GIMELSTOB BETS THAT EXPERT WILL GET HIM TO FINISH
Laura Skladzinski
The former professional tennis player Justin Gimelstob has never run a marathon  but now he has $10 000 and a great deal of pride at stake in his first one on Sunday. So he was only too pleased when Laura Skladzinski offered to help. Even though she is only 25  Skladzinski has more than enough experience for the two of them.
 A world-record holder as the youngest woman to complete marathons in all 50 states  Skladzinski will run alongside Gimelstob in the New York City Marathon  guiding him through the course as he aims to win a $10 000 wager against his friend Andy Roddick  the ninth-ranked tennis player in the world.
 During the summer  Roddick bet Gimelstob that he could not complete the course in 4 hours 45 minutes. The loser is supposed to send a check to the other's charitable foundation. Gimelstob  who had never run three miles before arranging the wager  recently reached 20 miles in training  and now his confidence is soaring  especially with Skladzinski by his side.
 Skladzinski has run 60 marathons since her first one just three years ago  most recently the Marine Corps Marathon  which she ran in a Superwoman outfit on Halloween  finishing in 4:00:55. On June 6  two years and two weeks after she ran her first marathon in Vermont  Skladzinski became the youngest woman to run in all 50 states  as certified by the 50 States Marathon Club  averaging almost a marathon a week during the sport's peak season in spring and autumn.
 She ran the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson  Miss.  the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans and the Hatfield and McCoy Marathon in Williamson  W.Va. She spent a total of 12 hours in Alaska to run the Humpy's Marathon in Anchorage  of which 3:57:23 was spent on the course (she beat former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's mark by 2 minutes 23 seconds).
 Her personal best is 3:49:40 at the Kentucky Derby Marathon this spring  but she also ran a sluggish 7:02:51 in the aptly named Running With the Devil Marathon in Boulder City  Nev.  where it was 119 degrees at the 11 a.m. start time with virtually no shade along the course. Last year  she ran the New York City event in 3:56:42  which was impressive considering she was battling a bit of a hangover.
 In a procedure not uncommon for her  Skladzinski  a recent Cornell graduate who works as a business strategy consultant  was out partying the night before with friends  although not late.
 "It was Halloween  so I told everyone to meet up early  at 2 p.m. " she said. "That way I could still have fun and get a good night's sleep before the race. I think I did pretty well  even after all that beer. My motto is  I live the life I want  and I run marathons on the side. I'm not going to let it dictate my life."
 Skladzinski  who is nothing if not an organized Type A personality  kept a spreadsheet for her travels  and calculated that she traversed 122 000 miles  mostly by plane  and ran 1 422 miles at a total cost of about $11 530. The farthest she traveled was Honolulu  and as a resident of Manhattan  the easiest journey was  of course  the New York City Marathon. She has run with wild horses in Wyoming  stayed with friends in Michigan and Idaho; used hotel loyalty points in Nebraska  Ohio and Oregon; and spent an undetermined number of hours trying to arrange all of the travel.
 Since the previous youngest woman to run in 50 states was 29  Skladzinski originally gave herself six years to complete the task. But about halfway through she realized she could do it before she turned 25 on July 10  and that became her mark. She accomplished it with a month to spare by cramming them in at a staggering rate.
 Last fall she ran 12 marathons in 13 weeks  and when she set her personal best in Kentucky  it was her third marathon in eight days  Charlottesville  Va.  with Boston right before.
 "It was pretty complicated at times figuring out the travel and the logistics " she said. "It took a lot of time and foresight."
 (Two women -- Beverly Paquin and Morgan Cummings  both 22 -- have passed Skladzinski's record in the last month.)
 But Sunday  Skladzinski will devote herself to Gimelstob and getting him across the finish line in one piece  and also in ample time to win the bet. She knows she will not set a personal record because they are aiming for 4:20  but she is still happy because she has a new goal.
 "We're going to make sure he wins the bet " she said  "and gets that money for the children."
