THE TASH BROTHERS BAND, CITY HARVEST AND 35,000 RUNNING FOOLS AT THE NYC MARATHON

Yes, boys and girls, it's that time of year once again, when 35,000 Richard Simmons speedo-wearing maniacs take to the streets of New York City to run 26 miles as fast as they possibly can. For the 16th straight year, all this will be made somewhat easier for the runners by having the mighty Tash Brothers Band play for them at the beginning of the course in Brooklyn's Bay Ridge, right on 4th Avenue and 88th Street. This coming November 2nd starting around 9:30 A.M. until the last runner zips by about noon, The Tash Brothers Band rocks and roars and rumbles while the runners' measured steps turns into boogie-woogie dance moves for a block or two.

Many of the runners pause to dance with the band, take photos and get a drink of water, then go on to run 25 more miles, refreshed and energized. It's no coincidence that since the Tash Brothers started playing at The NYC Marathon that average finishing times have improved dramatically. And every year the crowds in Bay Ridge have multiplied to be a part of one of the more interesting and bizarre rock & roll extravaganzas in this interesting and bizarre city. The immediate area surrounding the band has become an annual pilgrimage for fans of music and street theater. A tailgate party of sorts surrounds the band, tables and chairs are set up, food spreads and stimulating beverages are enjoyed, tambourines are handed out and people line the sidewalk high-fiving and cheering on the 35,00 running maniacs streaming by the bandstand. It is an exhilarating if somewhat unsettling circus so early on a Sunday morning in Brooklyn.

This year The Tash Brothers Band is charging admission to our tailgate party in the form of a donation of non-perishable food items to be collected by City Harvest. The holidays are coming and a long, cold winter lies ahead, even colder and longer for the city's poor and hungry. City Harvest collects food and distributes it to our less fortunate brothers and sisters. We are asking all who attend to bring groceries to be collected by City Harvest after the race. Bay Ridge Honda, the car dealership on whose property the Tash Brothers perform, will collect the food and turn it over to City Harvest.

We ask everyone to invest a couple of bucks in the form of food staples. Just drop them in our collection bin and City Harvest will do the rest, making sure it gets to those who need it most. Then you and yours can spend the morning enjoying one of the most unusual and exciting spectacles of Autumn in New York, the mad and mighty Tash Brothers Band turning the New York City Marathon into a rock & blues high octane Sunday morning party. Come one, come all, and prepare to be entertained. Afterwards you'll feel like you've just run a Marathon yourself. It's not a day you'll soon forget.