michigan runner, november / december 2012

Monday, December 31, 20123:30 pm, Belle Isle Casino, Belle Isle Park

Waligorski Roofing

Events3:30 pm -Children’s Fun Run / Walk

All children 12 & under receive a trophyAll Cub/Boy and Girl Scouts receive participation patches

4:00 pm -5K Run - USAT&F Certified Course4:00 pm- Fitness Walk/ Race Walk

Early Packet Pick-up• Saturday, Dec. 29 , 12 Noon - 3 pm, Belle Isle Casino

Late Registration and Packet Pick-up• Monday, Dec. 31 , 12 Noon - 3:20 pm, Belle Isle Casino

Start, Finish, Refreshments• Belle Isle Casino

Free Parking• Belle Isle Park (except on designated race course)

Race Entry and Online Registration:http://www.belleislefunrun.com

Race Entry Includes• Long-sleeve tech shirt• Children 12 & under receive a trophy• Food & beverage• Register early to guarantee your long-sleeved shirt• First 1500 entrants will receive commorative awards• NYE Toast and Festivities• B-Tag timing by Everal Race Management• 5K results will be posted: http://everalracemgt.com

Children (12 and under)Race Entry $15

All Others (13 and older)Race entry by November 30 $25Race entry by December 22 $30Race entry after Dec. 22 & on race day $35

Featured on Michigan Runner TV:http://glsp.com/53newyearseve/

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43rd Annual

Belle Isle New Year’s Eve Family Fun Run

November / December 2012 Vol. 34, No. 5

November - December 2012 p. 24-27Featured Future Events p. 27

Editor’s Notes: Shattered By Scott Sullivan p. 6

We Could All Use a Little More Common Dense By Bob Schwartz p. 7

Beyond the Chip: Lucky Penny By Laurel Park p. 10

Panic in Detroit By James Aren p.12

Running Shorts with Scott Hubbard p. 14

Doug Goodhue: Age Group Ace Shares Tips By Ron Marinucci p. 16

Running with Tom Henderson p. 28

Kogo A-Go_Go Three-Peats at 36th Crim By Scott Sullivan p. 8

Paradise Found in Tahqua Runs By Tom Henderson p. 9

Record Turnout Blows in for Red October Run By Charles Douglas McEwen p. 11

Beautiful, Brutal Mt. Baldhead Course Proves Test By Scott Sullivan p. 15

Storm Parks Park 2 Park’s Record Field By Scott Sullivan p. 17

Foley, Logan Fly to Brooksie Wins By Charles Douglas McEwen p. 18

Nemeh Rocks Boat, Rolls to Grosse Pointe Win By Charles Douglas McEwen p. 19

Newlyweds Sweep Detroit Prostate Cancer Challenge By Charles Douglas McEwen p. 20

Kinder, Gentler Temperatures at Run Thru Hell By Tracey Cohen p. 20

Folk, Mantel Outwork Labor Day Foes By Charles Douglas McEwen p. 21

Rook, Voronko Dominate Somerset Stampede By Tracey Cohen p. 21

Rolling Out the Red Carpet: Glamour, Glitz and Kitsch By Anthony Targan p. 22

Run for Hills is Time of Life By Ron Marinucci p. 22

4,000+ Run Wild for Zoo By Charles Douglas McEwen p. 23

Event Calendar

Features and Departments

At the Races

Cover: Runners start the Fifth Third Turkey Trot in Santa Clause conditions on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit, November 24, 2005. Photo by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios

5michiganrunner.net | Michigan Runner - November / December 2012

Betsie Valley Run, Thompsonville

Bruckelaufe, Frankenmuth

Dances with Dirt, Hell / Pinckney

Dig ‘em Dash, Battle Creek

Kensington Challenge, Milford

Melon Run, Howell

National Cherry Festival, Traverse City

Run for Ribbons, Plymouth

Run Woodstock, Pinckney

Spartan Invitational, East Lansing

Sylvania Triathlon, Sylvania, Ohio

Photography by Scott Sullivan, Carter Sherline, Pete

Draugalis, Greg Sadler, Dave Parham, & Victah Sailor

Online: Michigan Runner Photo Gallery

http://issuu.com/michiganrunner/docs/mr1112_photos

6 Michigan Runner - November / December 2012 | michiganrunner.tv

Michigan Runner © is published six times yearly for $17.00 per year by GreatLakes Sports Publications, Inc., 4007 Carpenter Rd., #366, Ypsilanti, MI 48197.Third Class Postage paid at Dearborn, MI and additional mailing offices. Post-master: Send Address changes to Michigan Runner,4007 Carpenter Rd., #366,Ypsilanti, MI 48197. All contents of this publication are copyrighted all rightsreserved. Reproduction or use, without written permission, of editorial or graphiccontent in any manner is prohibited. All unsolicited manuscripts, photographs,and illustrations will not be returned unless accompanied by a properly addressedenvelope, bearing sufficient postage; publisher assumes no responsibility for re-turn of unsolicited materials. The views and opinions of the writers are their ownand do not necessarily reflect endorsement and/or views of the Michigan Runner.Address all editorial correspondence, subscriptions, and race information to:Michigan Runner, 4007 Carpenter Rd., #366, Ypsilanti, MI 48197, (734) 507-0241, FAX (734) 434-4765, [email protected], www.glsp.com. Subscription rates:Continental U.S. $17.00 per year: Payable in U.S. funds. Single issue $3.00, backissues $5.00. Change of address: Send your magazine label and your new addressto Michigan Runner, 4007 Carpenter Rd., #366, Ypsilanti, MI 48197.

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ColumnistsPaul AufdembergeDesiree DavilaIan Forsyth

Tom HendersonScott HubbardHerb LindsayLaurel Park

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ContributorsJames ArenTracey CohenM.B. Dillon

Brianne FeldpauschHeather Dyc HanksJeff HollobaughBill Kahn

William KalmarDr. Edward H. Kozloff

Doug KurtisGrant LofdahlRon MarinucciRiley McLincha

Charles D. McEwenGary MorganJim Neff

Bob SchwartzBob Seif

Rachael SteilTamara SteilNick Stanko

Anthony TarganCregg WeinmannAmanda Weaver

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a member of

masthead1112_third vertical 10/14/12 3:23 PM Page 1

Can’t get a break?Do I have onefor you. Sur-

geons opened my leftwrist to mashed potatoesof bones and ligamentsthanks to my basketballheroics. “Dunking overLebron,” I told peoplewho knew me better.

“It’s the worst breakpossible,” said the doctor.

I’m No. 1. Whatelse?

“When the nerveblock wears off, it willhurt — a lot. I’ve pre-scribed strongpainkillers; use them and

rest. No driving to work. Check back in 10 days,” hesaid.

I’d planned to drive to work later that after-noon. “How soon can I play hoops again?” He didnot laugh at that one either.

“What about ‘House’ (the Vicodin-addict TVdoctor no one can fire because he’s a genius)?” Iwanted to ask; it would not be the first time that TVinspired idiocy. But that would be disrespectful.

The good news: I can use my home computer;muddled thinking never stops me from writing. As

for one-handed typing, people often say I am at leasthalf a hunt-and-pecker.

What really hurt — until the nerve block woreoff, at least — was the thought I could not go run-ning. Ten weeks in a cast, as the doctor forecast,would take me almost till winter.

“Your left wrist will never be the same,” he said.

One thing’s the same: Runners — who suppos-edly know their bodies — are the least-patient pa-tients ever. When life gives us lemons, there’s onlyone thing to do: whine and make others near usmiserable. Stop and smell the roses? Grab the thornsand squeeze hard, I say.

Down time cracks me up, so it must be the dis-cipline I need.

I’m trying to focus on what I can do. Neighbor-hood walks (instead of runs) turn lives I normallyview as abstract into concrete. I see how kids social-ize, play and hide; pecking orders of cats, peopledoing housework and other oddities I have hereto-fore barely heeded.

I’m newly patient with slow-moving old peopleand the handicapped now I am one. Obstacles are vehicles for discovery. I’m so benignyou can almost anoint me a saint.

Geez, I do need to get well soon …

- MR-

Shattered

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By Scott Sullivan

Editor’s Notes

Letter: Remembering Red

To the editor,

Iwant to compliment your wisdom in juxtaposingthe article about High School Runner of the YearErin Finn with the tribute to the late Coach Red

Simmons in the September/October issue. What aterrific way to highlight where women’s running istoday with where it was not that long ago, and theperson who played such a crucial role in advancingthat journey.

I have a Red Simmons story myself. In early Sep-tember of 1983, I jogged down to the University ofMichigan track for the annual intramural track meet. Isigned up for the mile —the only girl in the field. RedSimmons was the timer. His eyes lit up when he sawme. “Good for you!” he said. “I bet you end up beatingsome of those boys!” As it turns out, I did beat someof those boys and ran a new PR in the process. Afterthe race, Red strode up to me. “Why aren’t you on thecross-country team?” he demanded, which was a littlelike asking me why I wasn’t majoring in astrophysics. Ijust looked at him. “You show up to practice tomor-

row,” he said. I did show up, and Coach FrancieGoodridge and the team welcomed me. Thus beganone of the most valuable experiences of my life. Theprivilege of wearing the Block “M” is something that Itreasure to this day.

A life-changing encounter for me, but apparentlyjust a typical day for Red.

Laurel ParkAnn Arbor

Laurel Park remembers Coach Simmons at his memorial service.

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7

Having lived for five years in Boulder, Ioften experienced what others had told meabout Colorado: If you don’t like the

weather, just wait 10 minutes.

I went on long runs where I’d begin layered withclothing under overcast skies with wind and frigid tem-peratures. I’d finish the run wearing shorts and a singletin warm temps under calm blue skies. My waistseemed to have more layers of excess clothing tiedaround it than there are energy gel packets strewn onthe ground just past mile 20 of a marathon.

Training advice can also change very quickly. Asmore studies arise and expert opinions emerge, it be-comes easier to adopt the advice, “If you don’t likethe conclusion, then just wait a little. It’ll change.”Some of the earlier pearls of training wisdom arenow labeled myths, half-truths or simply misleading.

In my running career I’ve seen more than waffleshoe soles, extra-short shorts and cotton socks goout of fashion. Stretching, long slow distance runs,the 10-percent rule (increase in miles per week toprevent injury), the causes of muscle soreness andcore training have all been modified over time.Heck, the old daily training philosophy of “no pain,no gain” is now the more-temperate approach totraining of “no pain, no strain, all gain.”

I readily admit I’m no scientist as my school sci-ence fair projects weren’t much more scholarly than“Does a basketball bounce higher when fully aired ordeflated?” Or “Does ice melt if left out of the freezerand, if so, why?” Thus, I relied on the exercise physiol-ogists, scientists and medical researchers to providetheir advice regarding training methods and running.

But as I kept up to date on the latest literatureand studies, I couldn’t help but think of singer-song-writer Don Henley’s lyric “The more I know, the lessI understand.” Time-honored training methods wereoften refuted by new studies or discovered to be un-supported by medical science. Even new studies onthe same issues often yielded different conclusions.

This was initially disconcerting until I con-cluded that other runners share my approach,known as “common dense.”

Call us crazy, stupid, unorthodox or unconven-tional, but if we feel better doing something unsup-ported or refuted by medical science, we’ll keepdoing it! It may not make scientific sense and othersmay feel we’re acting dense, but so be it.

A full cool-down after a workout? Count me indespite the current belief that the simple act ofbreathing after a run may be a more-than-adequatecool-down.

The old static-stretching toe touch before a runis useless and may even be counterproductive? I’llkeep on truckin’ and touchin’! I may not have aphysiology Ph.D. or an orthopedic M.D., but I canoffer a common dense ID!

Cross-training has little impact on my running?I’ll supplement my miles with the elliptical even ifthe people with high IQs in white coats tell me itwon’t prevent running injury or make me faster.Spot training doesn’t work and core training may becompletely unnecessary? I’ll keep believing and workthe abs to avoid the flab, thank you very much. It’sall common dense.

Along these lines, a time-honored tenet of run-ning has been challenged, sending a ripple throughthe running community. An article by Gina Kolata

in the July 18, 2011, issue of the New York Timesrefuted the view that soft running surfaces are betterfor the overall health of runners.

Through interviewing various exercise re-searchers, Kolata noted that no scientific studies pro-vide concrete evidence that running on soft terrain isbetter for a runner than running on asphalt or otherhard surfaces. In essence, there were no grounds forsoft ground.

This is where common dense comes in. Call mea dunce if the experts say otherwise, but I’m goingwith a not-so-giant leap of logic here and conclud-ing that soft feels better. I’m sticking with gentle ter-rain whenever possible until treadmill manufacturersbegin advertising the benefits of their machine’scomplete absence of a deck cushioning system andpromoting that their belt is harder than rocks. Feelfree to tell me my head is full of rocks, but it’s allcommon dense.

I know how my legs feel after gentle trail run-ning and how they feel after a long run on hardstreets. In the manner of the famous quote of LloydBentsen to Dan Quayle in their 1988 vice presiden-

tial debate, “I’ve run on soft dirt. I know soft dirt.Soft dirt is a friend of mine. Concrete, you’re no softdirt.” Common dense!

Similarly, the act of stretching has undergonechanges over time and challenges to its effectiveness.There’s the classic static stretching that begat activestretching, and there are proponents of ballisticstretching, passive stretching and dynamic stretch-ing. One school of thought is to stretch only afterworking out, and there’s the belief that stretchingmay not be at all necessary to prevent injury.

Common dense says otherwise. Go aheadand tell me I’m crazy, and that scientifically it’sreally not worth it do classic stretches before arun. I’ll tell you after 40 years of doing them andthat with leg and back muscles in the early morn-ing wound tighter than a violin’s E string, thatfirst mile would otherwise have me resemblingsomeone moving on stilts. In deep sand. I knowit may be an antiquated approach, but that’swhat good old common dense tells me as in-grained habits die hard.

I’m fully aware of the current thought that awarm-up approach consisting of dynamicstretching (stretching muscles while movingthem) may be useful. But the idea of doing livelyhamstring lunges, butt kicks and high knees at 5a.m. while half asleep in the dead of winter onmy snowy street isn’t something I’d be itching toget outside to do. I know my personal limita-tions, which common dense has taught me.

Abdominal crunches don’t really work? Beento a gym lately? Right or wrong, common denseabounds!

Also, recent studies, such as the one reported inKelly Bastone’s article “Running on Empty” in theMay 2010 issue of Running Times, have concludedthat forgoing carbohydrates before and during along run can have beneficial effects.

