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Runners handle winter mix with Valentine's run crowd
By JOE SHAFRAN
Is it me or has this been a crazy few weeks for the end of January and now February?
It started out in the '70s. Then the Alberta Clipper eased in and changed things completely. In one instance, it just about shut down outdoor running. At the Naval Academy, two Mids, getting ready for a run inside Halsey Field House told me their outdoor intramural 10K a week last Tuesday morning was canceled because of the wind chill.
We had a Super Bowl in pouring rain with Prince performing at half time as if it was a dry, moonlit Miami night.
We can pontificate about our wind chill factor all we want but my neighbor Brad Willis, who isn't a runner, made a somewhat prophetic remark that we are lucky in a way here in the Mid Atlantic. We don't have the snow they have in upstate New York, nor did we have the devastating middle- of-the-night Florida tornadoes all of which also shuts down outdoor running for sure.
This past Saturday morning at Kinder Farm Park there was the Strider' s Valentine's Day race, the first in the championship series. It was sunny but cold and there was what looked to me like a record turnout (412 finishers). Alan Stott and his Strider crew had on wind breakers and were recording finish times. I suppose their all- weather electronic sign doesn't distinguish between hot or cold. It just performs. I noted by the digital numbers that the first finishers were across the line around the 16 minute mark . Patrick Reaves, 22, was first at 16:14:42. First female was Feng Sun at 18:43:04.
TIP OF THE WEEK: When it gets cold out, don't be ashamed to wear a scarf or some other covering over your nose and mouth when the wind chill is in the minus range. Your warm lungs can't process freezing air rushing down to them. Both men and women runners should make sure of a double layer of clothing over the upper and lower body parts. By the way, we'll have to ask Nathan Nudelman where he got the designer-type cloth face mask that he was wearing at the Valentine's Day Race .
Runner of the week: Mary Watko of Annapolis was headed out the door to go skiing at Lake Placid with her husband when I spoke with her last week. She and husband Greg are longtime runners. Watko likes to tell the story that she ran many races backwards, looking back and urging her husband to keep up the pace. They are neck and neck these days.
Watko, one of the mainstays on the staff at Quiet Waters Park, dazzles you with her British accent. I was reminded in reading The Capital that Watko was Ms. Senior Maryland and a runner-up in the recent pageant at Las Vegas. An active volunteer in her spare time, she is in her 60s. She says she is a petite size 8, which may be the result of her running and also working out at the Merritt Athletic gym.
RACE OF NOTE: The Frederick Marathon is coming up in May. The 5-year-old race that has taken on a life of its own. This past week, it was announced that this race, that has grown in popularity, has been taken over by Corrigan Sports of Baltimore, the outfit that runs the Baltimore Running Festival. The firm is very picky about what races it takes on.
I remember five years ago when Dave Cooley of Baltimore directed the first Frederick run in March that brought out possibly a hundred runners. Dave's luck, a half hour before the start gun was fired, snow began falling and when the first runner crossed the finish line a little over three hours later, there was four inches on the ground and still coming. The next year, I believe it was at Frederick, that a fire in one of the downtown historic buildings near the finish line, forced a several-block detour and everyone got a good dose of smoke as they finished.
Dave Cooley says he has retired but we noted his finger prints on the successful National Marathon in Washington last March. At the Frederick last year, they had 3,000 and with Corrigan in charge, they will now call it a Festival.
Running Calendar
March 3: Severna Park, 9 a.m. 12th Annual 5K Family Fun Run/Walk at the High School sponsored by the PTSO. Call either Wendy Galloway at 410.384.9496 or Jane Hunigan 410.647.1167.
March 4: Severna Park, 7:30 a.m. The B&A Trail, Marathon and Half and Kids Run. Severna Park. Donna Cogle is race director. Registration closes Friday the 16th on active.com.
March 24: Hanover, 9 a.m. Joe Cannon Stadium. The Joe Cannon 5K Run and Fun Walk. Call Wendy Scarborough 410.222.7313, ext.3554 .
April 1: Edgewater, 8 a.m., Cherry Pit 10-Miler at Central/South River school complex. Contact George Swatzbaugh, 410.852.6663, gks3@msn.com, or Ron Bowman, 410.573.1929, lynnron1@comcast.net
April 21: Annapolis, 8:30 a.m. Two-Mile Track Race at Bates Track off Spad Road in Annapolis. Contact Dan Masterson, 410.293.6296, masterso@usna.edu
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