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Running: The new year is off and running
By Joe Shafran, For The Capital
Only in America… only in Annapolis and only for runners . Annapolis is perhaps the only place where a runner, heading for a race, can park their car at a meter with a 30 minute limit,(enforced 24/7 in Annapolis ), a hundred yards from the start line , run a 5K race and be back to the car , within the 30 minutes. And only in Annapolis can a band of sweaty runners be welcome when they take a short cut through a popular downtown coffee shop and eatery ,brushing past patrons, tossing down a cup of water, belting out their fight song and running out the back door into an alley.
I saw the 30 minute meter thing New Years morning in downtown Annapolis. The driver/runner was a woman dressed in her sweats, who parked her car at the meter, exited the vehicle,( parking was free for the holidays, but this meter had a sign warning that it was only for 30 minutes) , ran the so-called race and was back in her SUV within the 30 minutes..and drove off. That reminded me of my story of exact race timings, and stop me if you’ve heard it before, but a few years ago I ran a marathon in Washington, D.C. where Bill Rogers had made a cameo running appearance and of course won the race in two hours and change. Bill crossed the finish line, got a ride to what was then called National Airport, just 8 minutes away, hopped on a plane and was back in Boston , showered , dressed and behind the counter at his running store , before I crossed the finish line an hour and a half later. Anyway, about this race in downtown Annapolis last Saturday morning at 9. This is the "morning after" race,…after New Years Eve. after First Night and not long after all the parties end, where 175 people showed up.Somewhat loosely organized, it’s called a "10Kish" race by the volunteer directors, Adelina "Addie" Welch and Ashley Halsey ( a he) In her press release Addie says it continues the traditional New Years morning race that Michael Smith, formerly of Annapolis but now of Florida started . This race is sort of on the honor system billed as a "10K ish", which means you run what you want and by one’s finish time, you know the distance . For instance, when Mark Rosasco, who came in first in at 19 minutes, you figured he did the 5K. Others lingered for another 20 minutes or so and were known either to have run a 10K or just took their good old time. It was somewhat of a party atmosphere. Annapolis lawyer / runner Gill Cochran arrived at the race on his Mercedes motor scooter that he parked in the Market Circle space at which the sign says is specifically for "step through" scooters which he claims as a former member of City Council, he had nothing to do with. He ran the 5K in his crimson jump suit, believe it or not and when he finished in about 20 minutes, he stood at the finish line and mused at the various people who were coming in . a runner, in shorts, still wearing his green New Year’s eve top hat, blowing one those paper horns. There were fathers running with sons and daughters. There was also Bill Law, of Arnold, one of the senior racers, and there were the three Hicks brothers of Arnold, 15 year old Jonathan, 17 year old Jeremy, both on the cross country team at Broadneck High , and Tim, 18, home from Military School, preparing for the Air Force Academy and there was their mom, , standing next to the hardware store, sipping a cup of coffee, waiting for the boys to come in which they did in good time . Dad, a runner also, passed up this race. And so many others, too numerous to enumerate. At the start line, next to Ego Alley, Ashley Halsey, didn’t have a starters pistol, so he just shouted some encouragement to the pack and yelled, "go!", He did warn that there was an internet hook-up with Michael Smith in Florida and that one of those web cams was mounted on the top of the nearby liquor store. Ashley asked that everyone wave to Michael at his lap top in Florida , as they went by, but to please refrain from mooning as runners sometimes have a tendency to do when they are in a frolicky mood.
And about that coffee shop that opens its doors to runners. It’s City Dock Café. It’s been a tradition for a few years now , that every Thursday morning, the members of the 6:06 running club are welcome to run in the front door, gulp some water, and run out the back door into the alley, chanting the 6:06 fight song . That’s a dozen or so runners every Thursday, all in a few seconds. But New Years morning, rather than 175 traipsing through the place, the proprietors, Kerry and Steve Duffy. , put urns of coffee and food out front, free for the taking .Apparently they know runners and had everything including napkins ready by 9:20 just in time for the finishers.
As for results, recall this was not a sanctioned race . It is called an "ish" race, somewhat unofficial and I’m told the piece of cardboard on which the finish times were written down, somehow got into recycling before it could be examined..Sorry. From being an eyewitness, I do know that Mark Rosasco won the 5K in 19 minutes, , that Bob Cawood was second, seconds behind and also not surprisingly Jill Hargis, was the first female followed by Kerrie Robbins and Carole Rosasco all seemingly within a few minutes behind the Mr. Rosasco. The first 150 finishers got the nice t-shirts.
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2005 looks like another lively year for running. People are in training for the Disney and other marathons in the south.Second place finisher New Years morning, .Bob Cawood , 36, is off to Myrtle Beach for the marathon next month. Some of the others are headed for January runs in Las Vegas, Houston, San Diego, the Orlando Disney , one in Arizona and another in Charlotte. And this pastSunday , figuring that we may be in for a mild winter, the Annapolis Striders began one of their training sessions on the Bates track at Maryland Hall . And as for the annual Bay Bridge run, from the way things look now, all that would be needed to put the icing on the cake on that structure is for a closing of the eastbound span on a Sunday in April for a few thousand runners or walkers to get their kicks.
I see that Dave Barry is giving up his humor column that has appeared in the Capital. To get my laughs I’ll spend more time reading the running humor of Bernie Greene, in the Runner’s Gazette each month. His column is variously titled either , " The Unvarnished Bernie Greene’’ or "Dr. Greene Running Amok"…and here is a sample of some of his recent writing…
Dear.Dr.Greene I’m in deep doo doo, and I need your advice. I’m in love with two women runners, both of whom belong to the same running club that I do. I’ve been running with Kate,an elite 20 something runner and Edie, a 38 year old middle of the packer on a daily basis ( Kate in the morning and Edie in the late afternoon for three months now and it’s beginning to wear me out. Moreover each of them is suspecting that I am seeing someone else What should I do, Doc.? I’ve tried to choose between them but I am loathe to give up either one …. Pooped and paralyzed in Pittsburgh.
Dear pooped and paralyzed. Are you familiar with the saying, "You can’t have your Kate and Edith too ? ….
Each year, we’re told of the first New Year’s baby and the same goes for the first running race of the New Year, like the "10Kish" here in Annapolis or as it is in Alexandria Virginia, where the MADD organization , Mothers Against Drunk Driving, claims it has the distinction of putting on the last race of 2004, at 4 P.M. New Years Eve day. Their motto is ," put on your running shoes before your party shoes" and they give out their trade mark red ribbons that read."Tie One On".
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