Now we runners do a lot of masochistic thingslike hill training, repeat 800s, and miles and miles ina single bout. But don’t ever, ever try to come be-tween runners and their bagels! Pasta lovers, unite!Call us crazy, but no matter what the potential bene-fits of training in a glycogen-depleted condition maybe, the choice of a pre-run PBJ over, say, half a cel-ery stalk isn’t going to be debated long. Commondense! Hand me that Pop-Tart, please.

We’re a movement whose time has come. Mytwo cents says when in doubt, just use good old-fashioned common dense.

Michigan runner Bob Scwartz is author of the best-selling humor book “I Run, Therefore I Am —

NUTS!” and sequel coming out this November. Checkout www.runninglaughsblog.com.

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We Could All Use a Little More Common DenseBy Bob Schwartz

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FLINT (8/25/12) — It was Julius Kogo a-go-go forthe third straight year at the Crim Festival of Races.

Kogo, 27, of Kenya three-peated as men’schampion in Crim’s marquee 10-miler, besting8,956 finishers in 46:45, 40 seconds faster thancountryman and runner-up Mourad Marofit. Kogo,whose 4:41-per-mile pace was his best here yet,earned $5,000 for his efforts.

Hansons-Brooks Distance Project runner MikeMorgan, 32, was 12th overall and the fastest Michi-gan finisher, crossing in 49:45. Next came BoazCheboiywo, 34, of Ypsilanti in 50:07 and Morgan’sHansons-Brooks teammate Brendan Martin, 23, in50:22.

Michigan Runner magazine columnist IanForsyth, 40, of Ann Arbor was top open and statemasters finisher, crossing 19th overall in 51:54.

Caroline Rotich, 28, claimed the $5,000women’s title with similar ease on this sunny morn-ing with temperatures rising from the 60s into the70s, finishing in 53:43. Fellow Kenyan RisperGesabwa, 23, placed second in 54:21.

Best among Michigan women were Hansons-Brooks veteran Dot McMahan, 35, eighth overall in56:29 and Sarah Boyle, 26, of Brighton, 14th in58:57.

Serena Kessler, 40, of Ann Arbor paced theMichigan masters women in 1:00:52.

Easy 8K winners were another Hansons-Brooksace, David Laney, 23, in 25:34, and AmandaGeorge, 15, of Davison in 34:11.

Michael McCarty Jr., 19, of Davisburg andAddie May, 16, of Flushing claimed the men’s andwomen’s 5K titles in 17:04 and 21:51 respectively.

Sean Rosalez of Davison edged OlympianGeena Gall in Crim’s first-ever Michigan Mile, 5:17to 5:22. Gall, a Grand Blanc native and former Uni-versity of Michigan star, continues recovering from acalf injury that plagued her this summer in London,but said she enjoyed taking part in a road race andgave her best.

Tom Davis, 35, of Fremont, Ind., who lost thebottom half of his left leg to a bomb while serving theU.S. Army in Iraq, was the men’s handcyle winner in28:13, a new Crim record by almost a minute.

Close to 16,000 runners and walkers registeredfor the bevy of 36th annual festival events, whichalso included a Teddy Bear Trot.

For complete results and more about CrimFoundation activities, visit http://crim.org.

- MR -

Ian Forsyth runs the Bradley Hills on hisway to the masters win.

Crim Festival of Races, Flint

Kogo A-Go-Go Three-Peats at 36th CrimBy Scott Sullivan

Julius Kogo wins Crim 10 Mile for thethird straight year.

Caroline Rotich won the women’s 10mile race in 53.43.

6 time Crim winner, Catherine Ndereba,won the women’s masters title.

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PARADISE (8/11/12) — Yes, there really is a Para-dise, a small town in the Upper Peninsula just a fewmiles east of another paradise. Or east of a pair ofparadises.

Where’s a grammarian when you need one?

The one, as I said, is a small town, nestled upagainst Lake Superior in the eastern UP. The other,or other pair? The two components of the TahquaTrail Run, the glorious, amazing, ridiculously cool,ridiculously tough runs along the TahquamenonRiver put on each August by Jeff Crumbaugh.

Crumbaugh, you may recall, was named 2009Contributor of the Year by Michigan Runner for thesnowshoe and running races he and his Great LakesEndurance Sports LLC put on over some of thetoughest, prettiest trails in the UP and Wisconsin.

The Tahqua 25K and 10K are each as good astrail running gets, with the 15.5-miler finishing overthe last five miles of the 10K course, most of whichis on a single-track along the river. That stretchincludes tall wildflowers and grasses blowing inthe wind, roots and shale rock made slippery byriver water condensing in the morning or littlerivulets running down the cliffs that line theriver.

Four or five times along the way, the trailalong the river runs into a dead end because of acreek, bog or some other natural impediment,and heads, instead, just about straight up thecliff side, with gut-churning, thigh-burningclimbs that reduce most to walking.

“That was associative running,” said BrentCook, 62, of Petoskey, having just finished hisfirst Tahqua and using the term for runningthat requires you to stay completely and utterlyfocused. Glance over at the beauty of the sun re-flected on the river and … FACE SPLAT!

“I run hills around Petoskey, but nothingprepared me for that,” he said. “I don’t know; Ithink I needed to go out a lot slower on thatfirst hill.”

That first hill? It begins a few yards afterthe start, and is a steep, sandy, loose-footinglong, steep climb that leads to … more climb-ing. You hit a turn, thinking you’ve crested onlyto find out: not yet, bub.

The course was, Cook said, cooler than heimagined, tougher than imaginable and a lot offun. Then, again, finishing second in your agegroup, as he did in 60-69, always adds a littlebit of pleasure.

If the courses were the stars of the day, theyshared billing this year with a pair of teen run-

ners from the legendary Rockford High School run-ning program. Tyler Harney, 18, destroyed the fieldof 111, his 42:32 good for nearly a four-minute winover Lee Kanitz, 38, a Yooper from Hessel.

Michael Keating, 55, of Sault Ste. Marie, On-tario, was top master and fourth overall in 48:19,with Ron Hayes, 47, of Oshkosh, Wisc., runner-upfor the masters and sixth overall in 49:28.

Tyler’s sister, Morgan, 16, had an even moreconvincing victory for the women, her 50:28 goodfor a seven-minute-and-13-second win over runner-up and top master Adriane Agria, 45, of Cheboygan.Muffie McCauley, 52, of Wolverine was second mas-ter and third overall in 59:17.

Jason Schatz, 30, of Madison, Wisc., led thefield of 79 in the 25K, his 1:53:22 good for a mar-gin of more than four minutes against Alex Feravich,21, of Sault St. Marie, Mich. The top master wasDarrin Clark, 41, fourth overall in 2:01:01, withPhil Noble, 44, of Xenia, Ohio, second master and

fifth overall in 2:01:99.

Gail Dewey, 34, of Grand Rapids, led thewomen in 2:19:51, with Ashley Voeks, 24, of De-troit second in 2:26:18.

Linda Walsh, 45, of Sault Ste. Marie., Ontario,was top master and third overall in 2:27:32. TamiStiller 50, of Menasha, Wisc., was second masterand 15th for the women in 2:55:51.

Both races filled up a month ahead of time,with field limits set by the folks at the state parks. Soyou if you want to run next year, get on the websiteearly, www.greatlakesendurance.com.

There was also a 2K for kids the night before.Fiona Keating, 13, led the girls in 9:31, with Han-nah Beelen, 12, second in 10:16. Robert Burger, 10,led the boys and was second overall, also timed in9:31, with Andrew Burger, 12, second in 9:34.

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Tahqua Trail Run, Paradise

Paradise Found in Tahqua RunsBy Tom Henderson


10

“Find a penny, pick it up, and all day long you’ll have good luck.”

If you are a runner, at some point you’re going toget injured. If you are a competitive runner andyou stay in the game long enough, you’ll proba-

bly deal with a variety of injuries that will enlightenyou about body parts you’d never heard of and theintricacies of kinesiology to a degree you never caredto know. Injuries are inconvenient, frustrating and apart of life for most athletes. But injuries are also ex-hausting, and after a while they take their cumula-tive toll. After your “nth” visit to physical therapy,when the receptionist can fill out your intake sheetherself, you start to wonder whether it’s worth it. Isit worth dragging yourself through yet another set ofstrengthening exercises, or taking another month offto let the latest round of inflammation subside, onlyto gain another few months, weeks or days beforesomething else goes out of whack — because youknow it will. It’s just a matter of time. But all it takesis that one good race where you feel like you’re fly-ing, or that one good training run where the milesclip by effortlessly, and you realize that yes, it is. Itmost definitely is. Those are the days that keep yougoing.

Over time, I’ve learned that recovering from in-juries is not a straightforward process. Everyonewants to go to the doctor, find out what’s wrong, getthe treatment or exercises to fix it and be back onthe roads the next day. It doesn’t work that way. Yourbody is clever and in its quest to do your bidding, itwill go to great lengths to make the impossible pos-sible, even if that means sacrificing itself. The funda-mental law of physics applies: For every action thereis an equal and opposite reaction. In the 13 yearssince my own back problems were diagnosed, I’velearned that it’s usually a “two steps forward, onestep back” process. In my case, my body had donesuch a good job of figuring out how to let me runthat teaching it how to work properly again has beenequally challenging. Every change to the system —even “good” changes — triggers that equal and op-posite reaction. Increased range of motion in mypreviously-locked hip joint? Excellent — except thatmy hip rotator muscles haven’t been used correctly(if at all) in about 15 years. Guess what.

After a very solid 2010 racing season, 2011 wasa disaster. Actually, the first two miles of the seasonwere terrific, then it was a disaster. It was at mile twoof the 2011 Irish Jig 5K that my periformis musclesdecided to go on strike; suddenly, definitively and inunison. Of course, I went to my doctor — what theheck had happened? No obvious cause; everythinglooked good. Really, really good, in fact; better thanever. He was extremely pleased. Nothing to do butbe patient and let your body adapt. Maybe try somecross-training. So, given the option of dealing withit or not, and figuring that I had nothing to gain bynot dealing with it, I sat back and waited for mybody to respond. And eventually, it did. Notovernight, as I’d hoped, but slowly, step by step, day

by day. Right around Thanksgiving I realized thatrunning was enjoyable again and I didn’t feel like Iwas hauling a bag of wet cement in my butt. In theinterim months, however, and after a few truly mis-erable races, all the familiar doubts came back.Maybe it was time to call it a career and stop beatingmy head against the wall. Why am I doing this?

2012 started with a bang. At the Bill Roney 5K,I had one of those races that keep you in the game. Ifelt strong and fast — racing the way I rememberedit, the way it used to be, the way it should be. Twosimilarly good races followed. Then everything fellapart. Glute trouble, hip trouble — another turn onthe injury merry-go-round. Of course, my key racesfor the season were yet to come. The timing, as al-ways, was impeccable.

June 3 was the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run, whichwas also the USATF Master’s 10K championship.My hometown race and one which would drawsome of the top master’s runners in the country. Atthe beginning of May, I had expected to contend fora national title. By the first week of June, I justhoped to finish the race and be able to walk after-ward. Two weeks prior, at the 8K master’s champi-onships in Williamsburg, Va., the periformis twinsmade a surprise repeat appearance. The race was afrustrating flashback to 2011. The fact that it wascompletely unexpected made it all the worse. Afterthe race I took two easy weeks, with little runningand much stretching, hoping I could bank enoughrecovery to avoid embarrassment. I knew better,however. This was not going to be pretty.

On the morning of the race I rose early, plan-ning to get downtown before the masses descended.I gathered my gear, hopped in the car and headedout. My brain was in overdrive, acutely aware ofevery twinge, knot and ache. Surprisingly, I didn’tfeel all that bad, although “not all that bad” was a farcry from “ready to kick butt.” I had already decidedthat I would drop at the mile if anything hurt toomuch. Neither my body nor my self-esteem neededthe abuse. As frustrating as the Williamsburg racehad been, I didn’t care to prolong that experience foran additional 1.23 miles.

I parked along a still-deserted side street andstepped out. The air was cool and the humidity wasreasonable. As I made my way toward Main Street Ilooked down and saw a penny lying along the side-walk. It was heads down, its surface dark and dull. Ihave a habit of picking up stray coins that I find onsidewalks or around parking meters. I toss them in alittle plastic piggy bank at home, and once a year or sotake them to CoinStar and splurge on a bottle of wine.My husband considers this an odd hobby for an admit-ted germaphobe who considers Purell hand sanitizer tobe the greatest invention of the 20th century. But, it’skind of fun — the thrill of discovery on a very smallscale. And this time, I couldn’t help but wonderwhether this was some kind of good omen; my luckypenny, even though it was kind of grubby and Abe wasdoing a face plant. Usually I’m not much for charms orstuff like that. I’ve always thought that hard work wasmore dependable than luck. But at this point I waswilling to take all the help I could get. I grabbed thepenny, tossed it in my backpack, sanitized my handsand continued downtown.

I love the atmosphere of a race; the anticipation,the nervous energy, the electricity in the air. This morn-ing was no different, although my excitement wastinged with a touch of panic. I jogged an easy warm-up, which surprisingly felt OK. I could tell that some-thing in my hip wasn’t quite right, but I was able to runand feel pretty good about it, which gave me hope.Maybe I could get through this thing after all. Maybethe penny was doing its job.

After two misfires, the starting gun soundedand we were off. I can usually tell how a race will gowithin the first quarter mile; if my brain clicks toautopilot and I’m focused on tactics and strategy,I’m good. If I’m admiring the brightly-colored sockson the runner in front of me — not so good. Thistime the autopilot snapped on and the first milewent by quickly. Not as fast as I’d hoped, especiallygiven the downhill start, but certainly acceptable.My eyes were fixed on the women ahead of me. Myhip hurt with every step and I knew I’d be payingmightily the next day, but I also knew that I wouldfinish and even do reasonably well. I just had tokeep my head in it.

By the time I started the final uphill toward thefinish, my hip was screaming. The women ahead ofme were long gone and I didn’t care who was behind

Laurel Park competes in the USATFMaster’s 10K championship at theDexter Ann Arbor Run.

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me. I just needed to cross that line. I grit my teeth,focused on the finish banner and took it one step ata time. Closer … closer … closer. My foot skimmedthe chip map and I let out a gasp of relief. It wasover. Thank goodness. If the race had been 6.3 milesrather than 6.2, I’m not sure I would have made it. Ididn’t see my time and frankly, it didn’t matter. Allthings considered, the race had gone far better thanI expected, and that was enough.

After catching my breath and getting somethingto drink, I grabbed my gear and headed back towardthe car. I had a plane to catch, so no time to hangaround and socialize. Free from endorphins, my hipwas painfully raw. By the end of the day, I wouldhave trouble walking.

