Marathon Maniacs News Letter – September 2004
Wow! And we all thought August was a great month. September got off to a triumphant start as a Maniac first occurred; both winners of the same race were Maniacs. And what about the huge Maniac turn-out at Skagit Flats? Trail Runs? You guessed it…the Ultra Maniacs are always on the prowl. Please excuse the length of this newsletter…September is a busy month for marathoning, so happy reading! The Maniacs are out of control!
Race Summaries
September 4
Pocatello Marathon: Who would’ve guessed at the pasta dinner held at the Ramada Inn that the Maniacs would be making headlines the day after. It almost happened last month in Silver State (Reno); it is now reality as both of the winners were Maniacs (Chris Warren and Laura Bleakley). Joining them in Idaho’s second largest city for a piece of “Running the Gap” were Maniacs Sue Fauerbach, Bill Mandler, Dennis Spurlock, Mike Wakabayashi, Tony Phillippi, Steven Yee and future maniac Keith Panzer. The founding Maniacs wanted to make a return engagement to this Labor Day weekend classic; last year Pocatello was Steve’s 50th marathon while this year’s race marked Tony’s 50th marathon. While Chris was victorious (2:53:15), it was equally exciting for Tony. Near the end of the race, he was breathing down Chris’ neck and finished just 24 seconds behind, good for second overall. He established a new personal best by 6 minutes, as well as setting a new standard while running in BITE sandals, again. It sounds like a “broken record”! Laura had an equally impressive run (3:17:30), setting a personal best by a whopping 13 minutes. It was her third straight marathon victory! Other age-group winners included Sue (1st), Tony (1st), Mike (1st), Keith (2nd), Bill (3rd) and Steve (3rd).
September 5
Comox Valley Country Roads Marathon: Way up north in the middle of Vancouver Island, British Columbia lies the city of Comox, home of the Country Roads Marathon. Maniac Gregg Walchli finished second overall and Al Harman was fifth overall.
Potsdam Raquette River Marathon: Cathy Troisi placed third in her age group.
New Mexico Marathon:
Marie Bartoletti won her age group.
Newly initiated Maniac David Knapp also
participated.
September 11
McKenzie River Trail Run: For the very first time in its 16-year history, it rained, and rained, and rained during the entire race. But does rain stop Maniac Dude Spellings…of course not! At least he said it wasn't hot!
September 12
Skagit Flats Marathon: The Maniac gathering of the ages…the sea of yellow on the course through the Burlington and Mt. Vernon roads was staggering. All of the Maniac participants hailed from the great Pacific Northwest. From the greater Seattle area, Maniacs Cheri Gillis, Janet Burgess, Sue Fauerbach, Van Phan, Bobbie Howard, Ruben Contreras, Eric Gierke, Mark Looi, Dale Shoup, Kurt Lauer, David Jones, Kendall Kreft, Tony Covarrubias, Tim Lofton, Doug MacLean, Gregg Walchli, Earl Fenstermacher, Tony Phillippi and Chris Warren were present. The Eastern Washington contingent comprised of Gunhild and Jack Swanson, Carol Dellinger, Dennis Spurlock and Mike Wakabayashi. Diana “Slug” Robinson represented northern Washington, Bob and Lenore Dolphin from Central Washington and Marc Frommer was the lone Oregon representative. Count em’…28 Maniacs…what a fantastic turnout! If you want flat and fast, this is the race for you. Gregg can surely attest to that…he was the overall winner. The party didn’t end there. After the race, the majority of the Maniacs headed north to Bob’s Burgers for some much-needed protein and brews while dining Alfresco.
Sydney Marathon: Deo Jaravata (Tell us how this one went Deo!)
September 18
Top of Utah Marathon: Unseasonably warm weather greeted Maniacs Linda Horne, Susan Marshall, Jennifer Yogi, Laura Bleakley, Bill Mandler, Guy Yogi, Steve Supkoff, Chris Warren, Tony Phillippi and Steven Yee at the start of this Utah classic. When the thermostat registers 71 F at 5:00 AM race day, you know you’re in for a battle.
Even with the excessive temperature and high elevation, there were some superlative efforts by the Maniacs. Age group winners of the coveted moose trophies included Jennifer (2nd), Laura (2nd), Chris (3rd), Susan (3rd) and Tony (4th). Guy was elated with his effort, setting a personal best. Great running Guy…the pacer also pats himself on the back! A wonderful time was had by all, from the delicious pasta feed at the Copper Mill, the spectacular scenery of Blacksmith Fork Canyon and post-race bantering while being serviced by masseuses.
Shore to Shore Marathon: Run along the beautiful
shores of scenic Lake Chelan and ending in Manson city park where one can soak
their weary legs and feet were Maniacs Bob
and Lenore Dolphin, Gregg Wachli, Sue Fauerbach, Ted Coulson
and Doug MacLean. Gregg continues to
place very high in the races (2nd overall); all Maniacs gathered
age-group awards.
Cle Elum 50K Trail Run: Barb Bumann, Cheri Gillis, Van Phan, Connie Ridenour, Annie Thiessen, Gunhild and Jack Swanson, Glenn Tachiyama, Kurt Lauer and Chris Marr.
