We are sad to report that David Keating has flown his Washington area roost to be with his wife of one year, Anne, in Long Island, NY. David will be missed. He was instrumental in reviving the club in the mid 90's, serving as President, starting and developing this website, organizing numerous social and running events, leaving gatorade for long runs all about Rock Creek and the city, and plugging that Phoenix thing atop the dome of the WRC. David hopes to make it back for the year-end party and if so, we can properly toast/roast him then. 

Dave leaves us with these words: "It is not whether you win or lose, but how you wind up on Racepacket's age graded rankings."

We are also sad to announce that Kirk Baird will be leaving the area at the end of the month, moving to Tennessee. Kirk, when not too busy traveling abroad for work and attending to his family obligations, was very helpful to the men's track workouts and also was a force to be reckoned with in area road races. He ran superbly well and did the club proud on many occasions.

We thank Dave and Kirk for all they did for the WRC and we wish them the best in their new adventures!

In a Washington Post article on 12/02 member Anthony Belber, was quoted as saying: "Kids are sometimes exposed to things a year or two years before they are ready...If they start thinking they aren't as good in a topic because it is too soon, they are always behind." 

At first glance at those words we were worried for we thought he was talking about the advanced topics WRC members discuss at the coffee tawk gatherings after the Sunday runs...where we have always taken it for granted that we are quite grand at understanding all the wonders we expose each other to, even if some of us don't seem quite yet ready for the exposure. 

Then, after reading the entire article we found that Anthony was actually talking about the subject of math and students of such since he is a third grade teacher at the Georgetown Day School. Whew! 
 

Twenty-six WRC members (14 women and 12 men) took to the marathon circuit this fall and impressive results followed. The table below recaps what these runners did, starting with Mike Wardian, who ran 4 quality marathons, one being an olympic trials qualilfier. All of these fine runners should be proud of their efforts even if marathon goals weren't completely accomplished as originally designed. Take a look to see what some of your fellow runners did, for they certainly deserve praise for all that training and racing effort.
 

Nice string of member marathons for sure. Let's work for similar results, or better, in 2004!

Race for Research 5k, Nov 12

1st Anthony Belber 30  18:41 (won the dang thing!)
Jay Wind 53 23:48
Steve Amter 47  24:54

5th Sarah Buckheit 43 24:05 (1st age group)

Hey, this race cheated, trying to start the feasting early! But on a cross-country rolling course in the late afternoon with prizes of turkeys and pies.

42nd Jay Wind 53  21:13
76th Bruce Reynolds 53  22:52
92nd James Scarborough 45  23:34

Over 50 rugged miles, the Bell's 4 WRC team placed 3d overall out of 24 teams! Iron-men members Prasad Gerard and Michael Campbell finished in 7:50:47 and 8:00:56, respectively. Other members on the WRC team included Keith Moore and Kevin Sayers. Superb, in that 50-mile way crazy superb!

Borrowed from Washington Running Report: "Pierre Salinger wrote in his account of the Kennedy Administration that President Kennedy issued a challenge to a few select Americans, including Salinger, to demonstate their strength of character by completing a 50 mile hike. Salinger cleverly escaped this presidential trap but younger brother Robert accomplished the endurance feat while Attorney General of the United States."

Runners saw an opportunity and ran with it - so began an annual tradition in Hagerstown, MD."

Senator Max Baucus also ran and finished the event, and even took a nasty header on the tough trails.

On an unseasonably warm morning on the streets of Philadelphia, master Mike McGrath and VP Casey Smith led the way for WRC.

Casey Smith 24  2:56:33 (11th place in her 1st marathon)
Hannah Jacobs 23 3:28:18
Diana Johnson 22  3:48:17 (3 weeks after running the NY marathon, Diana goes back after it and gets a pr!)

Mike McGrath 43  2:55:59 (our Philly WRC connection did well indeed)
Asa Tapley 24 2:59:27 (under 3 hours in his 1st marathon!)

The Phoenix reported hearing Diana mutter something akin to "hey, that was much better than New York and at least that P. Diddy and his annoying-jump-in-the-race-fans weren't in my way!" 

While waiting for her childhood best friend Diana to run the marathon, Emily took to the roads in the 8k and turned in a fine effort.

