FEBRUARY CALENDAR

Sat. Feb. 9       City of Long Beach                                                                  Lindell School

10:00 am          Snowflake 4 Mile Run                                                              Lindell Blvd., Long Beach

Sun. Feb. 10    Sayville Running Company                                                        Main St., West Sayville

10:30 am          Valentine Prediction Run

Sun. Feb. 17    LITF Awards Brunch                                                               Knights of Columbus Hall

10:30 am                                                                                                          Hicksville, NY

Sat. Feb. 23     Runner’s Edge Fun Run                                                            The Runner’s Edge

10:00 am          Your choice of measured 3, 6 and 9 mile courses                      242 Main St., Farmingdale

Sun. Feb. 24    North Fork Bank 3x2 Trail Relay                                              Bethpage State Park

10:00 am          three runners, 2-mile course

Fri. Feb. 29      Republic Airport Leap Year Midnight 5K Run                           Republic Airport

11:59 pm                                                                                                           East Farmingdale

Sat. March 1    Joe Latino Winter Relays                                                            Sunken Meadow State Park

                        6 runners, 2-mile course

Sun. March 2   Caumsett 50K Run                                                                     Caumsett State Park

9:30 am

Sat. March 8    Kings Park 15K                                                                       New Discovery Nursery School

9:00 am                                                                                                            Lawrence Rd., Kings Park

Sun. March 9   Gary Mintz Memorial 5K Pancake Run                                     Brentwood H. S.

9:00 am                                                                                                            Sixth Ave., Brentwood

Sat. March 15  Smithtown Rotary “Go for the Green”                                       Smithtown Elementary School

                        St. Patrick’s Day 5K  Run                                                        Smithtown

Sat. March 22  Townwide Fund of Huntington 4 Mile                                       American Legion Hall

9:00 am            St. Patrick’s Day Run                                                               Mill Dam Rd/Rte 110

                                                                                                                        Huntington 

Sun. March 30 12^th Annual Suffolk County Half Marathon                                Suffolk Community College

9:00 am                                                                                                            Nichols Rd., Selden 

Sun. March 30 Greater Patchogue Foundation                                                  Finest Fitness, E. Main St.

1:55pm “May the Road Rise to Meet Ye” 5k Run                                             Patchogue

RACE RESULTS 

State Parks Winter Series – Heckscher State Park 1-06-08

J. Masten         49        14/71   22:43   7:19                 K. Anderson    41        2/45     22:53   7:22

M. Service       65        1/17     23:02   7:26

State Parks Winter Series – Sunken Meadow State Park 1-13-08

M. Service       65        1/18     23:23   7:32                 J. Masten         49        36/77   25:20   8:10

State Parks Winter Series – Caumsett State Park 1-20-08

J. Masten         49        10/53   22:19   7:11                 M. Service       65        1/12     23:31   7:34

Membership News

February 2008 

Attention Runners!!

At our last meeting it was decided that the club would reimburse members 50% of the cost of the LITF Brunch.  Many of our members will receive awards at this brunch so it would be nice to have Members attend to help honor them.  Be sure to let Michael Service know if you plan to attend.

Also, the club will pay for all entries to the North Fork 3x2 Relays in Bethpage State Park on the 24^th of February.  If you would like to be on a team, please call Michael at 940-2962 and tell him what specific category you would like to participate in for this race. (ex. Open male, open female, masters male, masters female, mixed master et al)

BTC Runners Get National Attention

The March edition of Running Times has again rated Masters runners based on performances of last year.  The times are compared for races run in this country by Americans and foreigners alike.  As a result two of our members, Marie-Louise Michelsohn and Betty Horstmann have been given national rankings. 

Did you remember to pay your dues?

It is now February.  Dues were due in January.  Don’t worry if you forgot; so did others.  You can send your check made out to Bohemia Track Club for $20 for an individual or $25 for a family to: Estella Clasen, 3 Cedar Street, Bellport, NY 11713.