As I limped down Miller Street, a small flashcaught my eye. I hobbled over and looked closer.There, laying along the curb, was a penny. Its sur-face was shiny copper and Lincoln’s profile wasclearly visible. My second lucky penny, this one asbright as the first one had been dull. Anotheromen. You survived, it seemed to say. And you’llbe back.

I gave a brief smile. Bending painfully, Igrabbed the penny, tossed it in my backpack, sani-tized my hands and continued to the car. Yes, Ithought, I would be back. Despite the frustrationsthat I knew lay ahead, I would be back.

- MR -

WAYNE (10/6/12) — Attendance soared at the22nd annual Red October Run, presented by Oak-wood Annapolis Hospital.

Some 1,503 runners and walkers braved coldand blustery weather to compete in the 5K and10K, shattering last year’s record of 1,286. (The runalso included a kids’ Junior October Mile.)

“We’re really happy that we had a lot of youthand families,” said race director Cynthia Cook. “Therun is part of our Youth and Family Fitness Initiative(at the hospital).

“It’s getting really windy,” she noted as a gustblew over the clock at the finish line.

“It’s been several years since we’ve had a greatweather day,” Cook continued. “But we made it OKtoday. No lightning bolts. No sideways rain. We’relooking forward to October 2013.”

Battling the wind and each other, Keith Erich-sen, 15, of Farmington Hills and Suzanne Larsen,35, of Fenton triumphed in the 5K.

Erichsen, a sophomore at North FarmingtonHigh School, led for much of the race with Larsenbehind him. Then she crept up on him.

“We were right together the last mile,” Larsensaid. “Then, on last straightaway, he got me.”

“I wasn’t going to let her beat me,” Erichsensaid.

In 2007 Larsen set the women’s course record at17:08. She had an inkling she might better that timetoday.

“I had a really good warm-up,” Larsen said. “Ithought I was on track to break 17:00 or at least be

under 17:10, but I’m not quite used to the cold, Iguess.”

Erichsen timed 17:22, while Larsen won thewomen’s 5K in 17:26.

Next came Shane Beauchamp, 38, of Dearborn(18:01), Abraham Mendez, 21, of Wayne (19:39)and top masters runner Joshua Donnelly, 41, ofJackson (20:10).

Brittany Lowe, 22, of Auburn Hills finishedwomen’s runner-up in 20:19. Layne Marinski, 18, ofCanton snagged third in 21:45. Karen Bears, 40, ofWayne took fourth overall and topped the mastersin 22:50.

Masters runners dominated the 10K. John Tro-jansek, 42, of Windsor won easily in 32:58. Nextcame Josh Sprunger, 27, of Westland (34:46) andClaudio Salas, 42, of Allen Park (35:36).

Trojansek, who has a PR of 32:16, ran his sec-ond-fastest 10K and wasn’t far off Carl Rundell’s2001 course record of 32:11.

“I’m in my best shape ever,” Trojansek said.

Deborah Abrams, 43, of Clermont, Fla., led thewomen in 42:10, edging Elisabeth Deller, 33, ofNorthville (42:24). Lisa Robertson, 42, of ClevelandHeights, Ohio, took third in 43:46.

Rick and Shelly Huber of Montrose won thecompetitive 5K walk. Rick, 56, timed 28:23 whileShelly, 52, finished in 32:44.

For complete results, visit http://gaultraceman-agement.com. For more about the Red OctoberRun, go to www.oakwood.org/redoctoberrun.

- MR -

Red October Run, Wayne

Record Turnout Blows in for Red October Run

By Charles Douglas McEwen


12

Some runners hold time-burnished memories oftheir first marathons. James Arens remembers his debutat last year’s Detroit Free Press event more in terms likethis:

Mile 0, 26.2 to go. Speakers surrounding the FortStreet starting/finish line pump out Motown, thenEminem:

Nen, nen, nen nen nen nen-nen … Look, if youhad one shot, one opportunity … one moment, wouldyou capture it or let it slip?

Why are we doing this? It’s too late for thosekinds of questions now. This started a year ago: losea couple pounds, get healthier, just something wethought we should do. Then last year, they gave methat shirt that said Detroit Half Marathon. It was acall to action. I couldn’t live with half of anything.

But now, surveying the crowd around mestretching in every conceivable manner, wearingevery conceivable combination of running gear andgadgets, makes me want to run — right away fromthis mess.

Nervous already. Mom’s spaghetti.

Some serious runners doing serious stretchesand wearing serious running gear, saying seriousrunning things; Dave and I are not serious runners.We’re not serious anything, really.

Forget what they tell you; there is no way toprepare for this.

We ran more than 400 miles in the weeks lead-ing to this day. It might help to start when you’reless than 41 years old. No one thought Dave and Iwould to this. Some people thought we should notdo this. Those are the people we should have lis-tened to.

With my “SuperCharged” playlist loaded onmy shuffle featuring Zeppelin, Minute Men, JamesBrown, The Rocky Balboa collection, Braveheart,The Who … for a total of 7.7 hours and 133 songs… musically, at least, I am ready for this odyssey.

Mile 1: We’re still on Fort Street; I’m not feelinggreat. I’ve struggled on my first mile a lot lately. It’llget better. Stay slow. Keep the pace.

The first days are the hardest days, don’t you worryanymore.

Mile 2: It’s cold and my lungs hurt the way theyused to when I was a kid. I can’t catch my breath —not a good sign this early in the run. I’ve alwayshated sweating with cold air in my lungs. I did al-most nothing yesterday. I went to bed at 8 p.m. At10 I got up to pee, tried to avoid something in thehallway and kicked the wall, stubbing my smallest

toe. It hurts. Dave feels fine.Mile 3: We cross the bridge looking down at theriver. The sun rises over Detroit. Most of us runners,20,167 or so, feel good now.

We run in Canada, where the miles are shorterbecause of the exchange rate. I don’t feel as good aslast year. Dave feels great; he’s Canadian. Suddenly,he’s wearing a red and white flannel shirt and a touk.The crisp Canadian air powers him like the earth’syellow sun powers Superman. I am a stranger in thisland and pine for the comfort of my homeland.

As we run along Riverside Street in Windsor,our city across the water looks pretty good. It’s agood time in the D. Our home teams are surging.The Lions are winning games; the Tigers are deepinto the playoffs.

The most important of the home teams aremaking yet another comeback: The Big Three au-tomakers are off life-support. Root, root, root forthe home teams, all of them. I feel a connection toall of it today.

Mile 7: We hit the tunnel and run one mile under-water. It smells like a seventh-grade locker roommixed with diesel exhaust. Halfway through, it getsworse. The air gets thick.

Leaving his primordial homeland weakensDave. He needs to stretch his knee. His I.T. bandtightens. Apparently we all have I.T. bands and theystart to hurt when you do stupid things. Cold airhits us as the border patrol police wave at us.

Mile 11: Bagley and 18th Street, a big right turn,now we’re heading back to Woodward.

Valhalla I am coming. We are your overlords …Our only goal must be the western shore.

It’s not quite convincing. I’m not anyone’s over-lord today. I like to hear that music coursingthrough the earbuds while I run fast, but today it’snot quite the same. I’m not sure if it’s Zeppelin orme, but one of us is not showing great effort. Todaythe hammer of the gods is hitting me in the chest.

Mile 12: Running down Michigan Avenue a mileuntil the half-marathon finish line turnoff. Whynot? We could sprint it out and finish strong. I’d beeating French toast in 20 minutes. Slackers: it’s whowe are. It would surprise no one; they’d probably ex-pect it. We look at each other and laugh. It wouldmake people mad. We like that.

Mile 13.1: “You signed on for this, I think,” says thevoice in my head. “Buy the ticket, take the ride.”The wife, the kids, the parents, the so-called friendswho encouraged us to do this are waiting somewheredown the line.

Can’t give up now … well, we could. It is the

smart move. Of course, today proves we are notsmart people.

I’m a street-walking cheetah with a hide full ofnapalm. No, I’m not. Thanks for the thought, Iggy.Somebody better save my soul. Yep, that’s about right.

Mile 13.5: Pain stabs my right foot every time it hitsthe mean pavement of Randolph Street. I can onlyput up with this for a couple minutes, tops. Noteven a half-mile past the turnoff, I feel like I mighthave to shut it down.

Mile 15: That pain is gone. I’m getting tired. Herecomes one of our cheering sections: Pete, Rebeccaand damn Heather whose idea this was in the firstplace. Jumping up and down, holding signs tryingto encourage us.

Pete’s sign says: “Are you wearing underwear?”He draws a wide variety of answers. Heather has runtwo marathons and had two babies. She said themarathons were worse. I wouldn’t mind an epidural.I wouldn’t mind going numb from the neck down atthis point.

Mile 16: E. Lafayette and Mt. Elliot; according tothe race map, there should be a huge roll of toiletpaper around here. Normally that kind of thingwouldn’t interest me.

Now the music of Rocky Balboa pumps intomy head. Trumpets and trombones, French hornsand violins, the finest musical achievement since theinvention of Velveeta cheese. It’s almost impossibleto give up with this music propping you up.

You’re gonna eat lightning and crap thunder …He’ll murder ya do death, Rock. You’re a wreckin’ ma-chine.

Mile 17: I’ve always wanted to visit Indian Village.People are playing music and passing out water,Gatorade, Vaseline, beer. They are having a greattime. It’s beautiful here. Just like Grosse Pointe,houses take up wide tracks of land and are set farback from the road. John and Horace Dodge, of thefamed auto company lived in houses like this. Thisseems like a good place to die.

We see Dave’s wife and kids. They are happyand proud of Dave. He looks great. Dave’s wife, anurse, looks at me and concern sweeps over her face.“Are you OK?” Nope. Not at all.

Dehydration sets in. I’m shriveling. There’s nowater left in me. I can’t stand straight as I haltthrough the streets, my shoulders round over andstomach caves in. I feel my temples collapse. I drinkwater and Gatorade. I eat whatever people hand me.It doesn’t help.

This too shall pass … Abandon all hope … Thistoo shall pass … Abandon … this …

Panic in DetroitBy James Aren


13

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Mile 18: We’re plodding back to Jefferson now, get-ting closer to the dreaded Belle Isle. Somebody gaveDave a new mantra. We think it’s stupid, but stupidtimes call for stupid measures:

Light, quick, smooth. Light, quick, smooth, Light,quick, smooth, Light, quick, light, quit, quit, quit, quit.

We pick up a co-runner of sorts. He runs aheadand then falls behind. He’s 6’4”, wrapped in bluespandex with the Captain America symbol on hisripped chest. His presence assures us that we are stillin the land of the living. If a real man like that isback here with us, we must be doing OK.

At some point, we hope for a surge, the “run-ner’s high” or some other bullshit. Then we willmake our move and blaze ahead. There is no sign ofthat happening soon. Right now, we wait and keepmoving.

For the first time in my life, I decide to thinkabout sex. Usually it just happens. Today I thought Icould kill a couple miles thinking about it. I could-n’t. The will to live is gone.

Mile 19: Every step sends pain shooting throughmy hips, back and shoulders. My feet caught on firefour miles ago. Seven miles left to go. On a goodday that could be an hour. This is not a good day.

Last spring my back attacked me. It was theworst pain of my life. I was talking to my son atTaco Bell when something grabbed me. I couldbarely make it to the car.

I spent the next three days crawling and yelling.My mother took me to the chiropractor. After threetrips, I could walk again. It took another eight tripsto dig out of the pain. I used a walker for a day ortwo, then a cane. The pain was unbelievable. Myever-cautious father-in-law advised me to take iteasy, code for “start acting my age.” I told him I was-n’t ready to accept any limits.

A man has got to know his limitations. Shut it,Clint.

Mile 22, Helle Isle: Yea, though I run through thevalley of death.

No cheering crowds now. We’re on our ownhere.

I came here with my grandparents once. I drovea girl here in a ‘67 Mustang convertible a long, longtime ago. I wanted that night to last as long as possi-ble. Now I hate this place. It’s so far from the line.

We run to the corner, a big left turn. From hereon out, we are running toward the line. Not muchmore looping around or moving away. We meetsome old freak who said he runs one marathon everymonth or something. He told us to get in a bathtubof cold water afterward. He said a whole lot. Thank-fully, we left him behind us.

This is not running. It’s not athletic. It’s barelymoving. It’s just stubborn. If I just lay down, wouldsomebody pick me up? How long would it take meto die?

We walk for a couple minutes. Dave says itdoesn’t hurt any less to walk now, and it feels worseto start again. It’s time to make a move, he said. It’snot, maybe later.

We try. I tell Dave he can go on without me.He says “No way.” I’m not sure if I appreciate or re-sent that. He says he doesn’t have anything morethan I do. Nothing to kick with.

I don’t live today. Maybe tomorrow. Just can’t say... Ain’t no life nowhere.

Mile 21: Can’t listen to Zeppelin anymore. Noteven Rocky mother-scratching Balboa can help usnow. If I wasn’t so tired I would throw my iPod intothe Detroit River.

I can’t lift my arms now. No extra movements.Every step is a question: got any more? Other days,miles disappear without much notice; not today. It’sgone on too long now. Too long to stop. Too long tocontinue. Too long. I have to do it once. If I stopnow, I would have to do it again. Forget that. I willnever do this again — which means I have to do itnow.

Last year two guys died running this race. WillI die? At this point I might welcome the sweet re-lease of death.

If you find yourself running in a field by yourself,have no fear. You are in Elysium and you are alreadydead.

I try to make funny, but it’s a thought. You’resupposed to visit a doctor before you start running,right? I never did that. So which mind-searing painsare the bad ones? I don’t think my chest hurts thatway. My left arm doesn’t hurt now.

Mile 22: Just up to that next fire hydrant, up to theside street, up to the gas station; it’s an old runner’strick — pick a spot and run to it, then pick anotherspot. I step into a pothole and twist my ankle.Everything hurts so much, the new pain doesn’t evenregister.

Holy Mother, pray for us sinners now and at thetime of death.

Mile 23: There is no god.

Mile 24: Sweet Jesus, help me.

Mile 25: I can do this for another mile.

Mile 25.5: Where is that goddamn line? I can’t keepmoving.

A trickle of strangers were all that were left alive… He wanted to stay home … I wish someone wouldphone … Panic in Detroit.

Mile 26: Why does there have to be a point-two?Some dumb Roman terd-wagon did what?

I look at Dave and ask if he wants to “sprint” itout. He shrugs and we speed up imperceptibly. Herewe go — coughing and wheezing, kind of likedrowning on dry land. We start passing people. I

can’t keep it up, but I don’t want to stop. Some fatguy in a white t-shirt is ahead of us. We will reel himin. We keep moving. The top of my pelvis hurts. Wepass him. He looks like I feel.

