Marathon Maniacs News Letter – January / February 2007

January Highlights

· 15 new members for the month of January (461 total members)

· Congratulations to marathonguide.com Outstanding Marathoners of the year (2006) Amy Yanni, Jennifer Yogi, Van "pigtails Phan, Mary "mph" Hanna, Gayle Zorrilla, Chuck "Marathon Junkie" Engle, Dane Rauschenberg, Gregg Walchli and Terry Sentinella

· Congratulations to Gene Jochen with his first ever sub 3 hour marathon

· Congratulations to Amy Yanni for wining the Museum of Aviation Foundation Marathon

Coconut Boy…Married in Grand Maniac Fashion Gene Jochen at Rock and Roll Arizona

*****IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT*****

If you find a discrepancy or are missing any information that should be in the scorecard (number of marathons/ultras, total count and states/countries/provinces run, please contact Marc (maniac #9 at marc@marathonmaniacs.com). Or you can e-mail Chris or Steve. They will be more than happy to make the corrections. Also, if it's your Maniac anniversary date, please help Main Maniac out by renewing your membership. Dues collected help pay for website fees and maintenance, cat food, purchasing of additional Maniac wear and…future surprises. Keep your Maniac Seniority Number!

And please contact Tony only if it involves website stuff. He is working full time in trying to make the Parker Paint Tacoma City Marathon a huge success. In fact if you're not doing anything special on Mother's Day, why not drop on by and either run or volunteer for the Tacoma City Marathon. YOU CAN DO IT!

The Marathon Maniacs…at the Races

January 1

Texas Marathon: Ron Knecht, David Nemoto, Wayne Wright

January 4

Tiberias International Marathon (Israel): Russ Johnson

Russ Johnson at the Tiberias Marathon Amy Yanni and Steve Supkoff at the Museum of Aviation Marathon

January 6

Bas Ass 50km: Sean Meissner

Frosty 50km: Art Jacobsen

Fat Ass 50km: Laura Bleakley, Chris Wile

Western Washington Fat Ass 50km: Eric Barnes, Steve Barrick, Christel Elliot, Robert Hester, Shawn Lawson, Maniac #200, King Arthur Martineau, Van "pigtails" Phan, Cheri Pompeo, Sam Thonpson, Karen "Sushi" Wiggins

Western Washington Fat-Assers Shawn Lawson, Maniac #200, Robert Hester, Eric Barnes and Van "Pigtails" Phan

January 7

Disney World Marathon: Tim Chesko, Frank Colella, Tim Collins, Lauri "The Kid" Fauerbach Adams, Jeff Giles, Robert Habisreitinger, Larry Herman, Harry Hoffman, Chester Kalb, Tom Karpowich, Rick Korecki, Josh Leibman, Robert "srlopez" Lopez, Dana "Puddles" McBride, Little Leslie Miller,

David Nemoto, Thomas "T.O. " Okazaki, Aaron Patel, Jeff Veneble

OC Marathon: Brad Bleiweis, Andre Boulais, Diva Burns, Benjamin Chan, Eddie Hahn, Claude Hicks, Jr., Ed Indvik, Deo Jaravata, Dana Mosell, Monte Pascual, David Reid, Jeffrey Roger, Barefoot Ken Bob Saxton, Charles Sayles

January 13

Avalon Benefit 50 Mile Run: Jessica Deline, Sean Meissner, Natalia Norman

Bridle Trails 50km: Bill "HotRod" Barmore, Shelleena Bunker, Tony (*tc) Covarrubias, Christel Elliot, Al Harman, Robert Jacobsen, Shawn Lawson, Maniac #200, King Arthur Martineau, Kate Merrill, Dave Miller, Monte Pascual, Brian Pendleton, Van "pigtails" Phan, Seng-Lai Tan, Joseph Tomkins, Karen "Sushi" Wiggins, Guy Yogi

Mississippi Marathon: Kevin Brosi, Janet Burgess, Dick Franklin, Ron Knecht, Craig MacBean, David Malone, Sam Thompson, Darwin "runninguy" Weimer

Museum of Aviation Foundation Marathon: David Hunt, Todd King, Jeffrey Roger, Steve Supkoff, Ron Westbury, Amy Yanni

January 14

First Light Marathon: Scott Allen, Janet Burgess, Art Jacobsen, Phil Min, Steve Supkoff, Darwin"runninguy" Weimer, Keith Whited

