Using the spring recess, members of both parties put the finishing touches on their training for the 22nd Annual SGMA Capital Challenge. The annual three-mile race, scheduled for Wednesday, May 7th at 8:00 am in Washington, DC's Anacostia Park, determines who is fittest: the Legislative, Executive, or Judicial Branch, or the media that covers them.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair, Richard Lugar (R-IN), will run for the 22nd straight time, joined by Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Budget Committee Chair Don Nickles (R-OK), OMB Director Mitch Daniels, and many others.

Texas boasts three members of its congressional delegation in the race and Texas and Rhode Island have both US Senators running.

Twenty-seven members of Congress have entered, including defending champions Representative Bart Gordon (D-TN), fastest man in Congress; Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), longtime female Senate champ; and Senator John Ensign, last year's fastest Senator. Scores of presidential appointees, a dozen Judges, and many media representatives round out the impressive field.

Team captains in this event are not honorary positions. Each must finish the three-mile course for their team to score. The event shows that even the busiest people can take time out to stay physically fit. All entry fees go to DC Special Olympics as well as an additional donation from the title sponsor SGMA International (the trade association of the sporting goods industry) and major sponsors, FannieMae, Chubb, McDonald Bradley, Stonyfield Farm Yogurt, Roll Call, and Running Times.

Competition for the prestigious Best and Worst Team Name honors remains intense. Some noteworthy entrants are:

My Cornyns Are Hurtin!, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)
George's Joggers, Rep. George Nethercutt (R-WA)
Pete - Fontaines, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
FMCS is Hurt-A-Gen, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Director, Peter Hurtgen
Lord of the Runs, Director of Information Technology Lab, National Institute of Standards, Susan Zevin
Bunsen Burners, Director, National Science Foundation, Rita Colwell
Make Census of it All, Bureau of Census Associate Director, Marvin Raines
Finders of Bad Individuals, FBI Assistant Director, Bob Jordan
The Rogue Fonts, Bonnie Berkowitz (Washington Post)
The Bumping Heds, Dave Yanovitz (Washington Post)
CHE-TAHS, Karla Haworth (Chronicle of Higher Education)
What You C is No BS, Bill Plante (CBS News)
Shocked and Odd, Kathy Kiely (USA Today)
Make the Money and Run, Rick Dunham (Business Weekly)
Fair and (new) Balanced, Teri Schultz (Fox News)

The riverfront course is an out and back course in Anacostia Park (just over the Souza Bridge - Pennsylvania Avenue). After the race, runners will have a catered breakfast, including Stonyfield Farm Yogurt products.

Directions to the site may be downloaded from the race Web site. (Entries are closed.)