The great indoors: fill your schedule with blissfully sheltered activity. Long johns not required.(BEST BETS) - New York

Roll With Your Friends

The Port Authority's revamped bowling alley transforms into a disco scene at night ($6 to $9 per game at Leisure Time Bowl, 625 Eighth Ave., nr. 40th St.; 212-268-6909).

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Smash a Squash Ball

This winter, pick up the ultimate sport for calorie-burning and deal-making (Monday Night Squash Training, $30 for nonmembers at the Printing House Fitness & Squash Club, 421 Hudson St., at Leroy St.; 212-243-7600).

Stroke More Efficiently

TYR's swimming paddles promote good technique while reducing shoulder stress (Mentor hand paddle, $20 at Jack Rabbit Sports, 151 Seventh Ave., at Garfield Pl., Park Slope, Brooklyn; 718-636-9000).

Practice Your Short Game

The ProCircuit II Putt Return System returns your putts--even the ones you've missed ($44.95 at New York Golf Center, 131 W. 35th St., nr. Broadway; 212-564-2255).

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Step Up to the Plate

Practice your swing in one of the Baseball Center NYC's five batting cages ($80 for a one-hour rental with up to five people; 202 W. 74th St., nr. Amsterdam Ave.; 212-362-0344).

Not Your Granny's Shuffleboard

Especially after a few Bloody Marys ($1 per game at Nancy Whisky Pub, 1 Lispenard St., at W. Broadway; 212-226-9943).

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Spend a Vertical Hour

Bring your own climbing shoes or rent a pair to scale the wall at the Chelsea Piers Sports Center (from $50 per person) (Montrail Wasabi climbing shoes, $95 at EMS, 591 Broadway, nr. Houston St.; 212-966-8730).

Big Game Hunting

Play a few sets of Wii tennis and you'll need a sweatband. Toys 'R' Us is the best resource; check daily because shipments arrive regularly ($249.99; 1514 Broadway, at 44th St.; 646-366-8800).

A Prius for Junior

Your child can cruise around the apartment powered by his own inertia on this zigzagging PlasmaCar scooter ($69 at Mary Arnold Toys, 1010 Lexington Ave., nr. 72nd St.; 212-744-8510).

One, Two, Cha-cha-cha

Dance Manhattan's one-day, four-hour crash courses teach you the basics. The next one: salsa on February 4 (from $25 at Dance Manhattan, 39 W. 19th St., nr. Fifth Ave.; 212-807-0802).

Go Old School

table tennis tourney serves it up at Beach.(Front) - The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)

By Chris Carlson |

The Virginian-Pilot

VIRGINIA BEACH

What do comedian Frank Caliendo, baseball groupie Annie Savoy and TV show terrorist Abu Fayed have in common?

Each is infatuated with table tennis, a sport normally played in a buddy's basement, but one that has morphed into the centerpiece of nightclubs in Milwaukee, Toronto and New York City.

'I was going to our wrap party, and I was on crutches because of a pingpong injury,' said Adoni Maropis, an actor who tortured Jack Bauer on the TV series '24' in 2007. 'And everyone was like, 'What? Abu Fayed plays pingpong?' '

This week, pingpong, or table tennis, as the purists prefer, is the main attraction at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. With 91 tables and 562 players, including Maropis, the U.S. National Table Tennis Championships are being held in a venue far grander than a friend's garage.

The game played at the convention center isn't the game of your youth, where a wristy flick sent the ball arcing over to the other side where it was batted back until one player missed. This is competitive, challenging, and, in the biggest adjustment of all, perhaps even cool.

'We've gone past the nerd/geek thing,' former Olympian and current coach Sean O'Neill said. 'We're past the Forrest Gump thing.'

Players crouch low and dart right and left. O'Neill estimated the top players cover between three and four miles per match.

Maropis, who looks fit enough at 48 to try another terrorist takeover, wears knee pads and an elbow pad when he plays, protection from his diving efforts, or an occasional burst into one of the barriers that surrounds each of the 91 tables.

'There aren't too many that play like me,' Maropis said. 'I'm all over the place. I like the longer points. I call it pingpong, not table tennis. Pingpong is what people relate to. I want to bring the game to the people.'

The top junior players have full-time coaches, with parents recording the action in order to break down technique. A good blade, the wooden part of the racquet, can cost more than $100, and vendors hawked equipment from table tennis shoes to robotic ball feeders.

'The big thing for most businesses is to get people to like something,' said Rob Weber, an event planner who plays weekly at Kempsville Recreation Center. 'With table tennis, everyone already loves it. The likability is there. The issue is, where can you play?'

For the next four days, the answer is Virginia Beach, where daily sessions start at 9 a.m.

