DOWNTOWN -- WORLDWIDE NIKE RACE TONIGHT

Austin runners and celeb athletes join the world in Nike+ Human Race 10K

Austin one of 25 cities around the globe to stage race

By Pamela LeBlanc
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, August 31, 2008

Austin runners will don identical red jerseys and hit downtown streets this evening, logging one of the sweatiest legs of the much-hyped and globally-staged Nike+ Human Race 10K.

The race is taking place today in 25 cities around the world, including four in the United States: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Austin. About 12,000 people have registered in Austin so far, making it one of the largest first-time runs here.

In the crowd at the Austin event, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at Sixth Street and Congress Avenue, will be Olympic swimmers (and former University of Texas Longhorns) Brendan Hansen and Aaron Peirsol, as well as seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and former Houston Comets basketball player Cynthia Cooper. Gov. Rick Perry also plans to run.

The race marks the culmination of a bevy of local training programs. For the past six weeks, hundreds of runners have convened three times a week at Güero's Taco Bar, Starbucks and Six Lounge to head out on paced group runs.

"The best running summer ever," is how Paul Carrozza, owner of the running store chain RunTex, described the hoopla. "A lifetime achievement award for the Austin running community."

The first runners will peel off in Melbourne, Australia, and Taipei, Taiwan, and the races will proceed around the globe, from Tokyo to Moscow, Rome to Paris, London to Mexico City and points in between.

Even in cities where a race isn't happening, athletes who have Nike+ SportBands — a wristband device that electronically monitors a runner's progress — can run and post their times at www.nikeplus.com.

Nike's goal is to make the combined races the biggest running event ever, with more than a million people participating and raising at least $1 million for three charities: the Austin-based Lance Armstrong Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund and ninemillion.org, a campaign created by the U.N. refugee agency to give 9 million children better access to education, sport and technology by 2010. Organizers say $5 of each $35 registration fee will go directly to the runner's charity of choice.

Nike picked Austin for the race because of the city's energy, its active running community and the emphasis on fitness and a healthy lifestyle, said Nike brand manager Jean Gordon. Its penchant for music and green living figured into the equation, too.

"It is going to rock," Gordon said. "You're going to be part of making history."

The race will circle downtown and the University of Texas campus before finishing at Sixth and Congress. Footage of the other global races will be shown on giant screens as racers pass the start line. Last-minute registration will be available from noon to 5 p.m. today — or until the race sells out, at 15,000 runners — at the "solutions" tent in front of the Capitol.

Motorists will have to cope with a slew of road closures. Eleventh Street between Lavaca and Brazos streets, Congress Avenue between Sixth and 11th streets, and Eighth, Ninth and 10th streets between Brazos and Colorado streets closed for event preparations earlier this weekend. The race route itself will close to traffic starting at 4 p.m. today, although vehicles will be allowed to cross until 6 p.m. Most of the race route will reopen by 8:45 p.m.

The weather forecast calls for a high of 98 degrees. Dr. Pierre Filardi, a local anesthesiologist, runner and medical director of the AT&T Austin Marathon, suggests that athletes drink about half a liter of sports drink one to three hours before the race and continue to sip as the start approaches.

Filardi also offers these tips for racers:

•During the race, drink at aid stations along the route. "The runners will be having sweat losses just while standing waiting to start," he said.

Go light on caffeine and food in the hours before the race. "If the stomach is full of food, it delays the absorption of the fluids, which are a big priority over fuel," he said.

• If you overheat, take steps to cool off.If you feel "bonky" or weak, flush bright red, become dizzy or experience a high heart race for your pace, drink cold fluids and rest in the shade until you cool down, Filardi advised.

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals will perform after the race, from 8:30 to 10 p.m. at 11th Street and Congress Avenue.

When it's all over, Nike will sell a photo book documenting the worldwide event.

Nike+ Human Race 10K

When: 6:30 p.m. today

Where:Downtown Austin and University of Texas area

Late registration:Noon to 5 p.m., 11th Street and Congress Avenue. Cost is $35.

pleblanc@statesman.com; 445-3994