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Edgewater race permits Koehler to continue streak
By JOE SHAFRAN
You might call it “ his cup of tea” or “a piece of cake ” and that’s how I would characterize Scott Koehler’s win at Sunday’s Cherry Pit run at Edgewater . He’s the Tiger Woods of running, He seems to win every race he enters and but he is always in the lead. He finished the Edgewater run in a driving rain in 56:52. He’s a former Broadneck High School runner and I don’t think the new route, the muddy trail he had to run and the puddles he and others had to run through Sunday were a hindrance.
When I talked to Scott at the finish line last Sunday, I did not get into the subject that the race he had just won came very close to being canceled. The race director, Kathy Hanson, got word Friday afternoon that the State Highway Department would not issue a permit for the runners to use a section of Solomon’s Island Rd., Route 2, a section that was vital for the race.
Lately, however, since the traffic foul-up at the 2007 September Annapolis Triathlon, the permitting routine for the use of public highways is no longer a rubber stamp process. The county, city and the state now closely scrutinize all permit applications for what they call a safety issue. Hanson could easily have just canceled the race, but as a longtime runner, she did not take no for an answer. Hanson had a hint of the permit problem and as late as a week ago last Saturday she did say on local radio that she has Plan B and announced that by hook or crook the race would go on, somewhere. She revealed that under Plan B the race would circle through the South River Colony residential development and over an unpaved County trail that links the residential neighborhood with the South River School complex. While it didn’t come easily she did have an o.k for that, and as of last Sunday morning with the help of the Strider stalwarts and volunteers, Plan B was in effect and the runners got an unexpected but good view of a beautiful but hilly residential development and a muddy and wooded County trail.
Earlier Hanson did warn that with her plan B that included the trail portion, it could be called a cross country run But for Koehler who ran as a student at Broadneck, the mud was business as usual.
Keep in mind that this is not the first instance of permit denials. Just after the September triathlon in Annapolis, , the first race to suffer was the Strider’s Metric marathon at Harwood late last summer, that was canceled outright when a permit was denied The second race to come under scrutiny was the coming June 1st Zooma half marathon run in Annapolis for women and men, However the race directors announced on radio last Saturday that the course has been altered and that the race is on. The Cherry Pit was the third to be affected. I am told by an official of the Columbia Triathlon association, that the 2008 Annapolis triathlon will be relocated away from Annapolis.
As for some of the finishers at the Cherry Pit, I see the Walsers were there. Dave Walser, III ,26, came in number 37 at 1:09 and Dave Walser, Jr. the father, 49, came in number 83 at 1:20. The first female, 29th overall, was Brittney Rooks, 14, at 1:08. There were 266 finishers according to the Strider’s web site. The directors said the weather and possibly the uncertainty of the route was a factor in keeping down the registration.
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Runners of the week are all the people in South River Colony, many of them runners, who welcomed the 266 Cherry Pit runners and water stop volunteers Sunday morning and who, in effect, saved a popular race from extinction.
Hint of the week… Running is not an excuse to triple your intake of doughnuts! From the recent issue of Footwear Intelligence.
Race of the week… Monday April 21, the 112 th Boston Marathon. Among other area runners to compete in it is Joel Ogden, 35, of Annapolis, who ran the Baltimore Marathon last year and will run the Boston after raising the required amount of donations, to highlight 30 million Americans suffering from liver disease.
Running Calendar
Saturday - 8 A.m. Cape St. Clair. St. Andrews by the Bay Catholic Church.
5k Fund raiser to send a youth delegation to a sister congregation in El Salvador.
John Curley is in charge and can be reached at 410.757.2971
Sat. April 19 - 8 A.M Severna Park High School.
13th Annual 5k FamilyRun run and walk for the PTSO.
Call 410.562.9598 or email amurphy4@yahoo.com
Sat. April 26 - 8AM St. Anne’s School, Arundel on the Bay Rd. Annapolis.
5K run and 1 mile walk. www.stanneschool.org
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If you have a suggestion for the runner of the week,
please e-mail me with a contact number.
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