Club News, September 2, 2001

Prasad Gerard Finishes Leadville 100 Miler; Yancy Hall & Bryon Powell Complete Hood to Coast; Annapolis Results; Baird Wins at Greenbelt


New Members

Bill Dunn, 23 of Alexandria. Like El Prez Wadsworth & Webmaster Keating, Bill is a native of Connecticut (informal state motto –We prefer martinis shaken, not stirred). Bill has been joining us for speed workouts, and is showing some quick leg speed. Says Bill by way of self-introduction:

“I went to Boston College and graduated in 2000 with a BA in political science. I also ran cross country and two years of track at BC. Now I work in the Pentagon as a civilian doing current intelligence analysis for the US Navy. Running wise I am just starting to get back in shape and don’t really have any ‘goals’ yet other than to get back into some semblance of fitness.”

Susan Wunderly of Capitol Hill. Susan posted a 3:46 last fall at Marine Corps, and will be on our Chicago Marathon team this year. Having worked for Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA), Susan is now a lobbyist for Boeing.

Mike Sheely, 41 of Baltimore MD. Mike will be on our masters team at the Philly Distance team. Mike was a Cross Country All-American at Haverford College and posted a 1:05 at Philly Distance Run back in 1983. But work & three daughters forced him back off running. To quote Bill Rodgers “When it comes to running, work and family – you can only seriously devote yourself to two of the three”.

We welcome them all into the club.

Race Results

2001 Leadville Trail 100, August 19, 2001, Leadville CO
Our warmest congrats to Prasad Gerard, who completed the Leadville Trail 100 Miler in a time of 25 hours 38 minutes, to place 44th out of 166 finishers (with 60% of participants dropping out before finishing, the attrition at Leadville resembled Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow). For those of you scoring at home, the winning time was 17:40.

Prasad tells ClubNews

“It was the most spectacular 100 miler I have ever done. Leadville is truly beautiful and the people wonderful. The scenery was, literally, breathtaking. The major climb of the run from 40-45 miles from 9200-12600 feet almost brought me to my knees. I then had to go back and do it again because the course is out and back. I was able to overcome some difficulties along the way and finish well. My glasses broke, while it was still dark, at about 5 miles and I fell off the trail. My crew was able to tape them together so I could use them when night time came.”

Finishing this race was especially impressive, as Prasad experienced a bout of pneumonia this past spring, which affected his training for almost a month.

Hood to Coast, August 26, 2001, The Oregon Boondocks
Kudos to our Yancy Hall and Bryon Powell, both of whom competed in Hood to Coast. This is a relay run that stretches 195 miles from the top of Oregon’s Mt. Hood, down to the Pacific Ocean, in Seaside, Oregon. Over 12,000 runners showed up to participate.

Yancy’s team Princeton Running Co. took 3rd out of 978, while Bryan’s Haverford Alumni team took 38th. Bryon has provided us with an amusing description of the start – all the more so cause we were not part of it

“I had the honor of the starting leg. 7:45 at night, almost 11 hours after the first teams got underway on their 195 mile trek, I started rolling down the side of Mt. Hood with the elite runners. I was quickly reminded that I am not an elite runner as 14 of the 15 others I started running with screamed ahead of me. When I say screamed I mean it as the fastest runner averaged the 5.45 mile leg at roughly 4:15 pace. Let me qualify that as the leg started at 6,000 ft and ended at 4,000 ft. Never has running downhill given me such nightmares as after this race. Within 15 minutes of starting this leg my calves were blown. The only consolation for running this leg was a coming around a turn halfway through the leg and seeing, outstretched before me, rolling forested hill after rolling forested hill awash in the colors of twilight and beyond those hills 50 miles away a huge mountain sticking up out of the landscape. Truly amazing.”

Hood to Coast racers (Bryon on left, in black). Frankly, they resemble nothing so much as terrified villagers fleeing Godzilla.
Annapolis Ten Miler Sunday, August 26, 2001, Annapolis Maryland
A few of our folks ran the Annapolis Ten Miler, which traditionally marks the end of the summer racing season in DC.

  • David Dietz 59:57
  • Ron McGraw 65:35
  • Jay Wind 67:37

WaWa Ten Miler, Fredericksburg VA, August 26

Patty Fulton won the Fredericksburg ten miler in a time of 1:00:26. Good job Patty!

43rd Annual Larry Noel Greenbelt 15K, September 2nd Greenbelt, MD
Kirk Baird is up to his old tricks, again taking the cake at the Greenbelt 15K in a time of 52:29. Doug McDonald of Mclean, who has been doing speed work with us on Tuesday, posted a 64:16.

Lighter Than Air Duathlon, Lakehurst Naval Air Station NJ, August 19, 2001
At the USA Triathlon’s mid-Atlantic championship, our friend Jon Gardner took 19th out of 287 with the following splits

3 Mile Run 17:03 18th
20 Mile Bike: 51:24 35th
2 Mile Run: 12:31 16th

Kudos to Jon on this race – and of course his recent nuptials with Kristin!

News of the Club

WRC Takes to Water in First Annual Tubing Expedition on the Potomac
Much fun was had by all on the first annual tubing expedition on the Potomac River at Harper’s Ferry. Fifteen of us took to the river, to float downstream, splash about, holler through the rapids, and totally disrupt the divine serenity of nature. A special thanks to Jim Wadsworth, who put a cooler in a tube, and towed it, through rapids and all, spilling nary a drink.

Mike Regan Sighting

Mike Regan attended the Sunday run of 9/2, and cranked some miles with Gerry Ives. Mike, a graduate of G’town, was a mainstay of our club until four year ago, when he and wife Abbie moved to San Francisco. He was complaining about having only run 35 minutes for 10K. Frankly, we could not muster much sympathy ;). It was good to see Mike, and we hope he moves back!

Going to a Garden Pary

Pool party at Tris Kruger’s Sunday September 9th at 1:00 p.m. if you have not received an invitation, please contact Jim Wadsworth at jwads@yahoo.com

Sunday Runners Crank the Mileage

Sunday run has been getting some good turnout (15-20 runners). Runners have been posting 18-20 mile run, in preparation for fall marathons.. The famed NW passage (18.5 miles) has been the route of choice, with Chris Galaty, Steve Ward, Todd Martin, Liz Parks, Darcee O’Donnell, Kate Hudson & David Stoudt all doing that run in the past two weeks.

For your benefit, and electrolyte enhancement, the club will be leaving Gatorade in a cooler at the entrance of Rock Creek Sunday, September 9th. It will be positioned one mile south of East West Highway. This is nine miles into the run, and 2.7 miles before the Ranger Station water stop.

Don’t forget that we always go to Dean & Deluca after Sunday run. A chance to schmooze with your fellow clubmates, quaff Java, and discuss the mysteries of existence.

WRC’ers doing Post-Mortem following the Sunday run.


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