Shana Martin won her first gold medal Saturday.

MADISON, Wis. — Speed is a virtue, but it ain't everything in the Mixed Doubles Boom Run.

Jamie Fischer is faster across floating logs than most people are jumping out of planes, but he lost his balance in his first-round race when he tried to make up distance that his partner, Taylor Duffy, had ceded to her counterpart, Maggie Bulk.

Mandy Erdmann went from gold medalist in the Women's Boom Run to another also-swam when her partner, John Wells, also hit the water trying to make up for a deficit she had left him.

The best strategy turned out to be the same that boxers, drunks and prom queens all use to fend off trouble: Remain upright.

Gold medalists Shana Martin and J.R. Salzman worked that basic tactic to perfection, spinning conservative races into gold medals.

"I didn't get a chance to show my speed," Martin said. "J.R. sat me down every time and said, 'Stay really light. I don't care how fast you go, I'll catch up.'"

	Double trouble: J.R. Salzman earned his second gold medal of the 2004 Games.

Martin indeed ran solid races and let Salzman clean up any mess. Both stayed dry, both went home happy.

In the final against Lizzy Hoeschler and Fred Scheer, Martin surrendered a two-and-a-half log lead to the spry Hoeschler. But a couple of seconds after Salzman started his run, Scheer slipped. His recovery time back onto the log, though instantaneous, left Salzman plenty of room to run a comfortable race back to the dock.

The gold medal was Martin's first in eight Great Outdoor Games events. It was Salzman's second of the day, after he ended a three-year gold-medal drought by winning the Men's Boom Run.

"He had a big reality check when he was in basic training with the National Guard (earlier this year)," Martin said. "He finally realized that this isn't everything right here. There's so much more in the world to worry about. We're here to have fun. Yeah, we can make a little bit of money and get cool medals and stuff. But we're here to have a good time and be with friends."

As further evidence of Salzman's maturation, he had this to say to the post-match interviewer after dispatching Tyler Fischer and Abby Hoeschler: "We're all pretty much winners here."

As further evidence of the remarkable wholesomeness of the audiences in Madison, the crowd gave him generous applause.

The most dramatic race of the event was Tyler Fischer and Abby Hoeschler's squeaker over Carl Rick and Maggie Bulk in the consolation round. Tyler and Abby, who have barely 30 years and less than 250 pounds between them, looked as though they might scamper off with the gold until Abby slipped near the end of her semifinal race against Salzman.

Rick and Bulk likewise had looked formidable until the semis, when Bulk fell too far behind Lizzy Hoeschler and Rick took a spill trying to make up ground on Fred Scheer.

When the two pairs met in the bronze medal round, both teams ran their own strategy. Tyler didn't so much run down the logs as leap lightly, as if crossing lilypads. He beat Bulk back to the dock by a full log and a half. Abby needed only protect the lead.

Then Rick hit the sticks at a sprint. By the turn, he was nearly upon her. Four logs from the finish, the two were dead even. Somehow, Abby kept pace with the faster sprinter and crossed the line in 33.400 seconds, a shoelace ahead of Bulk and Rick's 33.610 seconds.

For Rick, it was the second time in a day he'd lost a medal race by a fifth of a second. He settled for the silver medal in the Men's Boom Run after coming out on the slow end of a photo finish with Salzman.

"Oh, well," Rick said. "I'm just thrilled with how I did this weekend, at my first Games."

Mixed Doubles Boom Run - Final standings

1. J.R. Salzman
1. Shana Martin
2. Fred Scheer
2. Lizzie Hoeschler
3. Abby Hoeschler
3. Tyler Fischer
4. Carl Rick
4. Maggie Bulk
5. Cassidy Scheer
5. Doug Goodmundson
5. Jamie Fischer
5. Jenny Atkinson
5. John Wells
5. Mandy Erdmann
5. Tanya Fischer
5. Taylor Duffy

Results (by round)

Final round
S. Martin/J.R.Salzman 35.282 def L. Hoeschler/F. Scheer 15:00.000

Consolation round
A. Hoescher/Tyler Fischer 33.400 def M. Bulk/C. Rick 33.610

Semifinal round
L. Hoeschler/F. Scheer 33.619 def M. Bulk/C. Rick 45.535
S. Martin/J.R. Salzman 34.399 def A. Hoescher/Tyler Fischer 42.666

Quarterfinal round
L. Hoeschler/F. Scheer 47.747 def Erdmann/Wells 15:00.000
M. Bulk/C. Rick 34.972 def T. Duffy/J. Fischer 56.008
A. Hoescher/Tyler Fischer 33.000 def J. Atkinson/C. Scheer 45.552
S. Martin/Jr Salzman 36.201 def Tanya Fischer/D. Goodmundson 15:00.000