Club News
Kirk Baird Takes 4th in Leesburg; Jim Hage Bests Oprah Winfrey in San Diego; Coup D’Etat Roils Club’s JFK 50 Miler Team; A Day in the Life of Bob Platt
“Shall I compare Thee to a Summer Day?”
If I did, it would mean you were one cool character. Summer has been terrific this year, with only a few days in the nineties. This has meant that runners are not suffering as much as last year. God willing, the remainder of the summer will stay like this.
New Members
Jennifer Kulynych, 35, of Bethesda, Presently practicing law at the firm of Hogan and Hartson downtown, Jennifer received her JD from Stanford Law School last year. Jennifer posed a 3:34 marathon in Richmond two years ago, and is training for another marathon this fall.
Like Gerry Ives and Paul Neimeyer, Jennifer prefers to run in the morning, and tells us that getting up to run at 4:45 in the morning is “actually a lot of fun” (compared to being attacked by a Great White Shark, perhaps [editor}). We welcome Jennifer aboard.
Race Results
Leesburg 10K, August 13th
Well, it looks like Kirk Baird is getting serious about racing. Kirk took fourth at the Leesburg 10K in a time of 33:40 on a very hilly course. This placed him only eight seconds behind Brian Daugherty. Said Kirk “The race went well but there is always room for improvement.”
Our friend Jascha Fields was not far behind, placing 32nd in a time of 39:13. Good going J man!
America’s Finest City Half-Marathon, San Diego California, August 13th
Jim Hage was the first master at one of the countries’ premier half marathons in San Diego this past weekend, in a time of 1:12:02. Peter Githuka, 31, of Kenya, won and established a new course record with a time of 1:02:24.
Recounts Jim about the race
“Of course, the buzz in San Diego was all about Oprah. Wow, is she a wide-body these days. She ran 4:28 at MCM in ’94, but I think she ran about 3 hours for the half out there.
At the start, she had a posse of about 8 men with cell phones, a van and a limo (just in case?). She warmed up in the elite area–Oprah doesn’t do porta potties, her publicist told me back in ’94.
The next day, a guy at work (nonrunner) asked me about the race, and I told him it went okay. More importantly, I told him “I beat Oprah!” He asked me at what point did I pass her.
Ouch.”
Vermont Hundred Miler, July 15th-16th
Word back from our friend Prasad Gerard about the Vermont Hundred Miler last month. Said Prasad
“I had a better day than I did at Western States 100 miler. I finished in 19:30 and felt strong I was thankful to sleep through the downpour that greeted the runners behind me.”
Prasad tells us he will be captain of the club’s JFK Fifty Mile Team this fall, instead of fellow ultra runner Keith Moore. Explains Prasad.
“I am planning a coup to displace Keith Moore as the dictator of the JFK 50. It should be noted that Keith has been observed subjecting people to staying in positions of discomfort for long periods of time. In his propaganda he calls this Yoga but most know it as torture.”
Prasad is correct. Our friend Keith is a member at a Yoga Center off Wisconsin Avenue in DC. While Yoga is a wonderful way of restoring the body and spirit, it can be quite dangerous, if done incorrectly.
A Yoga devotee, asking God to restore his right leg to where it originally was
News of the Club
Club Meeting
There will be a Club Meeting on Wednesday, August 16th, 8:00 p.m. at the Cap City Brewery, 1 Mass Ave. N.E. (next to Union Station). There will be a discussion of fall races teams, volunteering, financial report, discussion of uniforms, and a chance to socialize with your club members while sitting still.
Volunteers Needed
El Prez Steve Tappan sends word that the club will be volunteering at two races this fall. The Georgetown 10K on October 1st, and the Marathon in the Parks, on November 4th. We definitely need any and all members. This is how our club raise money for itself and also helps the DC running community. It is also a great way for you to have some fun, and meet new folks. Please contact wininkona@aol.com and let him know which race you would like to work.
Current Workout Schedule
Members are reminded that in preparation for the upcoming fall marathon season, the club is currently sponsoring three workouts a week. On Sunday, we do our long run from Georgetown. Tuesday, we are doing speed at the Georgetown University Track and Wednesdays, we are doing a tempo run from in front of the Capitol. If your legs are not completely shot by Wednesday night, it’s not because we ain’t trying.
News from the Long Runs out of G’town
The past few Sundays have seen quite a crew running out of Georgetown. Included in this number are Hannah Howe, Kim Robinson, Matt Fisher, Becky Orfinger, Reid Mueller, Gerry Ives, Katherine Turner, David Keating, Dean Burke, Ron McGraw, Nate Reilly, Todd Martin, Robin Oswald, Barb Fallon, Dean Burke, Farrell Malone, Jeff Stratton, Bryon Powell, Steve Ward and Kirk Baird. The club is providing Gatorade along the route, to keep runners well watered.
Especially as we start doing the long 16-20 mile runs, the more, the merrier. Dean and Deluca on 3200 M Street afterwards for the post mortem
Kurt Kroemer’s Rugrat Report
Word from Kurk Kromer. Last we heard from Kurt, he and wife Loni had a baby Christian Robert on May 6th. After ninety days of munchkin boot camp, Kurt brings us up to date
“Having a kid is actually pretty cool. He’s a little over three months old and is almost sleeping through the night already. He seems to have a great disposition (so far). My running is going pretty good. After being injured for about a year and a half I have been back running for two months and am up to 55 miles a week. I’m trying to go up about 5 miles every two weeks so hope to be back at 80 or so by the beginning of November and then on to higher mileage over the winter to get ready for spring racing.”
Glad to hear you are healthy again Kurt – and good luck with those diapers
A Day in the Life of Platt
As much as anyone in Washington DC, Bob Platt contributes to the vibrancy of the DC running community. Besides being a successful downtown lawyer, Bob is former president of DC Road Runners for five years (last year he won the RRCA Volunteer of the Year award) and publishes RacePacket magazine and operates its website. Beyond this Robert is a very decent marathoner.
You have probably seen Bob at races, distributing copies of RacePacket. He is the fellow that scurries up to you, uttering “Would you like a copy of RacePacket? Thank you.” All in the space of a tenth of a second.Bob’s achievements naturally beg the question: how does he manage this? Well ClubNews investigated Bob Platt in depth. Below is a typical day in his life
- 6:45 Wakes up
- 7:15 Runs ten miles on Custis Trail with Blaine Holman
- 8:30 Leaves for work
- 8:45 At traffic light at Key Bridge and M street, gives RacePacket to startled homeless looking for handouts
- 9:00 Arrives at work. Spends day writing legal briefs, meeting clients. Skips lunch, opting for intravenous injection of goo.
- 5:00 Encounters traffic jam on 14th Street. Kicking into auto pilot, Bob gets on top his car and starts yelling “Men to the left, women to the right, no pushing, no cutting in line. “ Refuses to let DC Police handle traffic situation, until they promise not to charge RacePacket $10,000
- 7:00 Attends Virginia Democratic Party convention. Affixes championchips to conventioneers shoes out of habit.
- 10:00 Gets home. Cleans house, washes clothes. Irons sheets, towels, running t-shirts, race uniform, living room throw rug, etc. Goes to bed