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Running: Park is a lovely place for run
By Joe Shafran, For the Capital
Running is definitely contagious. At the Valentine’s 5K race at Kinder Farm Park (off Jumper’s Hole Road, more like Pasadena than Millersville, the postal address) Saturday, I noticed that even the goats and sheep were running. I think they were mocking the 400 or so humans, who ran and/or shuffled past their barns for about an hour. More on this race in a minute.
May I say this to Josh Cohen, the Ward 3 Eastport Alderman on the Annapolis City Council? "Good luck on your attempt to get the State to reconsider its cancellation of the Bay Bridge walk and also the 10K Governor’s race. I say good luck, because I have it straight from Charlie Muskin, the President of the Annapolis Striders, who probably knows more about walks and runs on a bridge than anyone else in the U.S.A. Charlie has been the point man on the sometimes on and sometimes off Bay Bridge run the past several years, in its good years and its bad years and he says it’s his opinion that there won’t be a walk or a run this year and possibly none through 2007 what with construction on the Bridge. So, I say good luck to Josh, whom I know well and who has good intentions, but might I suggest, just in case his appeal to the State doesn’t work out, that you get your application in for the "other " bridge run and walk, the late March event by the Maritime Republic of Eastport over the Spa Creek Bridge in Annapolis? I’ll let you know the exact date when I get it. It’s going to be for sure. Having run the race the past three years, I do offer this as a consolation. On race day, when you reach crown of the bridge, the very high point of the 842 foot span, where there is a fluid stop, on a clear day, if you glance to your left, you can see the Bay Bridge in the distance and as you get to that high point, you can thumb your nose. Interesting, the State maintains the Spa Creek bridge also, and while there is ongoing construction, it’s always done at night , and I don’t think the State has the nerve to close this one down. Actually, the race/walk is no lingering impediment to traffic. The run/walk is over in minutes. The winner does the race, a .05K, in about 18 seconds. Slow poke walkers or not, the race course, which is confined to the 842 feet of the bridge, is re-opened in about 3 minutes and vehicular traffic resumes. Just hope that there is no boat traffic that will require the opening of the drawspan at the crack o’noon, the start time of the race/walk.
And back to the sheep and goats at Kinder Farm. I don’t know if you’ve ever been out there, but someone a few years ago, in their infinite wisdom, had the smarts to build a park on just part of a farm and left the rest of the farm alone. When you drive or run in, you see three well kept silos, what looks to be the original farm houses, tractors, working horse barns and a modern Jaycees social hall on the hill, where the Strider’s 5K race started and finished. I went over to the Park office near the sheep barn and that’s where I saw the animals, doing their run, mostly in and out of the barns , sill whooping it up a half hour after the race finished.
And as for the race itself, ..There were 421 finishers on a perfect race day. All the regulars were in this Strider’s race, part of the championship series, except one person, Penny Goldstein, and to not see her name in the finish column was unusual. Penny was at the farm, alright, but probably for the first time in her long running career, as a race monitor at one of the turns. Her ankle is giving her problems, but she makes a good monitor, making sure runners didn’t end up in the sheep barn and she meant business, wielding a red pitch fork, the red, at least, reminding that it was Valentine’s Day weekend. And there were couples in the race, or at least men and women with the same last names and from the same towns. There were two Brusnighans, John, 66, of Severna Park who came in 219th in 25:55 and there was also a Karen Brusnighan, 58, also of Severna Park who finished in 34:08 in 376th place. There was Jon Schoenberg, 41, of Crofton, who came in 4th at an incredible 16:43 and Jennifer Schoenberg, 32, also of Crofton, coming in as the 11th female, 76th overall in a respectable 20:49 and if one looks closely at the manifest, you see the names of two men, both from the same town, with the same first and last names, Walser, Dave and Dave, father and son, of Lusby, and I’m pleased to report that Walser the junior beat Walser the senior in this race. Twenty-three year old Dave, shooting through the finish chute in 46th place in 19:32 and his old man, 46, coming in at a not too bad 20:31 in 70th place. In the list of finishers, you will note also a lot of young runners showing Annapolis as their place of domicile, all in their late teens and early 20’s. They are mostly all the Midshipmen members of the Naval Academy Marathon Club, men and women who couldn’t be missed, in their bright blue and gold, most finishing in under 19 minutes, tuning up for the Boston Marathon, in April where they are all expected to finish in less than 2 ½ hours or else, it’s back to the J.V’s. They were led Saturday by their volunteer coach, Nathan Nudelman of Annapolis, 29, who finished 20th in 17:47. And for Kathy Hansen of Annapolis, who finished the race in 403rd place in 36.30, Saturday was her day off from her job in the Clerk’s office at the Anne Arundel County Courthouse, where you might see her on her lunch break speed-walking up and down the steps, hoping to take first prize in the County Stairwell Challenge. Kathy, 51, says in the next few weeks she will have climbed the equivalent of Mt. Everest, 29,000 feet above Katmandu. She says she ran the Niagara Falls marathon last year in 6 hours and 21 minutes and will be on hand Saturday with others from here at the Myrtle Beach S.C. marathon, but only to observe. As most marathoners find, you can’t walk stairs for a week at least, after a marathon. And finally on this farm kick, how did this city boy know he was at a park on a farm? There was a sign at the entrance, reading: Fresh Eggs For Sale.
