you obviously need money (or plastic) and an ID for each bar. You don’t have to drink to do this thing, but if you are, have a designated driver or take a cab home from RunTex. For more info, call Josh at the Georgetown RunTex (868-2345) or email him at Josh@runtex.com.
6. Contrary to popular belief, the Zooma Half Marathon on March 27 at the beautiful Hyatt Lost Pines Resort and Span in Bastrop is open to men. The race is mostly women though and Zooma executive director Brae Blackley expects 2000 women will be running either the 5-K, 20-K relay or the half. New Balance will be hosting a throng of women’s fitness writers at Lost Pines that weekend in connection with the race with some special events. For more info, go to zoomarun.com/austin.
7. You gotta love drug cheats. Ethiopian marathoner Shetaye Gemechu, who competed in two Olympic marathons and is a regular on the US road circuit, tested positive for EPO and received a two-year ban. Gemechu is probably laughing all the way to the bank. She won the Arizona Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon three times between 2004 and 2006. She tested positive after winning a half marathon in Luxembourg last September and defended herself by saying, "There is no way I would take doping for such a small race." Nice to know. She did admit to taking unspecified medicine without checking its contents before the Luxembourg race.
8. Speaking of cheats, Marion Jones of Austin, who was stripped of the five Olympic medals she "won" in the 2000 Olympics because of performance enhancing drugs, has signed to play with the Tulsa Shock of the WNBA. Jones, who is now 34 and lives in north Austin with her husband and three children, played basketball at the University of North Carolina. As a freshman point guard, she led the Tar Heels to the NCAA championship in 1994 but hasn’t played competitively since 1997. The disgraced sprinter-long jumper, who served a six-month prison sentence, says a return to sports would be a blessing. "To me, it's a lot bigger than just an opportunity to play basketball. It's an opportunity to share my personal message to a lot more people. It's been a rough, challenging journey for me the past few years. It's pretty much made me stronger. You never get past certain things. I'm sure everyone will reflect on the past and that's fine. I understand that, I accept that, but I'm on track now and looking forward."
9. Khalid Khannouchi is also going to try and make a comeback. A naturalized American, Khannouchi was at one time the most dominant marathoner in the world. Twice he broke the marathon world record and won the Chicago Marathon four times and when he won London in 2002, he set the still standing American record of 2:05:38. Now 39 years old and rehabbing from foot surgery, Khannouchi has had a succession of injuries ever since that has kept him out of racing. "My big plan is to try to do a marathon in the fall," says Khannouchi who trained briefly in Austin in 2008. "I’m not in a rush. I’m trying to make smart decisions. I’ll start with shorter races maybe sometime in May, but the big goal is running a marathon in the fall. If I can manage that, I’ll be very happy."
10. Texas Exs Sanya Richards and Aaron Ross are honeymooning in Abu Dhabi and, according to Richards, they have both been training hard. Richards said she’ll be running two relays at the Texas Relays (March 31-April 3). After that, she’s running the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco (where she trains) and the Penn Relays. Her first international will be in Doha on May 14^th. "This year I’m definitely going to run some more 200s," says Richards, "and maybe a couple of 100s. It’s going to be a fun year for me and I hope I can set some PRs in the 400 and 200."
11. Nike has announced it will begin a four-month virtual competition for high-school track and field athletes that will select the top 12 boys and girls track programs in the country. Those programs will then compete at Hayward Field in Eugene in the Nike Track Nationals on July 2^nd—the night before the Prefontaine Classic which is also held at Hayward. Beginning this week and through June 13^th, all high school track teams are invited to compete in a virtual competition (www.NikeTrackNationals.com). Upon completion of the virtual competition, the top team in each of eight regions will qualify for the Nike Nationals and the four highest scoring teams from any region will round out the field of 12 teams. The teams will compete in these events: 100 meters, 110/100-meter hurdles, 400, 800, mile, long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot and discus.
12. What I’m listening to this morning: "Home", my favorite Dixie Chicks album. BTW: Martie Maguire and Emily Robison will be playing at the Four Seasons on March 18^th at 9:30 a.m. as part of the KGSR SXSW lineup. The sisters will be playing under their nom de plume—the Court Yard Hounds.

Have any juicy news for me? (It doesn’t have to be entirely true.)

If you have something, send it to wish@runtex.com