gonna call? Miss Road Manners, of course. 

With a legion of new runners joining the sport, the need for someone to spread the gospel of running etiquette has been needed so that we're not tripping over each other at the starting line and making other running faux pas. Luckily for all of us, Miss Road Manners has heeded the call to bring enlightenment to the masses. 

"We knew from local clubs that a lot of runners were complaining about the lack of courtesy at races and on the trails because of the influx of new runners," explains Miss Road Manners, aka Freddi Carlip, who also serves as president of the Virginia-based Road Runners Club of America (RRCA). "We wanted to come up with something to help alleviate the tension."

Many new runners enter the sport via charity events, such as Leukemia's Team in Training. These novices also tend to make a major marathon with a crowded field their first race, making running etiquette all the more needed.

"We talked about the Marine Corps Marathon with lots of charity runners who had no idea how to run in a race. They were walking five abreast and stopping in front of people," recalls Carlip of the RRCA board meeting in 1998 where Miss Road Manners was born.

Taking on the personae of a running Judith Martin, Carlip writes a column for the RRCA newsletter FootNotes that is patterned after Martin's Miss Manners column. "I wanted to make sure it was fun, so I use a lot of humor. If you sound like you're lecturing, people are not going to read it," says Carlip, who is also editor and publisher of Runner's Gazzette, one of the country's oldest running newspapers founded in 1976 ( www.runnersgazette.com ).

In addition to print and on-line columns, Carlip dons her white gloves and spreads the race manners gospel by numerous speaking engagements at running club meetings, beginning runners' groups and marathon workshops. Her brochures, "Race Etiquette for Runners" and "Rules of the Road, Trail and Track" are available for only the cost of postage from the RRCA. Call (703)836-0558 to order. To view the brochures on-line, check out www.rrca.org/publicat/publicat.html . 

The brochure addresses the fact that while racing etiquette is important, runners also need to heed the conventions of road, trail and track. "Road manners are more than just how to run a race," says Carlip, who is also a member of the Susquehanna Ridge Runners and Montgomery (Md.) County Road Runners.

Miss Road Manners has been gratified by the feedback she has received on her musings. She gets 10-15 inquiries a week on issues such as people walking or running three or four abreast in races, the issue of charity runners and the appropriateness of baby joggers, which the RRCA does not recommend for racing. 

"Miss Road Manners says that baby joggers are fine for training," says Carlip, slipping into her third-person personae. "But a race is a competitive event, even if the person with the baby jogger is not competing."

Miss Road Manners has caught some heat for that controversial stand on baby joggers and her accompanying suggestion that runners with small children get a baby sitter instead. "One reader wrote back that I was anti-family," she sniffs. 

Other common questions are where to go to the bathroom, how to blow your nose and what to do about throwing up, which Carlip answers from experience. "Even Miss Road Manners, who admits to sweating, has been known to spit, hurl and heed the call of nature during a race," she admits.

"Those are issues that are funny, but they do come up," adds Carlip, who received an apology from a young runner who threw up at the finish line. "I absolved him of all guilt. If you have some warning, of course, you should move to the side." 

As for the future of Miss Road Manners now that she has taken over the RRCA presidency from Don Kardong, Carlip assures that she will continue to do public speaking engagements. "As long as we have new runners that need to be educated, Miss Road Manners will be out there, and she will keep those white gloves on. 

"It's important to remember that we are a community of runners. We have to be aware of other people we are running with, whether on the road, track, trail or race. Otherwise, we're making it difficult for others and ourselves, and the race experience is marred. Use common sense, and treat other runners the way you'd like to be treated.

To contact Miss Road Manners, e-mail her at missroadmanners@rrca.org