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Trident Article
By JOE SHAFRAN
I see Wallace Miller’s picture on the wall at the Dry Dock Restaurant in Dahlgren Hall. Midshipman Miller is Captain of the Navy Marathon Club and his picture is there along with the Captains of the ten other sports clubs at the Academy which gives me the sense that the Marathon Club, about whom I’ve been writing these past few months, is coming of age.
And that’s not the only indication that the Club is coming of age. Nathan Nudelman, the coach of this fast rising club who coached for a long time as a volunteer, tells me that he is now considered a coach” with a stipend.” And this coach is not the “pusher” type, so someone at the Academy, without any prodding, must think as do I that the Club is coming of age and it’s about time the coach should have a stipend. Nudelman does have a “day job ” as the saying goes .He’s from Annapolis but is in federal law enforcement and commutes to his office. So coaching is done after work. Having just turned 30, he also happens to be one of the better known distance runner in the east.
The Club is of somewhat recent vintage with about 15 runners until about six months ago, but Nudelman tells me it was ramped up to a select 25.
The runners of this club are not necessarily of the track and field variety.
They are long distance runners. Anything from what is called a 5 K , just a little over three miles to marathons, 26.2 miles and if that’s not enough, many of the Club members go to Western Maryland in the fall and run 50 miles up and down the Allegheny foothills..
On or about superbowl weekend this year, they run in the Detroit winter, do a couple of local runs, then get ready for their third appearance at the Boston Marathon in April. There, these club members will be crossing he finish line in somewhat less or just over 3 hours. And one other thing, unlike in many other sports, this coach runs with his team and he will either be in the lead or at the heels of his team urging them in any of the runs.
How good is this Navy outfit? Back in September , one of the team members, Scott Wood wrote “the team will be competing in the JFK 50 miler. Last year (2004) they brought home the Military Team Championship, beating the All-Marine Team by a combined time of 3 hours. Navy would love to win another victory in the 50 miler”. I’m pleased to tell you that it did happen this past fall winning by a combined time of less than 3 hours.
Midshipman Scott mentioned some names of team members who he thought were notable Club runners, names like Jake Montoya, Doug Marsh, Josh Faucett, John Rashap, Lindsey Duncan, Mike Moorse and Brad Reed all of whom should be ready for the Boston in April As they say in the Navy… All Ahead Full !
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