The first few weeks of spring made running and racing interesting. However, it looks like spring is finally here and the racing season is well underway. The track season is just starting to heat up. Many athletes will be running in their league and district track & field championships with the goal of qualifying for the State or National Championships. Hopefully, you get a personal best.

The 100th anniversary of the Ohio High School Athletic Association Track & Field Championships will be held at the Jesse Owens Track at Ohio State University on June 1st and 2nd. If you have some free time that weekend plan to attend this event, I am sure you will enjoy the experience. America's best track and field athletes will be participating at the USA Track & Field Championships, which will be held in Indianapolis June 20th-24th. I hope to cover both of these events. If you see me there say hi.

Last month the 111th running of the Boston Marathon was held. Bellbrook's and the University of Dayton women's cross-country coach, Ann Alyanak, finished ninth with a ten minute personal best of 2:38:55. The Bluffton and Purdue University track standout was the second American to finish. 2004 Olympic Marathon bronze medallist, Deena Kastor, (2:35:09) finished fifth overall on here way to win the USA Women's National Marathon Championships. Alyanak's time bettered the U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials "A" qualifying time of 2:39:00 earning her an expensed paid trip back to Boston for the women's Championships in 2008. An interview with Ann appeared in the January/February RUNOHIO as she was the overall woman winner of the 2006 RUNOHIO Grand Prix. Ann is also spotlighted on page 10 of The Running Network Women's Running insert. Congratulations and good luck.

Ohio has a strong tradition of hosting marathons. Last month Athens, Dayton and Toledo held marathons. The Athens Marathon and Ohio River Road Runners Club Marathon both celebrated their 40th anniversary while the Glass City Marathon celebrated its' 31st running. Those results are listed in this issue. Cincinnati and Cleveland will stage marathons in May. The Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon is celebrating its' 30th anniversary. Good luck if you are running a spring marathon.

On a National note: Ryan Hall made his marathon debut one for the records as he finished seventh in the London Marathon with a time of 2:08:24. The Stanford grad set the U.S. half-marathon record (59:43) in Houston last January. The U.S. debut marathon record (2:09:41) was held jointly by Alberto Salazar (New York City 1980) and Alan Culpepper (Chicago 2002).

I will be working with the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department in directing the 30th annual Columbus 10K on June 10th. This race started as the Citizen Journal 10K and is the oldest road race in Columbus. The Columbus 10K will be the Ohio USA Track & Field State 10K Championships and the method for choosing the states' representative to the National 10K Championships in the fall through the USATF Association Athletic Development Program. If you have run this race in the past or looking for a downtown event I hope you will run the Columbus 10K year. I am also trying to produce a 30th anniversary poster for the event. After the race you can enjoy the Columbus Arts Festival along the banks of the Scioto River, which is just one block from the finish line at City Hall. If you would like to volunteer for this race please contact me.

I am also putting the finishing touches on four summer cross- country fun runs to be held Thursday evenings at the Bryan Du property in Granville. The tentative dates are June 28th, July12th, July 26th and August 9th. There are a number of great summer cross-country series throughout the state but there were none in the Central Ohio area so I started this series last year. I hope you will be able to attend a few of these runs and enjoy the Village of Granville afterwards.

A number of individuals are still trying to work in keeping men's track and field at Ohio University. As I write this column the Equity in Athletics, Inc. (EIA) announced its Great Lakes Chapter formally has asked Ohio University to postpone its plans to eliminate its men's track, men's swimming, and women's lacrosse teams. EIA's letter puts OU on notice that its planned cuts violate Title IX and the U.S. Constitution and asks OU to postpone the cuts to allow EIA's litigation to resolve the appropriate standard for schools' athletic compliance in the Sixth Circuit. For more information on this go to: Save Ohio University Track - http://bringingbackohiotrack.blogspot.com

Your help is needed to stop Ohio University and other universities in Ohio from dropping Track and Field. Track and Field is the most popular sport in the World, the second most poplar sport in the U.S.A. and the third most popular high school sport in Ohio. Track and Field is also one of the most diverse sports in Ohio, the U.S.A., and the World. My letter seeking the running community support on working to save track and field, which appeared on the RUNOHIO web site, is also printed in this issue.

RUNOHIO is part of The Running Network, which is a group of thirty-three regional running publications with the goal of providing the most comprehensive source of information for grassroots runners. I try to update race results as often as I get them and I have someone who updates other information on the RUNOHIO site. A person who does it for the National site updates national information and you can access it from the RUNOHIO site. A new feature is The Running Network National Calendar, which allows race directors to easily post upcoming races. For more information on listing races on this web site go to: http://www.runohio.com/archive

The deadline for the July issue is June 9th for calendar information and June 14th for advertising. Also, race directors please send your race results as soon as possible after your event. If you would also like to include a race picture, we will try to use it as well.

Good luck with your training and racing. I hope to see you at a road race or track meet this summer.