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Running: Summer reading provides run of inspiration
By Joe Shafran, For The Capital
Some of my summer reading "at the beach" was of course about running.
In the past, I´ve made mention of the woman runner from Oregon , Marla Runyan, who inspires millions because she is legally blind. She competed in the in the Olympics and now is running marathons coming in among the top 10 in the New York marathon where she will be trying to be the first American woman again.
A few years ago Marla wrote a book titled "No Finish Line, My Life As I See It". Lance Armstrong,the biker , had read it and in playing down one of his Tour wins said "Blind? I think there´s no doubt that Marla Runyan can see things much clearer than most of us with 20/20 vision". Marla was diagnosed at age 9 with Stargates disease which she describes as being able to see only 10 feet ahead of her.
In the marathon, there was someone riding behind her calling out the splits and giving a little guidance. It wasn´t until the eighth mile that Runyan finally got the hang of sticking her arm out far enough to get a drink. She epitomizes the thousands of others, many in this area , who show that adversity needn´t be the end of a life.
So,if you need a boost , think of Marla and watch her in the New York Marathon.
DOG DAYS: Mike Colaiacovo, 36, was the winner of the Strider´s Dog Days 8K cross country run, but Alan Stott was perhaps the key person at the race. He is responsible for the official timing of every runner in most every major race around Annapolis. He also holds a class each year for the Striders in which he gives away the secrets of how to direct a race without going bankrupt.
Stott has to be very dexterous, easily able to give some of the kids with their X-boxes a run for their money. I would say also, with his dexterity and coolness, he´s the guy I would want on the missile firing sub who has to take the call from the Commander in Chief and press the buttons that will let loose the missile. And maybe that comes naturally. He´s been with the Department of Defense for 38 years, has been an award-winning Strider for many years, its vice president of races and a member of the what is known as the Shed Crew. He could sleep late for the Dog Days 8K. It was at Anne Arundel Community College right across the street from where he lives in Arnold. He does about 25 races a year, because he´s one of the few the racing fraternity trusts with such an important task.
TEN MILE NOTES: On Sunday morning, Aug. 28, it´s the 30th Annapolis Ten Mile Race long ago closed to registration. There will be close to 5,000 in this spectacle, including a lot of other regulars and notables, James "Jimmy" Fratinno of Annapolis, whose done all but about four of the 30 races and who expects to cross the finish line at about the 72-minute mark. Ahead of him will be his daughter, Laura DiBeradinis and a granddaughter , all three running to memorialize recent deaths in their family.
Watch also for Susanna Kvasnicka of Northern Virginia, trying for the second leg of the "triple crown" of running having been the first American female across the finish line at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom run in Washington in the spring and now trying for the same at the Annapolis race and then the Army Ten Miler in Washington in the fall.
Chris Chattin, a marathoner from Columbia, who won the A-10 a few years go, continues to stay away, concerned that running in the August heat affects his marathon pace . In his winning A-10, he doused himself with water at the fluid stops rather than drink it.
The race starts and ends at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. There were traffic jams getting to the stadium long before the nearby bridge construction , so I advise you to get there plenty early before the 7:50 a.m. start time.
HEAT IS ON: Doug Hill, the Washington TV and Radio Weatherman, keeps recalling that a few years back in August we had 21 straight days of 90 plus degree temperatures and he´s still here to tell the story and tells us to quit complaining.
In a recent column I noted the oppressive heat and how well the runners came through on a Saturday at the John Wall mile at Broadneck High School. That was on a Saturday. The next day, also a scorcher , 24-year-old Grant Turner of Crofton, ran in a race in Linthicum and at the end bent over from what seemed like heat exhaustion, but it was far worse than that. He bent over, collapsed and died. He was in law enforcement training at the Maryland Transportation Authority Police Academy.
He would be following in the footsteps of his father and was a month away from graduation Just the length of the funeral procession for Grant was a testimony to his popularity and the esteem in which he was held at the Academy.
Running Calendar
Aug. 27: 8 a.m , 94th Aero Squadron , 5240 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park. Prince George´s Runnng Club´s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun 5K . The course is through: Paint Branch Stream Valley park , past historic College Park Airport, hence the 94 th Aero Squadron. Call Lucy Younes at 1-301-927-1924. Proceeds go to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the National Capital Area.
Aug. 27: 4:30 p.m. Bates Athletic Complex, off Spa Road at Maryland Hall, Annapolis. The final 2005 Strider´s Junior Track and Field meet. Call Roger Hebden at 410-533-5689. Volunteer timers are needed , parent of participant or not.
May 7: The return of the oft-cancelled Bay Bridge 10 K run.Cross your fingers that it sticks this time. Put it on your calendar.
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