Club News, November 20, 2001

WRC Women 2nd at Chicago Marathon; Steve Ward Second Master at Richmond Marathon; Dave DeSchryver sets PR at Parks Marathon while Wonderly & Wadsworth set PRs at United We Stand 10K; A&F and Osama Bin Laden Committ Crimes Against Fashion


New Members

Mark Lacy, 34 of Georgetown. Mark is in officer in the Navy, serving as a submariner. Mark has been doing distance runs with us this fall in preparation for the Philadelphia Marathon.

Steve Amter, 45 of Glover Park, DC. Steve is an hydraulic engineer, involved in the study of groundwater issues. Steve has also been training with us the past few months, in preparation for Marathon in the Parks.

We welcome both gentlemen into the club.

Race Results

Chicago Marathon, October 10th, 2001, Chicago, IL
After a month of waiting, we finally know the team results for our women who ran the Chicago Marathon. The WRC team of Liz Parks, Carly Vynne, Kate Hudson, Darcee O’Donnell and Susan Wunderly took 2nd out of 175 teams. This is extraordinarily good, and we compliment the women for their fine efforts!

Our Chicago women’s team (l-r Carly Vynne, Darcee O’Donnell, Nate, Liz Parks, Kate Hudson). Note guys in the background, knocking each other’s heads together in vain effort to impress WRC women.

Richmond Marathon, November 10, 2001, Richmond, VA
Our friend Steve Ward is back with a vengeance. After a 4 year break from marathoning, occasioned by work and family responsibilities, Steve posted a 2:36:10 at Richmond, taking second place among masters and 10th overall.

Two things worth noting: First, Steve did all his tempo runs in preparation on his basement treadmill. Secondly, Steve (a lawyer at Department of Justice) has been working especially hard since September 11, with minimal opportunity to train. Says Steve about the race

“I went in not knowing whether I was capable of going any faster than 2:50 based on how I stunk up my fall tune-up races. So . . . to finish where I did was extremely gratifying, particularly after not racing for 4 years. I settled on a pace partially on a hunch and also because I did not want to run this race alone. Then I crossed my fingers that I hadn’t gone out too fast. Sometimes it is better to be LUCKY than good. “

Steve ran 24 miles of the race with the women’s winnerDorota Gruca, a 30-year-old native of Poland. At mile 24 Dorta encourage Steve to take off, but Steve says “My grears were stripped and I couldn’t pick it up” Steve went on to finish five seconds ahead of Ms. Gruca.

Congrats to Steve. This definitely merits a toast of Makers Mark, Mr. Ward’s Kentucky bourbon of choice.

Philadelphia Marathon November 18th, 2001, Philadelphia PA

At the Philly Marathon, our two entered runners finished within two minutes of each other. Mike McGrath posted a 3:00:17, to finish 128th while Mark Lacy ran 3:02:14, to finish 156th. Each of them ran very even splits. Said Mike about the last 10K of the race

“I knew coming in that it would be a struggle to hang onto a sub-3:00-I was fully conscious of what was happening. Actually, I bore down very hard the last six miles, despite being really tight-I probably did more actual racing in that stretch than I had the first 20-a 23 year old French Canadian and I were battling for a place in the last mile-he finally took off like he was coming out of the last turn of the mile run, and he beat me by 7 seconds. Although I did not break 3:00, I was happy with how I ran. I only ran 1:27:29 net at the Philly Distance Run 8 weeks earlier. Definitely not satisfied though. I am going to try to advance from the 40 mile/week average that I have been doing and get in good enough shape to get under 2:50 again.”

Good going Mike!

Marathon in the Parks. November 18th, 2001, Bethesda, MD
Dave DeSchryver, ran a very good race at the second running of Marathon in the Parks. Dave improved his time by two and a half minutes to set a personal best in 2:51:01 (17th overall). Says Dave

“MIP is a solitary course. I saw few other runners after mile 12 or so and there was a fog on the course throughout the race. It is just you and your thought. That could be bad if you are focused on running, but I had had plenty to mull over (the usual female, work, life, etc thoughts) so next thing I knew I was at mile 23, dead tired, but no other choice but to move forward. Finally you see folks for the last 200 yards, but then they wrap you in foil and shuttle you away from them.

Congrats Dave. As you can see from Mr. DeSchryver’s comments, the “loneliness of the long distance runner” is not all it is cracked up to be.