Houston Marathon: Jim Baudhuin, Dave Bell, Cowboy Jeff Bishton, Philip DeYoung, Claude Hicks, Jr., Robert "srlopez" Lopez, Cheryl Murdock, David Nemoto, Thomas "T.O." Okazaki, Charles Sayles, Michael Shilling, Adrienne Stipe, Tom Timbol, Jon Walk

Redding Marathon: Ed Walsh. The press release from marathonguide.com. Hal Koerner, 30 of Ashland OR, was the winner of the Redding Marathon in 2:45:37. Atypical of most marathons, women took the second and third overall positions. Beverley Abbs, 42 of Red Bluff CA and the overall winner of the Redding Marathon in 2002 and 2004, took the second spot overall and the honors as first female finisher, completing the course in 2:55:27. Erinn Gulbrandsen, 26 of Chico CA, was third overall and second female in 3:07:05. Alan Abbs, 37 of Red Bluff CA, was fourth overall and second male finisher in 3:07:43. Eric Jensen, 42 of Athena OR, was fifth overall and third male finisher in 3:12:19.

Zoom YaYa Indoor Marathon: Don Pattison, Dick Vogt

Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon: Andre Boulais, Robert Britain, Jim Collins, Ruben Contreras, Rob Cowan, Stephanie Day, Dick Decker, Bob English, Shaun Hamill, Mary "mph" Hanna, Larry Herman, Gene Jochen, Chester Kalb, Phil Kriss, David MacBean, Jerry Nairn, Fritz Pieper, Bill Powers, Tom Rogers, Quicksilver - Runner, Dale Shoup, David Stout, Steve Walters, Wayne Wright

Cowboy Jeff Bishton and David Nemoto Gene Jochen Dr. Ashis Roy at the Mumbai Marathon

The Rock and Roll Arizona, according to Maniac Dale Shoup:

The temperature dropped last night from being unseasonably cold for Phoenix to very cold for Phoenix; in fact it was the coldest it has been since 1990.
My thermometer read 26 at 5:00 am when I got up, so I decided it would be wise to wear a long sleeve shirt under my MM singlet, plus gloves and a hat.
It was a very dry cold unlike western Wash or Oregon so I was comfortable for the whole race and only had to take off my gloves at about mile 15.

I tried to start slow and did to some extent, but my mile splits hovered in the low 8's till mile 7. I was still ahead of the 3:30 pace group but that quickly changed. At 10K the leader must have put the hammer down plus I figured I needed to slow down. At about this point I ran briefly with Phil Kriss from Dick Decker's Cedar River group, who I met last night at a get-together and who recently became a MM, but I decided that I needed to slow down and let him go ahead. Next came the 3:40 pace group and I tried to stay with them, but I was already feeling the effects of starting too fast. I figured with the level of my recent training I would be lucky to get 3:45. My HR had earlier gone up to 145 and was now back to the more sustainable 130's. I was then joined by another new MM, David MacBean from Colorado. I ran with him for about a mile or two until I stopped briefly to talk to my wife, Cher, and her sister, Rowene, who were waiting between mile 13 and 14.

I slowed down a bit more. I succeeded in slowing down too well. It wasn't too long before the 3:45 pace group passed me. I tried to stay with them but I eventually lost sight of them too. I felt like road kill, but decided it was too soon to push my pace. By mile 20 my mile split had fallen off to 9:18. I was recharged by my Cliff Shot at mile 19 and the desire starting at mile 20 to run a sub 55 minute 10K and finish in 3:45. I started passing runners instead of being passed. I tried to keep my enthusiasm up but my splits indicated otherwise. Mile 21 and 26 were both sub 9:00 but the ones between were closer to 9:15. At least I was passing more runners than were passing me. I felt good at the finish and thought I had a better run than last year; however I was about 4-1/2 min slower. Last year I had hints of knee pain during the race and I got bursitis in my knee shortly afterwards. Hopefully I am not jinxed by RnR AZ and suffer the same fate again!

The only pain I felt other than sore muscles was a pain in my left ankle that developed fairly early in the race. It had me worried for a moment until I noticed the road camber was excessive and I had been running on the right side of the road which is opposite to my usual runs on the left side. I moved to the center or the left side and the pain went away. I saw Dick Decker and Mary Hanna the night before at our get-together but they were way ahead of me and I never saw them even after the race. They both had good races in fact they each got 1st in their AG, but I'll let them share their details.

