Club News, April 16, 2002 | Washington Running Club

Dudley, Dunn & Schwartbard run well at DC Marathon; Kozloski & Wunderly Excel at Boston; Casey Smith Hammers at Cherry Blossom while Men’s Open Teams Take 5th & 8th; Injuries Plague Club Members

New Members

Megan Phillips of Arlington. A 1998 graduate of Princeton University, where she ran track, Megan has posted a 37:01 10k. She tells us

“I joined the WRC to get back into training and try a couple of races. I miss being part of a running group. My goal right now is to run a half-marathon, and maybe eventually try a marathon. “

We welcome Megan into the club.

Race Results
Washington DC Marathon^th, March 24th, 2002 Washington, DC
At the first running of the Washington DC Marathon, WRC runners distinguished themselves. Patrick Dudley and Bill Dunn, both neophytes to the event, placed in the top 25. Alex Todd & Lisa Mueller, also put in noteworthy performances. Both women plagued by injuries during the winter months ran strong race. And Aaron Schwartzbard set a personal best in the event, in 2:44

Patrick Dudly 2:40:55
Aaron Schwartzbard 2:44:35
Bill Dunn 2:50:23
Jay Wind 2:58:49
Bryon Powell 3:22:54
Alexandra Todd 4:04:06
Lisa Mueller 4:47:18

Patrick Dudley about his time.

“I’m surprised that I ran that well. I didn’t think anything below 2:50 was likely, but I found I was going faster than I thought pretty much right from the beginning and decided to go with. I felt good through the first 15 or so, then I felt like I was starting to fade, but kept the pace through 20 or so. At 23 or 24 I felt bad, slowed quite a bit and knew I couldn’t hold off anyone who tried to pass me.”

Adds Bill Dunn

“I felt great through the first half and was cruising through 6:0? minute miles. Somewhere around 18 miles my legs went to all hell, calves twitching, quads aching and I just had to go into survival mode to finish. But I did finish so I am happy with that and I have successfully blocked the pain of those last five miles and only remember how effortless the first 13 felt. so i will probably be able to trick my body into doing another one someday. “

Comments Alex Todd

“I felt fairly awful at mile 12, but then got a second wind, and then mile 24 was rough, but the worst and where I felt slightly disoriented was the last six blocks – longest six blocks of my life, but I kept smiling people say”

Bryon Powell paced a college teammate. Comments Bryon

“The quote of the day came from a priest outside of a church around 24 and a half miles. ‘The end is nigh’.”

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler
April 7^th, 2002
Washington DC
The Cherry Blossom 10 Miler saw a number of good individual & team performances. The two men’s open team captained by Todd Martin & Kyle Yost, took fifth and eighth respectively, when nine male runners broke sixty minutes.

Men

Frank Sprtel 53:16
Patrick Dudley 55:25
Kirk Baird 55:26
Anthony Belber 56:32
Jon Gardner 57:38
Gary O’Donnell 57:50
Henry Grossman 58:10
Bill Dunn 59:16
Kyle Yost 59:24
Chris Galaty 60:06
Ron McGraw 61:40
Roberto Rodriquez 62:30
Paul Durbin 65:19
Prasad Gerard 66:47
Robert Trost 70:11
James Scarborough 75:05

Among the women, Casey Smith, running her first ten miler ever, broke 59 minutes. Says Casey about her race.

“It would have been nice to place. If Lindsay and I hadn’t crossed the line 3 minutes after the gun, we would have done well as a team (if we fielded a full team)”

Women

Casey Smith 58:49
Lindsay Goulet 68:24
Maria Kozloski 68:31
Sarah Buckheit 70:04

105^th Boston Marathon
April 15^th, 2002
Boston, Massachusetts
On a mild day in Boston, Sue Wunderly and Maria Kozloski put in excellent performances. Sue bettered her Chicago marathon PR by ten minutes to post a 3:13, while Maria ran a 3:12, an improvement of nine minutes from her Houston marathon time of a year ago.

