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Bates Athletic Track gets good weekend workout...
Noted runner died 20 years ago this month
By JOE SHAFRAN
You've probably noted the department store ads with the letters, BOGO, standing for "Buy one. Get one free". I had that in mind for the running events last Saturday morning at the Bates Athletic Complex in Annapolis but I called it BOG4. Buy one and get four free...
For the price of one admission, if you got to Bates at 8 A.M. you could participate in or watch the Beginning Running Class. At 9:00, you had the Strider's 2 mile running event. And in that hour, you also had Ellen McGee's running group from Germantown Elementary School and before the morning was over, you had Susan Noble's Kids' runs for the Striders. Noble may go down in history as the director of a kid's runs that once included an 11 month- old. On the price thing .. Just kidding. Unless you ran, there was no charge.
The Strider 2 miler was interesting. It was set up in two heats, the somewhat slower runners in the first, the faster ones in the second. And, among those in the first heat, was Evan Thomas who runs with his students in that 8 o'clock beginning class and there he was again at 9 doing the two miler in familiar surroundings, 8 times around the Bates track. .. And biding their time for the second heat, was the usual collection of area male and female speedsters, who do sub-20 minute five K's.
I sometimes worry about the use of that Bates track. I occasionally run it as do hundreds of others, but I think we may be wearing down the surface. It got a good workout on Saturday, and I wasn't there Sunday, but I was on Monday morning and among others, were two women burning up the asphalt, training for what they said was the half of the June Lake Placid, New York Ironman Triathlon and what I thought they said was the Eagleman in July. They were for real. The sticker on their Lexus was imprinted with the numbers 70.3 and they said triathletes would know what that means.
There is a new memorial sign on Rowe Boulevard in Annapolis across from the somewhat new hiker/ biker/ runner trail. It designates the road as part of the Blue Star highway system, recalling those who served in World War II. The sign and plaque are in a newly planted garden area at the Route 50 interchange. That somewhat new concrete trail, by the way, runs between City Dock in Annapolis and Westfield Shopping Town, a distance of about 4 and half miles, all but for one block at North Bestgate Rd. on the sidewalk with a couple of tricky cross-overs.
And speaking of memorials, you may have noticed as you drive north on General's Highway (Md.178) across from the County fairgrounds, the makeshift memorial on the guide rail at Crownsville, recalling the death a few months ago of a young girl in a traffic accident.
That was near the spot twenty years ago, almost to the day in May, when one of the area's most visible runners was struck and killed during his morning run. That was John Simms of Annapolis. He was 60 at the time and showed no sign of slowing from his 9 minute mile pace. They called him Johnny Boy and every morning of his life, rain or shine, starting at age 40, for twenty years, he ran Generals Highway from his Parole Street Annapolis home to the Eisenhower Golf Course and back, a good ten miles. The police said the driver of the vehicle that hit Johnny Boy had fallen asleep at the wheel. Johnny Boy served in the military and worked at the Naval Academy. His widow, Muriel, and some of his children still reside in Annapolis. Hundreds who passed him every morning came to his funeral, overflowing the church. His widow, Muriel, and some of his children reside in Annapolis.
Runners of the week... The Seventh Grade Students and their teachers at Magothy River Middle School, who worked a three year project of collecting used athletic/running shoes that was turned into money for children in a developing nation.
Hint of the week... Each pound you lose makes running easier (from the recent issue of Footwear Intelligence/ Running Network).
Race of the week: The Zooma Annapolis Women's Half Marathon/10K , Sunday June 1 . the race that almost wasn't but for the perseverance of Brae Blackley, race organizer and her staff who toughed it through the area permitting process and made possible by understanding area public officials. They say a thousand woman are registered and yes ,men can run it, but they just won't be scored. Sorry.
Race Results
Vincent's memorial 5K. Hillsmere School, Annapolis
June 10th, 350 finishers. Steady rain the whole race
1. Dave Berardi, 47, 17:17. 2. Jim Anderson , 48, 18:53. 3. Cody Dunlap, 22, 18:58.4. Jerry Fuentes, 42, 19:09. 5. Sheryl Kline (F) .45, 19:36. 6. J.J. Strouse, 38, 19:39. 7. Chris Hart-Moynih, 18, 19:49.8. Ed Hardin, 46, 20:10.9. Peter Davies, 26, 20:12. 10. Pat Brown, 41, 20:21.
Running Calendar
Memorial Day Weekend and beyond
Sat. May 24th, 8 A.M. Chestertown Md. , 32nd Tea Party, 10 mile run, 5K run/walk
www.trisportsevents.com
Sunday, May 25th. Dewey Beach, Delaware.. 2nd annual Dewey Beach
Liqours 5K at the Cork.. www.races2run.com
Thursday, May 29th Katmandu, Nepal.
Tensing- Hillary Everest Marathon. www.everestmarathon.com
Tell them Joe sent you and they might still take you.
Recalls the day that Tiger and Sir Edmond reached the peak...
Sun. June 1st, 7 A.M. Annapolis.. Zooma Women's Half Marathon/10K. Jog Stroller 10K.
Kid's fun run starting at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, www.zoomarun.com
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