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Smooth operating keeps Ten Mile Run on stride
By JOE SHAFRAN
Here are a few notes that I jotted down at the Annapolis ten miler last Sunday:
Fair skies, a bit humid, but no excuse to affect your running... In my opinion, the race came off without a hitch thanks to Lisa and Chris Fontaine and Harrison, the directors, with lots of volunteer help. Young Matt Centrowitz came in first in just under 55 minutes, but I would shave a minute off his time if I were the timer. When the crowds slowed the Annapolis Police motorcycle escort and the pace cars, Matt also slowed rather than outpace the cars and the escort. On another subject, this may be good or bad, but if Evan Thomas wasn’t able to talk the first few days of this week, there was a good excuse. He was the public address announcer, talking it up non- stop from about 7:15 until about 10:30. He doesn’t use a script, but has this uncanny ability to say something about each of the nearly 5,000 runners. There was no first aid tent this year, but don’t be concerned. The Striders arranged for a good size ground floor room at the Stadium, right at the finish line. A goodly number of off-duty nurses, male and female, from the Anne Arundel Medical center staffed it. And both from their reports and those in the Mobile Command Center of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, there were no reports of any major problems with the runners. Annapolis City Medics were on hand also, and yes, the Walsers of Lusby were in the race. David Junior coming in 181 and his dad ,650. But they must have stirred up some interest in their home town. I see on the race manifest, that there were two or three other runners from Lusby in the middle of the pack of nearly 5,000. Jon Line, or Jonathon as he was registered, my neighbor in Annapolis and manager of the Gotta Run store downtown, did nicely coming in number 14 , in a hair over an hour. Nathan Nudelman came in 51st at 1:04 and Matt Mace was number 66 at 1:05. Mace, of Arnold is the lawyer who ran a hundred miles in 29 hours through hell and high water a few weeks ago out west, but he didn’t let stardom go to his head. After the 10 mile race Sunday, he was among the volunteers helping put Annapolis and Anne Arundel County back together again. Feng Sun, 31, of Columbia was the first female coming in 22nd at 1:02. Our own Sheryl Kline of Arnold came in 149th at 1:09, followed in 161st place by Kristin Buckley of Annapolis at1:10. Margie Boyd of Annapolis was not far behind. Nearer to the end, number 4392 was a John Fry, 79, of Annapolis who turned on his afterburner and ran across the finish line in two hours and 15 minutes. Jim Fratinno and John Astle, both of whom may have run the first ten miler some thirty years ago and have done most all of them since did this one and were none the worse for wear. Those two photographers in the 2007 Volvo media convertible at the head of the race were Allison Harbaugh of the Capital and George Banker, a marathoner, who directs the Army ten miler in the fall and the National marathon in March and just loves to take pictures of runners, is the guru of running on the east coast. After watching Centrowitz from about 50 feet away for about 2 miles, Banker predicts that the boy will soon run a mile in 4 minutes and ten seconds. And next year, we’ll remind the good intentioned midshipmen who set up their own water stop near the Academy to hand out cups of water, rather than bottles. They noted many runners pouring the bottled water on their heads rather than drinking it. Runners gulp not sip. And thanks again to the kindly folk on the east side of the Academy Bridge along Ferry Farms Rd. and Severn Ridge Rd. East who sprayed the runners with their garden hoses. More notes later but that’s it for this time.
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If you just couldn’t get yourself to run the ten miler or weren’t up to it, here’s a suggestion. Sign up for the Annapolis Striders 10K ( that’s about 6 miles) Running Class that begins Thursday September 14th at the Arnold Station of the B&A Trail and continues Tuesdays and Thursdays through November 15th at various locales. Four days after the 15th of November, with plenty of self esteem built up, you get to run the Cold Turkey 10K. Call Cogle at 443.623.6628. She and seasoned runners like Kathy Hanson, Penny Goldstein and Jenny Hasbrouck will instruct.
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I see in the paper, that some runners and others were recently robbed on the B&A Trail. In one of the reports, a victim was quoted as saying she would now run with a buddy and carry mace. Running with a buddy is not a bad idea but mace. I don’t know. It’s a tricky substance. Depending on the wind, when you use it, it can blow right back in your face. On some of my runs, I’ve advised women, particularly, not to run alone in wooded areas, especially in the early morning or early evening hours. One lady accused me of being condescending, which I took as an insult, so when I see it now, I don’t say a word. And as for one of my other pet peeves, I’ll leave the subject of runners not having any sort of I.D. on them for another time.
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Running Calendar:
Saturday: Rehoboth Beach ,8 A.M. Last Blast Prediction 5K, 302.644.8952
Sept. 24: Severna Park, 8:15 a.m. Victims Fund Run 5K and 2 M. Walk, 410.222.1740, ext. 3829
Sept. 24: 8 a.m. Washington, Navy 5 Miler, West Potomac Park, 202.685.0896.
Oct. 1: Southern High School, Harwood, Metric Marathon (26.2K, about 16 miles). Call John Gallagher, 301.855.0744
Oct. 1: South River Colony, Edgewater, 9 a.m. Third Annual Jodi Reitz Commemorative 5K . Call Ginny Meerman, 410.798.0124.
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