Race Results.
Valentine’s Day , 5K, Kinder Farm Park, Sat.Feb.12,05, Anne Arundel County
1st. ten male finishers
1. Robert Schneider, 28, Washington D.C. 16:02 ;
2. Patrick Reaves, 20, College Park, 16:25
3. Gene Severtson, 28, Arnold , 16:41
4. Jon Schoenberg, 41,Crofton, 16:43
5. Dan Schneider, 24, Verona,WI 16:45
6. Jacob Montoya 20, Annapolis, 16:46: 66
7. Josh Faucett, 21, Annapolis 16:46:79
8. Chris Hass, 26, Marinette, WI 16:50
9. Rob Wetzel , 15, Crofton, 16:57
10.Jason Grimm, 26, Laurel , 16:54
Female. 1st Ten finishers and their place overall
35. Feng Sun, 35, Columbia 18:35
39. Liya Kayimova, 14, Annapolis, 18:57 *
44. Jill Hargis, 44, Annapolis , 19:30
49. Andrea Williams, 33, Annapolis, 19:37
61. Jamie Braun. 20, Annapolis , 20:09*
63, Jennifer Chichester, 16, Annapolis, 20:15
66.Kathleen Williams,20, Annapolis. 20:19
67. Sheryl Kline, 42, Arnold, 20:20
71. Laura Blount, 22, Annapolis, 20:35
73. Mary Lynn Hansen, 38, Woodstock, 20:43
74. Valerie Hagan , 21, Lusby, 20:44
Running Calendar
Sun.Feb.20. 8 A.M. Columbia. Howard Co. Comm. College 26th Annual RRCA .Ten Mile Club challenge… 410-964-1998
Sun. Feb. 20. 10:30 A.M. Greenbelt (Greenbelt Youth Center) GW Birthday Marathon and Relay. 703-241-0395(DC Road Runners )
Sun Feb. 20. 12 noon. Washington D.C. ( Jefferson Memorial) Tidal Basin 3K 703-241-0395( D.C. Road Runners)
Sat. Feb. 26. Alexandria Va.9A.M. ( Belle Haven Park) 25 K on the Mount Vernon Trail.703-241-0395(DCRR)
Sun. Feb. 27. Bel Air 8 A.M. RASAC Fox 5K 410-638-2717
Sun. Feb. 27 11 A.M. Wilmington De. (Jewish Community Center) JCC Snowball Run 5 miler, (302) 478-5660
Sun,Feb. 27.Williamsburg, Va 1 P.M. (College of William and Mary) 26 th Annual Anheuser-Busch Colonial Half Marathon and 3 Mile Run (767) 221-1599
Sun. Feb. 27. Columbia . 2 .P.M(Burleigh Manor Middle) Howard County Striders Winter Series 2 Mile and 5 Mile. 410-964-1998
Sun. March 6, 7:30 .M. Severna Park High School. The B&A Marathon/Half Marathon. The web site is batrailmarathon@comcast.net or call 410- 268- 2036.
Sat.March 19 8 A.M. Harman’s Park, Hanover (acr. from Arundel Mills ).Joe Cannon 5K run and fun walk .AA County Rec. and Parks.Benefits Recreation Deeds for Special Needs Scholarship and North Arundel Hospital Oncology Center. 410-222-7311(ext.3554)
Fri. ,April 15, The 12th Dead Sea Ultra Marathon. "Run To The Lowest Point On Earth". 50K, 42K and 21K, Jordan. www.deadseamarathon.com Starts in the early morning. Must finish by sundown.
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