By DEREK ROSE

Hi and thanks for stopping by my little web site.

As you may have gathered, I'm a die-hard Red Sox fan, a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News, and a long-distance runner (not necessarily in that order).

So far I've run 10 marathons and a bunch of shorter races.

Growing up in Massachusetts I've always been a Sox fan, but it was the 1999 ALDS series vs. Cleveland that made me really realize what a great sport baseball is.

And I've been worked as a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News since October 2000, covering stories for the city and national desks.

Some basics: I was born July 2, 1972 in New Bedford, Mass., and spentthe first eight (or so) years of my life in neighboring Fairhaven. After that we moved to Newburyport, Mass., a small touristy town by the mouthof the Merrimack River, where I lived in a house over 200 years old. (whichwasn't uncommon in that area).

In what would have been my sixth through ninth grades I lived in Dunedin,New Zealand, before moving back to Newburyport. In 1990 I graduated from Newburyport High School and went on to attend Vassar College.

In 1994 I got my first journalism job, a part-time gig at the NashuaTelegraph in Nashua, N.H. In April 1995 I started working full-timeat Foster's Daily Democrat in Dover,N.H., where I worked for a little over a year before going on to The Union Leader in Manchester, N.H.

It was there - during his 2 1/2 year stint on the night shift - thatI got re-interested in running and strength training. So far I've run eightmarathons. But have yet to achieve a major goal of running one in under 3 hours and 10 minutes -- the speed I need to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

My favorite beers are Bass and Blue Moon Belgian White.

At the start of 2004 I moved from Manhattan to Union City, N.J. - right by Hoboken, aboutfive minutes to the Lincoln Tunnel; 15 minutes to Times Square.

last updated Oct. 13, 2004