Club News, September 17, 2001 | Washington Running Club

Club Takes First at Fair Lakes 8K; Women take 4th at Philly Distance Run while Masters Men are 3rd; WRC End-of-Summer Party a Success; Nuptials for Sandrock-Tappan

New Members

Doug McDonald 34, of Falls Church. Doug is training for the Army Ten Miler. We welcome him into the club

Race Results

Fairlakes 8K September 8^th, 2001, Fairfax VA
At the Fair Lakes 8K, WRC won the team title, placing four runners in the top ten. Kirk Baird was in the unfamiliar position of taking second in the race as an individual (Chris Banks of the Georgetown Running Store took first) while new hire Bill Dunn edged out grizzled veteran captain Todd Martin for sixth place. Henry Grossmann had an exceptionally good race– and this is not a gross exaggeration.

Congrats to all the guys (and Adina)!

2) Kirk Baird 26:51
6) Bill Dunn 28:06
7) Todd Martin 28:06
9) Henry Grossmann 28:23
15) Chris Galaty 29:06
22) Jim Wadsworth 29:45
125) Adina Wadsworth 36:14
156) James Scarborough 37:26

Laws Run for the Shelter Half Marathon September 16, 2001 Leesburg, VA

It appears that our friends Todd Martin and Steve Ward are in good shape for their upcoming October marathons (Todd in New Zealand and Steve at the inaugural Baltimore Marathon ). Todd & Steve placed top ten at Leesburg, over a course that had hills the first few seven miles. Dave Stoudt who is running Chicago also had an excellent time.

Todd Martin 1:17:21
Steve Ward 1:18:05
David Stoudt 1:30:18

Philadelphia Distance Run, September 16, 2001 Philadelphia PA
Only five days after the terrorist attack on the U.S., the PDR went on as scheduled. Prior to the race, a moment of silence was observed for the victims. Regrettably, two of the runners who had registered for the Philly Distance run perished at the World Trade Center. Condolences to their families and friends.

Races Results from Philly

Jim Hage 1:09:03
Yancy Hall 1:15:09
Chris Galaty 1:17:55

Women’s Open Team (5^th Place)

Patty Fulton 1:18:23
Robin Oswald 1:23:09
Liz Parks 1:31:34
Darcee O’Donnell 1:31:45
Kate Hudson 1:35:24
Adina Wadsworth 1:41:40

Men’s Master Team (3^rd Place)

Prasad Gerard 1:26:47
Mike McGrath 1:27:46
David Keating 1:30:35

Congrats to all who ran.

News of the Club
Club Picnic September 9th

A great time was had at the club picnic which over twenty Phoenicians attended. Swimming, barbecue, and general schmoozing occurred at Tris Kruger’s house in Potomac. The summer picnic at Kruger’s house was a tradition since 1988. Many thanks to Kruger for his generous hospitality, and to Jim and Adina for organizing the effort .

Nuptials for Tappan/Sandrock
We would like to congratulate our former President Steve Tappan and Marie Sandrock on their wedding the weekend of September 8^th. They are now happily ensconced in their new abode in Alexandria. We understand their honeymoon will be later this year.

Katherine Turner, Legal Beagle
Word back from Katherine Turner who is now a law student at Harvard (Harvard is the world famous University, west of Boston & across the street from Dunkin’ Donuts).

Katherine tells Dave Keating

“Harvard is great and I really think I made the right decision. I love law school so far. Incidentally your brother Greg Keating is one of the authors of my Torts textbook, along with my professor, Sargentich… what are the chances?

Dave had no idea that Brother Greg wrote a textbook on Torts. This reminds Dave to call his brother so they can discuss Madonna’s latest video Like a Virgin

Somber Times in DC
The tragic attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon is still on everyone’s mind. This is the greatest loss of life by an act of violence in U.S. history – exceeding one-day casualties at Normandy, Pearl Harbor, Gettysburg, and Antietam. The fact that it was done by hijacked airlines, that the casualties were mostly civilian, makes it all the more appalling.

Thankful no one from the club perished. Bill Dunn who works at the Pentagon for the Navy tells us.

I was at the Pentagon during the attack, but walked away without a scratch. It was a really frightening day, especially in afterthought because I was supposed to be at a meeting in the spaces that were destroyed

In times like these, when out nation is about to embark on a long twilight struggle with terrorism, running seems quaintly irrelevant to the larger world. Whether or not the Army Ten Miler or Marathon Corps Marathon occur (and last we heard they will) seem beside the point.

However, we’d like to think that sports are not frivolous. The virtues necessary to become an accomplished athlete (patience, stoicism, discipline, endurance) are virtues that served us well in the aftermath of September 11, and which will continue to serve us well. The Brits who have enjoyed stunning military success over the past thousand years have a saying “Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.”

Best wishes to club members in the military, both active and reserves, and all who are working to confront this fanaticism.