No pizza, bagels or pasta carbo-loading for observant Jews the night before this year's Boston Marathon -- the April 21 race falls smack in the middle of Passover. Jews that follow Passover dietary rules do not eat leavened foods such as bread, pasta or any fermented grains for eight days. Passover kicks off April 19 with a lengthy seder dinner celebrating Jewish freedom from Egyptian slavery. Another seder is held the second night.

No doubt Jewish runners participating in the 2008 Boston Marathon will handle the conflict differently. One couple practiced carbo-loading before previous races with potatoes and fish. Another is breaking the rules and eating bagels on marathon morning. One rabbi reports he'll be consuming plenty of matzoh (unleavened bread), but he's not entirely confident that matzoh -- a star food in a seder dinner -- is the best choice. It reportedly can bind you up. Constipation and marathons do not go well together.

I wonder if a couple bowls of Bubbie's matzoh ball soup honestly slow down marathon times. I suspect it doesn't matter whether you carbo-load on potatoes and kugel or pasta and bagels, but it might be a good idea to try out any new diet on a few longer training runs first. I mean, it's an honor to run the Boston Marathon, ya gotta be prepared!

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