56 MINUTES!!!

No, it's not a new "60 Minutes" spinoff, that was my finish time from last night's Midnight Sun Run! I said my goal was to complete the race between 45 minutes to an hour, and I met it when I crossed the finish line at Pioneer Park in 56 minutes; don't know how many seconds. Great job for a first race.

But as to who really beat me to the finish? For the men, it was defending champion Mike Kramer at 32 minutes, 48.9 seconds, followed by Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (main sponsor of the race) sportswriter Matias Saari at 33:06 even. Kevin Brinegar (33:33.1), David Dyer (33:48.5), and Ben Nelson (35:30) rounded out the top five.

Crystal Pitney dominated the women's field once again, finishing at 39:28.4, with Laura Johnson (41:02.6) coming in second. Maggie Callahan and Maria Bray took third and fourth respectively; their finish times and all others -- including mine -- will be in next Sunday's News-Miner.

Of course, there was a slew of activity at the starting line. This year's cavalcade of costumes ranged from the "Three Blind Mice", to a runaway bride, three young ladies with tattered dresses attending the Worst Prom Ever, a couple Playboy Bunnies, Britney Spears (probably fresh off that horrible Matt Lauer interview), a lady dressed as a snowflake, the Couch Potatoes, a couple from "The Da Vinci Code"...and of course, that guy I was talking about last time who always go all out in those elaborate costumes year after year; this time, he was a mythical tattered bird.

The Sun Run is fast already becoming a national (with over 30 states represented) and now worldwide event. Making up the international contigent were a group of 29 elderly men from Piacenza, Italy, and ten Marines from Japan.

At 10:00pm, the cannon was fired and the race was underway. As usual, I had a smooth start weaving past the other runners, and I never even thought of turning my back. While many runners had on their iPods to entertain and motivate themselves during the 6.2 mile route, I motivated myself by breathing in and out with my nose.

Alternating between walking and running (and downing cup after cup of water), things really began to pick up halfway through the race, as it made its way through Riverside Drive where there were cheering parties galore; there was even LIVE MUSIC at one tiny section!

There weren't any "GO, JONATHAN!" signs for me as expected, but I quickly spotted former car dealer Robby Giinther at his cheering squad. Across the street, a couple cups of Gatorade were standing by as we were nearing past Peger Road, and I took one.

When I saw the six mile marker at Pioneer Park, I knew this was the time to make my final push to the finish line just .2 away. It must be the Gatorade, because after 56 minutes, I finally finished my first Midnight Sun Run as a runner.

There was plenty of fruit and water available for us at the finish, sort of like you win the Indianapolis 500 and get that congratulatory bottle of milk at the winners' circle. But perhaps the biggest surprise was that my good friend Curtis Thomas crossed the finish line a half hour after me...AND I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS RUNNING!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't stay around to see if that guy in the huge mythical bird costume finished; I'm sure he did after midnight.

But like I said...finshing at four minutes to the hour was pretty good the first time out; next year, I'll try to hopefully do a little better. I promise not to be like Mike Kramer and finish much faster, but improve myself at every mile...and every cup of water available to rehydrate myself...and every cheering section I see.

This, my friends, is what the Midnight Sun Run -- Fairbanks' Amazing Race -- is all about. So long!

GETTING READY FOR FAIRBANKS' AMAZING RACE

Hello, everybody. In 1995, Oprah Winfrey launched a month-long "Get Movin' With Oprah" spring training campaign on her show to get America in shape and lose weight for the summer with a regimen that included walking two to four miles and cutting fat out of their meals. Looking back, it was ridiculous because it seemed to be more like a women's thing. At least one little boy did give up candy during that campaign.

Now all this week, I have been getting in shape and cutting fat out of my meals, and for good reason: Twelve years after taking track once at West Valley High, I will finally be running in the Midnight Sun Run tomorrow night (Saturday) here in Fairbanks! In other words, I will be both running and walking, and my intention is to finish in between 45 minutes to an hour. The far more serious runners tend to finish around half an hour into the race, and I'm not one of those.

The Midnight Sun Run is a 10-kilometer, 6.2 mile race that starts at the UAF Patty Center and ends at Pioneer Park. This is sort of like Alaska's version of the Boston or New York City marathons, but it's more than that.

Bunches of participants get dolled up in costumes, making the race turn into a Halloween party or "Let's Make A Deal" (sans Monty Hall). Also, there are pre- and post-race festivities at the start and finish respectively, with a costume parade and Jazzercise warming up the runners before the race gets underway at 10:00pm. I will be warming up and stretching in the back away from Jazzercise by the way.

Speaking of costumes, one guy named Shawn usually goes all out every Sun Run with the most elaborate ones possible. One year he was dressed head to toe in a suit made of steamer baskets; the following year, a macrame suit; and another, dressed as a phoenix. Last year's race was all wet, but when he spotted me a few days later he told me his costume was a chicken-bird hybrid or something. We'll see what he has in store tomorrow night.

By the way...I'm bib number 898, and I'm expecting a lot of cheering on for me all throughout the race. So if you're reading this blog, make sure you have some "GO, JONATHAN!" signs ready to be waved because...well, I do have a circle of famous friends here including Charles Fedullo (of course), Curtis Thomas, Glenner and Jerry, and others; they have known and recognized me and for years.

The 2006 Midnight Sun Run is one of the biggest summer events of the year here, and this is one "Amazing Race" I would rather run. And trust me...rain or shine (though showers are expected tomorrow), I will not tire or fail. Of course I'll have a complete recap of all of this on Monday, so until then...