A WONDERFUL TWELVE DAYS

                                                                                    By Marge Smith

    When I stood on a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea watching the clouds shroud the Atlas Mountains with the call to prayer in the background, I knew I wasn't in C. Islip anymore.............I was in Tunisia, that little country located between Algeria and Libya, just southwest of Sicily.
   Their history goes back to about 800 BC.  Punic Wars, Hannibal, Carthage, Roman Empire, Byzantines are some of the names you might remember from some history class, this war, that war...........bottom line, they got their independence from France in 1956.
    It took 18 hours to go from door to door, 24 hours by the clock. There is a six hour time difference.
    Tunis, the capital, has a population of about one million and is a very clean city, no graffiti, very little litter, no smog or noise, horse drawn carts everywhere, sheep and goats grazing by the roadside.  Even when a Shepard took her flock of sheep across a road leading to a traffic circle no one honked their horn as this is an everyday event.
    School is required for children from six to sixteen.  The young children go for four hours a day and the time increases as the students get older.  Arabic, French and English are taught.  Education is free through college and we were told other Arabian countries like to get their teachers, doctors, engineer and such for Tunisia.  If you wish and can afford it, private education is available from nursery through college. Medical care is also free; again, if you wish and can pay, private care is available.
Workers get a pension. I don't have a clue how it is calculated nor do I know the tax rate.  Most homes have running drinking water, electricity, refrigerators, TV's and all that.  The Berbers, Bedouins and other desert tribes are the ones without these things.
    It is a Muslim country with Sunni Islam as the official religion.  That being said, they have vineyards, brew their own beer and have two cordial type drinks. Women have equal rights, vote, work in business, politics and all other walks of life.  Dress for women is whatever they want. Not long ago the veil was banned from government buildings, the face has to show, the reason: terrorism.  In the cities we saw many Christian churches and singes.  Religious based political parties are outlawed; our guide said many people confuse religious practices with cultural practices.  Our type of fast food "Mc Donald's, Burger King and others" is also banned-too much litter and fat. Giving hormones to animals is also forbidden.
    This was a bus tour that covered the entire country; it's about the size of Missouri.  We started in the north where Roman ruins were the major attraction.  I've seen them in Italy, Turkey, Morocco another countries, these were the best preserved I've seen.  Besides Carthage we visited quite a few other settlements the Romans built on their way to the Sahara.  It could be the dry climate, lack of pollution, less native population,( therefore things aren't ;taken,) maybe fewer tourists walking all over, whatever the reason, the structures were more complete and in better shape that others.  Marble mosaics were everywhere.  It was also easy to see the different layers of earth were one civilization would build on top of a previous one.  There are lots more to uncover but the upper layer is now being used for farmland or grazing. Our guide made these areas come alive. These are UNESCO World Heritage sites. We stopped in many souks (market places) were bargaining was the norm.  Tunisian vendors had smiles on their faces, a twinkle in their eye and a good sense of humor. Homes in the medinas (old town) are being bought up by the French, Spanish and Italians as winter homes.  We stopped at an American Military Cemetery, the only one in Africa.  There are 24 of these worldwide. I knew about the one at Normandy in France but not the others.  There is one outside Mexico City as well as one near Paris, who knew?  Not me!
    A long bus ride took us to the Sahara, for me, the highlight of the trip.  My first surprise was an oasis. It's not like the movies where our hero finds a place with a few psalm trees and fresh water.  They can be towns with a population of thousands!   Lots are privately owned by tribes or business people. They are sold by the number of date palm trees, not area.  About ten tress per person makes it profitable.  We visited one were a 65 year old man showed us how he climbed the trees to get the dates.  His children are now in, or have finished, college.  They will probably move to the cities.  A visit to a Berber home was a lesson on how many of the world's people live.  It was made of something that looked like adobe stuff, with thick walls and a center courtyard that was cool in the summer and warming the winter.  You entered through a wooden door, went down a hard packed dirt hall to the courtyard. No electricity or running water inside the home.  To reach the rooms on the second floor you walked up a staircase made out of hard packed dirt with no railings to a door-less room.  To get to the third floor you had to pull yourself up a knotted rope and put your feet in toe holes dug into the wall.  I didn't go.  This home was in the husband's family for generations, they had three children. The oldest two were in school and the youngest showed us how to climb the rope and led us around his home.  This home was located in a settlement of about seven other homes that we could see.
    The Bedouin town we visited had the tents you see on TV.  Different tribes have different colors and stripe width.  We sat inside, had a drink and listened to them play music on their native instruments.  They're a nomadic people, and I think raise animals such as goats and sheep. The sand in this area is soft and fluffy. It's easy to see how one could get lost during a sand storm as the dunes are constantly changing.  I'm glad the wind was calm when we were there.
    Next we crossed the Great Dry Salt Lake. It was like a very large Badwater.  People had made statues and other sculptures out of the salt, very eerie looking!  It took us about an hour to cross.
    Djerba, pronounced without the "D" was our last big stop.  On the Mediterranean, it's a resort island where the European go for vacations. It's also on the New York Times places to visit in 2008.  No building can be taller than the palm trees in this area. There is one road and one ferry to the island.  Living on our island with Fire Island so close, I couldn't get too excited.
    Besides the date palms in the oasis, there were olive trees everywhere. Olives are one of there big exports as is olive oil, dates and figs. Road signs were in Arabic, and/or French and English. Our guide has been reading in the papers that the Arabic countries are thinking of using the Euro to go by rather than the dollar.  The reasons, we have always done what Israel wants, the European countries go by issue and we invaded one of their countries for no reason.  No body wanted $'s, just the Euro or their local currency the dinar.
    Tunisia seems to have its act together and I wish it well!.