Mile 26.2: No guts, no glory, no nothing. I barelycross the line when the retching starts; my stomachand left foot attempt to come up through my mouthbut get stuck in my throat. I end up sitting on thefinish line. People yell at me and put me in a wheel-chair. I see the clock and shame sweeps over me.

If I don’t find some shelter, ooh yeah, I’m gonnafade away.

I see my eight-year-old daughter worrying onthe sideline. I get to my feet. The quest is over, thepassion and the pain, full of sound and fury, signify-ing nothing, lived out by a sweaty, dehydrated idiot.

People say I should be proud of myself. MaybeI should be, but I’m not. I set out to do somethingand spent a long, long time doing it poorly. Don’tdare ask how long. I know the time; that’s badenough. The best I can say about the whole thing is:it’s over. Don’t have to do that again.

Now I look at people wearing half marathonshirts and think one word: smart.

- MR -


14

Trivia: What was the first year for the five-borough New York City Marathon?

GOOD READS. I don’t often review booksin this space, but when I do I’m pleased torecommend Michigan authors, in this case

Jeff Hollobaugh and Dave Wood. Both take long-range looks at track and field, Hollobaugh in “The100 Greatest Track & Field Battles of the 20th Cen-tury” and Wood in ”A History of Grand RapidsCity League Track and Field.”

Jeff teaches English in the Pinckney school sys-tem, owns the michtrack.org website and in a priorlife was a staff writer for Track & Field News. Heobserves the Michigan prep cross country and trackand field scene with a keen eye and serves as stadiumannouncer at the Michigan High School AthleticAssociation’s Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finalsat Michigan International Speedway. He is also isthe voice forthe MHSAA.tvbroadcast of themeet. Jeff haswritten otherbooks, includ-ing the novel“Fire, BarbedWire & Tacks,”writes forMichigan Run-ner magazine,ESPN.com andhas coveredOlympic andworld track andfield champi-onships.

From this deep and abiding love and feel for thesport, Jeff has sorted through thousands of track andfield contests, whittling down the rich list to thosehe felt were the most exciting and historically signifi-cant. I’ll guess Kenyan David Rudisha’s wire-to-wire2012 Olympic Games 800 meters world record1:40.91 would be included in an update.

On the cover of “Battles” is Billy Mills winningthe 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games 10,000 meters.Think you can guess where Jeff ranked that race?You can get it at Jeff Hollobaugh, 3130 Kensington,Dexter MI 48130 for $12 (including shipping) oron Amazon.com for a little more (go tomichtrack.org for info).

Aquinas College’s longtime cross country andtrack and field head coach Dave Wood devotedthree years to compiling his exemplary history ofGrand Rapids City League track and field. He spentcountless hours in the library looking through oldyearbooks, the Grand Rapids Herald and Pressnewspapers, poring over school board minutes andother library materials. Dave received invaluablehelp from other resources for his research. The first

field day sponsored by the Athletic Association ofGrand Rapids High School (now Central High) washeld Oct. 4, 1890. Yes, 122 years ago. The 411-pagebook details events from 1890 to 2008.

Entries track the evolution of the sport inGrand Rapids and across the state. There are terrificpictures of individuals, teams, competition sites andtrack-specific items.

Although girls weren’t granted MHSAA sanction-ing until 1974, they first competed in Grand Rapidstwo years earlier. An entire chapter chronicles the intro-duction and rise of girls programs. The last 76 pages aregiven to a look at the records produced over 100-plusyears of competition. It’s an exhaustive, thorough workthat will please any track fan.

Wood gives more than 200 pages to the years1953 to 2008. There are many names with which read-ers will be familiar, including Greg Meyer, who wrote

book’s foreword and excelled at West CatholicHigh School, and Wood himself, who won the1972 Class A state mile title for Grand RapidsUnion in 4:13.9.

Fans interested can buy the book at grl-cpublications@aolcom.

THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT:

1) After 10 years of seeing him run in my Fen-ton neighborhood, I finally stopped 1984 De-troit Free Press Marathon winner Loren Bandtto chat. He always dresses in old-school cottontees and baggy shorts, now runs for fitness and“never races.” It was fun to literally catch upwith him as ‘84 was my second year announc-ing the Free Press Marathon and this year will

be my 30th.

2) After 42 years, I caught up with old Ann ArborHuron High School cross country and track andfield teammate Andy Campbell at a cross countrymeet in Brighton. He has a son running for our oldtrack coach at AAH, Kent Overbey, now in his 44thyear at the school. Andy and I were on a Class Astate champion cross country team in 1969, the firststate title for our then-three-year-old school.

3) Calumet High hosted an invitational cross coun-try meet at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge GolfCourse 0.2 miles from Copper Harbor in mid-Sep-tember. The idyllic site 38 miles from Calumet ismuch further away from competing teams who fre-quently travel far to meets in the Upper Peninsula.

4) With the advent and overwhelming popularity ofthe Warrior Dash, watch for more edgy runningevents to follow.

5) The Upper Peninsula Road Runners Club holdsofficer elections and gives awards every year. Since1988, voters have also elected an Event of the Year;

not surprisingly, the Pictured Rocks Road Race 11-mile won the first year. For an event so far from somany, it drew runners from all over the Midwest totackle its unique, tough course and handed out ter-rific awards and finisher-vs.-participant apparel. Theclub also gives awards for top open men andwomen, youth, volunteers and hall-of-fame hon-orees. Nice to see the U.P. taking care of its own!

6) I turned 60 on Oct. 27 and was up to my eyeballswith things to do helping at the Great Turtle half-marathon and 5.7-mile races on Mackinac Island. As Iwrite this five weeks away, I’m thankful for all that hascome my way and file regrets under “experiences thathave shaped me or remain to be visited.” Staying activehas been a great way to lend life to my years!

7) Watching cross country runners strain over the finalcouple hundred meters of a race remains exciting.

8) Getting in a satisfactory workout while travelingis still a bonus.

9) Running from Detroit into the Grosse Pointes,then back into Detroit in the first years of the FreePress Marathon.

10) Wrinkles to my routine, such as startling a pas-ture of horses that gallop off or passing 10-year-oldgirls selling lemonade.

11) Running in winter — it’s for everyone.

12) Mentoring novice runners.

13) A successful return to running from a plantarfasciitis injury.

14) Running past a window full of treadmill runnersin a gym.

15) The last two American Boston Marathon win-ners, Greg Meyer in 1983 and Lisa Rainsberger in1985, are from Michigan. Each was a University ofMichigan All-American and are Road Runners Clubof America Hall of Famers.

16) There are Michigan races in Hell and Paradise.

17) Grand Valley State University women’s teamswon their second straight indoor and outdoor trackand field NCAA Division 2 championships in 2012.

18) Mild weather allowed me to rack up record Jan-uary, February and March monthly cycling totals. Italso enabled me to measure The Qualifier Marathonbetween Midland and Bay City in January, unheardof based on past winter conditions. I bought a newroad bike in early March, a Blue 1.2, and am happywith both its price and performance. It allows me re-tire my older bike to winter months.

Answer: 1976 with winners Bill Rodgers and MikiGorman. Gorman also won in ‘77 also and remains

the last American woman to do so. - MR -

Running Shorts with Scott HubbardBy Scott Hubbard


15

Nov. 11, 2012

34th Annual

Entry form & information:Recreational Authority of Roseville & Eastpointe18185 SycamoreRoseville, MI 48066(586) 445-5480www.roseville-mi.govRegister online: active.com

Reg. Fees: $25 by 4pm Nov. 7$30 on race day

Roseville Big Bird 0912_Roseville Big Bird 8/11/12 6:50 PM Page 1

SAUGATUCK-DOUGLAS (9/8/12) — To thewinners went some — but not all — of the Mt.Baldhead Challenge spoils.

The 13th annual road and trail races saw morethan 300 runners and walkers leave from and return toBeery Field in downtown Douglas to prizes, refresh-ments and camaraderie, having tested themselves onone of the state’s most difficult, lovely courses.

“I spooked deer on the dunes,” said Saugatuckboys cross country coach Rick Bauer, who won themen’s 15K in 57 minutes, 27 seconds.

“The trails were up-and-down, up-and down andthe views were so beautiful it was easy to be distracted.There is no other course quite like it,” Bauer said.

Others echoed his sentiments. “It hurts but it’sgood,” women’s masters champ Gayle Kuipers said.

Joining Bauer, 32, and Kuipers, 47, of Holland(who finished in 1:12:57) earning 15K trophies wereoverall women’s winner Mary Mendoza, 14, of Fen-nville (1:07:09) and men’s masters champ Jim Springer,47, of Saugatuck, also overall runner-up in 1:02:10.

Bauer’s wife, Saugatuck girls cross countrycoach Angelina Bauer, 31, was second overall amongwomen in 1:08:45.

Saugatuck High School senior and track statechampion Sean Kelly, 17, claimed the men’s 5K in16:57, besting several teammates.

Renea Walkotten, 38, of Holland won thewomen’s 5K in 20:02, topping SHS runner LaurenJenkins, 16, runner-up in 20:59.

Masters titlists were Jerry Schippa, 47, ofWyoming (19:32) and Carol Springer, 47, of

Saugatuck (24:18).

The new Saugatuck-Douglas Chapter of RotaryInternational, new race sponsor, also gave gift certifi-cates to oldest 5K finisher David Marckini, 77, ofHolland and youngest 15K finisher Angel Mendoza,8, of Fennville, who couldn’t stay to be honored forcompleting 9.3 tough miles because she played after-wards in a soccer game.

Rotary also awarded certificates to the six menwho most resembled Mt. Baldhead, several of whomgave credit for speed to their aerodynamic heads.

Women and men were invited to ready razorsfor next year’s race.

“We are grateful to our sponsors and volunteers,said Jackie Jacobson-Beland, co-race director withAaron Sheridan.

“We couldn?t have done this without help fromall our community,” she said.

For complete results, visit www.mtbaldhead-challenge.com.

- MR -

Mt. Baldhead Challenge, Saugatuck/Douglas

Beautiful, Brutal Mt. BaldheadCourse Proves Test

By Scott Sullivan

Runner-up Angela Bauer climbs the Mt.Baldhead steps.

Angel Mendoza, age 8, finished the 15Kand then played in a soccer game.

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Doug Goodhue, 70, of Milford holds na-tional age-group records, with still morepending. But there’s more to his running

than eye-popping times and titles.

Over the years, Goodhue has directed or helpedorganize the National Masters Championship 10Kat the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run, the Kensington Chal-lenge, the Ann Arbor Track Club Senior CrossCountry Team that recently won the USATF GrandPrix title and other efforts.

Since 2008 he has also coached and taught run-ning classes. “I retired from the wholesale cabinetbusiness that January,” Goodhue remembered.“That spring, Kathleen (Gina) of the Running Fitstores, which were looking to expand their runningclasses from Ann Arbor, invited me to a coaches’ ori-entation meeting.

“I met Suzi Stock there and we decided to com-bine our coaching skills and the Running Fit 501programs (for runners preparing to run a half or fullmarathon) for the Novi and Northville stores.

“The motivation to coach came easily,” Good-hue continued. “With the confidence I had gainedfrom my personal successes and passion I have forthe sport, it only made sense for me to try to helpothers.”

Goodhue and Stock completed their fourth yearof winter/spring sessions in June and began their fifthyear of summer/fall courses. The winter/spring courseregularly attracts about 60 runners, while thesummer/fall sessions average 100 students.

Goodhue was invited in 2009 to coach a “Run-ning 101 & 102: From Couch Potato to 5K” coursefor the Huron Valley Recreation and CommunityEducation program. Its students are generally begin-ners looking to complete their first 5Ks and 10Ks.Goodhue started the first class that September andsince then has taught four seven-week sessions eachyear to 15 to 18 students per class.

He is quick to share the credit with Stock as“co-head coach” in the 501 class, and his wife,Cindy, also an accomplished runner, who helps withboth classes. “Suzi, Cindy and I all run with our stu-dents,” said Goodhue. He also cited the help of 501assistant coach Lee Mamola.

Training schedules for the 101 students maxout at three to six miles a run. Coaches meet withthem Mondays for 60 to 90 minutes on either theMilford High School indoor or outdoor track.Goodhue prepares a work manual for each runnerthat includes a training schedule, information sheetson getting started, goal-setting, shoes and gear, and arace-day checklist.

“The 501 program is much more structured,given its loftier goals,” he said. “Seventy-five percentof the runners are repeats. We help them pick and

design plans that are achievable for their future long-distance destinations.”

Goodhue and Stock have created a social mediateam page site, posting updated calendar dates, edu-cational information, training schedules, race resultsand more.

“The 501ers want to either finish their first halfor full marathon or improve from their last races,”Goodhue said. “To join the program, we ask eachnew runner be able to run at least three miles with-out stopping and be running at least 15 to 20 milesper week. Our half marathon schedules usually maxout at 40 miles per week and the marathon sched-ules at 52 miles per week.

“All runners are asked to own a runner’s watch,not necessarily a GPS, to help them learn and un-derstand pacing,” he continued. “I have access to alarge digital clock that we use for many of our trackworkouts.”

This class meets twice weekly – for speed work,hill repeats and education Wednesdays at the Novior Northville Running Fit stores, and for long runsSaturdays at Kensington Metropark.

Goodhue handles allthe educational topics forthe 101/102 course. The501 class has employedguest speakers includingpersonal trainer KirkVickers, Running FitNorthville store managerRachel Ingle, Running Fitchief operating officerSteve Angerman and mas-sage therapist/ trainer Jef-frey Kong.

“One of my biggestchallenge is to hang ontoand inspire new runnersto stay with the beginnerclass,” Goodhue noted.The graduation rate inthe 101/102 program is70 percent as comparedto 90 percent for the 501program. “The 10 percentwe lose with the 501ers isusually because of in-juries,” Goodhue said. “Ifit’s a long-term setback, we usually comp them into thenext session.”

Both classes are about more than training. Funis planned as well. “We all work on special projectsand events for the group, such as an ‘after-glow’ end-of-the-session party, a Tiger baseball game bus trip,Crim teams and more,” said Goodhue.

Some students like to use Goodhue’s past times

as benchmarks to seehow they measure up.“When I’m runningwith some of myyounger, faster runners, Ilike to remind them tocontinue to work hardbecause, ‘You don’t wantto have to go home andtell your kids you gotbeat at your next race byyour 70-year-old coach!’That usually gets lots oflaughs, but I also noticethe pace picks up afterthat.”