Among the men, master Mike McGrath was able to break three hours again. New hire Albert Han of Georgetown bested his marathon PR by 16 seconds. And Aaron Schwartzbard, coming off the DC marathon three weeks earlier, posted a 3:14. Since July, Aaron has done two Ironmans, and three marathons.

Boston Marathon Times

Mike McGrath 2:58
Albert Han 3:07:39
Maria Kozloski 3:12:10
Susan Wunderly 3:13:10
Aaron Schwartzbard 3:14:39
Lance Crist 3:20:16
Jeff Stratton 3:44:38
Liz Hosford 3:52:46

Congrats to all

Powerman Alabama Duathlon
March 24, 2002
Birmingham, AL

Our friend Robin Oswald took 2^nd in her age group at this race, bringing home some goodies in the process.
Robin also did the Emory Aquathon (500 yd swim/5k run) earlier, which she won. We find it encouraging to know that WRC folks uses pools for activities other than injury remediation. (smile)

16th Annual Elizabeth 8K Road Race
March 24, 2002
Charlotte, NC
Our friend Russ Crandall won the 16^th Annual Elizabeth 8K Road Race in a time of 25:18. Comments Russ

“Felt relaxed and strong. I ran alone so it wasn’t ideal for a quick time but that’s OK. I took first in 25:18, enough to get me a mug. Always nice.”

Russ tells us he will be in DC this summer, so we are looking forward to training and racing with him.

News of the Club
Darcee O’Donnell Departs DC
We are sorry to see our friend Darcee O’Donnell depart for Boulder, CO. Darcee has been a staple on our women’s race teams, as well as regular at social occasions and workouts. Two years ago, Darcee served as our secretary. We wish her luck & thank her for her efforts on behalf of the club, and hope she enjoys the high altitude training.

Dean & Deluca Declared to be Summer Quarters
WRC has made an executive decision to move our post-Sunday run coffee klatch back to Dean & Deluca for the summer months. D& D has a free ice water supply and allows us to sit outside. Prez Wadsworth will be making further mention of this in his next weekly email to club members.

DC Marathon Dispute
The inaugural DC marathon was a terrific success from a logistical perspective. No runners were given wrong directions, the times were accurate, and water stops were plentiful.

Politically speaking the race was more of a mixed bag. The marathon occurred on Palm Sunday, inconveniencing many churchgoers. And the race extended into all four quadrants of the district, causing extensive traffic rerouting

This is not the first time a road race in DC has engendered controversy In the past five years, Lawyers Have Heart, Georgetown 10K and St. Patty’s 10K have all aroused neighborhood opposition, forcing rerouting of their courses.

At the risk of being judged an apostate in the Church of the Long Distance Runner, we believe protestors do have a valid point. Road races disrupt traffic patterns and inconvenience city dwellers, who get little in return for their sacrifices. The benefits runners enjoy entail a public cost in closed streets, police pay & public inconvenience

It is wise to recognize that our city can not absorb many more road races. Like clean water and air, the roads are a limited public resource that must be shared with others. Instead of decrying the fact that races are subject to the whim of politics, it would be wiser to recognize that the political arena is the best & most equitable way of resolving these disputes. And it would be wise for us to appreciate the perspective of those who don’t share our recreational enthusiasms.

Injuries; Or Why April is the Cruelest Month
Recently occurred to us that many of our best runners are injured, many because of increasing milage in prep for spring races. It appears we are being afflicted, in manner similar to what happened to Egypt during the ten plagues (With the obvious difference being that the Pharaohs never suffered from shin splints or sciatica)

While injuries can never be eliminated, their frequency can be reduced by following common sense protocol. These would include

Stretching properly
Eating properly
Getting enough rest
Weights/push ups/sit ups to strengthen upper body
Gradually increasing mileage, (weekly increase should never be more than 10%)
Proper footwear
Wearing amulets, medallions, cloves of garlic & hooves of deer to ward off evil spirits

Such things should reduce the frequency & severity of injuries.