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Running: D.C. races runneth over
By Joe Shafran, For The Capital
I’ll tell you where my out-of-town running instincts went last Sunday morning -- right down the tubes.
But on the other hand, with that said, I can more easily tell you that Sunday morning church attendance on my running routes in Annapolis is booming. And this is how I know. I had full intentions of driving into Washington and at least watching the runners in the 20th Army Ten Miler this past Sunday morning. But when I looked out at about 6 o’clock and saw that it was wet, I made the command decision to forego the trip and instead decided to do my own personal ten miler around town seeing the spectacular colors of the leaves instead of the spectacular monuments in downtown Washington. I ran my quiet running route in what used to be called Garden Farms, above the Rowe Blvd., Route 50 interchange, heading to the Severn River. It wasn’t a full ten miles. This particular route takes me three and a half miles out and three and a half miles back.
To salve my soul, the route takes me through or past the parking lots of several houses of worship. There’s St. Phillips and the Holy Temple Cathedral on Bestgate Rd., the Unitarian Universalist in the woods off Bestgate Rd., Weems Creek Baptist, and the Evangelical Presbyterian at Ridgely and N. Bestgate, and on the way back, past St. Paul Neumann Mission of St. Mary’s off Bestgate and not to slight anyone, there’s Kol Ami synagogue on Severn Grove where they have Friday night and Saturday morning services. Other than at Kol Ami, I have to tell you that each of the parking lots were jammed to overflowing. I didn’t see one soul in the parking lots, so everyone must have been inside praying. That ten miler is another example of how running is also booming on Sundays. Something like 13,000 runners were registered. Twenty years ago they were lucky to get a thousand. From the start-line pictures, right around the Pentagon, you wouldn’t be able to distinguish between the Army Ten or the Marine Corps Marathon, also at the Pentagon this Sunday. Bumper to bumper runners. I never did run the ten miler because it conflicted with my running the Marine Marathon, usually a week or two later. But, the Army website does mention each of the previous 19 races and there was a bit of nostalgia . Among the winners of those early races were familiar area names like Darrel General and Jim Hage. They were twenty-something youngsters then and they were the winners in well less than an hour Sunday, a National Guard Captain named Brown from Oregon won it in 47:29. Darrel General is from nearby Prince George’s County and still running and so is Jim Hage from Montgomery County, Maryland who is still among the top finishers twenty years later. Darrel told me not long ago, that he still aspires to the Olympics, and in 2008 will attempt to qualify. I think of Darrell when I think of Roger Clemens, who at 43, defied the experts and led Houston into the baseball playoffs. If you look further on the Army web site, there’s the name of Rose Maloy of this area, who was the first female in the 1994 Army and ran it in 1:02:36, and if you looked at this column a month ago, you’ll still see Rose’s name as a finisher in some of the local races. Oddly, a year later, in 1995, the overall female winner in the Army was a Susan Malloy, different spelling, in a record setting 56:30. And one final note about Washington and my reluctance to go on Sunday. While it isn’t a difficult drive to D.C. I had been there last Saturday , invited to the White House to check on our first runner, George W. Bush who was long gone from Washington on Saturday, I’ve told you that, in the past few months, he’s had a leg problem and has been less on the running track and more into heavy-duty bike riding. But, I tell you the track is still good to go, despite its lack of use. And speaking of White House occupants , you may have seen a slimmed down Bill Clinton talking with Diane on Good Morning America, this past Monday, talking politics, of course, but Bill did not let the interview end without reminding that he loves running and will get back to it once the election is over and if Hillary doesn’t raise a stink.
You know that from time to time I report on the unusual things I see on my continuing search for good running routes around this area. On my way to see the new trail at Odenton, I see a hand lettered sign attached to a utility pole at the very busy intersection of Md. 175 and Piney Orchard Parkway with the question, "Fat Enough Yet ?" on it. I snapped a picture of it at the exact time a truck hauling a load of Twinkies, Fried Pies and Ho Ho’s was passing by. I had heard that Anne Arundel County has recently opened a new running, hiking, biking trail, in the Piney Orchard area and I wanted to see it. Please go to www.friendsofaatrails.org for more information. They say a map of the new trail is forthcoming.
In the Baltimore Running Festival on the 16th, as expected, most of the winners in the full and half marathons were from foreign lands and collected most of the $100,000 purse. However, in 8th place for the women in the half marathon, was Clare Saxton, 27, of Annapolis in 1:3031 who ran out of the money but finished in nice time. A woman from Morocco was first woman in the half in 1:03:45. And in the very popular marathon relay that had many late-entering teams on stand-by, the Terp Runners Red won it in 2:34:59. I had talked with this bunch after the Bay Bridge run at Sandy Point State Park in the spring and they warned then they were going to mop up the courses around here and Baltimore. Their female counterparts are called Terp Runners White.
Running Calendar:
Sat. Oct .30, 9 A.M., Ocean City, Md., Seaside 10 mile and 5K runs. 5K is entirely on the boardwalk. 410-250-0125.
Sun. Oct. 31, 9 A.M., Annual Key School 5K/10K Run and One Mile Fun Run,
sponsored by the Key School Parents Association, 534 Hillsmere. Dr. Call Sara Taylor at 410-295-5082.
Sat. Nov. 5, Pasadena, 8:05/8:20/8:30 A.M. Downs Park, Fun Run/Tot Trot/5 Miler. Collaborative effort of the Annapolis Striders and the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks. Don Higdon, 410-266-0561 or Mike Busch, 410-222-7350
Sun. Nov.7, 8:15 A.M. B&A Trail, Severna Park, 7th Annual Victims Fund Run(5K)and 2 Mile Walk. Emphasis on the words "Victims Fund", please. Call 410- 222-1740, Ext. 3829
Sat. Nov. 13, 5:45 P.M, Sandy Point State Park. Dashing Through the Show, Run After Dark and See the Lights at Lights on the Bay. Annapolis Striders and Anne Arundel Medical Center. Call 410-268-1165
Sunday Nov.13th. Surprise… the Arthritis Foundation’s Jingle Bell run, snowed out last year at Marley Station will do it a month early this year in the A.M. Evan Thomas is the jovial volunteer director and makes everyone wear red noses, deer horns and goodness knows what else. Call 410-544-5433.
Wed. Nov. 24th, Anne Arundel Community College. Turkey Trot 5K and 1 mile run.
Switched from the usual Tuesday before Thanksgiving to the day before the holiday.In the A.M.Call 410-777-7259.
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