Goodhue enjoys thisnew chapter of his run-ning life. “The smiles, thehugs, the new friendships,the camaraderie, the per-sonal records and Bostonqualifiers are just part ofthe joy of coaching,” hesaid.

He also relishes im-

parting the wisdom he’s accumulated over the years,among them favorite sayings such as, “Regular phys-ical activity might be the cheapest and most effectivepreventative medicine yet discovered” and “Whenyou find that you’re disappointed with your latestsuccess, you probably can look to the fact that youhave lost your passion to prepare.”

Spoken like, well, a national champion andrecord-holder turned teacher. - MR -

Doug Goodhue

Doug Goodhue: Age Group Ace Shares TipsBy Ron Marinucci

Suzi Stock (l) and Doug Goodhue volunteer at the MilfordLabor Day races.

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Nov. / Dec.2012

November / December 2012 Vol. 34, No. 5

Cover: Kids Melon Roll, Howell, Melon Run, August 17, 2012. Photo by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios

Melon Run, Howell, Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -p. 3

Bruckelaufe, Frankenmuth, Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -p. 4

Dances with Dirt, Hell / Pinckney, Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -p. 5

Betsie Valley Run, Thompsonville, Photos by Dave Parham - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -p. 6

Spartan Invitational, East Lansing, Photos by Pete Draugalis / draugalisphotography.com - - - - - - - - - -p. 8

Dig ‘em Dash, Battle Creek, Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -p. 11

Kensington Challenge, Milford, Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -p. 12

Run for Ribbons, Plymouth, Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -p. 13

Run Woodstock, Pinckney, Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -p. 14

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Photos by Victah Sailer / photorun.net - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -p. 15

Online: Michigan Runner Photo Gallery

Michigan Runner © is published six times yearly for $17.00 per year by GreatLakes Sports Publications, Inc., 4007 Carpenter Rd., #366, Ypsilanti, MI 48197.Third Class Postage paid at Dearborn, MI and additional mailing offices. Post-master: Send Address changes to Michigan Runner,4007 Carpenter Rd., #366,Ypsilanti, MI 48197. All contents of this publication are copyrighted all rightsreserved. Reproduction or use, without written permission, of editorial or graphiccontent in any manner is prohibited. All unsolicited manuscripts, photographs,and illustrations will not be returned unless accompanied by a properly addressedenvelope, bearing sufficient postage; publisher assumes no responsibility for re-turn of unsolicited materials. The views and opinions of the writers are their ownand do not necessarily reflect endorsement and/or views of the Michigan Runner.Address all editorial correspondence, subscriptions, and race information to:Michigan Runner, 4007 Carpenter Rd., #366, Ypsilanti, MI 48197, (734) 507-0241, FAX (734) 434-4765, [email protected], www.glsp.com. Subscription rates:Continental U.S. $17.00 per year: Payable in U.S. funds. Single issue $3.00, backissues $5.00. Change of address: Send your magazine label and your new addressto Michigan Runner, 4007 Carpenter Rd., #366, Ypsilanti, MI 48197.

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masthead1112_third vertical 10/14/12 3:23 PM Page 1

A member of the Bobcats runs the relay at the Dances with Dirt. Photo by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios.

3


Howell Melon Run, Howell, August 17, 2012Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios

Isabell Stempien, age 4, and KristenStempien of Livonia finish the 1 Mile.

Runners start the 10K Run.

The Melon Roll for kids is a tradition atthe Melon Run.

Karen Whitaker (bib no. 339) and Haley Whitaker, age 9 (bibno. 338), of Brighton, begin the 5K Run.

Josh Partridge ofBrighton won the5K in 16:16.

Julia Demko ofBirmingham runs19:09 for the win.

Audrey Belf, age15, is 1st woman,4th overall for the10K in 38:46

Nina Kelly, age 9, wins the 1 Mile Runoverall in 6:00.9.

David Laney winsthe 10K by 3 minutes in 31:48.

Jennifer, Jodi, and Tim Howard of Howell, make the 5K a family affair.

4 Michigan Runner Photo Gallery - November / December 2012

4

Natalie Wellman of Fairhaven won the 5K in 21:17, the sametime as her dad, Ric Wellman, who placed fourth.

Bruckelaufe, Frankenmuth, October 6, 2012

Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios

Marybeth Reader took the half marathon win easily in1:33:45.

David Chomet (bib no. 74) and Paul Aufdemberge (bib no. 16)ran side by side until Aufdemberge edged Chomet by 10 seconds at the finish: 1:14:53 to 1:14:43.

Joe Lasceski of Saginaw won the 5K in 19:03.

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5Michigan Runner Photo Gallery - November / December 2012

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A member of Team Charlie Foxtrot competes in style.

Dances with Dirt, Hell / Pinckney, September 22, 2012

Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios

The Swamp Angels were among almost 400 teams compet-ing in the relay.

A member of the Die Schmutzigen Madchen relay teamwades through a traditional feature of the course. This teamwas first place in the team theme awards.

Stephanie Kapanowski, David Zambo, and Steven Edwardsfinish the 50K in 6 hours and just under 21 minutes.


6

Betsie Valley Run, Thompsonville, October 7, 2012

Photos by Dave Parham

Klaudia O'Malley of McBain, 1st in the 5K, 21:59 and KeeganO’Malley, 5th, 10:57 pose with Kyle Pylkas of Cadillac.

Vivid fall colors greet 5K runners.

Above: A bird’s eye view of the Betsie River; below: KellyMalmborg competes in the 10K; right: a lone runner ap-proaches a long hill.

A 10K runner takes on the hills.

Brian Hochstetler and Jenna Sowash are enjoying the 10K.

9

Auto Owners Spartan Invitational, East Lansing, September 14, 2012

Photo by Pete Draugalis / draugalisphotography.com

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Auto Owners Spartan Invitational, East Lansing, September 14, 2012Photos by Pete Draugalis / draugalisphotography.com

Julia Bos, Grand Rapids Christian, upset Erin Finn for the EliteGirls win, 17:20.

Start of the College Men’s 8K.

Defending Elite Girls Champion, Erin Finn (bib 3005) sees JuliaBos coming on strong.

Start of the College Women’s 6K.

Nathan Burnand of Waterford Mott isthe ELite Boys champion, 15:21.

Eastern Michigan’s Terefe Ejigu re-peated as champion with a 24:28 8K.

Sara Kroll, an MSU student running the6K unattached, won over a deep fieldwith a 21:10.


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Dig ‘em Dash, Battle Creek, September 29, 2012Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios

Caity Hines, Mar-shall, 2nd, 22:05

Volunteer get ready for racers.

Melissa Casarez,Lowell, 1st, 21:32

Joel Vanderkooi, Kalamazoo, 1st, 18:23

Brittany Hayes, Melissa Casarez and Caity Hines celebratetheir podium finishes.

Derrick O’Brien,Jackson, 3rd, 19:02

Brittany Hayes,Battle Creek, 3rd,22:12

Madeline and Deanna Piper of Battle Creek enjoy this 5K.

Derrick O’Brien congratulates LukeBrowne.

Luke Browne, age15, Burlington,2nd, 18:36


12

John Rogucki Memorial Kensington Challenge, Milford, September 15, 2012Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios

15K open & masters winner,Serena Kessler,56:13.

The Kensington Challenge 15K served as the RRCA State Championship. Masters, Grand Masters, and Senior Grand Masterswinners show off their awards with Race Director, Doug Goodhue (left).

15K masters winner Eric Green,54:57.

Running the 15K is fun for Pam and Audrey Fisher of Milford.

David Desposito and Lauren Piontkowski enjoy the 15K.


Run for Ribbons 5K and 1 Mile Pinwheel Parade, Plymouth, September 23, 2012Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios

Nick Allen, 6th, 21:04; Sarah, 1st, 21:04

Hiroshi Takakura & Mike Stankiewicz

Brett Stinar, 1st,17:10

Nathan Koh, age 8Leonard Brito, 3rd, 20:11.

13

Sunny Hayashi & Eriko Nadachi Scott Schafer & Tim Krieg.


14

Run Woodstock, Pinckney, September 7-9, 2012Photos by Carter Sherline / Frog Prince Studios

Jason Andersen, 50 mile

Rick Lehto, 100 Mile

Karen Garasimovich, 50k

Michael Parker, Marathon

Cortland & Roxanne Starrett, 100K

Tom Perduto, 100 Mile


15

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Toronto, October 16, 2012Photos by Victah Sailer / photorun.net

Betona Warga,2:10:35

Matt Loiselle,2:16:23

Mary Davies,2:28:56

Lanni Marchant,DNF

Ed Whitlock,3:30:28 - AG WR

Runners start in damp conditions in Toronto.

Race Director,Alan Brookes

16

Groundhog DayGrand Rapids Gus vs. Punxsutawney Phil

We've all heard of Punxsutawney Phil, the littlefurry guy in Pennsylvania who comes out, sees hisshadow, and declares six more weeks of winter.

Then there’s Augustus T. Groundhog, better knowas Grand Rapids Gus. He’s Phil’s much more interesting cousin. Unlike Phil, who it seems canonly see shadows, Gus has much better eye sightand can look at a calendar on February 2 and knowthat spring doesn’t start for six weeks. Gus suggested that instead of lamenting over six moreweeks of winter, we should EMBRACE the cold andsnow and do something fun. And so, the GroundhogDay Marathon was born.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

(616) [email protected]://www.groundhogmarathon.com

groundhod marathon 2012_Full page bleed 10/17/12 5:57 PM Page 1

HOLLAND (9/22/12) — I thought Black Flag wasa bug spray, not something you do to end races.

Storms sweeping in from Lake Michigan not onlytaught me otherwise, they forced Park 2 Park HalfMarathon organizers to end the eighth annual road racewhile most of its record field was still on the course.

Lightning flashes were visible even as runawaymen’s winner Kyle Mena, 27, of Portage blazedthrough Holland State Park near the eight-milemark, framed by black skies, whitecaps and scream-ing seagulls.

He and other top finishers outran the stormfrom there, but prospects of 1,000-plus slower en-trants being lit up while personal-injury lawyers cir-cled them proved convincing for Sherry Santos.

“We can’t risk runners’ safety,” said the race di-rector. “Weather was beautiful when we started andthe storm was supposed to go south. Most did.There were waterspouts off South Haven (some 20miles south of Holland). But we got enough of itthat we just couldn’t take the chance.”

Mena, a recent standout at Eastern MichiganUniversity, gapped the field early en route to a1:08:54 finish. Fully-bearded Tim Faith, 23, of Hol-land also ran solo to finish second in 1:12:45. Thirdwas Christopher Gregory, 32, of Wyoming in1:16:08.

New Western Michigan University graduateAmber Brunmeier went out cautiously in her firstrace at the 13.1-mile distance, then ramped up herpace to capture the women’s title in 1:23:15.

She in fact was the only woman, and one of just15 runners, to finish officially, as Santos black-flagged the race one hour, 25 minutes after starting.“That’s when the storm reached land at the park,”the director said.

“We removed the computer timing mats butleft the big digital clock running at the finish,” shecontinued. “Hundreds of runners, especially thosewho’d completed 10-plus miles and were now wellinland away from the storm, still finished and couldstill see their times there.

“We sent out eight police cars to advise otherrunners to take shelter. Early finishers, volunteersand more people driving cars and vans picked uprunners still on the course.

“We sent runners entrants afterwards explain-ing why we did what we did and thanking themfor their responses and understanding,” Santoscontinued. “After I meet with my board, we mayoffer discount coupons towards next year’s racefees.

“No director wants to call off a race. But whatcould I do?” she said.

Brett May, 23, of Belmont (15:55) edgedNathan Fujiuka, 28, of Grand Rapids (16:07) inthe 5K. Third overall was masters champ TonyKetchmark, 50, of Davison (18:23), followedclosely by women’s champ Alicia Sherwood, 25, ofZeeland (18:26). Gayle Kuipers, 47, of Hollandwas the top female master in 21:10.

Park 2 Park saw 1,795 entrants, a 50-percent

jump from last year’s totals. Even those disappointedto not get “official” half-marathon times praised itspicturesque, lake-hugging courses, careful organiza-tion and festive flavor.

“We are about people first,” said Santos, “evenif safety means we black-flag them.”

As for lawyers, if Black Flag doesn’t work,maybe Raid will do. - MR -


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Park 2 Park Half Marathon, Holland

Storm Parks Park 2 Park’s Record FieldBy Scott Sullivan

Yellow caution tape waves as the Lake Michigan storm moves in.

Half marathon winner Kyle Mena takesa sip on the beach, while a dog walkersets out against the blackening sky.

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ROCHESTER HILLS (9/30/12) — Two-timeBrooksie Way half marathon runner-up Leah Foleybroke through the door to victory this year.

Foley, 35, of Clarkston shook off back-to-backyears as bridesmaid to run away with the women’stitle, timing 1:22:20.

“I didn’t run as even a pace as I wanted to, but IPR’d,” she said. “And Brooksie isn’t exactly a PRcourse.”

The half marathon, in its fifth year, offeredplenty of challenge, especially after the seven-milemark on Tienken Road.

“You always know the Tienken Hills are there,”said Foley. “But you never know just how hardthey’re going to be.”

Tammy Nowik, 38, of Clarkston, who won theKensington Challenge 5K Sept. 15, and MelissaMantel, 21, of Chelsea, who claimed this year’sLabor Day 30K, battled for second place.

“I think she (Mantel) was close the wholerace,” Nowik said. “I heard people cheering forher. So I kicked it in as hard as I could.”

Nowik finished in 1:25:20 to Mantel’s 1:25:31.

“My goal was to break 1:30,” said Nowik, whowas doing her first half marathon and trains with Foley.“It’s nice having someone to run with who is betterthan you. She constantly pushes you,” Nowik said.

Loren Miller, 43, of Macomb won the womenmasters title in 1:29:15.

Shane Logan, 34, of Clarkston dominated themen’s half marathon, leading from the start and win-ning for the second year in a row.

He received a brief challenge from another run-ner in the sixth mile, which he fought off. “I justhad to put my head down and go,” he said.

Logan finished in 1:13:15. Next came RyanBeck, 20, of Royal Oak (1:14:51) and AlexanderWest, 19, of Perry (1:15:09). Rich Power, 48,of Rochester topped the masters in 1:17:31.

One of the course’s toughest uphills comes atthe very end. “You’re cruising along,” said Logan,“and you hit it. It’s like going backward.”

The event keeps moving forward attendance-wise. A record 5,800-plus runners and walkersturned out for the half marathon, 5K and one mile.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patter-son, who started the Brooksie race in memory of hisson (who died in 2007) to promote Oakland

County and encourage people to become morephysically active, couldn’t make it this year as hecontinues to recover from an automobile accident.