January 20

Capitol Peak Fat Ass 34 miler: Eric Barnes, Tony (*tc) Covarrubias, Christel Elliot, Shawn Lawson, Pete "Hippo" Nicholson, Van "pigtails" Phan, Maniac #3 tp!, Maniac #200, Karen "Sushi" Wiggins

Diamond Valley Lake Challenge: Jon "Coconutboy" Mahoney, Gregg Walchli

Orlando Xtreme Marathon: Corrinne Austerman, Jeff Giles, Harry Hoffman, Angela Ivory, Rick Korecki

January 21

Mumbai Marathon:A brief race summary from Russ Johnson. We ran the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on 21 January. Maniac 339 Dr. Ashis Roy was the oldest runner in the Marathon and is quite a "rock star" in India. All along the route people were shouting his name, and we had a police motorcycle escort (see photo). At the finish he was surrounded by the press. The race itself was hard-- very hot, humid, no wind and no shade, especially the last 10k, by that time it was midday and the heat was intense. It was quite a memorable race.

The Mumbai Marathon: Ashis Roy and Russ Johnson Motorcycle escort for Dr. Roy

San Diego Marathon: Brad Bleiweis, Andre Boulais, Diva Burns, Eddie Hahn, Ed Indvik, Robert Jacobsen, Deo Jaravata, Robert "srlopez" Lopez, Jon "Coconutboy" Mahoney, Cyndie Merten, Dana Mosell, David, Reid, Quicksilver - Runner, Marilou Russell. Race report via Marc Frommer

Just a quick (yeah, right) report from beautiful Oceanside (public library). My time in the race was 3:46:42 (17 AG), a bit of a disappointment, though my
time was expected. I think I wrote that I thought that I would be in the 3:45 range but I was hoping (and started out) for 3:35'ish. My time turned out not to even be a 2008 BQ, which I don't need since I already have one from Portland (3:37:xx) but it would have been nice. The race started in typical perfect conditions (mid-40s, no clouds, very little wind) and just got better. It was maybe a tad warm at the end (around 60) but the headwind that you always get over miles 18-24 wasn't that bad. I was on pace over the first half (1:48) but around mile 14 I got the pain in my left side that I have been getting on my long runs (it feels like a stitch but I'm not sure). That slowed me up into the 8:40/mile range and around mile 18 (where we turn around and head back north) I went into the 9:00+ range. I just couldn't turnover my legs fast enough. It was funny (in a weird sense) since I thought I was increasing the effort but my times kept on going up. Even the last couple of miles, which are downhill, were pretty slow (the last 10K took 58 minutes).

I met Mary's sister at the expo and before the race -- I would have been able to pick her out since she looks a lot like Mary. Also lots of Maniacs on the course. While I don't consider this a fast course, I still love running it. This is my 5th year and I'm sure I'll be back next year, assuming they still hold the race. The 1/2 marathon is overwhelming the full (the 1/2 sold out) and I'm concerned they could drop the full. There are a lot of other marathons in the area this time
of year. According to their website the race is on for 2008 (Jan 20).

This was my slowest time here:
2002 - 3:25:58, 2004 - 3:44:21, 2005 - 3:28:53, 2006 - 3:35:32
While my time was similar to 2004, I have a feeling (I'll have to go back and look at my splits) that I ran a pretty even race in 2004. Except for 2002, I have never pushed or had a time goal here. As I was telling Jenny Teppo at the ORRC race a couple of weeks ago, I have slowed up big time. She asked if it was mentally hard and I guess the answer is yes. While some slowing is expected, the huge dropoff that I have had is disappointing. I am still hoping to try to run around 3:30
at Newport but we shall see. I'm not quite as optimistic about that as I was. And, it is a good thing that I'm turning 55 later this year -- I definitely need those extra 10 minutes for Boston.

January 27

Paint Creek 50km: Jeff Giles

January 28

Miami Tropical Marathon: Dave Bell, Robert Britain, Tim Collins, Hope Fox, Christie Hayes, Harry Hoffman, Chester Kalb, Tom Karpowich, Rick Korecki, Josh Leibman, Blaine Phillips, Emma Riconda, Anne Scarazzo, Ron Westbury, Keith Whited

Noteworthy Accomplishments / Promotions / Omissions / Maniac Stuff:

Ø Iridium (4 star) Maniac: Jeffrey Roger (4 marathons in 22 days), Todd King (9 marathons in 9 states in one year), Monte Pascual (4 marathons in 4 weeks)

Ø Gold Maniac (3 star): Jeff Giles ( 4 marathons in 28 days), Steve "marathonfreak" Walters (12 marathons in 12 months)

Ø Silver Maniacs (2 star): Andre Boulais (3 marathons in 14 days)

Ø 150 marathon mark: Dave Bell (Houston Marathon)

New Members for the Month of January

1/02 - Sally "Darby Chick" #447 (Bellevue, Washington): Welcome to the first new member to join in 2007, the "Darby Chick" is a Bronze Maniac by having run 3 marathons (Portland, Seattle and Last Chance) in 3 months.