There's still some geek to the game, of course. A colleague in the coach's chair of former champion Michael Landers sported a 'Star Wars' T-shirt. And some of the adult athletes in the less-challenging classes looked like they spent as much time eating at a table as playing at one.

But for the elite, it's an athletic endeavor.

Jonathan Ou channeled the best of Rafael Nadal and Tiger Woods during a match against last year's runner-up, Peter Li. Ou, a 13-year-old from Longwood, Fla., who stands 4-foot-11, pumped his fist like Woods and cheered like Nadal after points during his upset win.

O'Neill said the field in the championship matches is sure to include future Olympians, athletes who routinely keep the ball within nine feet of the table (one side) at speeds of 65 mph, applying spins that keep the ball in, then bounce it every which way.

'Even the little kids are hitting it so hard. It's like that movie 'Balls of Fury,' ' said Luis Rafael, a volunteer who never had seen a real match. 'Except it's real.'

On Tuesday, the game's aficionados were doing their best to convince spectators that it's cool. In a nod to Maropis, the German national team calls a kill shot an 'Abu Fayed.'

The sport played a prominent role in the HBO show 'Entourage,' and Caliendo headlined the U.S. Open earlier this year, doing impressions between points. He's a strong player, too, one who has his ranking memorized, and flew O'Neill into Arizona twice for private lessons.

Billiards and darts always have been bar attractions for late-night revelers and, more recently, some bowling centers have catered to the bar crowd. Now, table tennis is vying for a piece of the late-night landscape.

Susan Sarandon, the actress whose character, Annie Savoy, seduced Kevin Costner's character in 'Bull Durham,' is the co-owner of SPiN NYC, a nightclub in New York City where table tennis is the main attraction. Franchises also exist in Milwaukee, Toronto and Los Angeles.

Maropis learned in his basement with his brothers. Virginia Beach's Weber was king of his frat house, pausing for chips or beer. The menu at Sarandon's restaurant features tuna tartare and Kobe beef empanadas.

'You've got NBA players, NFL players, actors enjoying it,' O'Neill said. 'In times of a recession, people like a reminder of their youth, when they didn't have to worry. Anyone who has ever played pingpong has had a good time.'

Chris Carlson, (757) 446-2367, chris.carlson@pilotonline.com

CAPTION(S):

Actor Adoni Maropis plays an exhibition table tennis match Tuesday.

Every Mother Counts founder Christy Turlington Burns, the Breast Cancer Fund and LUNA[R] Team Up to Support Women's Causes Through Film. - Pediatrics Week

Fashion icon and global maternal health advocate, Christy Turlington Burns, will premiere her short film, 'Every Mother Counts: Obstetric Fistula,' at the 11th Annual LUNAFEST film festival on October 26 at Tribeca Cinemas. Eight other films will also be featured at the event, including 'Worst Enemy' by actress Lake Bell. The traveling film festival of award-winning short films by, for and about women, opens its doors at 6:30 p.m. to the public. The event will raise money and awareness for Turlington Burns' non-profit organization Every Mother Counts, an advocacy and mobilization campaign founded by Turlington Burns in 2010 to increase public awareness and support for improved maternal and child health, as well as the Breast Cancer Fund, an organization dedicated to identifying and advocating for the elimination of environmental causes of the disease.

Turlington Burns' short film, 'Every Mother Counts: Obstetric Fistula,' looks at one of the most common and heartbreaking morbidities resulting from poor maternal health care. The film was derived from her feature film and directorial debut, 'No Woman, No Cry,' which premiered in 2010 and attracted global attention.

'I am very honored to be able to partner with LUNA and The Breast Cancer Fund, two prominent organizations that have similar goals as Every Mother Counts: to raise awareness for women's health issues on a global front,' said Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts. 'As a maternal health advocate and filmmaker, LUNAFEST is a great platform to premiere my short film, 'Every Mother Counts: Obstetric Fistula,' which was created to inform the public on the severity of the global maternal health crisis that affects millions of women each a year.'

This is the first year LUNAFEST has travelled to New York City. The season launched in San Francisco on September 22 and the films will be screened in more than 150 venues throughout the country, including Seattle, Chicago, Austin, and Los Angeles, until June. One hundred percent of ticket sales from the New York LUNAFEST premiere will benefit Every Mother Counts and the Breast Cancer Fund.

'Bringing LUNAFEST to New York and to Tribeca Cinemas is a milestone in LUNAFEST's history given Tribeca's heritage and role in the film festival community,' said Brooke Golden, LUNAFEST director. 'For the past 11 years, the festival has grown from a single annual event to a coast-to-coast force. To date, 92 filmmakers have been featured, nearly 1.2 million dollars has been raised and thousands of attendees have come away moved, entertained and inspired.'

