I bore through the boredom

B It occurred to me the other night while making the five mile horseshoe of Central Park that while hundreds of runners were passing me, I was not passing anyone. Everyone was passing me and I wasn't staying up with them after they had gone by. Okay, there was that dog walker, but that shouldn't count should it? No.

So I have devised the following: The Royal Sport of Slogging and the Rules thereof:

Okay, the rules: you get one point for every person you pass who is 1)actually running - no points for passing walkers, persons using walkers, tourists groups gaping at the raccoon in the tree. You get no points for passing a speed walker either, although that's probably not going to happen anytime soon, not at my current speed. You also get no points for anyone with a handicap, victims of strokes, blind runner and the very ancient, besides which so far I haven't been able to pass any of them anyway.

2) You then rate your run by A) the distance and time you took and B) how many even more pathetically paced then you you passed.

Pay no attention to how many pass you, it's too depressing and yes, after long consideration because I do not want this to become some kind of weirdness in shorts, you lose any points you've earned if the other slogger re-passes you. (I was going to make it double points lost, but then I remembered last fall when I was racing that mother with the twins in the carriage (She Was Too Running!!) and I couldn't bear to finish a run with negative points. Maybe later, I'll be more confident.)

Also, you get no points if the slogger you are catching up to stops for a breather just as you get to him. I don't know why, that just seems right. Oh, and anyone who is obliviously finishing a long run and is on their last legs is also immune. (You don't want to go charging past someone who has been running for two hours in your first fifteen minutes and think it means anything. That would be crazy. or crazier, I'm not sure.) Of course, none of this means anything.

Here are the results for the remainder of the Monday night run --Total time 57 minutes- Number of sloggers passed ---three. I had a real shot at passing this girl in black shorts and a Jeeter tee-shirt but she turned off at 79th Street just as I was building up some good downhill speed. I know I would have caught up by the time we got to the Tavern on the Green. (Say hello to the doorman Adam. Mention my name.)



Wednesday morning six am

Four miles Forty nine minutes same score -- three.

The only good news is it was not the same three.