1/03 - Darrell Dorsey #448 (Kansas City, Kansas): For the past two years, injuries and "life" has prevented Darrell from participating in marathons, which is why he feels that 2007 is his lucky year and will be back with a vengeance. So flashback to 2003 and 2004, where he had 2 streaks of 3 marathons in 2 months, thus qualifying Darrell for Bronze Maniac status.

1/03 - Michele Smith-Harden #449 (Norfolk, Virginia): Michele has completed marathons in 23 states (31 total) and has met several Marathon Maniacs in her travels. Her best streak is having run 8 marathons in one year, thus making her a 2 star Silver Maniac.

1/03 - Deborah "Cheese Dawg" Wilding #450 (Salem, Oregon): Belonging to a group called the "Running Dawgs", "Cheese Dawg" has completed 31 marathons. Back in 2003 she completed her best streak by running in 8 marathons. This makes her a 2 star Silver Maniac.

1/04 - Jeffrey Roger #451 (Bainbridge Island, Washington): Unfortunately the recent storm in the Pacific Northwest denied Jeffrey the opportunity to run on Dec 17, thus denying him the chance to go for Iridium. He still qualifies as a Bronze Maniac by virtue of running the Christmas and Last Chance Marathons within 9 days of each other. He's probably soaking up some sun on a beach right now in Borneo or climbing Mt. Kinabalu.

Jeffrey (451) Roger Karl (459) Rystad

1/06 - Terri Ann Vandeventer #452 (Tulsa, Oklahoma): Teri has been running for a little over a year and a half and already she has qualified for Bronze Maniac status. Her best streak happened a few months ago with the completion of 3 marathons (Route 66, Dallas White Rock and Run for the Ranch) in 6 weeks. Congratulations Terri…what a great way to start off your running career!

1/06 - Samantha Green #453 (Overland Park, Kansas): It great news when word gets out about the Maniacs as she got the reviews from her Maniac friends Trent Rosenbloom, Jeff Venable and the one and only Marathon Junkie. She has met the Bronze Maniac criteria by having completed 3 marathons (Kansas City, Harpeth Hills and Run for the Ranch) within the 90-day period.

1/10 - Phil Min #454 (Mount Olive, Alabama): Phil's best line…I knew I had a condition, but I never dreamed I might be a Maniac! Well Phil, completing 4 marathons in 29 days is totally Maniacal, as good as Gold! Phil has a total of 43 lifetime marathon completions.

1/15 - Gayle Boulais #455 (Irvine, California): A warm welcome to the latest addition of the husband and wife Maniac teams, Gayle is the wife of Maniac #124 Andre Boulais. OK, so she's only 331 spots behind him but better late than never! Her Bronze qualifier was running 3 marathons (Seattle, Disney World and Rock and Roll Arizona) in 3 months, or 2 in 2 weeks.

1/15 - Steve Grady #456 (Lewisville, Texas): Steve's first marathon was the Dallas White Rock back in 2002 and since that big day has run 19 more. He has met the 3 in 3 month criteria many times and is a Bronze Maniac.

1/15 - Kim "Goofy Gal" Danahy #457 (Grapevine, Texas): Doing the "Texas Two-step" with our previous new member also hailing from the Lone Star State, Kim recently qualified for Bronze Maniacdom by completing the Route 66, Dallas White Rock and Disney World Marathons. Her favorite quote comes from Eleanor Roosevelt…"You gain strength, confidence and courage by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face."

1/16 - Kevin Carrothers #458 (Sammamish, Washington): Kevin is also a Bronze Maniac by having run the Detroit, Memphis and Rock and Roll Marathon within a 3-month period. His favorite quote…Its better to understand than to be understood.

1/17 - Karl Rystad #459 (Moore, Oklahoma): Karl's best Maniac streak was just recently when he finished the Royal Victoria, Marine Corps and the OC Marathons within a 90-day span, thus qualifying him as a Bronze Maniac. He has 9 lifetime marathon completions in 5 states, DC and British Columbia.