LUNAFEST is created and funded by LUNA[R], the maker of the Whole Nutrition Bar for Women[R]. Information on the films, event details and ticket information is available at www.lunafest.org/nyc. About LUNA[R] LUNA[R] nourishes women with delicious snacks made with organic ingredients and the essential vitamins women need. LUNA connects, supports and celebrates women with programs such as LUNAFEST[R], a national traveling fundraising festival of short films by, for and about women, and Team LUNA Chix, an all-women's sport group inspiring women to learn new sports and be active. LUNA proudly donates one percent of its sales to a variety of women's nonprofits and the Breast Cancer Fund through the Clif Bar Family Foundation. (www.lunabar.com) About Every Mother Counts Every Mother Counts (http://www.everymothercounts.org/) is an advocacy and mobilization campaign founded by Turlington Burns in 2010 to increase public awareness of and support for improved maternal and child health. Now in its second year, Every Mother Counts seeks to engage new audiences to better understand the challenges and the solutions so that we can take action to improve the lives of families by improving the health of girls and women worldwide. About The Breast Cancer Fund The Breast Cancer Fund is the leading national organization working to identify and eliminate the environmental causes of breast cancer. www.breastcancerfund.org.

Keywords: Oncology, Pediatrics.

IMAGINE ENVISIONING OUR ARCADE - Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH)

So you sit there in your suburban easy chair, thinking nobodygives a darn about that empty old building downtown? Wrong.

Last weekend, pegged to the news that longtime owner Tom Danisgave the Arcade to local property redeveloper Anthony Staub, we askedreaders how to make the structure at Dayton's heart start beatingagain. We got dozens of suggestions - everybody agreeing that, asJoAnn Davidson of Centerville put it, downtown needs `a shot ofsomething electrifying.'

The ideas for what that something might be fell, for the mostpart, around one or a combination of these uses:

* Condominiums and/or apartments.

* A hotel.

* Dining, usually in a combination of lunchtime, high-end and asports bar.

* A museum, focusing either on local history, kids' activities,aviation or local hall-of-famers.

* An arts center with studio, loft and gallery spaces.

* A shopping mall/entertainment center, including coffee shops,special stores and a cyber-cafe.

* A casino.

And there were a couple of left-field suggestions that surprisedus, too. Common themes through the e-mails concerned parking (`solveit and people will come') and security (Tom Glaser of Dayton saidteens should be controlled, a la the Dayton Mall, and all panhandlersshould be banned from the place).

On a positive note, many people asserted that with loft housing,baseball and more visible arts, downtown is a different place fromthe days when the last Arcade plans fell apart in the late 1980s.

Here we present a sampling of what came in. And, a note to Mr.Staub: Everyone who wrote wished you good luck.

* Prom space. Diane Mitchel of Beavercreek imagines a grandsocial space. `After watching The Apprentice last week, I watchedthe teams try to rent out the penthouse of Trump Tower for $40,000 anight to various party planners; granted, we're not NYC, but rentingthe central arcade, under the splendid glass dome, seems like a greatidea. What a grand space to hold weddings, proms, galas and the like!If some caterer were smart, they'd set up shop on the premises.'

* Farm market. Gretchen Cleaves has something a bit earthier inmind. `It should become what it started to be, and that is a farmer'smarket similar to the Webster Street. It could be a year-aroundmarket with shops, maybe a restaurant or two.'

* Hotel concepts. Jeanette Kruer Eshbaugh of Miamisburg proposesthe `Sleep Inn Arcade,' patterned after Akron's Quaker Square, whichreused old grain silos. She would turn the Arcade into a tourism spotthat would combine upstairs sleeping rooms named after prominentDaytonians (the Orville Room, etc.), a breakfast/lunch cafe andsports bar downstairs. `Some of the area could be used as a historicmuseum with items on display such as the gold cash register,airplane, Erma's books, etc., plus a gift shop.' Add a conferencecenter and underground parking, she adds. `In Chattanooga, peoplefight to stay in old train cars. Dayton's `Sleep Inn Arcade' would beanother `must' for travelers.'

* History museum. Lots of votes for this one. `The Arcade wouldbe a beautiful place to store and display historic exhibits inventedin Dayton. A news article recently told of cash registers taken outof storage (at the Montgomery County Historical Society ResearchCenter) and displayed at Carillon Park,' one reader wrote. `It's ashame these artifacts are stashed away collecting dust. Family andfriends would come downtown to see this.'

`I think this would be a great idea given the fact that the Arcadehas so much history associated with it,' Fran Duell of Dayton said.