However, Greg Meyer, 57, of Belmont, the lastAmerican male to win the Boston Marathon (run-ning 2:09:00 in 1983), was among those who ranthe 5K.

“Huge crowd!” Meyer said. “Just a wonderfulturnout. This is one of the up-and-coming races.After five years, it’s getting bigger and bigger. It’s abeautiful thing.”

Meyer has participated in the Brooksie Wayevery year.

“I think what’s special about this race is that itgives back,” he said. “All the money they raisegoes back into the community to foster fitness,health and wellness for all populations.”

Healthplus was Brooksie’s presenting sponsor.

Winning the 5K were Eli Nasr, 18, of OaklandTownship (17:53) and Kaitlin Catania, 16, of Clark-ston (21:43). Eric Staub, 30, of Commerce finishedmen’s runner-up in 17:59, while Cailin Murphy, 15, ofRochester Hills took second for the women in 23:26.

Peter Brole, 56, of Washington (19:56) andRenee Kotula, 43, of Ortonville (23:35) were themasters champs.

For complete results, visit http://thebrooksieway.com.

- MR -.

Repeat winner Shane Logan shows off his Brooksie Way trophy.

The Brooksie Way, Rochester Hills

Foley, Logan Fly to Brooksie WinsBy Charles Douglas McEwen

Leah Foley set a PR in winning theBrooksie Way in 1:22:20.


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GROSSE POINTEFARMS (9/15/12) —Though he trains almostexclusively on the water,rowing shells on the De-troit River, Detroit BoatClub Crew memberChristian Nemeh, 15,found success on land atthe 33rd annual GrossePointe Run. The event isorganized by the GrossePointe Sunrise RotaryClub and co-sponsored byThe Grosse Pointe News.

Nemeh, runningjust his second roadrace, won the 5K. “I’vejust been rowing fortraining,” he said. “It’sgreat for legs, arms, en-durance ... everything.”

Nemeh ran muchof the race with his boatclub teammate MichaelLanduyt, also 15 and astudent at Grosse PointeSouth High School.Nemeh surged ahead near the end to triumph in in19:35. Landuyt took second in 19:46, followed byJohn Cook, 29, of St. Clair Shores in 19:57.

The run starts and finishes at the Grosse PointeFarms Municipal Pier and travels up and downLakeshore Drive along Lake St. Clair. Nemeh lovedit.

“There was a little breeze that felt great halfwaythrough. The weather was great,” he said.

Joining Nemeh as a first-time road race winnerwas Dianna Vanderpool, 29, of Grosse Pointe,women’s 5K champion in 21:30.

She had to contend with two other women dur-ing much of the race. “I took the lead on the lastturn (with a few hundred meters to go). There wassome good competition out there,” Vanderpool said.

Carrie Bachman, 26, of Grosse Pointe finishedsecond in 21:52, followed by Hannah Lemanski, 12,also of Grosse Pointe, in 22:07.

Paul Zeichman, 31, of Birmingham won the10K, also his first race victory. “I came in third herelast year,” he said. “I’m excited to win today.”

Zeichman finished in 39:40, followed by EricBachman, 26, of Grosse Pointe (40:57) and JohnKamm, 51, also of Grosse Pointe (42:37).

Sweeping the women’s 10K were Grosse Pointeresidents Amanda Vintevoghel, 25, first in 44:38,Karen French, 44, in 46:41, and Ashley Voeks, 24,third in 46:46.

Vintevoghel, who also won last year, had toavert a minor calamityat the start of the race.

“My hair-tiebroke and I didn’thave an extra one,”said the champ, whohas shoulder-lengthblonde hair. “Twowomen went out oftheir way to find meanother one. I thankthem.”

Tie and title in-tact, Vintevoghelmade the race lookeasy. “She’s good,” saidrunner-up French.“She’s steady andstrong.”

Rick and ShellyHuber of Montrosewon the 5K walk forthe third straight year.Rick, 56, timed 29:11,

while Shelly, 52, won in33:01.

The event had 490 en-trants.

“Everything went offwithout a hitch,” saidWayne Manchester ofthe Rotary club. “It takesa lot of people to do thisrace. We’re a small clubwith 28 people and arefortunate to have friendsand volunteers who helpus marshall the courseand keep it safe. It’s a bigundertaking.”

The event raises fundsfor the club foundation.“We give most of themoney to need-basedscholarships for graduat-ing seniors from localhigh schools,” Manches-ter said. “We also sup-port an after-schoolpre-teen girls programon the near east side (of

Detroit). It gives them a safe place to meet afterschool and do their homework.”

For complete results, go tohttp://raceservices.com. - MR -


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Grosse Pointe Run, Grosse Pointe Farms

Nemeh Rocks Boat, Rolls to Grosse Pointe WinBy Charles Douglas McEwen

Runners enjoy post-race camaraderie at the Grosse Pointe Run.

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AUBURN HILLS (10/7/12) — Auburn Hills new-lyweds ran away with the second annual GreatProstate Cancer Challenge-Detroit at Oakland Uni-versity.

Tim and Janet Mundell, both 25, were men’sand women’s winners in the 5K presented by Zero-The End of Prostate Cancer, Comprehensive Urol-ogy, Oakland University William Baumont Schoolof Medicine, and the Radiology and Radiation On-cology Student Advocacy Group.

Tim Mundell is a medical student at OUWB.

“A lot of Tim’s classmates ran in it too,” saidJanet. “It’s a good place to run for a good cause andto promote healthy lifestyles in general.”

Janet dominated the women’s field, opening abig lead in the first mile. “My plan was to run aneven pace and try to finish strong,” she said.

Tim received a challenge from David Hanley,30, of West Bloomfield, who stayed on his heels formost of the race.

“With a little less than half a mile to go, he(Mundell) made a break on a little uphill,” saidHanley. “He gave it a good push and got a cushion.I was feeling pretty good, but he had more oomphin his stride.”

Tim Mundell finished in 16:58, with Hanleysecond in 17:11, a PR for him. Edward Kerr III, 35,of Clinton Township took third in 17:40.

Janet Mundell crossed right behind Kerr in17:48. Sara Ropp, 24, of Clarkston took second forthe women in 19:06 and Nikol Strother, 32, of LosAlamos, N.M., claimed third in 19:52.

Nationwide, a man dies from prostate cancerevery 18 minutes, according to the race entry form.“We’re trying to spread the word that this is a diseasewe can conquer someday,” said ComprehensiveUrology CEO and President Dr. Donald Moylan.“We can find a cure. What we need is more aware-ness and research.”

Race proceeds went to Zero-The End ofProstate Cancer, a research fund like the Susan G.Komen fund for breast cancer. The Detroit eventwas part of a 34-race series nationwide that draws15,000 people and raises more than $2 million everyyear.

For more about the Detroit challenge, visitwww.greatprostatecancerchallenge.com/races/de-troit. For more about Zero-The End Of ProstateCancer, go to www.zerocancer.org. Complete raceresults can be found at http://runmichigan.com.

- MR -

Great Prostate Cancer Challenge - Detroit, Rochester

Newlyweds Sweep DetroitProstate Cancer Challenge


Janet Mundell won the 5K in 17:48. Winner Tim Mundell takes an earlylead.

HELL (8/11/12) – Run Thru Hell, infamous for itshills, heat, humidity and horseflies, was cool, wet,cloudy and bug-less this year.

“I loved it,” said Hell veteran Pete Buccos afterthe 10- and 4.8-mile races. “I like the four H’s, butthe mud was nice too.”

Temperatures aside, runners looking for a chal-lenge were not denied. First-time hellion HannahBrattan of Bowling Green, Ohio, deemed the course“deadly. Those hills are sneaky.

“It kicked my butt, but I will run it again,” shesaid.

Matt Folk, 10-mile winner in 53:02, agreed thehills were tough. “This was a good, hard run to getme prepped for the Columbus Marathon,” he said.“With my high-mileage training, running on dirtroads feels good, softer.”

“I love this race,” said Erin O’Mara, women’s 10-mile champion in 1:04:19. “You get a lot of benefitrunning hard here, even if you’re not in peak shape.”

“I’ve run this race for years, and every year it’s ashilly as the year before,” sighed senior grand masterwomen’s champion Ellen Nitz. “This is a race aboutrunning and having fun. I hope it never changes.”

Race director Harrison Hensley sang along withthose serenading his 80th birthday. “Our volunteersare the best in the world,” he said.

For complete results and more information,visit http://gaultracemanagement.com. - MR -

Run Thru Hell, Hell

Kinder, GentlerTemperatures at Run Thru Hell

By Tracey Cohen

Matthew Folk

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MILFORD (9/1/12) — Matthew Folk again domi-nated the Road Runners Club of America’s regional30K championship, held during the 12th annualLabor Day Run/Walk.

Folk, 35, of Perrysburg, Ohio, won in 1:43:11,91 seconds faster than his championship time lastyear. “It wasn’t as hot and humid this year,” he said.

Folk ran much of the 30K with Jon Gries, 26,of Haslett, the event’s 2010 winner.

“It helped a lot having him there,” Gries said.“It’s a lot better than doing it by yourself.”

The two pushed each other through some ofthe toughest hills on this challenging 18.6-milecourse.

“We ran together through 13 miles, then I putthe hammer down,” Folk said.

Ian Forsyth, 40, of Ann Arbor passed Gries andfinished second in 1:43:41. Gries took third in1:45:47.

Esteban Vanegas, 42, of Alma won the men’smasters crown in 1:57:49. Timothy Mooney, 52, of

Toledo, Ohio, paced the grand masters in 2:14:47,while Bruce Seguin, 61, of Harrison Township ledthe senior masters in 2:15:53.

Melissa Mantel, 21, of Chelsea (2:07:59) beatdefending champ Lisa Veneziano, 47, of Fenton(2:15:00) for the overall women’s title. Sarah Plax-ton, 44, of Highland nabbed third in 2:15:49.

Mantel, racing this distance for the first time,did not wear a watch or worry too much about hertime. She focused on battling the dirt roads and hillsinstead.

“Some of those hills get you pretty good, butyou gotta get up them,” the winner said.

Amy Gluck, 40, of Westland paced the women’smasters in 2:19:11. Ann Kurtis, 50, of Livonia ledthe grand masters in 2:53:34, while Maggy Zidar,62, of Pontiac snagged the senior masters title in3:01:27.

Chris Elsey, 26, of Milford and AngelaMatthews, 28, of Westland were the 10K winners.

Elsey, an assistant football and track coach atBrighton High School, timed 34:42. “I liked thehills,” he said of the course. “They test your mentaltoughness.”

Kirk Walrath, 42, of Fenton (34:55) edged An-drew Porinsky, 27, of Dexter (34:56) in a battle forsecond place.

Matthews ran away from the women’s field witha 37:57 clocking. Defending champ DenisaCostescu, 36, of Commerce took second in 40:02,while Gries’s wife Kelly Gries, 25, of Haslett nabbedthird in 41:34.

Daniel Yankus, 31, of Commerce and RebeccaCaldwell, 40, of Milford, triumphed in the 30Kbike. Riding fat-tired bikes, Yankus averaged 22.4mph and timed 49:46, while Caldwell averaged 18.7mph and finished in 59:47.

For those who yearned to go farther than 30K,race director Doug Klingensmith introduced a30/30 hallenge where competitors bike 30K, thenrun another 30K, giving them 37.2 miles of racing.

Joel Kozlowski, 41, of Macomb Township andDanielle Lamb, 36, of Northville led the way in the30/30, timing 3:22:13 and 3:40:35 respectively.

For complete results, go tohttp://laborday30k.com.

- MR -

Labor Day 30K & 10K, Milford

Folk, Mantel Outwork Labor Day Foes


Melissa Mantel won her first 30K.

SOMERSET CENTER (8/18/12) — Spectacularblue skies and calm, cool temperatures reigned forthe seventh annual Somerset Stampede HalfMarathon and 5K Run/Walk.

“Usually the weather is warmer,” said DeniseDashner, who “keeps coming back” to run the halfmarathon. “We were lucky this year that it stayed cool.

“This is a nice small-town-but-tough race,” shecontinued. “The hills are challenging, but there isgood support on the course.”

Men’s and women’s half marathon championsKevin Rook and Victoria Voronko commanded theirrespective fields in 1:18:03 and 1:22:15.

“I liked everything about the race except for thelast mile. It was really sandy,” said Rook after run-ning Somerset for the first time.

Voronko, an Eastern Michigan University soph-omore from Russia, said she “liked the course; toughhills” and noted the weather was “just like home.”

Trail runner Victor Sellinger called the 5Kcourse “beautiful and scenic. I enjoyed all the uphillsand downs,” he said.

Wally Hayes led the 5K field in 20:31, withwomen’s champ Christine Jarchow fast on his heelsin 20:36.

For complete results, visit http://somerset-run.com.

- MR -

Somerset Stampede

Rook, VoronkoDominate Somer-set Stampede

By Tracey Cohen

Ron Carpenter, first in the men’s 60-66age group, works his way throughtrails.

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FARMINGTON (8/18/12) — Runnerscouldn’t have ordered a better Michiganmorning for racing than at Run for the Hills.With weather more typical of September,temperatures were in the low 60s, humiditywas negligible and skies were bright blue.

“Our goal is to be your favorite race ofthe year,” race director Ed Anderson said lastyear. Run for the Hills is headed in the rightdirection. After 400, then 520 runners its firsttwo years, it had more 700 this bright day.

There were four races — 10K, 5K and1K runs, plus a 5K walk — not to mention ateam competition and costume contest. Thetwo longer races split 525 runners aboutevenly.

Courses, which started and ended at Shi-awassee Park, reflected changes made after thefirst year, turning a brutal uphill start into afast downhill near the finish.

The 5K and 10K shared first mile be-fore splitting off. Bob Drapal, thrilled to bethird in his age group coming back from acalf injury, found the 5K course “prettyhilly, especially the first two miles.” JimCarlton, who won his 10K age group, tooka different view. “It’s not too hilly. I ex-pected more,” he said.

Another 10K age group placer, JerryMittman, also wasn’t bothered by the hills.But he had just returned from Colorado,where he “cross-trained” with his son, scaling“five peaks of 14,000 feet or more.”

Women’s 10K winner Dorcus Chesangcalled the course “very tough and hilly.” TheKenyan, who now lives in Toledo, Ohio,called her 35:32 — a course record by fiveminutes — “a training race.” “No womenwere close,” said Anderson. Despite the“tough” course, Chesang walked off happywith a $250 check.

