Club News
Hage,Crandall Take 1-2 at Jingle Bells; Wadsworth Elected President for 2001; Awards Given for to Volunteers for Y2K; ClubNews Shows Beefcake in Shameless Effort to Boost Website Traffic
New Members
Gordon Phillips. Gordon, a professor of Business at the University of Maryland, lives in Bethesda with his wife and two children. Gordo has been coming out on Sunday runs, to do distance and then join us in kibitzing afterwards at Dean and Deluca. He is aiming for a winter marathon.
Tony DeCrappeo, 47 of Washington DC. Another venerable master, Tony posted a 2:53 at Boston last year. Tony works at the Council on Governmental Relations downtown.
We welcome both gentlemen into the club, and look forward to training with them.
Race Results
WRC took 1-2 at the Jingle Bells 10K on December 10th in downtown DC. Jim Hage won in a time of 32:55 while Russ Crandall took 2nd in a time of 33:17
Saidd Russ
“It was actually a pretty slow day as the time indicates. I felt so strong on that course last year– 5. This year different story== just back from a trip to Benin in West — crazy time but incredible jetlag. I felt like I was running in the twilight zone and my time reflected that. Not that Jim was not tired either or that he could not have whipped me even if I had gone 31:15.”
DCRRC Bread Run, December 10th, Bethesda Maryland
Below is a listing of our members who ran in the DCRRC bread run. It is worth mentioning that had this been a beer run, WRC participation would have been significantly higher
- Roberto Rodriguez 38:20
- Bob Platt 44:59
- James Scarborough 45:39
News of the Club
Club Holiday Party, December 16
WRC held its annual Christmas party on December 16th, at the G’town house of Katherine Turner. Numerous partygoers imbibed food, spirits, and good cheer as year-end awards were given. Members we had not seen for a long time (Ron McGraw, Jim Hage, Paul Neimeyer) joined us. A new WRC flag was unfurled, complete with our sacred symbol – the dyspeptic Phoenix.
Elections were also held. No need for manual recounts, as WRC’s democracy only permits the fielding of only a single slate of candidates at a time (an idea pioneered by Fidel Castro). Below are the officers leading WRC into the year 2001
- President: Jim Wadsworth
- VP: Nate Reilly
- Treasurer: James Scarborough
- Secretary: Barb Fallon
- Membership Outreach: Adina Siegel
- Legal: Jim Hage/Jack Coffey
- Web: David Keating
Year End Awards
The following members got year end awards for their volunteer contributions to the club
Awarded WRC Caps
- Robin Oswald Captain, Army 10 Miler Co-ed Team
- Kevin Ryan Captain, MCM Men’s team
- Adina Siegel Volunteer Coordinator/Membership Outreach
- Barb Fallon Sallie Mae 10K / Rockville Twilighter Team Coordinator
Awarded WRC Caps and Gift Certificate
- Kirk Baird Fall Track Workout Organizer
- Paul Neimeyer Spring Track Workout Organizer/ Captain of the Boston Marathon Team
- Nate Reilly Wednesday Night Workout Coordinator
- Todd Martin Captain Cherry Blossom Ten Miler, Lawyers Have Heart 10K, Twilighter, National Capital Twenty Miler and Army Ten Miler Teams
In addition David Keating was given the book “In the Land of White Death” for his contributions. ClubNews speculates “white death” is shorthand reference to Keating’s experience at the Richmond Marathon this past November.
From the Land of the Rising Son
Greg Pece writes us from Japan, where he seems to be doing some bracing workouts.
Workouts are Sat afternoons, and I have a copy of the workouts for the entire season created by the leader. The workouts are no joke either. Last weekend we did 10,000 meters at about 5.50 pace together, and then at the 10,000 m point ran hard for another 2000 m. I think this evening we have a variety of 3000m and 2000m repeats. And then meeting Sun morning for a 40 km (25 mi.) training run. No real races to report, just training for a big 30 km race in February.
Two pictures from Fall Training and Racing
Here Ed Doheny in cap, talks to Steve Ward (center) and Dean Burke (right) at Fletchers Boat House, this past October. Steve and Dean had stopped to stretch while on a long round trip run to from G’town to Carderock.
WRC ultramarathoner Prasad Gerard pictured at the JFK 50 Miler
Letter from the Prez
Finally, we close with an open letter to members from our New President Jim Wadsworth.
Inaugural Fartlek
It is incumbent upon me to begin this column by saying I’m honored to become president of WRC, a running club steeped in tradition and excellence. One simply need refer to the page on our website “Best WRC Marathon Times” to see factual evidence of this. And beyond running excellence, we also have a club of people who know how to have fun, compete hard, give support to one another, and get involved. By far, we have the best running club website I’ve seen. And most importantly, we currently have one heck of a good mix of very dedicated and talented runners. Indeed, all of these things make WRC a club to be proud of!
Now, a new year is upon us. As runners be and runners are, we are sure to begin the new year being injured, inactive, unmotivated or just plain on the lam, discombobulated, muddling along, rolling steadily, hitting all cylinders with a vengeance, or in some unwieldy combination of those. As Newman might describe, “Oh, the madness!” Well, whatever your circumstance or state of fitness now, let’s begin the year with this simple creed: We strive to keep WRC the best running club in the greater Washington, DC area!
To meet this challenge, we simply need to continue what we’ve already been doing, but perhaps with renewed commitment and energy. Let’s continue our camaraderie, to volunteer when needed, to be active runners, to compete for ourselves and for the club, to participate in club meetings and events, to show individual and club support, and to communicate. Beyond those givens, let’s also take some extra steps this year to recruit new runners and friends, run on WRC teams, stand proudly with our banner (the very one that Dave Keating unfurled at the holiday party), help those that need help with injury and/or training, and give attention to whatever else may come to pass. I myself, hereby commit to these principles.
To help get some competitive and motivational juices flowing, I propose that this year we create some club-oriented awards for people to strive for. Awards such as “runner of the year,” “most improved,” “most races run,” “highest level of volunteer effort,” “most consistent,” “best WRC team runner,” etc. are possibilities. We are open to suggestions in this regard and will discuss such awards and a future year-end banquet at the next club meeting in January. More frequent happy hours will also be in order for 2001. Perhaps not every week, but we shall shoot for a couple times a month at least.
In closing, I look forward to 2001 with hope for all with injuries to heal, motivation to take hold, training to advance, goals to achieve, and for lots of fun during and in between! My ears are open at all times so please be sure to contact me with any club or running concerns, questions, or suggestions you may have.
Cool Running!
Jim Wadsworth