Hope you’re enjoying the summer. Can’t help but wonder if I’ll ever wear a T-shirt again...And this just in: It’s supposed to dip under 104 degrees this weekend… As the Guv says, “This is bad hot.”

• Gilbert Tuhabonye, the head Gazelle, is going Hollywood. Gilbert is headed to Los Angeles in a couple of weeks to discuss optioning the rights to his book (“This Voice In My Heart” ) with the producer of “The Last Sumarai”. When it was suggested to T-Bone that Tom Cruise would be perfect to play him in the big screen version, Gilbert said, “I’m going to play me.”
• Bernard Manirakiza, Gilbert’s cousin who had a great year on the roads, is going down. Bernard, who moved up in distance last year and ran two terrific half marathons, reports he’s going to concentrate on shorter races, namely the 1500 and 5000 meters.
• Russ Secker, the new president of the Austin Runners Club, said that ARC is trying to land the Veloway in southwest Austin as its new venue for the Mother’s Day Daisy Run. The Parks Department turned down its initial request to use the Veloway, but the club remains optimistic that it will receive permission.
• Elle Foster Kozusko made her first Austin-area appearance today at 4:30 in the morning. Elle is the first child of Distance Challenge stalwarts Joseph and Lauralee Kozusko. Mother, father and daughter are all doing fine.
• Steve Sisson, who heads Rogue Training, has accepted the job as women’s cross-country coach at UT. Sisson worked as a volunteer assistant last year, but this new appointment means he’ll have less time to spend with his Rogue
  runners. Ruth England and Carolyn Mangold will pick up the slack.
• Cassandra Henkiel, who qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon in June in her first marathon, probably won’t run another marathon before the Trials. Her coach—Ricardo Troncoso—indicated that Henkiel will concentrate next spring on also getting an Oly Trials qualifier in the 10,000 which he thinks will preclude another 26.2-miler. Henkiel qualified for the ’96 Trials in the 10,000, but was injured and didn’t run.
• Nancy Dodd is doing her first Ironman in September in Madison, Wisconsin. If last weekend is any indication, Dodd is in great shape. On Saturday, she did a solo 90-mile bike and followed that on Sunday with a 20-mile run and topped off her weekend with a two-mile swim. Two weeks after her Ironman, Dodd is doing back-to-back marathons (one on Saturday, one on Sunday) in New England with training buddy Paul Williams.
• Russ Avery has lost 20 pounds--and it shows. The 47-year-old won his age group at the CapTexTri in May and then went on to finish seventh in his age group in the Nationals in Kansas City in mid-July.
• Jeanne Samson finished second in her age group (35-39) at the same National Triathlon Champs in Kansas City. Other high-placing Austinites in KC were Sierra Snyder (10th in the 25-29), Jessica Moroney (14th in 20-25) and Tom Rushing (5th in 20-24).
• John Ferguson, course measurer extraordinaire, enjoyed his summer break from teaching math at Hays High School, by doing the 27.5-mile Inca Trail Machu Picchu Race which started at an altitude of 11,500 feet. Last summer, Ferguson ran the Great Wall of China Marathon.
• Greg McMillan, the Austin-based on-line running coach, has figured out a great way to beat the heat: Train in Flagstaff, Arizona. McMillan left Friday morning for his second training camp of the summer in Flag. His first was a running camp for his clients; the latest is for the elite runners he coaches. By the way, one of McMillan’s top runners—Kelly Keane, the ’05 winner of the Houston Marathon—had foot surgery last month performed by Dr. Ted Spears.
• Matthew Mcconaghey, Lance Armstrong’s training partner, was spotted on the Town Lake trail running solo in mid-afternoon. He’s easily spotted by his distinctive headband and the gaggle of trailing girls trying to get a picture with him.
• The Girl Scout 10-Miler has replaced the Pervasive 10-Miler on the Austin Distance Challenge schedule. The October 22nd race will also have a much flatter course than Pervasive had. The Girl Scout 10 will be run on the new SH45 Tollroad where it intersects with north MoPac. Although the course hasn’t been finalized quite yet, it’ll be an out-and-back on the unopened stretch of highway. Race organizers had hoped to use the River City 10-Mile course, but the city wouldn’t issue a permit to close Lamar.
• The Decker 20-K will also have a course change (minor), but the 3M Half Marathon course whas undergone a major revision and will now finish at Waterloo Park instead of House Field. The RunTex 20-Miler will switch venues as it moves from Round Rock to San Marcos. And of course, the newly minted AT&T Austin Marathon (formerly Freescale) will have a substantially revised course. The only two races in the seven-race Austin Distance Challenge that will retain the same course are the season opening IBM Uptown Classic 10-K and the Motive Bison Half Marathon. We’ll have a complete preview of all the Distance Challenge changes in a few weeks.