Another Kenyan living in Toledo,Richard Kessio, won the men’s 10K in athree-minute course record 30:18, close to his30:15 personal record and good for another$250 check. Asked why he was racing so farfrom home — Toledo or Kenya — Kessiosmiled and said, “I found it (the race) on theInternet.” Runner-up Mike Anderson ran31:04, also smashing the former course recordby more than two minutes.

Masters 10K winner and women’s run-

ner-up Laurel Park also took home cash in herfirst Run for the Hills. “I just decided (to run)this morning,” she said. “I had a stressfulweek at work, needed to have fun and sawthis beautiful weather. I loved the course. Itwas beautiful.

“I didn’t go out to race it,” Park contin-ued. “I’ve had hip trouble, but biomechani-cally I’m the best I’ve been in 10 or 12 years.It was a nice workout.” The check? “That’s acherry on top,” she laughed.

Angela Matthews won her third straightwomen’s 5K title in 17:25. Billy Van Vianen,stepping down this year from the 10K, wasthe 5K men’s champ in 16:46. “I like thisrace. The music and food are the best,” hesaid.

Van Vianen, in his sixth year of activeduty with the U.S. Marine Corps, planned toleave in October for officer training school inQuantico, Va. He brought two other OCS re-cruits to race with him, plus his father, Bill, towatch.

It was the winner’s first 5K since June 10,when he suffered a heart attack while runningat Dodge Park in Sterling Heights. “I droppedright on the trail,” he said. “Another runnerfound me and called 911.” The Good Samari-tan was talked through performing CPR onthe phone until EMS workers arrived.

Van Vianen was running with no identi-fication on him. “I was a John Doe for awhile,” he said. “I was in the hospital for aweek.”

His win here marked quite a comeback.His one disappointment? “No cinnamonbagels,” Van Vianen said.

The age-graded 10K winner was DonnaOlson, whose 45:55 measured 88.8 percentversus the world record for the distance.

The run’s party atmosphere drew manyfamilies. Music inspired some to dance, whileothers dressed as Vikings and engaged in aNerf sword fight. The post-race feast includedfruit provided by Whole Foods, bagels fromPanera Bread and Jet’s Pizza.

Full race results and photographs can befound athttp://farmingtonrunforthehills.com.

- MR -

Run for the Hills, Farmington

Run for Hills is Time of Life

By Ron Marinucci

WEST BLOOMFIELD(8/8/12) — The Red CarpetRun is a frivolous 5K, butRunning Fit certainly knowshow to put the “fun” into“fun run.” Robin McMahon,West Bloomfield RF storemanager, says the race dayvibe is “all glamour and glitz.A lot of out-of-towners dothis race. Definitely do itdressed up or you’ll feel leftout.”

Shosh Levine ran in an oldbridesmaid dress, a popularfashion choice among partici-pants. Her favorite part of therace was “definitely the outfits; Ilike the guys wearing girls’prom dresses, the tuxedo shirtswith running shorts and lots of‘80s dresses out here.”

Lori Pender pushed herson Cooper, 4, who has beenracing in strollers since he wasfour months old. (They haveeven run the Crim together.)“Cooper kept asking, ‘Whendo I get to run?’ and he loveshaving his own bib,” Pendersaid. “So last fall he ran a raceby himself — and won his agegroup!”

Sandy Bailey also had aracing companion: her dogJake. “He’s my running part-ner,” she said. “I try to run asmuch as I can and Jake lovesit.”

The race is not just for funthough. This year’s 5K served asa commencement exercise forthe store’s Running 101 class.“We pick a 5K for each class torun at the end as their gradua-tion race,” said employee JeanYamamoto. “Then they’re realrunners because they finished arace.”

The Red Carpet Run of-fers a fast course through resi-dential neighborhoods,starting and ending at thestore. Now in its fourth year,it has grown to nearly 400

finishers. Erin O’Mara of Yp-silanti finished first overall in17:44, six seconds faster thanRich Oltesvig of Wixom, thetop male runner.

“It was really fun,” saidO’Mara. “Running Fit does agreat job with their events, soI wasn’t surprised to find sucha well-marked course. This isthe first time I’ve done it. Itwas kind of a last-minute de-cision, so next year I’m goingto come back and dress up alittle more.”

Anthony Targan is a regularcontributor to Michigan Run-ner magazine - MR -.

Red Carpet Run, W. Bloomfield

Rolling Out the Red Carpet: Glamour, Glitz and Kitsch

By Anthony Targan

Shosh Levine ran in anold bridesmaid dress.

Cooper Pender, age 4,is an experiencedstroller racer.

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HUNTINGTON WOODS (9/16/12) — RunWild for the Detroit Zoo saw more than 4,000 run-ners and walkers stampede to and through 5K and10K runs and a fun walk.

With more 3,000 participants in the runs plusanother 1,000 in the walk, the event easily eclipsedthe previous record of 2,848 set in 2009.

Former University of Detroit-Mercy teammatesErik Westbrook, 22, and Ryan Ayala, 23, of Ferndaleknow these streets well and raced together throughmost of the 5K.

“Our goal was to push each other,” said West-brook, who scampered away from Ayala with abouthalf a mile to go.

“He broke away and I slowed down,” Ayala said.Westbrook won in 16:08. Ayala took second in

16:21.“It’s a good race” Ayala said. “The best part is

you get to go to the zoo afterward.”

Steven Harris, 46, of Hazel Park (18:20) edgedJeff Martin, 54, of Bloomfield Hills (18:25) for themasters title.

Leah Foley, 35, of Clarkston won the women’s5K in 18:11, followed by Kirstin Mooney, 23, ofFerndale in 19:51.

“It’s not bad,” Foley said of her time. “But I’vedone better.”

Jennifer Tava, 40, of Clinton Township (22:12)and Donna Olson, 62, of Southgate (23:21) pacedthe masters women.

Winning the 10K were David Laney, 24, ofRochester Hills and Stephanie Kokoszka, 29, ofBirmingham.

Laney, who runs for Hansons-Brooks DistanceProject, and Kokoszka, who won the 5K here twoyears ago, both led from the start and triumphed byalmost two minutes.

Laney timed 31:58, followed by DavidChomet, 43, of Berkley in 33:56.

“Within the first mile, he (Laney) was prettymuch gone,” Chomet said.

Run Wild providedan excellent opportunityfor a fast time, he con-tinued. “It’s a flat course.The cool weather wasperfect,” Chomet said.

Kokoszka gallopedthrough the 10K in40:18. Brandy Criscenti,35, of Berkley was thesecond woman in 41:53.

“I would have liked tohave gone faster,” saidKokoszka. “But I haven’tbeen doing much sprintwork. My PR is 40:10,so I’m still trying tobreak 40 minutes.”

Mark Morawski, 45, of Birmingham (35:39)and Greg Thomas, 43, of Clio (38:29) led the men’s10K masters. Erin Kelly, 46, of Royal Oak (45:44)and Claudine Kelly-Wegener, 41, of Macomb Town-ship (49:00) topped the over-40 women.

Run Wild for was sponsored by the Detroit Zoo,Ford and Kroger. Race proceeds benefitted the Detroit

Zoological Society and veterinary care for animals.For complete race results, go to www.raceser-

vices.com. For more about the race or zoo, visithttp://detroitzoo.org/runwild.

- MR -

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Event Directors 0311_Third Square 2/6/11 10:39 PM Page 1

Run Wild for the Detroit Zoo, Huntington Woods

4,000+ Run Wild for ZooBy Charles Douglas McEwen

Ryan Ayala (l) and Erik Westbrook

A Detroit Zoo resident entertains runners.

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Thu, 11/1/12 Hansons Group Run - Thursdays Royal Oak (248) 616-9665 hansons-running.com

Thu, 11/1/12 Post a PR Cross Country Race 5KR Brighton (734) 649-2091

Fri, 11/2/12 Bell’s Beer Iceman Cometh Challenge 27MB Kalkaska (231) 922-5926 iceman.com

Fri, 11/2/12 Glow Run - Bringing Light to Haiti 3MR, 1MR/W Woodhaven (734) 775-1836 haitianrestoration.com

Sat, 11/3/12 2.62 Mile Run 2.62 Ann Arbor 734-945-8799 twopointsixtwo.org

Sat, 11/3/12 ‘Dia de los Muertos Cinco K Run 5KR/W Saginaw (989) 399-9925

Sat, 11/3/12 Gillette Nature Association Turkey Trail Run 5KR, 1MFR Muskegon gillettenature.org

Sat, 11/3/12 Livonia Turkey Trot 5KR/W Livonia (734) 466-2411 www.ci.livonia.mi.us

Sat, 11/3/12 Meaningful Moments 5K 5KR/W Lansing (517) 975-9900 runningfoundation.com

Sat, 11/3/12 Michigan HS Cross Country L.P. State Finals 5KR Brooklyn (517) 332-5046 mhsaa.com/sports.aspx

Sat, 11/3/12 Mio Baseball 5K 5KR/W Mio (260) 802-1091 race-mrm.com

Sat, 11/3/12 NCAA Division II Midwest Region XC Championships 8KR, 6KR Somers, WI ncaasports.com

Sat, 11/3/12 O’Connor’s Public House Get Lit Run Rally 3MR Rochester (248) 608-2537 oconnorspublichouse.us

Sat, 11/3/12 Outrun Hunger 5KR/W, kids run Commerce Township (248) 887-3700 playmakers.com

Sat, 11/3/12 Runnin’ for the Law 5K Run/Walk 5KR/W, 1MR/W Sault Ste Marie, MI (906) 322-1425 runninforthelawssm.blogspot.com

Sat, 11/3/12 Scope It Out Detroit 5K Run/Walk 5KR New Boston (989) 430-4683 scopeitout5k.com

Sat, 11/3/12 SCVMP Veterans Day 5K Run/Walk 5KR/W Saginaw (989) 529-7592

Sat, 11/3/12 St. Clair River Turkey Trot 5KR St. Clair (810) 329-7186 elitefeetrunning.com

Sun, 11/4/12 D.O. Monster Dash 5KR/W East Lansing (509) 991-0492 www.com.msu.edu/ss/

Sun, 11/4/12 d’Ear Lake Lansing North 10K Trail Race 10KR, 5KW Haslett (517) 655-9698 www.theear.org

Sun, 11/4/12 Hello, Yeti! 5KR, 1MB Parma (517) 262-8103 run270.blogspot.com

Sun, 11/4/12 Life Time Fitness Indoor Triathlon tri: 10minS/ 30minB/ 20minR Commerce Township (586) 532-1300 indoortri.com

Sun, 11/4/12 Mahperd 5K 10KR/W, 5KR/W, 1MFR Shelby Twp. (517) 488-5663 mimahperd.org

Sun, 11/4/12 Poured Out Fall Back 5K 5KR/W, 1MFW New Baltimore (586) 713-6326 poured-out.org

Sun, 11/4/12 Rochester Area Optimist Club Bloomer Boogie 5MR/W, 5KR/W, 1KFR Rochester Hills (248) 651-6267 bloomerboogie.com

Sun, 11/4/12 Turkey Trot Cross Country Run 6KR X-C Mt Pleasant (989) 772-0323 edzone.net/~mphsstr/

Tue, 11/6/12 Hansons Group Run - Tuesdays Grosse Pointe (248) 693-9900 hansons-running.com

Tue, 11/6/12 Kids Feeding Kids 5K Run / 1 Mile Fun Run 5KR/W, 1MFR Wyoming (616) 534-8827 kfkdr.com

Fri, 11/9/12 NCAA Division I XC Regionals - Great Lakes 10KR, 6KR Madison, WI (419) 530-4925 ncaasports.com

November - December 2012 Event Calendar

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Sat, 11/10/12 ANG Road Hawg Classic 10KR, 5KR/W Battle Creek (269) 969-3441 greatlakeschampionchip.com

Sat, 11/10/12 Central Lake Elementary PTO Turkey Trot 5KR/W, 1MFR Central Lake (231) 675-7007 active.com

Sat, 11/10/12 Churchill Family 5K Fun Run 5KR Livonia (734) 744-2650 chs-cap.com

Sat, 11/10/12 Don Dansereau Memorial Fall Race 5KR/W Bay City (989) 553-6656 race-mrm.com

Sat, 11/10/12 Falcon Fall 5K 5KR Beverly Hills sites.google.com/site/falconfall5k/

Sat, 11/10/12 Fall into Fitness 5K Race 5KR/W, 1MR/W Adrian (517) 265-8544 runningwithes.com

Sat, 11/10/12 Hightail It for Heroes 10KR, 5KR, Wheelchair race Shelby Twp. (248) 475-6411 essmichigan.org

Sat, 11/10/12 Hoffmaster Trail Run 4.3MR Norton Shores (232) 855-1282 goracego.com

Sat, 11/10/12 Michigan Fallen Warrior Memorial 5K 5KR/W Wyoming (616) 249-2724 runwalkjog.com/mfwm/

Sat, 11/10/12 Mid-Land Half / 10K/ 5K 13.1MR, 10KR, 5KR Midland (989) 289-2361 michiganhalfseries.com

Sat, 11/10/12 Muskegon Turkey Trot 5K Trail Run 5KR/W Muskegon (231) 894-9693

Sat, 11/10/12 NCAA Division III XC Regionals - Great Lakes 8KR, 6KR Alexandria, IN (440) 775-8525 ncaasports.com

Sat, 11/10/12 NJCAA D1 XC National Championship 8KR, 5KR Ina, IL (864) 587-4237 gothunderbirds.com

Sat, 11/10/12 Ohio/Michigan 5K 5KR Walbridge, OH (419) 699-3364 toledoroadrunners.org

Sat, 11/10/12 Original Ann Arbor Turkey Trot 10KR/W, 5KR/W, 1MFR Dexter (734) 213-1033 a2turkeytrot.com

Sat, 11/10/12 Panther Fall Classic 5KR Comstock Park (616) 785-7880 www.cpef.us/race.html

Sat, 11/10/12 Paradise Bound 5K 5KR/W Allendale (616) 340-2451 lifestreamweb.org

Sat, 11/10/12 Pigeon River Elk Stampede 5MR, 1MFR Wolverine (231) 525-8220 greenwoodfoundation.org

Sat, 11/10/12 Ruinning With the Waves 5K 5KR/W Owosso (810) 240-9891

Sat, 11/10/12 Turkey Trail Trot 5K Run/Walk 5KR/W Middleville (269) 795-5535 tkschools.org

Sat, 11/10/12 Turkey Trot 5KR, 2KW Oxford (248) 628-1720 www.oxparkrec.org

Sat, 11/10/12 Turkey Trot 5K Run / Walk 5KR/W, kids fun run Sault Ste Marie, MI (906) 322-6314 lssulakers.com/sports/c-xc/

