Geneva Redux

Begin with the fact that Switzerland is barely a country, more a loose collection of three language and two religious groups in various permutations. Put the banking in the north and the international organizations in the south and the watch industry more or less all over. Geneva itself is right near the French border and barely an hour from the great ski resorts of the Alps, some French, some Swiss, some are both depending on what direction you ski from the summit. Now combine with a price structure roughly as follows: Starbucks chai tea latte $12, Big Mac $17, mediocre cheese pizza $26, mediocre cheese pizza, salad and a beer $45, ok Indian dinner 62, pretty good Japanese dinner with wine $120, ok mid-level business hotel near train station $340 a night including breakfast and transit card good for free trams and buses. You get the idea. No idea how international civil servants do anything other than go home and eat pbj every night. I am told that the rental apartments are controlled by the municipal government as to both price and availability. You apply for an apartment and someone allocates you one eventually based on size of family and ability to pay. It is apparently almost impossible for a single person to get more than a one bedroom and difficult for married couples to upgrade to larger spaces unless there are new additions to the family. One can avoid this by buying but prices are astronomical.

Lots of really smart hard working people in the various secretariats of the different IGOs and NGOs around town. Like Washington, many are career, others cycle back and from between public and private sector. UNCTAD seems a bit clumsy organizationally but still the only place which makes any effort to identify and cater to the special needs of the LDCs in the competition area. Once, that meant suspicion of the MNCs of the developed world, now it seems more like trying to get competition policy eight for newer jurisdiction, almost always with sever resource problems. Most of these countries aren't members of the OECD and feel like outsiders at the ICN. Some of the sessions were a little painful, long on diplomacy and scripted interventions by the different delegations. But many had real questions from the heads of smaller agencies about cooperation, technical assistance, the relationship between antidumping and antitrust that I don't think they would have been comfortable asking in another multilateral forum. I left a little weary from the scripting and the too many speakers with eight minutes for their presentations but ultimately impressed by the energy of the delegates and the market niche of UNCTAD in the world of competition policy for the dozens of newer and smaller jurisdictions with no other natural home for their concerns. Plus, as always the schmoozing in the halls may be more important then the formal presentations and resolutions in the room.

Faculty/Student Events

We had a thread way back at the beginning of the blog about the possibility of faculty/student coordination on a running club. My colleague Peter has been extremely energetic trying to get, and keep, ours going. He's doing a great job. Here's a picture showing the group after a 14-hour, 100-mile relay (The Red Eye Relay) last weekend in the hills of southern Indiana. The report is they won the open/mixed division.

I'm trying to get Peter to guest-blog about it. We'll see.

New Run Course in St. George

I was rather prolix this spring (here also) in describing the difficulty of the course at Ironman St. George. Word is that's changing. The ostensible reason is road construction; I believe it has more to do with the race's failure to fill up, a rarity for a branded event. The new run course will be flat and wind through town, apparently never more than 1.5 miles from the finish.

I say too bad. The run was a beast. When I rack the bike next Saturday I will have in my pocket the knowledge that I've run much harder than what I have in front of me. I wouldn't trade that for the world.

IM Lake Placid

I knew two people racing yesterday in Lake Placid. The live updates were less than fully functional, but I did get to cheer as each left the transitions with impressive times. Both M__ and J__ swam in the 1:05 range, which is quite good for an age grouper. Both averaged close to 20 mph on the bike, and Lake Placid is a famously hilly course -- so, again, it's quite something. J__ proceeded to run a 3:39 marathon, only about :30 slower than what I believe to be his personal best (for a pure marathon); M__ ran 4:17. With Vineman now five days away, quite inspiring.

Oh, and today right at noon I signed up for next year's running of Lake Placid.

Two Geneva Runs

Was in Geneva for UNCTAD meeting. Got in two different but equally pleasant runs, mostly because it was in the 60s with light drizzle most of the time. First run was morning after arrival to reset my body clock. Did about 65 minutes (assume 7 miles or so) from hotel down Lac Leman to the WTO headquarters. Would have kept going along the lake but blocked lots of construction that I couldn't figure out how to get around. Retraced my steps and headed Rue de Lausanne until Rue de la Paix which takes you up the hill to the UN which uses the old League of Nation Palace. Found both the delegate entrance and the visitor's entrance both of which I would need for the next three days (visitor's entrance to get my badge, delegates entrance after that which is much closer to the tram stop). Continued past the UN and the Arianna museum which has a cool collection of creamics and glass going across rather than further up the hill. Eventually found the route down back to the lake but apparently missed the quicker route. Returned along Rue de Lausanne past some fancy apartments, hotels, and the Wilson palace where the League of Nations was negotiated back to hotel and breakfast with Russ Damtoft of the FTC International Office. He was then kind of enough to take me to the tram stop after I cleaned up and off to the meeting we went.

After much listening and a little speaking, went running with Russ my final morning before heading to the airport. We did 5 plus the other direction along the lake, past the old town, the ferris wheel park, the marina and a bit further. Would have taken the ferry boat back straight across but I forgot my transit card (free at most hotels and the only bargain in Geneva). Really nice to catch up with someone I have known for years but never had a chance to know well.

More on Geneva in a future post but suffice it to say, it is pretty, kind of boring, and insanely expensive.

Full Circle

I'm amused at the degree to which our two cats have become equal members of our family. Here's an anecdote:

1. The cat bowls were dirty. While they were being cleaned, we served the cats using our own dishes.
2. The cat bowls became clean, but we never got around to switching them back. So the cat bowls went in the cupboard and our dishes stayed on the floor.
3. Dishes piled up in the sink for a day or two, as happens all too often in our home.
4. The other day I and P__ found ourselves eating edamame out of . . . one of the clean cat bowls.

Entering the Taper

My second A race for the year -- after Boston -- is the Vineman triathlon, to be held July 30 in Sonoma County, California. This is the second-oldest IDT (iron-distance triathlon), after the Hawaii Ironman. It's not a "branded" race, which is to say it has remained independent of World Triathlon Corp., the owner of the Ironman brand. It's supposed to be very pretty, very well run, and pleasantly smaller in size than an IM race.

Last weekend was my final hard weekend, with a long run Saturday and a long ride (plus a short run/walk to simulate the transition) Sunday. There's still time for some final tuning: I need a few day swimming this week, some track work in the shoes, and maybe an hour or a little longer at high pressure on the bike. Not too much in terms of distance and plenty of sleep.