The former professional tennis player Justin Gimelstob has never run a marathon  but now he has $10 000 and a great deal of pride at stake in his first one on Sunday. So he was only too pleased when [TGT] offered to help. Even though [TGT] is only 25  [TGT] has more than enough experience for the two of [TGT].
 A world-record holder as the youngest woman to complete marathons in all 50 states  [TGT] will run alongside Gimelstob in the New York City Marathon  guiding him through the course as he aims to win a $10 000 wager against his friend Andy Roddick  the ninth-ranked tennis player in the world.
 During the summer  Roddick bet Gimelstob that he could not complete the course in 4 hours 45 minutes. The loser is supposed to send a check to the other's charitable foundation. Gimelstob  who had never run three miles before arranging the wager  recently reached 20 miles in training  and now his confidence is soaring  especially with [TGT] by his side.
 [TGT] has run 60 marathons since [TGT] first one just three years ago  most recently the Marine Corps Marathon  which [TGT] ran in a Superwoman outfit on Halloween  finishing in 4:00:55. On June 6  two years and two weeks after [TGT] ran [TGT] first marathon in Vermont  [TGT] became the youngest woman to run in all 50 states  as certified by the 50 States Marathon Club  averaging almost a marathon a week during the sport's peak season in spring and autumn.
 [TGT] ran the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson  Miss.  the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans and the Hatfield and McCoy Marathon in Williamson  W.Va. [TGT] spent a total of 12 hours in Alaska to run the Humpy's Marathon in Anchorage  of which 3:57:23 was spent on the course ([TGT] beat former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's mark by 2 minutes 23 seconds).
 [TGT] personal best is 3:49:40 at the Kentucky Derby Marathon this spring  but [TGT] also ran a sluggish 7:02:51 in the aptly named Running With the Devil Marathon in Boulder City  Nev.  where it was 119 degrees at the 11 a.m. start time with virtually no shade along the course. Last year  [TGT] ran the New York City event in 3:56:42  which was impressive considering [TGT] was battling a bit of a hangover.
 In a procedure not uncommon for [TGT]  Skladzinski  a recent Cornell graduate who works as a business strategy consultant  was out partying the night before with friends  although not late.
 "It was Halloween  so I told everyone to meet up early  at 2 p.m. " [TGT] said. "That way I could still have fun and get a good night's sleep before the race. I think I did pretty well  even after all that beer. My motto is  I live the life I want  and I run marathons on the side. I'm not going to let it dictate my life."
 Skladzinski  who is nothing if not an organized Type A personality  kept a spreadsheet for her travels  and calculated that she traversed 122 000 miles  mostly by plane  and ran 1 422 miles at a total cost of about $11 530. The farthest she traveled was Honolulu  and as a resident of Manhattan  the easiest journey was  of course  the New York City Marathon. She has run with wild horses in Wyoming  stayed with friends in Michigan and Idaho; used hotel loyalty points in Nebraska  Ohio and Oregon; and spent an undetermined number of hours trying to arrange all of the travel.
 Since the previous youngest woman to run in 50 states was 29  Skladzinski originally gave herself six years to complete the task. But about halfway through she realized she could do it before she turned 25 on July 10  and that became her mark. She accomplished it with a month to spare by cramming them in at a staggering rate.
 Last fall she ran 12 marathons in 13 weeks  and when she set her personal best in Kentucky  it was her third marathon in eight days  Charlottesville  Va.  with Boston right before.
 "It was pretty complicated at times figuring out the travel and the logistics " she said. "It took a lot of time and foresight."
 (Two women -- Beverly Paquin and Morgan Cummings  both 22 -- have passed [TGT]'s record in the last month.)
 But Sunday  [TGT] will devote [TGT] to Gimelstob and getting him across the finish line in one piece  and also in ample time to win the bet. [TGT] knows [TGT] will not set a personal record because they are aiming for 4:20  but [TGT] is still happy because [TGT] has a new goal.
 "We're going to make sure he wins the bet " [TGT] said  "and gets that money for the children."