  • 17) David Deschryver 2:51:01
  • 524) Steven Amter 4:20:15

JFK 50 Miler, November 17th 2001, Hagerstown MD

Mike Campbell and Prasad Gerard both ran quite well at the JFK Fifty Miler. Mike improved his time 18 minutes from his 2000 performance. Team Prasad took 5th in the general team category. Said Mike about the experience:

“This was my 5th JFK 50 Miler race from a range of times at 7:07 to 7:45 or so, this is a mental race in getting through the woods as fast as you can and maintaining around a 8 minute pace on the canal path, which leaves little for the last 8 mile kick on the pavement.

I fell pretty hard on the trail twice, each time pushing myself up from the rocks, not quite knowing the consequences of the fall, twisted ankle, cut up knee (of course the same knee two times) bumps and bruises. That’s the name of the game, the average falling rate on the course is about 4 times, so I feel lucky to get through both of mine in one piece.”

Congrats Mike! This race is definitely the school of hard knocks.

  • Mike Campbell 7:27:52
  • Prasad Gerard 8:30:36

United We Stand 10K, November 17, 2001, Washington DC

WRC Runners did quite well at the United we stand 10K. Henry Grossmann was 5th overall in 34:07, while Susan Wunderly, Rosalie Parker and Adina Wadsworth were all top ten among women. Better yet, Susan & Adina each posted a personal best for 10K. Congrats to all.

  • Henry Grossmann, 34:07
  • Susan Wunderly, 39:44
  • Rosalie Parker, 40:23
  • Adina Wadsworth, 42:56

NSWC Indian Head 10, November 17, 2001, Indian Head, MD
New Hire Doug McDonald posted a PR for 10K at the Indian Head 10K in 38:35. This gave him second place. Said Doug

“The course was nice, point to point with a long down hill stretch that was abruptly erased by a steep uphill at the end. I felt like I had a subpar race at Jug Bay so I figured I’d try one more 10k this year.”

Doug is talking about doing the inaugeral DC Marathon in March of 2002, so he will be showing for the Sunday runs next year.

Herndon Turkey Trot 5K, November 17th 2001, Herndon VA
This race was really not a 5K. It was actually longer than a 5K, with the actual distance being indeterminate. As indeterminate as the location of Dick Cheney, the height of Doug Flutie, and the lyrics of R.E.M. (by the way, if anyone knows what Michael Stipe is trying to say, please let us know. We have been in a state of suspense since 1981)

Anyway, Bill Dunn won a turkey, while President Jim Wadsworth carried away a pumpkin pie. Congrats guys. All which goes to prove that our guys would rather run three miles hard than do any actual cooking & baking.
News of the Club
Speed Workout Updates
Because Washington & Lee High School does not have the track lit on Tuesday nights, the women’s workout will be returning to Wednesday nights at 7:00 p.m.

Men’s track workouts will resume after the holidays. What holidays you ask? Well, we have a whole slew to choose from. Below is a listing of holidays that we can potentially celebrate

  • Hanukkah – ends December 16th,
  • Ramadan – ends on December 17th
  • Western Christmas – December 25th
  • Kwanzaa – December 26
  • Eastern Orthodox Christmas – January 7th
  • Elvis Presley’s birthday – January 8th

So the guys will discuss it amongst themselves, and decide what is the primary holiday we are observing. Speed will resume the following Tuesday.

United We Stand 10K
Frank Sprtel, Mark Drosky and Jim Wadsworth were the volunteers WRC contributed to the cause at The United We Stand 10K. Jim tells us

Mark and I were working the finish line (Mark with the backup chronomix and myself with a walkee talkee). Well, Mark and I were standing there and this 20-something guy comes running down to the finish line running in khaki’s… I turn to Mark laughing and before I can say anything he proclaims, “hey, did you see that guy, he ran in Dockers!”

This guy was probably a hapless soul who has spent too much time reading Abercrombie & Fitch advertisements. Those advertisements can be dangerous. We encourage you to avoid them whenever possible.

A&F Clones, smug & mobile. If you see them, flee in the opposite direction ASAP

Fashion Crimes by Osama bin Laden
Okay, we all know the story of Osama Bin Laden by now. Rich Millionaire playboy develops illusions of greatness, moves away from family, starts acting eccentric, settles in a cave. It is basically the Batman story with Mohammed Omar acting the part of Robin/Boy Wonder.

But it took our own Adina Wadsworth to notice what is truly appalling about Osama. In his videos (which frankly are as annoying as anything ever done by Britney Spears) he is wearing white after Labor day. Says Adina:

“Great Allah – what is that all about? How tacky!”

Our sentiments exactly


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