SEE YOU AT THE STARTING LINE!!!

Yes, remember that? On the old "Allen Report" site, this was the title of my weekend commentaries, though it started as "A Few Paragraphs from Jonathan Allen" from August-November 1998 and then "The Bottom Line" till the revamping in September 1999.

Since the only interesting things that were newsworthy this week were Brad and Angelina's new baby girl and Katie Couric kissing "Today" goodbye, I've decided dig through the archives (yes, I do keep all of the "NewsBeats" and "Plain Truths" dating back to October 2000; those prior to that -- including one from 1999 about the corporate renaming of event venues -- are gone forever) to bring you a couple of my greatest commentaries from "Plain Truth." The first one from March 13-14, 2004 was about how doing a lot of stuff while driving -- including talking on cell phones -- have become a lot distracting:

In the old days, the only thing worth doing while driving our vehicles is fiddling with the radio. Now, doing things while trying to keep our eyes on the road is becoming a nuisance.

Cell phones have of course started all this. 20 years ago when the first ones were introduced, they were expensive and the size of a brick. Nowadays, what they used to be luxuries are now considered vital, and the continuing growth of them worldwide have left payphones gathering dust for years.

But on cars meanwhile, it's really hard trying to get a call while driving, and too much talking may lead to life-threatening accidents. New York may be the only state with a permanent ban on cell use while driving, but Alaska and California (especially in Los Angeles, the freeway capital of the world) are among several states without a ban; others have partial bans. Around the world, many countries including Australia and those in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South America all have bans while in Canada, it varies.

Another thing we do on the road is eating. Then again, that's why we have rest areas along the interstates for! And now, we could watch TV or DVDs as well, and that is starting to irritate me. During our first and only road trip to the Lower 48 in 1988, the only thing I did on the road was schoolwork. Yes, I took some of my classes along with me, with a piece of paper detailing all the assignments I had to do.

I don't think these annoyances will go away anytime soon, especially the cell phone one. But if I would ever start learning to drive and later get a car, the only thing I would be doing would be -- what else -- listening to the radio!

Last summer during my two-week vacation in the South, I went on a Greyhound bus from Winston-Salem to Atlanta (though we had to change buses in Charlotte), and believe me...in an age when we can entertain ourselves with portable DVD players and iPods, the buses need a slight extreme makeover by putting in power supply outlets in every seat. It has happened on most new cars/vans/SUVs, why not Greyhound buses and planes (on domestic flights)?

On September 27-28, 2003, I commented on the excessive coloring of soft drinks. Due to the deaths of John Ritter and Johnny Cash a couple weeks earlier, I postponed it until later:

Sodas have been experimenting with different flavors for years and years now. Other than the regular cola flavors, we have vanilla, cherry, and lemon.

First, Pepsi. They started all this in 1975 when they came out with lemon-flavored Pepsi Light, followed by the "Wild Ones" line in 1991. Then there was Crystal Pepsi the following year. I tried it at one of their test markets in Denver while living in South Dakota, and when it became widely available months later reaction was mixed. Even "Saturday Night Live" spoofed it with Crystal Gravy, making Crystal Pepsi a laughingstock. The pain ended after a year.

Pepsi One came and went in the mid-'90s, featuring two people who really couldn't peddle soda too well: Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. and later nutcase comedian Tom Green, whose late night show on MTV was canceled recently.

A couple of years ago, they debuted Pepsi Twist with a lemony flavor, followed later by Pepsi Blue and now Pepsi Vanilla.

As far as Coca-Cola is concerned? Well, we all remember New Coke being the "Gigli" of 1985, but Coke did clean up their act by introducing Cherry Coke thereafter. It was way more successful.

Coke resumed experimenting last year with Vanilla Coke. If you thought Cuba's Pepsi One ads were mute-button worthy, they were nothing compared to Chazz Palminteri hawking Vanilla Coke. I tried it once and it tasted more like cream soda than your usual Coke.

7up on the other hand came out with dnL several months ago, while Mountain Dew has Code Red and Livewire (the latter was a temporary thing), and Dr Pepper with Red Fusion.

In our household, we stopped drinking Coke and Pepsi altogether (unless at fast food restaurants) and now buy store brands without all the vanilla/colored/lemon junk. Generally, I drink water or Gatorade most of the time.

But for the last two decades, we have seen soft drinks colored themselves red, white, blue, green, and orange. I wouldn't be surprised if they come out with urine-flavored Coke; it would be the nastiest drink in history.

Several months ago, 7up launched 7up Plus with calcium and Vitamin C and its commercial starred "Desperate Housewives'" Marcia Cross and Nicollette Sheridan. In 2002, they had 7up Mint for Saudi Arabia; it was discontinued after a year because it tasted more like Scope mouthwash than soda. Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper came out in 2004, the same year their Red Fusion was discontinued for the new drink.

As for Mountain Dew? After Code Red and Livewire, the experimenting continued with Pitch Black, Baja Blast (a Taco Bell-only flavor), Darth Dew (a 7-Eleven Slurpee flavor to coincide with the release of "Star Wars Episode III"), Pitch Black II, and MDX.

And just recently, Coca-Cola introduced a coffee-flavored version, Coca-Cola Blak. Actually, it debuted in France before making its way to the United States. Now I don't drink coffee (I'm into tea or hot chocolate), but I'm sure it tastes kinda nasty.

Anyway...that's our first trip down "Plain Truth" lane for now. Hope something better comes my way to talk about next time, so long!