Dog day afternoon

Lessing has canine near-miss during triathlon

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Posted: Saturday July 25, 1998 08:29 PM

Lessing, who won the triathlon gold medal and almost hit a dog on the bike course, said it is always difficult to run a race in the middle of a city AP

NEW YORK (AP) -- Just about anything can happen on the streets of New York and the Goodwill triathlon was no exception.

Take Simon Lessing's gold-medal race, for instant. It was almost ended by someone's pet.

"We nearly ran over a dog on the bike course. That was quite exciting," Lessing said.

The pooch, described by Lessing as "a little dog with a little soccer ball in its mouth," was out for a stroll when the bikes raced through on their way from Battery Park up the East Side and then through midtown.

Although the bike course was shifted one block east to get around the site of a fatal construction accident, and there was some confusion at the start of the run, Lessing said it was "quite a good race and there were basically no problems whatsoever."

"It's always difficult to run a race in the middle of a city, in the middle of New York," he said.

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Lessing wins Goodwill triathlon
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