NOTES

 

Starting at the front of the pack with the elite runners for the first time, Albert Lucas set a new Guinness world record time of 3:29.04 in the Los Angeles Marathon on March 5.

 

Lucas said the front seeding made a tremendous difference in his time, which eclipsed his November 1987 New York Marathon time by 30 minutes. With very few slower runners to pass, he sprinted the first four miles in under 24 minutes and passed the halfway mark in 1 :36.08. It was Lucas's third marathon in the past year. His first was also in Los Angeles last March, when he ran a 4:04. Once again he ran the distance without a single drop.

 

The marathon committee also included him this year in all press conferences and gatherings of elite runners. Lucas said, "They all had kind words for joggling. It was exceptional to have them aware of it this time around. It was a great moment for juggling, joggling, Exerballs and me."

 

Lucas hopes that his acceptance in Los Angeles positions joggling for broader status in the running world. "Now it's time to get more jogglers to show up at the same races and get some exciting competition in the sport outside the IJA conventions," he said.

 

Though he has no concrete plans for a next race, Lucas said he will certainly continue his training. He will be performing   an ice juggling act at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fla., through September.

 

Max Winfrey is teaming up with Steve Ragatz to perform at Disney WorId in Florida through Labor Day. Winfrey previously worked there with Robert Holroyd. Both principles in this summer's team have worked at theme parks before, and Ragatz says they have two big advantages - steady work and no travel.

 

At Disney WorId the duo will do a team act on the street and also individual work. Winfrey will perform, among other things, his three machetes on a pogo stick. Ragatz has a nice start to his five torch routine. He picks a gullible audience volunteer who usually has trouble with the lighter obtained from another audience member. Ragatz then hands the torches to the volunteer, lights them and walks into the crowd to return the lighter. "Then I disappear and leave them holding the torches for a long embarassing moment," he said.

 

The Raspyni Brothers opened for Dean Martin Feb. 5-6 at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City , N.J. They were scheduled to perform at the Sands Hotel there for the entire month of March.

 

Unicycle jugglers Sem Abraham and Teresa Hemminger were married in February - twice! On Feb. 6 the couple, riding unicycles, was married in Teresa's hometown of Redford , Mich. , by a preacher who was also riding a unicycle. They then performed on the Carribean island of Curacao for two weeks before a second wedding ceremony in Sem' s native country of Holland on Feb. 29. They went on to Holland Village amusement park in Japan for a two-month engagement. They plan to attend the IJA's convention this summer.

 

In other wedding news, Kathy Recchia gave out heart-shaped silver lame beanbags as favors to guests at her nuptials this winter. She got the idea at the San Jose convention, and the push she needed when Allan Jacobs promised to give a group lesson to the guests at the wedding.

 

Recchia needed 445 beanbags, which is a lot for a woman who doesn't know how' to use a sewing machine! A friend helped there, but there were other hazards. Her arms swelled up with itchy red bumps from an allergy to the bird seed stuffing. Finished finally, she wrapped them in white netting (three to a bundle, of course) and inserted a pink strip of paper reading: "Take heart and juggle as we take arms and snuggle.'

 

The caterers were less than thrilled as rowdy guests at the reception began throwing beanbags and hitting things. But after the cake was cut, Jacobs began his juggl­ing instruction with the bride giving a demonstration. Other jugglers mingled with non-jugglers to help start cascades all over the hall.

 

Recchia reported, "I was a nervous wreck worrying whether the caterers would throw us out. But I'm glad I had the opportunity to give a shot of juggling fever to my dearest friends and relatives."

 

Johnny Lux, the long-time IJA juggler from Lakewood, Ohio, is adding a new wrinkle to his vaudeville-style routine. Renowned at the Akron convention for his hand-made "gimmicks" that figured in the routine, he has now constructed a radio controlled teddy bear that beats out a drum roll to introduce his more difficult tricks!

 

Dale Jones was seen juggling on the CBS Evening News in January, and had a feature role in a Ringling Brothers special on CBS on Feb. 17. In his part, Jones worked with juggler Michael Davis.

 

Andrew Schwartz will be a juggling artist in residence at at least four schools this year through the New Hampshire Arts in Education program. His featured piece is "The Generations ofJuggling," which presents the history of the art. Schwartz works with the Kitchensink Production company.