A Tale of Two Cities

One runner limped across the finish line. The other sprinted.

One runner said through the pain that this was not a good day to ask about running again. The other has many races planned, and hoped for.

One runner had three world-class elite runners as pacers. The other had to hitch to the event.

So, which of the above statements refer to Lance Armstrong, who competed in the NYC Marathon on Sunday, and which to Nicole, who blazed the trail in San Francisco's US Half on the very same day?

Only one of these athletes responded to a request for an email interview, so we'll decide what's news based on courtesy.

Intrepid Nicole had a Plan A and a Plan B, but a Plan C was required. "Waited for the first bus I'd have to take down the start line, which (of course) never came," Nicole writes." I freaked, and ran a 1/2-mile down to a more main street where I'd have to catch the next bus. It was very foggy and still darkish, and there were no buses, no cabs, no hope ...

"Then suddenly out of the mist, my savior: a woman at the red light called to me from her car and asked if I was going to the race, and offered me a ride. It was so great, and I was even able to tune out the bickering between she and her husband because I was so happy to get there on time."

I'm guessing Lance had a motorcade and triple redundant ways of being taken to his venue.

Three miles into her race Nic hits stride and shakes off the aches and angst. "Once on the [Golden Gate] bridge ... I looked out over San Francisco Bay, and that alleviated the tiredness in my legs a bit. To my right: Alcatraz, and a high-flying flock of pelicans. The sun burned through the clouds and miraculously it was not too windy.

"The course was absolutely beautiful with gorgeous views of the city, bay and Pacific Ocean; when we came off the bridge into Marin County, we ran down a dirt path that overlooked the water (so quiet, that early) and I thought "the uphill was worth it for this!"

Lance was probably wondering just how bad his sponsors would take it if he a) tanked or b) didn't finish with a better time than Diddy did three years before.

Post-race meals were probably similiar, though peepsNet only knows for sure that Nicole celebrated with Miss Katy -- take that, Mr. Armstrong! -- and feted on "cheese, hummus, chocolate, olives, and the all-important champagne."

We heard a lot about the champagne, so we are assuming there was a lot of champagne.

The Running Man

We used to have a couple of nicknames for Mike, and he patiently indulged us. "Quiet Mike" was the favorite not only because it was an obvious reference to his low-key nature but also his ability to maintain his composure at the center of the daily mayhem that surrounded him, sitting as he did amid John, Jon and Samer.

Samer also used to call him "Bus Stop," because Mike was once hit by a bus as he rode his bike. That one didn't sit too well with Mike or anyone else. Samer thought it was hysterical. Probably still does (sigh).

But now we can call Mike by his new Indian name: "Running Man."

To save us all a lot of embarrassement we're not doing to delve too deeply into what drove Mike into oncoming traffic ... oh why bother with the pretense: Meka said she was going to start running and "when she told me about it MALE EGO kicked in and I was like 'I CAN'T HAVE MY WIFE OUT THERE RUNNING AND ME SITTING ON THE COUCH WITH A TUB OF ICE CREAM.'"

Personally, I'd examine that flawed imperative.

Nicole will always be able to leave us in a swirl of her dust but peepsNet knows that when you run for the first time -- no matter what else you do, no matter how fit you are -- you feel like you are going to die. Period.

So congratulations, "RM," for getting past that hurdle.