Club News, December 13, 2001 | Washington Running Club

NCAA All-American Casey Smith Joins Club; Hage Runs 2:29 at Rocket City Marathon; Russ Crandall captures Bethesda Turkey Trot 10K; Martin, Smith & Wadsworth Excel at Jingle Bells 10K; WRC Mugs to be Featured in March Issue of Outside Magazine

New Members

Casey Smith 22 of Alexandria. Casey graduated this past Spring from Roanoke College, where she earned all-American honors in both a track and Cross Country. At the NCAA Division III Track Championships last May, Casey won the 10,000 meters championship in 35:05. Two days later, Casey took third in the 5000 meter in a time of 17:07.

Casey is currently working at Johnson Lambert & Co (a regional accounting firm) as an auditor. We welcome Casey into the club, and look forward to training with her

Race Results

Rocket City Marathon, December 9^th, Huntsville, AL

Jim Hage posted a 2:29 down in Alabama on Sunday. Jim was third master behind Gennady Temnikov and Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia

Raleigh Marathon, December 2^nd, Raleigh, NC

Our friend Bob Platt did very well at Raleigh, posting a 3:19 to take 3^rd in his age category. Dave Keating ran 3:42.

Said Platt vis a vis his performance

“The course ran past the State Capitol four times. Security on the course was not a concern given that we ran past the City Police HQ, the City Jail, the City EMS HQ, the County Jail, the State Highway Patrol Academy, the State Bureau of Investigation Lab and numerous other law enforcement facilities. The other major landmark on the course was the world’s largest Krispy Kream Doughnut store, were employees from all of the aforementioned institutions congregate.

In a classic illustration of symbiosis, Raleigh is chock full of cops & donuts

BRRC Northern Central Trail Marathon, November 24^th, Sparks, MD

In his second marathon in as many months, Chris Galaty took second place at the North Central Trail Marathon in a time of 2:50:15. Says Chris

“It was a good race, the course was almost completely flat and was an out-and-back. It was a fast course. I’m happy with 2nd place though I was hoping my time was a little better. “

Our friend Chris is aiming to run the Mississippi Marathon in Clinton MS, on January 12^th. After this, Chris will be taking a well-deserved break from racing.

Philadelphia Marathon November 18^th, 2001, Philadelphia PA

A belated congrats to our friend Kevin Ryan, who posted a 3:05:12, at the Philly Marathon. Between Kevin, Mike McGrath and Mark Lacy, the club had three runners finish within five minutes of each other at Philly. Kevin has been lifting weights lately, and backing off his training. But Kev has hinted that we might again see his fair countenance at training runs.

Jingle Bells 10K/5K December 8^th, 2001, Washington, DC

WRC fielded a significant presence at the Jingle Bells Run in downtown DC on December 8^th. New Hire Casey Smith took second among women in the 10K, while Todd Martin won in the 5K category. Jim Wadsworth was first master in the 5K.

10K results

Casey Smith 36:26
Susan Wunderly 40:51
Carly Vynne 41:26
Darcee O’Donnell 42:12
Kate Hudson 42:24

Todd Martin 16:33
Jim Wadsworth 17:30
Nate Reilly 18:32
Dale Learn 19:25
Adina Wadsworth 20:59

The course generated a number of complaints among runners. Commented Todd:

“(1) having the returning 5K runners RUN THROUGH the out-going 10K runners isn’t so cool (for the 5K runners or 10K runners) (this occurred around the 2 mile mark for 5K).
(2) having to come to a dead stop two blocks away from the finish because a bus decides it doesn’t want to stop at the intersection isn’t too cool either (especially if I’m right with the second place guy as it happens.”

B-CC YMCA Turkey Chase 10K,Thursday, November 22, 2001, Bethesda, MD

Russ Crandall came up from North Carolina for Thanksgiving to win the Bethesda Turkey Chase 10K in 32:35. Professor Crandall bested the second place finisher by over two minutes. Said Russ:

“Hilly course but I felt OK. Thought about pushing the last two miles but visions of Turkey lunch kept me distracted.”

Russ Crandall 32:35
Ron McGraw 39:51

DCRRC 26th Annual Turkey Trot 5Miler, November 22^nd, 2001, Alexandria, VA

The other Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving saw a number of our members participate

Jim Hage, 25:54
Kirk Baird, 26:48
Henry Grossman, 26:54
Jim Wadsworth, 27:58
Daniel Wallace 29:20
Robert Rodriguez 29:27
James Scarborough 34:47
Robert Platt 35:10
Adina Wadsworth 35:28

News of the Club

Club to be featured in March Issue of Outside Magazine
Outside Magazine will be featuring the Washington Running Club in its March issue. Neal Thompson (a writer employed by the Baltimore Sun, working freelance for Outside), is penning the piece. The article will describe describe us, the Century Bike Club of NYC, and Masters Swim Club of Mountain View, California. As we understand it, Mr. Thompson will explain the pros and cons of training with a club versus training alone.

On December 9^th, a photographer attended the December 9^th Sunday run, to take pictures for the magazine. Seventeen members attended, which is undoubtedly a record for a December workout. Yancy Hall was sighted awake before 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday, which might also be a historic first 😉

Club Banquet Slated for January
The club banquet is tentatively scheduled for January 26^th(venue has yet to be decided.) Further details to follow.

Training for the DC Marathon
Some of the guys will be putting together a training program for the DC marathon in March. We will plan workouts both speed, tempo and distance workouts, relying heavily on Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas. Emails will be sent out in early January to interested parties

Three Added to WRC Marathon List

Three runners were added to the club’s of best marathon runners in the past year. This list dates back to the 1970s, when the distance runners rebelled & seceded from the old Washington Sports Club to form the Washington Running Club. (To paraphrase Bruce Springsteen “We were born blue & weathered but burst just like a supernova”)

Robin Oswald, who posted a 3:01 in Boston this year and Liz Parks who posted a 3:08 in Chicago were added to the women’s list. And Professor Russ Crandall who nailed a 2:29 in Chicago in October was added to the men’s list. Congrats to all three for their accomplishments.

Pozo-Olanos Depart to Richmond
Our best wishes go out to Jack & Jodie Pozo-Olano who departed for Richmond last week to pursue new business opportunities. Jack and Jodie were indispensable in running the club back in the late 1990s, organizing many race teams. We wish them all the best, and hope they stop into visit us some Sunday when they return to DC.