Sat, 11/10/12 USATF Region 5 Junior Olympic XC Championships 5KR, 4KR, 3KR Northville (313) 623-3029 michigan.usatf.org/

Sat, 11/10/12 Walt Disney World Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend, 13.1MR Lake Buena Vista, FL disneywinedinerun.com

Sat, 11/10/12 Woldumar Nature Center Run-a-Munk 13.1MR, 10KR/W, 5KR/W Lansing (517) 927-8955 woldumar.org

Sat, 11/10/12 YMCA 5K Turkey Trot Trail Run/Walk 5KR Lowell (616) 897-8445 grymca.org

Sun, 11/11/12 Highland Rugged Man 5MR, 2MW Highland (248) 320-9102 www.stayintheshade.org

Sun, 11/11/12 Roseville Big Bird Run 10KR, 1MR/W, 4KR Roseville (586) 445-5480 roseville-mi.govSun, 11/11/12 The Burg Trail Run 10KR, 5KR/W Laingsburg (517) 285-6487 www.leaf4Kids.com

Tue, 11/13/12 Wayne County Lightfest 8K Fun Run/Walk 8KR/W Westland (734) 261-1990 waynecountyparks.org

Fri, 11/16/12 Silver Bells in the City Fun Run 2.5MR Lansing (517) 487-3322 runwalkjog.com/silverbells/

Fri, 11/16/12 Yule Run, I’ll Walk 5K 5KR/W Grand Rapids (616) 233-3563 yulerun5k.com

Sat, 11/17/12 Blitzen the Dotte 5KR/W Wyandotte (734) 284-5560 wyandotteboatclub.com

Sat, 11/17/12 Grand Finale 5K and Team Invitational 5KR, 5K/8K team Lansing (517) 755-8440 runningfoundation.com-

Sat, 11/17/12 Grand Valley Turkey Trot 5K 5KR Allendale (616) 346-8740 grandvalleyrunningclub.webs.com/

Sat, 11/17/12 Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis 10KR, 5KR, 1/4M kids run Bloomfield Hills (248) 530-5024 arthritis.org

Sat, 11/17/12 NCAA Division I XC Championships 10KR, 6KR Louisville, KY (812) 237-4040 ncaasports.com

Sat, 11/17/12 NCAA Division II XC Championships 10KR, 6KR Joplin, MO (812) 237-4040 ncaasports.com

Sat, 11/17/12 NCAA Division III XC Championships 8KR, 6KR Terre Haute, IN (920) 582-7585 ncaasports.com

Sat, 11/17/12 Pat Kellerman Memorial Turkey Trot 5KR/W Bad Axe (989) 269-8272

Sat, 11/17/12 Red Bull Trail Daze 5KR Grand Rapids (717) 460-9331 RedBullTrailDaze.eventbrite.com

Sat, 11/17/12 Schrauger Memorial 5K 5KR/W, 1MFR Lake Orion (248) 762-6825 lakeorioncrosscountry.com



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Sat, 11/17/12 WMU Turkey Trot 5KR/W Kalamazoo (269) 387-3765 wmich.edu/rec/

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Alittle of this anda little of that:

Putting the ‘I’ inirony.

Timing is every-thing.

I had already de-cided to take the politi-cally incorrect stance in

this column that it was horribly misguided to letOscar Pistorius, the courageous and talented runnerfrom South Africa, compete in the regular Olympics.

Then he made my case for me at the Paralympicsthat followed the Olympics.

Pistorious had won four gold medals in two previ-ous Paralympics before being allowed after years of lob-bying, threats of lawsuits, hearings, studies, reports andwho knows what all, to finally realize his dream of beingable to run in the regular Olympics, competing againstable-bodied sprinters on his carbon fiber blades.

Heartwarming? Sure? Fair? Not on your life. Iwas going to argue that he runs on springs, and there’sno way to prove that the return of energy they provideduring a race is the same return of energy that bones,tendons, muscles and ligaments return to able-bodiedrunners. And how do you factor in the difference inweight he was able to save while motoring around thetrack? How much does the average sprinter’s leg fromthe knee down weigh and how much more is that thanthe weight of his fiber blades?

I was going to argue that there’s a reason the Para-lympics exist: to create a level playing field for disabledathletes competing on the world stage. And that they area spectacle that doesn’t get anywhere near the coveragethey deserve and would get even less coverage, now, be-cause network TV executives and print and Internetmedia could tell themselves that having covered Pistoriusnonstop for two weeks during the regular Olympics, theyhad done their duty to disabled athletes.

Then Pistorius went ahead and made most of myargument for me. But let me digress.

I covered the summer Paralympics in Sydney in2000 and the winter games in Salt Lake City in 2002for a now-defunct website, and they were both suchcompelling, exciting, spectacular events that it hasbeen infuriating to me ever since that mainstreammedia pays the games almost no attention.

The sled hockey finals in 2002, won by the U.S.,was the most exciting game I have ever seen, and I cov-ered Rose Bowls, Stanley Cup hockey, the DetroitTigers, Red Wings and University of Michigan foot-ball in a previous lifetime.

It was also the most exciting tournament I’veseen. The second most exciting tournament? The U.S.men’s wheelchair rugby team’s run through the 2000Paralympics. Those guys are crazy and fun to watch, asanyone who has seen “Murderball,” the 2005 docu-mentary that was nominated for an Academy Award,will attest.

So consider me a fan of the Paralympics.

Anyway, back to Pistorius. All along, he and hissupporters said there was no advantage delivered tohim by his blades, that his speed was a matter of theforce he generated by his thighs, not a matter of thereturn on energy generated by his prosthetics.

Then came the finals of the 200-meter sprint atthe Paralympics in London, before a packed stadium,but not, alas, before any NBC viewers, who were toldrepeatedly during the regular Olympics how wonder-ful and courageous disabled athletes (Pistorius) werebut never got a chance to see more than one of themin action because as far as NBC was concerned, therewas no Paralympics.

Pistorius jumped out to a big lead in the 200 fi-nals and came off the turn ahead by 10 meters. A clos-ing rush by Alan Oliviera of Brazil brought the crowdto its feet. He kept closing and nipped Pistorius in alean at the line.

Immediately after, Pistorius said he’d beencheated out of his gold, that Oliviera ran on “unbe-lievably long” blades that gave him an unfair advan-tage. “You can’t compete on stride length. You sawhow far (Alan) came back, so, you know what, we’renot racing a fair race here … It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

A count of strides taken during the race actuallyshowed Pistorius took fewer strides, meaning he had alonger average stride length. But even if Oliviera had thelonger stride, so what? Don’t you think 6’5” Usain Bolthas a longer stride length than his competitors, too?

What Pistorius was really saying was Oliviera woreblades that gave him an unfair advantage. And if it’s pos-sible for one set of blades to be an unfair advantage, howthen can you argue that your own blades are of no con-ceivable advantage against able-bodied runners?

You can’t have it both ways. As it turned out, allthe blades used by runners in the Paralympics camefrom the same manufacturer, thanks to a contract ithas with the games. And that blades vary in length be-cause runners’ thighs and torsos very in length. Andthat all blades were checked before the finals to makesure they were legal.

Ten years ago, disabled runners couldn’t runtimes competitive with able-bodied runners. Thatthey can now is because of improvements in technol-ogy. The improvements in materials will continue.Having let Pistorius run in the Olympics, now, whatdo we do in 10 years when able-bodied runners can nolonger compete with runners on blades? Have anOlympic 100-meter finals that don’t have any two-legged runners?

I did a sub-three-hour marathon. Or wasit sub-five? I can’t remember.

You just can’t make this stuff up. Vice presiden-tial candidate Paul Ryan, the blue-eyed heart throb ofthe Republican right, tells a conservative radio showhost he’s a marathon runner, and the host asks, ‘Whattime did you run?”

Without missing a beat, Ryan said: “Under three.High twos. I had a two-hour-and-50 something.”


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Oscar Pistorius competes in the 400meter dash, in the London Olympics.

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Good job, dude. Even his political detractors onthe left had to be impressed. I know I was. And that’smy full disclosure. I’m an old lefty, graduated fromMichigan State University a few weeks after the KentState killings in 1970 and was a Vietnam antiwar pro-testor. But I’m not dogmatic, having driven downfrom Traverse City in 2010 to vote for RepublicanRick Snyder for governor in the primaries.

So Ryan goes on the radio, word gets out on his2:50-something and runners everywhere are im-pressed.

Until the good folks at Runner’s World did a lit-tle fact-checking and found out that Ryan’s marathonwas, uh, not quite so fast. His one marathon was atGrandma’s in Duluth, Minn., in 1990, where heclocked four hours, one minute and 25 seconds.

When asked about the discrepancy, a spokesper-son for Ryan told RW: “His comments on the showwere the best of his recollection.”

Later the candidate, himself said: “That wasmore than 20 years ago … If I were to do any round-ing, it would certainly be to four hours, not three.”

Uh, Paul, you didn’t round to three, you snuckthe almighty, magic (when it comes to marathontimes) word “two” in there.

I later heard Ryan on the radio reiterating that itwas a long time ago and, besides, he has a bad backnow, doesn’t run and has gotten out of touch with therunning world and the running mentality.

The blogosphere was filled with angry commentsby runners assuming the mistake had to be a lie. A fewdefended the gaffe as an honest mistake.

I personally don’t know any marathoners whothink there was anything honest about it. I don’t re-member what time I ran in my 10th marathon, or my30th, but I know I ran my first in 3:28, though thenumber of seconds does escape me. And that was 31years ago.

And I remember where and when I ran my onlysub-three-hour marathon, a 2:58:40 at the ScottyHanton Marathon in Port Huron in 1988, when I was40. The sub-three, I don’t have to look up the seconds,I remember those, too.

And I certainly remember how much work, thehill fartleks, the track work, the 18- and 20-milers Idid for years to finally break three hours and howmuch freaking effort it had been and what an accom-plishment it felt like.

And I remember, too, the four-hour-plusmarathons I’ve run and how little training went intothose, by comparison.

Nicholas Thompson, a writer with the NewYorker magazine, posted a blog after the news brokein early September. Armed with a printout of finish-ing times, he called a bunch of folks who ran thatsame Grandma’s Marathon as Ryan and who finishedjust ahead of or behind him.

Every single one remembered his or her time

within a minute or two, most of them remembering itwithin seconds.

Wrote Thompson: “To put the difference in racetimes into perspective: Lance Armstrong ran his firstmarathon in just under three hours. P. Diddy ran hisfirst in 4:14.”

Wrote one blogger in reaction to Thompson’spiece: “I’ve been thinking golf is the sport that couldmake this more understandable to more people. Imag-ine your brother of average ability claimed to haveshot a 61 in a tournament on a tough USGA course.When called on it with the facts, he admits: `Ohyeah, it was 91. I misremembered.’”

At least Ryan did a marathon.

The chances of the New Yorker magazine writingabout a marathon runner from Michigan are remote.Until I got my Aug. 6 issue in the mail, I would havesaid slim and none. Or, none and none.

But there it was, a big honking story on a Michi-gan runner, and not only that, but the story also had akey role for a guy who writes for Michigan Runner,Scott Hubbard. (I don’t want to say Scott is the deanof Michigan running writers, but his first piece was anobit on Pheidippides.)

The story, by Mark Singer, can be found byGoogling “New Yorker article on marathon cheat,”and is worth finding.

To summarize: In 2010, Kip Litton, then a 48-year-old dentist from Clarkston, began attracting na-tional attention for his string of sub-three-hourperformances at races around the U.S., and frequentwins in the masters division.

Other masters first tipped their hats to him, thenbegan to have doubts. One, Kyle Strode, a chemistryprofessor from Montana, began looking into Littonand his supposed runner-up finish in the masters divi-sion at the Missoula Marathon in 2010.

What he found was that not only did Litton notshow up at various checkpoints in that race, he didn’tshow up at checkpoints in other races either, andoften could be found in photos at the starting line ofraces in different clothes and shoes than he was wear-ing when he showed up in photos at the finish lines.

Some marathons eventually disqualified him.

Strode also found that Litton had a website de-voted to his running accomplishments and was tryingto raise $250,000 through pledges from website visi-tors for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Strode contacted race directors at the marathonson Litton’s website to see if any other runners had re-ported Litton as a suspected cheat. Richard Ro-driguez, listed as director of the West WyomingMarathon, which Litton supposedly won outright in2:56:12, sent an email to Strode saying that Litton wasa legitimate winner, that there were only 30 entrantsin the race and that Litton and another runner hadrun in the lead the whole way.

Meanwhile, Scott had first heard about Litton inOctober 2009, when his five-member team had beendisqualified from winning the relay division of theDetroit Free Press Marathon. Litton had recruitedfour ace teammates, paid their entry fees and ran thesecond leg.

The second-place team, encouraged by Litton’sown suspicious teammates, filed a protest that was up-held. That team’s second runner had got the baton infirst and was never passed, so knew the claim by Lit-ton was bogus.

Hubbard’s next contact with Litton, or aboutLitton, was an item posted in the online newsletter ofMichigan Runner from a guy named Brian Smith whothought the magazine ought to do a feature on hisClarkston dentist, a joy of a man and a great runner.

Hubbard then asked Litton if he could providecontact information for Smith. Litton claimed not toknow him.

After subsequent evidence of Litton’s cheating ata string of marathons, Hubbard told him to take downthe website soliciting donations or he’d expose him inMR. A representative of the Cystic Fibrosis Founda-tion told Singer she wasn’t aware of any donations thathad been made as a result of Litton’s website and, infact, the organization knew of only one donationsince 2004 that had been made by Litton or his family.

Oh, as for the West Wyoming Marathon, eventu-ally the tale unraveled. Litton had made the wholething up. He got a friend to put up a phony websiteand he put together a list of pretend finishers andtheir times. He even got a post-race testimonial postedon the website Marathon Guide.

But Litton denied any intention to deceive. Hetold Scott his family was going to western Wyomingand since he’d be there, he decided to organize amarathon that would only have race-day registration.A bunch of people said they’d come but no oneshowed up, so he ran anyway. Since it would lookdumb to only list one finisher on his website, hepadded the list.

“I regret making this snap decision,” he said.

In January 2011, Litton was disqualified from an-other marathon, the City of Trees Marathon held inIdaho in 2009.

Scott then got a promise from Litton to disclosein advance any marathon he was entering, so that hecould be monitored.

“I look forward to being monitored,” Litton toldScott, as recounted by Singer. “I realize this isn’t ab-solute vindication, but it is a good first step … I amcommitted to continue my goal of running marathonsin every state and raising funds for my charity. In time,I believe the questions will disappear. I welcome anyand all that wish to join me.”

As I said, you can’t make this stuff up.

- MR -


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