Panama's long distance runners like to compete early in the morning, before the sun gets too brutal. Thus, covering a Sunday morning run that begins and ends near the National Bank of Panama branch across from the Balboa Stadium will bring a journalist to the neighborhood at an hour when many people are still in bed. What's more, Balboa isn't as populous as it once was. There was a time when this was the administrative center of the Canal Zone, when the houses along El Prado were full of families, when the Clubhouse and the kiosk at the Balboa Train Station served crowds that worked or had business to do in Balboa. But now the passenger trains don't come to Balboa anymore, the clubhouse is a distant memory and all the houses on El Prado are used for canal offices that are usually closed on Sunday mornings.

So where's a reporter who finds himself in Balboa on a Sunday morning to find breakfast?

Just at the other end of the stadium, at Niko's, of course. They're open every day from six in the morning to eleven at night.

My usual forays into the Balboa Niko's are for Panama Historical Society meetings or to grab a gyro for lunch. Now in a sense that's narrow minded, given all of the other good things that Niko's has to offer. This is cafeteria-style grill, chafing table and cooler food, from a chain that offers many more selections than the Canal Zone clubhouses ever did.

I may be as obese as a walrus, but I am not an egg man. Even with bacon and eggs ruled out, at Niko's I could have had some ham and hashbrowns with orange juice and tea, or one of many other standard American breakfast combinations. Or I could have gone partly or wholly tipico, from a chorizo with those hashbrowns, or instead of all that some frituras --- say a couple of caramiñolas, some fried tasajo, a papaya-dominated local fruit salad and some strong Boquete coffee. Or maybe the empanadas --- corn or wheat, and filled with what? --- or the tamales or the chicharrones. Or.... Or.... LOTS to choose from when you go to Niko's for breakfast.

I did my atypical panagringo mix, boiled yucca with three big meatballs and a little gravy, the fruit salad du jour and a large Coca-Cola. Gotta get that caffeine and sugar buzz to be ready to stand around taking pictures of people running up a morning sweat.

Afterwards, I noticed a number of the morning's runners heading into Niko's for breakfast. If you're a fine-tuned athlete or otherwise on a diet that's a lot healthier than mine, Niko's can take care of you too.

Niko's is a Panamanian chain, but due to its proximity to the stadium the Balboa establishment probably serves more athletes than the other locations. This is also the largest and best decorated of the Niko's restaurants, with the indoor playground for the kids, the panoramic photos of military life in the old Canal Zone, the meeting room upstairs and the ample seating for the lunchtime and football crowds.

Balboa isn't and can't ever again be what it used to be. To complicate matters ARI, the Panama Canal Authority, the national government and city hall have no coherent shared vision of what it ought to be. Thus the old Clubhouse remains empty, a monument to the failed plans of several administrations and a symbol of the town's uncertain fate. But not far away, Niko's is one of the symbols of things gone right with the former Canal Zone's reversion to Panama. It's destined be one of the "anchor businesses" of the new Balboa that's gradually taking shape.