Al Yarcho of Kettering writes: `In conjunction with the Air ForceMuseum, create a Children's Air Force Museum in the Arcade. Like COSIin Columbus and the Children's Museum in Indianapolis, the museumwould be an interactive, hands-on, fun learning experience forchildren of all ages. Think of the interest and traffic somethinglike that could create. School field trips, out-of-state visitors,family outings - a destination place for downtown 52 weeks of theyear.'

* Art center. Local sculptor and artist Jim Moser of HarrisonTwp.: `Dayton has developed a pretty fertile arts community over thepast few years. With the recent opening of the Schuster Center andnumerous new galleries, Dayton has staked part of its future on thearts. I suggest that Mr. Staub looks to develop the arcade as acenter for the arts in the center of town. I know that the DaytonVisual Arts Center is looking for a larger, more prominent space topromote its members. Jane Black (director of DVAC, now located acrossFourth Street from the Arcade complex) mentioned her desire to expandthe `Affordable Portable' Christmas gift gallery into a year-roundshop, where DVAC members could market their work. As the rentincreases at the `hipster' Cannery building, I could see K12 lookingfor a new home with high visibility and access to practicing artists.

`The unattractive, under-developed spaces within the Arcadecomplex would make great artist's lofts. This would allow Mr. Staubto collect a reasonable rent without having to risk capital bypouring money into outdated buildings. In turn, these artists wouldthen have a venue to promote their work. As an artist, this seemslike a very attractive option.

`Throw in a reasonably priced restaurant or bistro (where astarving artist could afford to eat) and regularly scheduledopenings, art auctions and art hops and I think you'd have a prettysuccessful venue.'

* Senior Citizens Assisted Living Center. Bill Engel suggests,'This would make an ideal setting for the elderly, who used topatronize the downtown area. My Mom, who is 83, still talks abouttaking the bus downtown to do her shopping and just see what's goingon.'

* Teen spot. Norma Napoles suggests a kid- and teen-friendlyentertainment complex similar to the one on the levee in Newport, Ky.`Restaurants, ice creamery, patisserie, shops, art galleries andshops. It would also be nice to have a bowling alley and billiardhall that was smoke-free and family-oriented.'

* Casino. Opines Dorothy Keyes: `I like to gamble and go toIndiana quite often and find that 75 percent of the cars in theArgosy parking lot have Ohio plates. I don't like giving my money toIndiana, but since Ohio does not allow gambling, I am forced to gothere or other places. If you want people to come downtown you haveto offer what they want - and it seems like casinos are the answer.All you need is good safety and a parking garage.'

Mark Stokoe even had a business plan. `(1) Find 25 descendants ofMiami Indians. (2) Help them achieve tribal status. (3) Staub sellsthe Arcade back to the city. (4) The city offers them the land underthe Arcade as their new reservation, with the provision they rent thebuildings in perpetuity from the city. (5) The tribe creates anonprofit foundation (its board consisting of Indians and Daytonofficials) that opens a casino on the new reservation, upgrades thefive existing buildings, brings hundreds of jobs back to downtownDayton from the riverboats in Indiana, which in turn provides astable source of income for city-wide redevelopment from the rent/proceeds the city collects. We get a restored Arcade, restaurants,jobs, downtown night life, and Ohio money back in Ohio. Everybodywins.'

* Outlet mall. Denise Dean was one of several readers whosuggests an Arcade featuring outlet shops such as JC Penney, LizClaiborne, Marshall/T.J. Maxx, Children's Place and others. `Don'tforget a small food court and game room,' she notes.

* Self-contained apartment/condo complex. Gene Beare: `Make itinto offices, condos and a mini-Kroger store. With all the lofts andcondos that have been sold in recent months, a Kroger store seemslike a natural.'

Said another reader, along the same lines: `In Toronto, Canada,before a builder can erect a condo/apartment community it must alsoprovide service infrastructure to support that community. Having saidthat, why can't there be laundromats, a grocery store similar toDorothy Lane/Woody's, dry cleaners, shops plus entertainment tooccupy the space, with apartments above. It must be something soabsolutely unique and special and not available in the suburbs.'

* Hall of fame. Scott Kuhnen, a member of the Dayton AmateurSoftball Commission: `Centralizing Dayton's various Halls of Fameinto one location and into a building that has history as itsarchitectural theme would seem to make sense. Anyone who comes fromout of town to visit family or friends and also has a connection topeople (even themselves) in Dayton's Hall of Fame would bring thosefriends and family to walk inside.'

* Creative thinking: And one idea we never would have thought of,from David Drury, Kettering: `I think the Arcade downtown would makea wonderful bird aviary like the one in Pittsburgh. The structure isan ideal environment with the glass ceiling and rotunda design. Thetheme of birds and flight fits within the context of Dayton'saviation heritage; and I believe families would come to see it on aSunday afternoon, if the price was kept reasonable. Or, perhaps abotanical garden.'

