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Running at the U.S. Naval Academy
By JOE SHAFRAN, For The Trident
In this first guest column of the New Year, I’ll again be talking about running because there seems to be a never-ending supply of stories on the sport… that remain to be told……so here goes…
With the Army-Navy football game and the Emerald Bowl in the record books, the 2004 Navy football team will long be remembered, especially for being listed among the top 25 teams in two prestigious final rankings. and being named second in the ECAC Lambert balloting. .But, let’s reach back into history. and talk about an Army-Navy game nearly 60 years ago, in which an Academy graduate now living in Annapolis , who credits that encounter as the beginning or at least a boost to his running career. I’m referring to Ben Moore, (Colonel, United States Marine Corps. Ret.) The story goes that Ben was a halfback on that ’47 Navy Team in the days when the Army running duo of Glenn Davis and Felix Blanchard were making headlines. Ben carried the ball on what most everyone else thought was the last play of the game that Army won 21-0. The game was also in Philadelphia but in an old stadium with mostly rickety wood bleachers that seated more than 100,000 spectators, evenly divided among the two Academies. The Army team in that encounter considered Ben’s run the last of the game. Apparently the referee did also. He blew his whistle to end the game. . The other game officials thought so, too and maybe even some of the Navy players thought it was over. But Ben didn’t. He claimed there was time for another play or two. There was no game clock as such ,and by god,, he said ,at least two more plays had to be run off. Ben insisted and he absolutely refused, as is the custom ,to hand the ball over to the winners .No, Ben just stood his ground, cradling the ball in his chest for about a full minute.…. until the fans on the Army side of the field, seeing the commotion and Ben’s refusal to give up the ball.. en masse, left the stands and charged onto the field .Must have been the entire Cadet brigade and 60,000 Army fans. Ben saw them coming, full steam ahead, and relented, but not before he quickly lobbed the ball up in the air as far as he could and took off running and it’s said that he didn’t stop until he got back to Annapolis. To this day, Colonel Moore, in his seventies, often with his wife at his side ,is still running races. They were seen bright and early New Years Morning at the traditional run from City Dock in Annapolis.
Then there’s that Naval Academy Marathon Club, not entitled to be called a team as such, but whose team members nevertheless wear blue and gold running outfits with the word Navy emblazoned on their shirts. This is one of the only sports groups at the Academy that does only" away" games ( races) and those are three very select marathons , ,The Boston in April, another in Scranton, Pennsylvania of all places in September called the Steamtown Marathon, after the rail museum there and the third in Richmond, Virginia in October, and to prepare for all this running, I’m told by their coach, Nathan Nudelman of Annapolis that rigid training was to begin on January 18, rain or shine. By the way, the reason for the Scranton race is that it’s the hometown of the coach, who was a star track attraction as a high school runner a few years ago. And as if three marathons and hundreds of miles of training are not enough, most of the club following the Richmond run in November, just kept their shoes on and a week later, hitched rides to Western Maryland and did what was called the JFK ultra-marathon ,50 miles. The winner does it in 6 hours and the Mids were not far behind.
And finally, at the Academy, they never forget those who made running history but are no longer around to celebrate. On Tuesday February 1st, there will be the memorial walk along part of the Academy cross country trail, for Commander Willie McCool, the Academy graduate who excelled both in academics and in cross country, who went into this country’s space program and was the pilot of the Shuttle Columbia that
blew apart over Texas two years ago February 1st, just 15 minutes from a landing at Cape Canaverl. and there’s also another former Midshipman being remembered, Rick Gannon, who made world headlines when he ran a marathon at the age of nine An Academy graduate, of 9 years. He was Marine Captain Richard Gannon , killed while on duty in Iraq a few months ago.Karen Boyle, the women’s cross country and assistant track coach tells me that Rick was the Officer
Representative for the woman’s cross country team . Apparently, Rick Gannon left a mark in whatever he did and he won’t be forgotten. At the Marine Marathon in Washington, last October, among the Gannons listed as finishers in that race was the name of Sally Gannon, of California, Rick’s widow, who walked in his honor those 26.2 miles in about 7 hours and another name , Andy Fox, one of Rick’s close buddies, who ran the race in his in close to 3 hours. At one of his other alma maters, Cornell University at Ithaca, New York , they had a charity golf match in October that raised money for a Rick Gannon Memorial room. The second tournament will be in September of 2005. My contact is a fellow named Brian Drumm who can be reached at briand@shakercom.com . If you use an internet search on Rick, you’ll read reams of glowing stories. And so it goes with the happy and the not-so-happy among us runners.
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