Rep. Marshall vomits during three-mile race

by Betsy Rothstein - 05/09/07 6:52 PM ET

Sure, three-mile races are hard. Not as hard as say, a 26.2-mile marathon, but OK, hard enough. Last week’s ACLI Capital Challenge proved to be a difficult endeavor for Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) — so much so that just as he crossed the finish line, he began to throw up.

Marshall, who wasn’t feeling well that morning, decided to push himself, said another lawmaker who ran the race. Marshall finished the race in a speedy 21 minutes and 14 seconds.

Doug Moore, Marshall’s spokesman, reported to ITK that his boss did not actually throw up, but rather, that he retched. “He said he was retching, but hadn’t eaten anything that morning and didn’t have anything to bring up,” Moore said. “It wasn’t for lack of trying.”

According to Moore, Marshall remarked that his “non-existent training regime caught up with [him] at the finish line, but [Rep.] Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) didn’t.”

The lawmaker who witnessed Marshall’s apparent retching reported that he was neck-and-neck with his Georgia colleague, but didn’t want to throw up and so decided not to push it.

Things could have gone infinitely worse for Marshall.

In a special ITK investigation on running marathons, it appears that other unseemly things can happen. For one thing, some runners must wear special undergarments to avoid unmentionable accidents. For another, some runners also place Band-Aids over their nipples when they run to avoid bleeding and chafing.

Sen. Rockefeller tries to sit on Sen. Leahy

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) is ever the jokester. Months ago ITK reported on his antics of interrupting other senators mid-interview. Last week he reached a new high — or low, depending on where you’re sitting — of trying to sit on Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on the Senate subway.

Rockefeller boarded the train car and jokingly attempted to sit on the elder senator, then offered, “Oh, I’m sorry.”
Leahy quickly caught on to the prank and replied, “Do you want to sit here? If you really want my seat, you can have it.”
But Rockefeller, ever the gentleman, stood for the rest of the ride.

Sighting: Ex-Rep. DeLay smoking at Bullfeathers

It appears that post-congressional life suits former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) well. Forget Jack Abramoff and the continuing trail of indictments and jail sentences. He looked as carefree as it gets last Thursday afternoon outside Bullfeathers, where he happily puffed away on a cigar with a small group of twentysomething aides.

Tancredo aide gets punched in Chinatown

Injured aide has metal plates inserted in face

Andrew Good, a 26-year-old legislative assistant for Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), was minding his own business two weekends ago when a stranger socked him in the eye while he walked north on 7th Street in Chinatown to meet friends for drinks at Clyde’s.

ITK met with Good last week at Bullfeathers, where he was dining on macaroni and cheese — he can barely eat these days and must stick to mushy foods. For breakfast, he eats ice cream from Scoops in the Longworth Building.

The crime occurred at about 11 p.m. that Friday night. Good was chatting on his cell phone at the time when a pack of young men came walking toward him down the street. “Honestly I had no idea it was coming at all until I got hit,” said Good. “A thousand people pass by you every day — you don’t except anyone is going to hit you.”

Good was in incredible pain, but he didn’t realize the extent of the damage until he reached Clyde’s, with his eye swollen shut and his face bleeding. He asked the hostess to call an ambulance and, with two Tancredo aides in tow, took a late-night trip to the emergency room.

After several doctor’s appointments and X-rays, he had surgery Monday morning to insert two titanium plates into his face. His doctor is Dr. Philip Schoenfeld, voted by the Washingtonian as the best facial reconstruction surgeon in the city. Good has been on several medications, including an antibiotic and the painkiller Oxycontin.

Particularly traumatic for Good is the sound of the punch, which he cannot get out of his head, and the glee the men expressed to one another. Good filed a police report, but doesn’t expect the assailant will be apprehended.
But the story thickens.

Good has experienced random violence before. Two years ago he was jumped in Rome. He and his girlfriend at the time were returning to his hotel when two Italian men approached, wanting to talk to her. “So I went to the Italian emergency room,” he said. Thankfully nothing was broken, but they did leave the pre-IV needle in, causing his entire arm to bruise.

Another incident occurred two weeks after Sept. 11, 2001. He was at a club on the dance floor when a male stranger approached “and started wailing away,” he said. He was sore, but no hospital care was required.

Asked if he has bad luck, Good reasoned, “Three times and not a punch thrown from my end. I think I’m so unintimidating that I make for a good target.”

But Good doesn’t want to dwell on the crime. “There’s good and there’s bad in the world. It will be nice to look normal and get my cheekbone fixed.”

And no, he won’t be setting off the metal detectors in the Capitol.

Rep. Cohen at Kentucky Derby with Cybill Shepherd

Could the single Memphis lawmaker and the blond actress be a couple?

Over the weekend, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) was spotted at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby with Cybill Shepherd. Back in late March, Shepherd, a Memphis native, was his guest at the March of Dimes Gourmet Gala at the National Building Museum.

Shepherd, currently a star on Showtime’s lesbian drama, “The L Word,” is not a lesbian in real life.
So what’s their status?

Cohen’s office did not return calls on the matter.

Sighting: Boehner relaxes at Cantina Marina

Typically the site of young, partying aides rather than distinguished members of Congress, Cantina Marina drew in the likes of House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) last Friday night for dinner with some congressional staffers.

According to an ITK spy, Boehner “looked relaxed” at the waterfront eatery in a bright banana-yellow sweater, khaki shorts and loafers. “He was friendly to everyone,” the spy said. “He wasn’t standoffish [but instead] very approachable. A man of the people if you will.”

A second spy remarked that the yellow sweater set off Boehner’s well-documented suntan, which he allegedly gets on the golf course.

Elevator talk: lawmaker asks about dog daycare

Last week the following exchange was overheard in a Capitol elevator:

Unknown aide: “I didn’t know there was child care in the House.”

Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.): “Is there dog care? That’s what I want to know.”

Hall, a freshman lawmaker, is really attached to Tani and Dulci, his two Schnoodles (a Schnauzer and Poodle mix) and is considering bringing them to Washington so they can come to work with him. At the moment they reside in New York with wife, Pamela.

“He takes them sailing,” spokeswoman Meaghan Smith explains of the Schnoodles. “He loves them.”

Smith’s own dog, Casey McDougal, an Aussie (half Australian Shepherd, half Australian cattle dog) lives in Rep. Darlene Hooley’s (D-Ore.) office by day. Smith, a former aide to Hooley, visits her there daily, as the congresswoman and the chief of staff have grown attached to the dog.

Announcements

Veterans’ art comes to the Russell Senate Office Building

Sixteen award-winning pieces of art from the annual Veterans Affairs Arts Festival will be on display in the rotunda of the Russell Building this week.

The Department of Veterans Affairs holds an annual National Veterans Creative Arts Festival that showcases the best work by veterans in a wide range of artistic media, including visual arts, dance, creative writing, drama and music. The 16 pieces of art were chosen from a pool of 150.

The 50 Most Beautiful UNPLUGGED

Nominations — the good, bad and the shameless

My name is _________ and I work at a boutique-lobbying firm here in D.C. I met the most wonderful young man a few weeks ago and I think he would be great for your column. His name is _________ __________ and he is the _________ for Congressman ________ ___________. He’s tall, handsome and has a smile that lights up a room.

I met him when he took a meeting with my firm and he was so well-mannered and nice. … You can tell he’s going to be a star.

I don’t have a picture, but I would definitely like for you all to check him out!

Tags Boehner Jay Rockefeller John Boehner Patrick Leahy