Contact Ron Rollins at 225-2165.

RELATED

A CLOSE-UP LOOK AT THE ARCADE'S NOOKS AND CRANNIES, WITH ITS NEWOWNER

PAGE A1

MORE OF YOUR IDEAS

Oh, we do like to be beside the ...Lakeside; Taste Test Beach adventures lead Tina Miles to a meal at Crosby bistro.(Features) - Liverpool Echo (Liverpool, England)

Byline: Tina Miles

IT HAPPENS all over the world. Not every native New Yorker will spend their days off visiting all the main NYC tourist spots.

Similarly a Londoner won't necessarily have taken a ride on the London Eye, experienced a sightseeing red bus tour or posed for photos outside the palace.

So it's not really a surprise that there are still places in Merseyside I've always wanted to go but never got round to it.

Take for example Crosby's Iron Men.

Antony Gormley's statues have become a permanent feature on the Merseyside coast - but I'd never seen them up close.

So, this summer, we decided to pack our beach bag and head to Crosby beach to see the Another Place artwork and enjoy a spot of lunch at the Lakeside Bistro.

Had we have spoken to friends about our leisurely trip first it could have gone more smoothly - and a lot less muddy.

'Let's go and see that one in the distance,' said the hubby after we'd eyed up a few of the haunting Iron Men.

Minutes later we were ankle deep in thick mud. The husband was in fits of laughter as I almost toppled over and ended up with one hand and both feet buried, like a participant in a game of Twister.

Thankfully we managed to drag ourselves out and headed to the Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre to brush the mud off our clothes and scrub ourselves.

'Yes,' our friends later told us, 'The same thing happened to us'.

The area between the beach and centre was packed with dog walkers, families and excited youngsters crab fishing.

Crosby Coastal Park also boasts a large marine lake and a children's playground - all with the advantage of free parking.

The pounds 10 million Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre offers a variety of water sports and activities and a fantastic bar and bistro.

We had reserved a nice little table by the window; the website recommends booking in advance to avoid disappointment.

Our waitress handed us the lunch menu (served 12pm to 3pm Monday to Saturday) and took our drinks order.

According to the menu, the food is locally sourced and delivered fresh daily, then prepared to order.

Starters included a good selection of soup of the day, salad, chicken goujons, garlic bread and chicken liver parfait.

We opted for the Lakeside Platter to share (pounds 5.95). It came with olives, sun-blushed tomatoes, hummus and feta cheese and breads.

With the warmed bread it was delicious and I could have eaten more, but we filled up with the crisp breads.

There was a good selection of 'Lite Bites' - freshly baked baguettes or tortilla wraps served with dressed leaves, coleslaw and crisps.

My husband went for the English cheddar baguette with pickle and spring onion (pounds 5.45).

I chose a seaside classic, the Lakeside fish and chips (pounds 7.75). The meal was made up of a generous portion of tasty beer-battered haddock with chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce.

Other options included beef or chicken burgers, a tartlet and a sharing platter with pate, goujons, cheese, salmon, meat and breads.

There was also a selection of salads, and a carvery, which is served in the restaurant on a Sunday.

The informal bistro was better suited to daytime dining, although it offers a dinner menu until 9pm on Monday to Thursday and until 9.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

The service wasn't speedy but the staff were friendly. On asking to see the dessert menu, our waitress joked we would need to run around the lake after all the food.

But the sticky toffee pudding and warm chocolate fudge cake (pounds 4.95 each) were too good to resist.

And after all that trudging out of the mud we thought we deserved it.

Foodie Facts

Lakeside Bar and Bistro: Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre, Crosby Coastal Park (off Cambridge Road), Waterloo, L22 1RR Tel: 0151 966 6868 Email: crosbylakeside@sefton.gov.uk Details of meal: Contemporary British menu in an informal bistro Service: A little slow but friendly Value: Excellent value for money Disabled Access: Yes

CAPTION(S):

Suhr: Rising to the occasion in Boston - The Buffalo News (Buffalo, NY)

So I was blessed to end 2011 ranked No. 1 in the world ?

And I was doomed to open my 2012 campaign with a 'no height' atthe World's Most Famous Sports Arena (Madison Square Garden).

No-Heights (when you don't clear any bar during the competition)is the most frustrating result possible for any pole vaulter. Sortof like a wide receiver dropping a pass that he always catches(being a New Yorker, I was pulling for the Giants but I feel forWelker). I was so frustrated with the result, I bolted out of MSGas soon as the competition ended and within a half-hour was in theLincoln Tunnel heading west. True to my luck of the day, we gotstuck in a Lincoln Tunnel traffic jam behind a tractor-trailer thatlodged itself in the middle of the tunnel. Of all the places onearth, being stuck in a car with my husband and coach, Rick, in atraffic jam after a 'No-Height' is not a place I wanted to be at 10p.m. on a Saturday night.