28th Emily Turner 22  33:58

On a foggy morning and hilly course, we had some impressive results by 10 WRC members in the crowd of 465 runners:

13th Lisa Thomas 27  30:04
15th Sharon Donovan 28  30:35
19th Maria Kozloski 38  31:24
27th Win Persina 43  32:54
34th Adina Wadsworth 35  35:44
35th Kelly Ferraro 22 35:58

8th Mike Wardian 29  24:47 
31st Jim Wadsworth 46  28:09
81st Jay Wind 53  33:22
87th Chris Duke 31  34:42

Impressive times and places by three WRC women!

3d Sharon Donovan 29  18:46
5th Maria Kozloski 38  19:01
18th Sarah Buckheit 43  21:34

In a close duel of local talent, member Mike Wardian edged out Keith Dowling for 1st place and a win by 2 seconds in 31:02! Mike then immediately preceded on to Alexandria to take 3d in the Alexadria Turkey Trot 5-miler (below).

In a race put on by our good friends, the DC Road Runners Club, a dozen WRC members all finished in the top 16th percent of the 1,794 finishers on a sunny Thanksgiving morn. 

4th Win Persina 43  32:06
26th Adina Wadsworth 35  36:22
138th Dana Dubose 35  42:09

3d Mike Wardian 29  25:57
11th Jim Wadsworth 46  28:39
33d Dan Wallace 38  30:36 
45th Jay Wind 53  31:16
48th Roberto Rodriguez 48  31:27
67th Paul Durbin 38  32:46
103d Bob Trost 57  34:35
116th Bruce Reynolds 53  34:58
131st James Scarborough 45  35:29

We were told that pols Governor Mark Warner and Representative Jim Moran, among others, made appearances in the race. Thankfully, we all ran fast enough to beat them and also miss any orations they might have tried to make.

Sarah was brave enough to take her turkey stuffings to this race.

6th Sarah Buckheit 42  37:33 (1st master)

We apologize if we missed any races or results. If so, let us know and we'll gladly make corrections.

At the Track

Track night is on Wednesdays for the fall/winter months. WRC meets at the far end of the track on the same side where the entrance is. We plan these workouts with the thought that we'll be there come hell or high water. But, if it's very severe weather (pelting sleet, torrential rain, blizzards, hurricanes) beyond high water, the workout is cancelled without further communication, proceed at your own risk.

Because it's a popular night, due to the lights for one thing, there are scads of runners there from various clubs. To make things easier, we strive to get started earlier, aiming for a start time of 6:20 (some of us will shoot to get there earlier--5:50ish--to warm up). If you can't make it that early, just show up when you can.

Please note that track night is cancelled for Wednesday, December 24th and Wednesday, December 31st, due to the holidays!

For more info on WRC track workouts, the track page says a thing or two.

As you know, or should know, the WRC hosts a group run on Sunday mornings to complete distances ranging from 10-18 miles so come on out members! 

We start at 8 am on M Street (3300 block) inGeorgetown, across the street from the Staples Store with the red awnings.  Distance run info and directions

After running we regroup at a local coffee shop for drinks, food, and whatnot. Part of the whatnot have been delicious home baked pastries by Win Persina and Diana Johnson, recently. Sshhh...don't tell the management of D&D. We thank Win and Diana for bringing the slew of goodies they made...very generous indeed!

In an effort to be more organized for team events as they approach, we will keep members up to date on what's forthcoming to the extent we can. Please take initiative yourselves to get on WRC teams as races are promoted on here and in the weekly email update. The more for such events, the merrier. Check this page from time to time also. 

• Marine Corps Marathon 2004 - WRC hopes to field a team at next year's MCM to be held on October 31, 2004. No, it's not too early to be thinking about this. A team consists of no less than 3 and no more than 5 members. Individual entry is by lottery and registration starts on April 1, 04 and ends June 1, 04. The first drawing will be May 5, every week, until June 2. The entry fee is $85 for the 2004 race. Jim Wadsworth will be organizing the team. If interested, email Jim at jwads@yahoo.com

• Other events for which WRC teams may be developed in the future - Washington Birthday Marathon Relay, St. Paddy's Day 10k, Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, Sallie Mae 10k, Lawyers Have Heart 10k, Rockville Twilighter 8k, and various others. (No need to act on your potential interest in any of  these yet - more info will be forthcoming as race dates approach.