1/18 - Claude Hicks, Jr #460 (Fort Worth, Texas): Claude went hard core in 2006, having completed 20 marathons which earned him the coveted 6-star Osmium (16 states in one year) label in the Insane Asylum. He has completed 43 marathons to date and is planning to be at Yakima this year for the Maniac Reunion.

1/30 - Lora Eklund #461 (Phoenix, Arizona): Lora is another travelling marathoner, having run in 28 states for her 31 total marathons completed. Quite busy with 14 marathons in 2006, she reached her zenith this past October by running marathons on back to back days (Greater Hartford and Baystate), thus giving her the 4-star Iridium treatment in the Insane Asylum.

Rhetorical Revelations and W(Rites)…from the Rambunctious Rev

Hiya Steve, Howdy Sidekick #2, and When Are You Coming East, #3,

I haven’t seen you fellows in too long. I miss ya. I miss running too: seven weeks now …bum foot. That sort of thing makes a MiniManiac into just a Mini, you know? I’m looking back over 2006, and I’ve got a few marathon memories. The lowest? Yee, golleee, I’ll never, ever forget your hobbling in Tampa to a faster time than my own PR. Man, that got me…why, I coulda…“to the moon, Alice….”. You need to enjoy more ice cream. I hear the chocolate out there is wonderful.

But I feel pretty lucky. You see, it was just in 2004 when, in Miami, which is about as far away from your Washington State as an the land gets, some unknown silver-haired gent jogged along side me and told me about a group of which he was not even a member: www.marathonmaniacs.com. He thought I might be interested. Three years later? I’ve met a corrals’ worth of as pleasant a group of people as I’ve met in my 51 years.

There’s that tall happy fellow you hang around with, the one with the never-ending smile and now-I’ve-got-you-smiling-too greetings. And the lean, thoughtful brother-friend who alternates between maniac marathoning and triathlons. There’s the steadiest lady runner in the 5 hour crowd who reassures me that there is a quiet serenity in, or out, of all of this. And I love that beaming, funny, brilliant, speedy, comeback woman sprinter-of-the-year, if you can call a marathon expert a sprinter, who can spin a story better than the best of them. There’s a Floridian who has become as good a friend as I’ve got, a fellow whom, if he takes a liking to ya, figures out ways to share all he has with you. Indeed, his clever and insightful humor is exceeded only by the certainty of his concern.

Speaking of knowing how to be friends, I’ve met certainly the two happiest, genuinely best-friends-forever, girl-next-door reliable, and simply plain-old fun companions there may be in the country up there in your great Northwest. I’ve met another fellow who lives out a quiet and enormous compassion few anywhere have ever even seen, let alone could match, and even fewer will ever know about, because, well, because that’s the way it is to him, that’s all.

I met a fellow who knew he needed a break from the routine, and re-arranged the calendar for a year to rediscover life by way of some 52 weekend jogs all across the country. I met thee single friendliest silver-haired lady, a bundle of energy who creates one of those mythical-made-real, altogether reassuring conversations, the kind that communicates “I’ve met you, so now we’re family!”

I don’t know many champion athletes personally, Mr. President, but you’ve got one young, incredible legend who turned the tables on me and made me feel that any talk of respect, really, would be his for me. I met a couple who not only forgave me some pretty unnerving tardiness, but flipped it all around and opened up their home, and their hearts, to me. More than a few others, who otherwise would appear to have been complete strangers, shook my hand, shared a laugh, sometimes a hug, and wished me well until we would, we must, surely see one another at a run again.

All of these folks, Mr. Yee, are just a few from the group you three have pulled together and decked out in yellow singlets. There is no chance that this Eastern seaboard fellow with absolutely no talent for this dastardly sport would otherwise have gotten to meet these wonderful people in so short a time. The special ones, Prez, they care more about others than they do about themselves, don’t they? Thanks for finding them. And Thank You, Sir…for being so very, very contagious.

I Love Ya,

Rev dgkienz@yahoo.com

Maniac Ongoing Discounts

· $10 off marathons put on by Bob Green (his next one is the Valentine Marathon).

· 15% off shoes, apparel at the Balanced Athlete (Kent, Wa); ask for Eric

· 10% off any running shoes, apparel at the Bellevue, Wa Foot Zone store (ask for Jenny)

· discount on BITE sandals (contact Tony at tony@marathonmaniacs.com for details)

More to come in the February / March 2007 Newsletter and to the web site soon.

The President has written…