Rick was oddly quiet so I figured I would start with my own meetsummation of what went wrong. Again, he was just silent. But Ifigured that his critical analysis was coming and it would not befavorable ? and deservingly so considering my less than positiveresult. With my confidence questionable, my frustration high, andour Lincoln Tunnel progress painfully slow, he finally broke thesilence with an unexpected remark. He looked at me and said, 'Ithink you can break the American record next week in Boston.' Atfirst, I didn't think I heard him right. Then, when he repeated it,I thought the fumes from the cars inside the tunnel must have gottento him.

His summation was not what I expected, but then again, goodcoaches are never predictable! He told me I was jumping better thanI scored. He was able to look at all the variables of the night,link them together and logically explain to me what had happened.

So my week's work began right there as we exited into New Jerseyen route back to Riga. We sketched out a weeklong plan that, ifexecuted properly, would give me a shot at the American record sevendays later. The technical adjustments went into place the firstthing the next morning and the mental picture started to form. Iunderstood what he was doing as the week progressed. His confidencein me is contagious and by Tuesday afternoon I started to believe(my confidence was admittedly low after MSG) that the Boston eventwould be a great one for me.

On Saturday night, I became the first American woman in historyto clear the bar at 16 feet in an indoor competition. Saturday couldnot have come soon enough. The push from the Boston crowd helped mealong the way as they always have (this was my third American recordin the Reggie Lewis Center). New England fans seem to love the polevault and they showed me that love on Saturday. The thing I rememberthe most was falling to the pad after successfully clearing 16 feetand hearing more than 4,000 people cheering. What a feeling!

The highs and lows of this event are hard for Olympic track fansto understand and even harder for pole vaulters to navigateemotionally. My results over the last week or so illustrate it best.A 'No-Height' one week in NYC and an American record the next. Thatis the pole vault.

As tough as it was this weekend for New England sports fans, theywere a big part of my American Record in Boston.

***

Taking a cross-country trip to the extreme - The Record (Bergen County, NJ)

00-00-0000
Taking a cross-country trip to the extreme By KATHRYN BONN Date: 07-28-2002, Sunday Section: TRAVEL Edtion: All Editions.=.Sunday

"Papa Charlie one six, this is control. Do you read? Over."

Location: Passport Control Point 16, the Lythgoes Adrenalin Rush adventure race, Northern Ireland. It's pouring as I haul a kayak through waist-high reeds and mud on the frigid Erne waterway. I'm at mile 250 of the 300-mile cross-country course of one of adventure racing's most grueling events. My swelling wrist aches, my feet are pickled from the cold and wet, I'm stumbling from exhaustion, and I'm wondering how I got myself into this.

And I'm only a volunteer. All I have to do is check competitors' "passports" as they come through.

The racers are much worse off, having spent the last four days biking, kayaking, trekking, horseback riding, rope climbing, and caving through some of Ireland's most rugged terrain.

The radio calls to our station usually come in the middle of the night. "Papa Charlie one six, three teams are approaching your location," comes the alert at 2 a.m. My tent-mate Renee and I stagger out to meet the arrivals as they cycle in with an assortment of injuries: a black eye from falling off a bike after inadvertently falling asleep; a badly bruised hip from a horse kick; torn tendons, blackened toenails, exhaustion.

For the 32 four-person teams competing in the Rush, this is fun.

Ranging in age from 20s to 40s and hailing from places such as Sweden, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, and the United States, these unusual athletes regularly compete on a circuit of elite -- some would say insane -- multidisciplinary endurance tests. Adventure racing involves full-tilt exertion for a about a week, with little - if any - sleep.

Thanks in part to publicity generated by the Eco Challenge, the best-known event on the circuit, adventure racing is growing by extreme leaps and bounds. The top teams are in it to win and are often well-paid by sponsors, but most competitors simply aim for the more modest goal of finishing, no easy feat in itself.

Racers, some of whom are marathoners, Ironman veterans, and former Olympians, may also be competing for a cause: At this year's Rush, a team of law enforcement officers, including New Jersey native Cindy Coppola, raced as Team NYC 911, to honor and to raise money for the families of their fallen colleagues. Coppola, an FBI agent, and others on her team, were involved in the recovery effort at Ground Zero and lost dozens of friends in the disaster.

"It's been helpful in the midst of all this to be able to train for the race," Coppola, 38, said. "It gives everyone a diversion."

