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St. Mary's coach sticks with running despite bad break
By JOE SHAFRAN
When you ask Ann Sweeney Andrews of Annapolis to show you her incision, she points to her left ankle and there you see all 7 inches of it. She tripped in a pothole almost two years ago, ruined her ankle, had 3 operations and finally is back to running. Last Saturday morning she ran the Women’s Distance Festival 5k at West Annapolis, in something like 27 minutes. I missed her there, but met up with her later that day as I got in a run on the new St Mary’s artificial turf field at St. John Neumann Church on Bestgate Rd. in Annapolis. I needed and received permission to run on that turf, but Ann had every right to be there, inspecting. She’s the girl’s field hockey coach at St. Mary’s and when the new field is finished in the next few weeks, her team will be using it for both practice and for their home meets. But back to that West Annapolis race which is the valedictory for the Striders Beginning Running Program. I must have counted close to three hundred runners plus spectators. Also Saturday morning there were the kids runs, put on by Susan Noble. That’s a sight to behold as the pint sized-runners pin on their race bibs and do the dashes.
This is both summer sport camp season, and also time for vacation bible school and also for summer reading at the beach. If I didn’t watch out on my runs, I could easily trip over one of the signs for summer sport camps. You name the sport, there’s a camp for it. As for the vacation bible schools, I see the sign for them on one of my running routes past eight houses of worship and all but one advertises the school, most of which begin this coming Monday or in the next week or two. The one that doesn’t have the bible school is Kol Ami synagogue tucked into the woods on Severn Grove Road.
As for the summer sports camps, they are mostly all outdoors and I figure they have to cope with the heat. I don’t see any signs for running camps, but I see those that I know of beat the heat by holding them in Vermont. One that’s been around for 30 years is Craftsbury which opens Sunday. But another series run by Jeff Galloway, of the early seventies Olympic fame , holds clinics all over the country and shows one coming up in Washington D.C. this coming week.
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And this is the time of year when I offer a suggestion for reading at the beach. This one comes from a review of a book in the Capital a week last Sunday, by a Hollywood actor, Bruce Dern, called ‘‘ Things I Have Said, But Shouldn’t Have ” It was somewhat of a positive review of the book but one line in the review caught my eye. It mentioned that the best thing about Bruce Dern was his legs. I Yahooed Dern, 71, and found that he’s a runner from his track and field days in high school but in recent years has won awards for many marathons he’s run around the country and many hundred milers he’s done in the California foothills.
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The runner of the week is Yvonne Aasen. When they canceled the one mile run before this years Fourth of July parade in Severna Park, which she has done in the past, she hopped aboard a float and handed out chilled bottles of water to the parched crowds sitting on their lawn chairs and mats along the parade route. As for her age, there are no secrets. In any listing of race results, Yvonne is always mentioned as the winner in her age group, over 70. And if there isn’t a race here on a weekend, she has been known to get in her car and drive someplace to run a race with one of her children wherever that might be, possibly in Pittsburgh, or Portsmouth... She also handles the p.r. for the Annapolis Striders.
Hint of the week … Running on these hot, humid code red days, you need to hydrate. Area ambulance crews say it’s not unusual to be called numerous times on a weekend to revive someone, either a runner collapsed at the finish line of a race or someone passing out on a sidewalk. This time of the year, hydration is a big factor. Temperatures are often in the nineties and drinking liquid is essential. However, how much liquid is sometime a question. Drinking too much can be a problem. To get an answer, I refer you to a seasoned runner, Evan Thomas, of Annapolis who every year in his beginning runners school, is responsible for the health of 125 students. If you e-mail him at roadrunner0218@gmail.com, he will dispense some advice. Tell him Jogging Joe sent you!
Race of the week ... the John Wall Mile at Broadneck High School, Saturday. Last year, Scott Koehler, won it in 4 minutes and some seconds. Scott told me he’s now in new job, and won’t run this year, which may be good news for a of people, but I suggest you watch out for a another runner by name of Jim Anderson. I spotted Anderson, in his forties. on the 4th of July, secretly training for the run at the Severna Park High School track. The John Wall mile, a Strider event, memorializes the local runner who made it to the Berlin Olympics in the 30’s. Some of John Wall’s family always shows at the Broadneck event.
Running Calendar
July 21 - 8 a.m. Broadneck High School.
The John Wall one mile run.
Call Will Myers, 410.987.4883
July 28 - 9 a.m. Bates Athletic Complex, Annapolis.
Junior Striders track meet.
Visit www.annpolisstriders.net
Sept. 8 - Indianapolis, The Inaugural Indy Classic Marathon, Half-Marathon, and 5K Run/Walk, dedicated to all active and reserve military personnel. First active military marathon runner wins a Humvee M998.
Contact LTC Willie Harris, 404.464.8487
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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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