The annual year-end WRC party/banquet has been tentatively scheduled for Saturday, January 31st at the Rhodeside Grill in Arlington. We will have the downstairs to ourselves and the festivities will likely start at 7 a.m. Stay tuned for final plans.

Since this annual event was reinstituted two years ago, we've had solid member attendance close to 60 people. We hope for the same great turnout this time around. This is the event where you get to socialize, enjoy some drinks and food with your fellow members. Also, a program is held where the year is summarized, club issues are motioned on, and an award or two are given to those deemed worthy by someone or something. 

Though she's not a member of the WRC, it's always nice to show interest in our fellow area runners when there's something prominent in the news about them. As you may or may not know, Heather Hanscom recently won the 2003 Marine Corps Marathon in 2:37:59 and qualified for the women's olympic trials to be held in 2004 to be held in St. Louis. Fast-women.com had an interview with Heather that was written by Pat MacAdie. If interested in reading all about Heather go here.

Because we never know who's going to show up next in the Washington DC area from the college ranks, it's interesting, from time to time, to take a gander at what happened nationally. There were even some area schools scoring in the mix - Georgetown, Virginia,  and William and Mary. 

NCAA Cross Country Results At Waterloo, Iowa

You may remember that Dathan Ritzenheim, a sophmore who won the men's race, competed against local talent Alan Webb in high school. 

1, Stanford 24. 2, Wisconsin 174. 3, Northern Arizona 190. 4, Iona 191. 5, Arkansas 215. 6, Colorado 261. 7, Georgetown 283. 8, Air Force 330. 9, Michigan 335. 10, North Carolina State 346. 11, Villanova 353. 12, Indiana 387. 13, Cal Poly-SLO 404. 14, Miami, Ohio 413. 15, Ohio State 418. 16, Oklahoma State 435. 17, Colorado State 436. 18, Central Michigan 437. 19 (tie), Texas A&M and BYU 447. 21, Oregon 449. 22, Washington 452. 23, Arizona 539. 24, Providence 553. 25, Georgia 555. 26, Minnesota 557. 27, Portland 615. 28, Kentucky 642. 29, Florida State 733. 30, Virginia 803. 31, William & Mary 850. 

Individual Men (10,000 meters) 

1, Dathan Ritzenhein, Colorado, 29 minutes, 14.1 seconds. 2, Ryan Hall, Stanford, 29:15.4. 3, Gavin Thompson, Eastern Michigan, 29:17.4. 4, Grant Robison, Stanford, 29:19.2. 5, Ian Dobson, Stanford, 29:24.7. 6, Louis Luchini, Stanford, 29:28.2. 7, Westly Keating, Texas-Pan American, 29:30.4. 8, Alistair Cragg, Arkansas, 29:33.1. 9, Simon Bairu, Wisconsin, 29:33.8. 10, Henrik Ahnstrom, Northern Arizona, 29:41.6. 

WOMEN Team Standings 

1, Stanford 120. 2, BYU 128. 3, Providence 222. 4, Michigan 232. 5, Colorado 269. 6, North Carolina State 290. 7, UCLA 293. 8, North Carolina 294. 9, Princeton 348. 10, Notre Dame 352. 11, Villanova 380. 12, Missouri 383. 13, Columbia 401. 14, Arizona State 406. 15, Northern Arizona 407. 16, Georgetown 427. 17, Michigan State 435. 18, Florida State 455. 19, Washington 486. 20, Duke 492. 21, Wake Forest 496. 22, Marquette 509. 23, Penn State 510. 24, Tennessee 513. 25, Baylor 516. 26, Wisconsin 528. 27, Indiana 571. 28, Colorado State 574. 29, UC Santa Barbara 586. 30, Nebraska 593. 31, Texas 644. 

Individual Women (6,000 meters) 

1, Shalane Flanagan, North Carolina, 19:30.4. 2, Kim Smith, Providence, 19:42.7. 3, Sara Bei, Stanford, 19:49.1. 4, Michaela Mannova, Brigham Young, 19:52.2. 5, Mary Cullen, Providence, 19:53.0. 6, Alicia Craig, Stanford, 19:55.0. 7, Carol Henry, North Carolina, 19:59.3. 8, Emily Kroshus, Princeton, 20:03.9. 9, Ida Nilsson, Northern Arizona, 20:05.5. 10, Johanna Nilsson, Northern Arizona, 20:07.0. 

Source: Michael Sandrock, dailycamera.com (article is here)