To prepare for the extremes of race conditions, teams such as NYC 911 train by exercising outdoors for several days straight. As part of her routine, Coppola kayaked for 24 hours on the Hudson River and spent three days hiking the Appalachian Trail and kayaking the Delaware River - with no sleep. She also gained weight, since competitors can lose up to 10 pounds during a race. (During the Rush they ate mostly protein and candy bars and trail mix, washed down by prodigious amounts of Red Bull, a race sponsor.)

As a volunteer, my own pre-race regimen consisted of eating caramel corn on my couch and watching the Eco Challenge on television. Power training days included perusing sports catalogs and ordering foul weather gear and energy bars. While some of the checkpoints require that you hike into them, or camp out for a few days, you don't have to be in top physical condition to volunteer.

What I experienced at the Rush was just as dramatic as reality TV, only alarmingly real. We saw the strongest athletes imaginable hurt and spent, pushing their implausibly fit bodies past endurance: NYPD Det. Chris Ballou arrived at one checkpoint with his head hanging, too exhausted to lift it. Ballou was a scuba diver investigating the crash of Flight 800, and he untangled a French parasailer from the Statue of Liberty; he called one cycling segment of the Rush among the top 10 worst experiences of his life.

Why do they do it? Most racers said that each time they race their swear, "never again." All that changes, Ballou said, 12 hours before the finish line, when you know you're going to make it.

Many competitors work in law enforcement, jobs that require fitness as well as personal risk on a daily basis. Racing offers them an opportunity to test their physical and mental abilities outside of work. Others had vocations in the physical fitness field: Among this year's participants were a kayaking guide, an executive with Outward Bound, and a personal trainer with model good looks (who was spotted plucking her eyebrows before the race).

An equally mixed group of 60 volunteers were bonded in their efforts to protect the safety of these extreme athletes. They came from places such as Holland, Great Britain, and United States, and ranged from an 18-year-old Swedish student to a retired RAF mountain rescue officer. There were doctors, accountants, computer programmers, cops. We quickly formed a close community led by Brian Elliott, the organizer of the race. We took our responsibilities seriously but still had lots of laughs. It's like summer camp for an unusual group of adults: You stay up all night, listen for radio transmissions, play cards, sleep and cook outside. (Volunteers who staff the checkpoints have to bring their own tents and buy food in town; they receive a per diem of 60 pounds - about $93.) While volunteers must be prepared to rough it physically, the roughest part of the job may be to stick to the rules and not help competitors. One shivering racer saw our camp stove and asked me for a cup of tea: My fellow volunteer shook her head and I realized the answer had to be, "No, sorry." Volunteers have been known to become racers after helping out, and vice versa.

Volunteering - or racing - also provides a reason for visiting pristine places you might not normally discover. Locations for past contests have included Australia, Borneo, Scotland, and New Zealand; October's Eco Challenge is in Fiji. The dramatic natural landscape that makes these settings ideal for adventure racing makes them stunning places for anyone to visit.

The Adrenalin Rush brought me to Ireland for the first time, to the lovely lake country of Enniskillen and County Fermanagh in the North, which provided easy access to the rest of Ireland and an opportunity to see this mystical country from a unique perspective.

By going around to several checkpoints as a volunteer, I crisscrossed the border between North and South, and spent a couple of days on tranquil Donegal Bay in the South. (I even needed two currencies, the pound and the Euro.)

After getting to know race organizers and locals over the week, I learned a bit about the Northern Ireland conflict, a topic that isn't casually discussed with most tourists. The country's compactness and good public transport made it easy to explore Galway, Roscommon, and Dublin after the race.

Racing is clearly not for everyone, but for moderately adventurous types, volunteering offers a taste of two exotic cultures: the place you're visiting and the rarefied adventure racing community. It's an uncommon opportunity to make new friends and get a close-up view of human nature and physical extremes.

On Day 5 of the Rush, the mud, cold, and wet had taken its toll, and we were relieved when the last team passed through our checkpoint. But I was already nostalgic when it was time to transmit for the last time: "Control, this is Papa Charlie one six, over and out."

(SIDEBAR, page T04)

IF YOU GO

Contact the New York Adventure Racing Association for information on racing, volunteering, and upcoming local and international events. NYARA also offers training clinics of all sorts. Don't be put off by thegroup's name: 20 percent of the membership is from New Jersey. Visit www.nyara.org.

For information on NYC 911: www.teamnyc911.com; (718) 442-6048.

For more on the Adrenalin Rush: www.adrenalinrush.co.uk or www.britchamps.com.

For information on Ireland call Tourism Ireland at (800) 223-6470 or visit www.irelandvacations.com

I flew the Irish national airline, Aer Lingus ([800] 474-7424; www.aerlingus.com) to Dublin and took a pleasant three-hour bus ride from Dublin to the center of Enniskillen. Information on public transport throughout Ireland is available at www.irelandvacations.com.

