FROM THE PUBLISHER

Senior writer Kenny Moore, who placed fourth in the marathon in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, has written about his experiences in that and other races, but we wouldn't want anyone to think he's our only marathoner. Over the years quite a few other staff members have entered marathons, a tradition that continued on Sunday when advertising sales representatives Grayle Howlett and Debby Steiner and editorial secretary Joan Braun all ran the New York City event. Howlett finished in 3:12:01, and Steiner and Braun in 3:47:16 and 3:53:33, respectively. While those clockings were well behind the winning times—2:08:20 for Steve Jones and 2:28:07 for Grete Waitz (page 76)—we salute them for their efforts.

Also in the New York race was one of the newest additions to our masthead, Carolyn Blackmar, who finished in 3:35:30. Blackmar joined us four months ago as assistant art director for operations, in which capacity she oversees the flow of layouts and illustrations from the earliest planning stages through to production. The job can keep her moving almost as fast as a marathon does. "I'm a troubleshooter, a liaison between the editors and the art department," she says.

Blackmar, 27, brings a solid sports background to her new duties. A native of Armonk, N.Y., she played two seasons of field hockey at Connecticut College, but when she transferred as a junior to the University of New Hampshire and became photo editor of the student newspaper, The New Hampshire, she found she no longer had time for the demands of a team sport. "It was the newspaper or the team," she says. "I chose the newspaper, but in order not to drop sports altogether. I began pursuing them—swimming, cycling, running, skiing—on my own."

After graduating from UNH with a fine arts degree in 1983, Blackmar worked for Self, Elle and Vogue before coming to SI. "When I got this job, I changed my priorities," she says. "The time I have for training is down because of the demands of working for a weekly publication, but I rely on my concentration on the days I do train to get me through." To prepare for the marathon, Blackmar did find time to run 45 miles a week and to cycle 75 to 100 miles a week.

With the marathon behind her, Blackmar isn't planning to take much time off for recovery. For her, a break simply means switching to another sport. No sooner was the marathon over than she said, "Now I can put away my running shoes and get out my skis."

PHOTO

MANNY MILLAN

SI's entrants—(from left) Braun, Blackmar, Steiner and Howlett—wore prerace smiles.