Nick Olmos-Lau (ANCM) and Sue Wilkinson-Megaw (GMUP) completed the 28.5 Mile Manhattan Marathon on June 17. Six Fairfax Masters (Russell Kominsky, Steve Bauman, Jason McKay, Andrew Geiszler, Brian Ellis and John Buechler) swam the race as a relay, and finished ahead of all the solo swimmers, the first time in the history of the race that this has happened.

Nick finished in 9:40:14, two hours more than last year and finished 28^th. According to Nick, the race was much tougher this year than last. The winner, John Van Wisse, 27, was almost an hour and a half slower than Tobie Smith's 1999 winning time (6:32:41 vs. 7:53:48). Bronwyn Whitehead, 21, was the first female finisher in 7:53:51.

The currents seemed adverse for the better part of the first hour and a half, and the entire last half of the swim was a struggle. There was an unusual rip tide pushing the swimmers back near the United Nations Building.

The worst part was entering the Hudson -- it was like crashing into a wall of water pressure with waves and chop. Then further down, wind and undertow started pushing people into the Manhattan shore docks. On top of that, there were cigarette boat races in the Hudson during the swim!

Sue finished her first Manhattan swim 25^th in 9:16:14. Interestingly, Sue didn't learn to swim until she was 35. She did her first open water race in 1997 and completed the Chesapeake Bay swim for the first time that year.

The Fairfax relay team finished in 7:49:12, well ahead of the other team in the race at 8:07:13.