Illustrations/Photos: The beauty of Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, belies the struggle that awaits contestants in the Adrenalin Rush adventure race. Competitors come from around the world to push themselves to the limit. Keywords: TRAVEL, NORTHERN IRELAND, GREAT BRITAIN, SPORT

The Rundown Launches New York City Edition -- Delivering More Fun in Less Time to Busy Urban Professionals. - Telecommunications Weekly

The Rundown (www.rundown.com), the fastest-growing daily lifestyle newsletter in Los Angeles -- 70,000 subscribers and counting -- announced the launch of its New York edition.

Building upon its success in LA, The Rundown's free daily email separates quality from hype for busy NYC professionals, keeping them plugged into life outside the office with concise, actionable advice on everything from going out to staying in, as well as exclusive members-only deals.

'Unlike the competition, we field-test our picks so we can offer a roadmap to a memorable evening out, including insider tips and nearby suggestions,' said Editorial Director Chris Kaye. 'Whether we're writing about new restaurants or up-and-coming bands playing in town, we give our audience an early shout-out so they know what's up without having to hunt for it.'

Kaye brings editorial chops and local know-how to The Rundown New York. The one-time Managing Editor/Director of Russell Simmons' 360hiphop.com and Senior Editor at UGO Networks also counts tours of duty at the first wave of New York City guides (including Total New York, Digital City, and CitySearch) among his dozen-plus years of new media experience, as well as reporting for men's magazines Esquire, Cargo, Stuff, FHM and men.style.com.

'From the moment we got traction with the Los Angeles edition, readers and advertisers have been asking us to come to New York to share our recommendations,' said Founder Rich Brest. 'We are excited to uncover the city's best and are looking forward to delivering the ultimate insider's guide every day.'

Starting today, The Rundown is running a promotion to current subscribers to sign up their New York friends. Grand prize is a trip to New York for the launch party in November. For more details, go to www.Rundown.com.

For more information or to subscribe to The Rundown, please visit www.Rundown.com. About The Rundown Founded in 2007, The Rundown is a free daily email with editions in Los Angeles and New York delivering an insider's guide to planning weekends and evenings in less than 60 seconds a day. The Rundown separates quality from hype, uncovering the best of what's going on around town, from going out (food/drink, events, entertainment, sports, travel) to staying in (style, gear, home), as well as exclusive members-only deals. Sign up for free at www.rundown.com to start having more fun in less time.

Keywords: The Rundown, Other Consumer, Entertainment, Other Entertainment, Travel, Destinations, Restaurant and Bar, General En, Advertise, Advertising, Entertainment, Sports, AT&T, Advertise, Advertising, Destinations, Entertainment, General En, Other Consumer, Other Entertainment, Restaurant and Bar, Sports, Telecommunications, The Rundown, Travel.

Fuel foods: all carbohydrates are not created equal. - American Fitness

Athletes were once told to choose starchy complex carbohydrates such as bagels, potatoes and bread for pre-exercise snacks. These foods were thought to contribute to a stable blood sugar level while sugary simple carbohydrates, in contrast, were thought to trigger a 'sugar high.' Of course, a 'sugar low' followed with a debilitating hypoglycemic reaction.

Today, research indicates otherwise. We now know a carbohydrate's effect upon blood sugar cannot be determined by whether it is a simple or complex carbohydrate, but rather by its glycemic response -- that is, the food's ability to elevate blood sugar. Glycemic response is influenced by many factors, including the amount you eat, fiber content, fat content or amount of added fat, and the way the food is prepared. For example, pasta has a lower glycemic response than bread, although both are made from wheat. Also, sugar added to ice cream has a much lower glycemic response than sugar alone.

By knowing a food's glycemic response, you can determine when to eat a certain food. High glycemic carbohydrates (such as potatoes, rice and honey) quickly enter the bloodstream and are best eaten during or after exercise. They are readily available to be used for energy or to refuel muscles. Low glycemic carbohydrates (such as apples, lentil soup, yogurt and kidney beans) slowly enter the bloodstream and are advantageous before exercise because they provide sustained energy. Low glycemic carbs may enhance your ability to maintain normal blood sugar levels during prolonged exercise.

The glycemic response partially explains why an energy bar with added fat or fiber enhances endurance. Any low glycemic food would likely have the same effect. Nevertheless, the right carb choices can enhance endurance if you will be exercising for more than 60 minutes, and also recovery time after hard exercise when you are depleted of carbs.

How much does the glycemic response really affect performance? In one research study, cyclists who ate low glycemic lentils before they exercised to exhaustion were able to pedal hard for 117 minutes, in contrast to only 97 minutes when they ate high glycemic potatoes.