In a Flocast.com interview with Deena titled "Night Before Preparations" (video taken day before race), Deena said she was going to a "Great Italian Restaurant on famous Newberry Street" for dinner.
Given her next day stomach problems and bathroom stop, that unnamed Italian restaurant may have cost Deena $500,000. If Deena had avoided stomach problems and won Boston, she would have been tied with Prokopcuka for 1st place (50 points each) in the World Marathon Majors (1st place receiving $500,000). And the first “tie breaker” is a head-to-head competition. Only one runner can surpass that 50 point total at this weekend’s London Marathon. Berhana Adere (ETH) could advance her 30 point total to 55 points by winning London, but a 2nd place finish would give her only 45 points. And only one other runner, Geta Wami (ETH) could tie that 50 point total, but she would have also to win London to get that tie.
So if Adere does not win London, and if Kastor had won Boston, then Kastor and Prokopcuka would have been tied for 1st place (50 points each) with only one marathon left to compete in this coming fall before the 2006-2007 World Marathon Series ends (Berlin 9/30/07, Chicago 10/7/07, or NYC 11/4/07).
So Deena’s bathroom stop might have been the most expensive one in history for runners and non-runners alike.
Does anyone know the name of the Newberry Street Italian restaurant that Deena ate at Sunday night? If you do, please provide the name.
Someone reading this should call the Boston Health Dept. (or whatever it may be named) and ask for a cleanliness inspection of the kitchen. This restaurant should be widely known by us runners as a place not to eat at – especially before the Boston marathon. Surprisingly, food gets contaminated at fancy upscale restaurants almost as frequently as it does at inexpensive chain restaurants. It is far less likely a simple breakfast would have been responsible for stomach problems. The needed kitchen inspection should remove any uncertainty about what happened.
So let’s publicly identify this restaurant. Did anyone else eat at this restaurant Sunday (4/15/07) evening? Any problems? If you plan on running Boston in future years, don’t eat at any Italian restaurant on Newberry Street without knowing what happened here.
Deena, please hire your own chef and eat in your hotel room in the days leading up to big races. USATF has good reasons for bringing along its own chef to all the international competitions that Team USA participates in.