Below is Barb's race report, which also happened to be her very first ultra:
As we were driving to the start early Saturday morning, we approached some mysterious pinpoints of light which turned out to be the early starters, armed with flashlights. It was cold and we debated about wearing tights, ultimately deciding against it. I had on shorts, a long sleeve coolmax shirt, gore-tex shell, gloves and a hat. At the start we saw the Swansons and Connie Ridenour and Cheri and Glenn T, who quickly sprinted ahead of us. The first few miles were pretty uneventful except somebody in front of us must have kicked a wasp's nest and a lot of us got stung, which was no fun! The first half of the race is billed as "challenging," and that's no kidding. There's a lot of climbing. Everyone around us walked a lot of the uphills -- I realize that's pretty common in ultrarunning but still it was kind of a surprise to see it in action. I worried I was taking it *too* easy on the way out but in his notes the race director said you can make up time on the downhills if you've saved your legs.
We made it to the 12-mile aid station in just over three
hours. Chris waited for me there and we took off again pretty quickly, getting
to 15 miles at 3:51. We were running in fog as we neared the aid station but
the sun came out after that and the views were very nice. It clouded up again,
though, as we neared the summit, and it began to *snow*. I admit, when Chris
said, "It's snowing," I was in denial. But believe me, by the time we
reached the top and started to descend a series of steep narrow slippery
switchbacks it was clear that it was snowing. As we got lower, the snow turned
to rain and parts of the trail were very ooky, for want of a better word :-).
The trails are used by motocross motorbikes and they tend to leave the paths
steep sided and with the rain, very slippery. I went down once and was
completely covered with mud on my right side. As I caught up with Chris it was
pretty evident the same thing had happened to him!
Even the return isn't *completely* downhill, as Gunhild pointed out later, but rolling. We had some stream crossings, which were fun. Chris tried to make his way over fallen logs, but I just plunged right in. I mean, how much wetter could I get? Because the miles aren't marked, I was trying to guess where we were by our time. I was *way* off on when I expected to see the second aid station at 21 miles, so that threw me for the rest of the run. (Our time at 21 miles was 5:37.) The next few miles took us through forested terrain which was nice, because the trees blocked a lot of the rain. At 7.5 hours I told CM, "I have about a half-hour of this run/walk left in me, then I'm going to have to walk it in. I hope we're within five miles!" He said he thought we were at around mile 28. So we stopped and shared a Snickers bar and drank some water and ran a few yards and then he spotted a sign and yelled, "Barb! We're at 30 miles!" Boy, did he sound happy!
So then we had renewed energy and continued in to the
finish. At the finish both Gunhild and the race director encouraged us to make
our way to the stream and try to get some of the mud off. Which is exactly what
we did, and then changed into dry clothes before heading back to the pasta feed
at the finish. You know, for a run of that distance I didn't eat much. I had
half a bagel for breakfast, then during the run swallowed two packets of gel,
ate a couple of oatmeal raisin cookies, a piece of banana and half of the
Snickers, which I really didn't need since we turned out to be much closer to
the finish than anticipated. (I eat more than that during a regular workday,
sitting at my computer!) I still wasn't very hungry after the race but managed
to polish off a plate of spaghetti and salad with no trouble. We waited around
for the awards ceremony though I had to go sit in the truck with the heater on
because I was very very cold. They waited until a group of people who'd run all
10 of the Cle Elum runs came in together, just before 5 p.m. At the awards
ceremony the highest age group was 50 and up, so that meant 60-year-old Gunhild
was in my age group, knocking me down to third with her spectacular time of
6:47. The woman is amazing and I've always thought so. So there you have it. I did it -- pushed
back some boundaries and did something
different and kind of fun. But I didn't finish thinking I want to do another
one. I'm content with the marathon distance for a few more years at least :-).
USAF Marathon: John Richeson, Brenton Floyd
Montana Marathon: The long drive from Logan,
Utah to Billings, Montana seemed like a marathon in itself for Laura Bleakley, Chris Warren, Tony Phillippi
and Steven Yee. However, nothing was going to prevent them from
accomplishing back to back marathon finishes, not even the massive herd of
bison blocking one section of road while driving through Yellowstone National
Park! Waiting for them in Billings
were Maniac jet-setters Alicia Britt and
Ruben Contreras to partake in the Montana Marathon. The open expanse of the Montana Range served
as the backdrop for the first half before the streets of Billings came into
view.
For
the women, Alicia was the first master’s finisher and third overall. An added bonus was that this was Alicia’s
first ever visit to the great state of Montana…you just know she’ll be back!
Amazingly, Laura still had enough energy leftover to run well and place third
in her age group. For the men, Ruben
continued his consistent great running, placing first in his age group and 15th
overall. He just missed being the overall master’s winner by 3 seconds. Tony,
wearing his favorite pair of BITE
sandals, placed second in his age group.
Another fine Maniac luncheon after the race…the Texas Roadhouse, where
tender Filet Mignon and Moose Drool were the fare of the day. We even got
Alicia to straddle the Texas Roadhouse saddle!
Maui Marathon: Maniacs David Hipps, Rian Rosenthal, Keith Panzer
all got to run in paradise!
Lewis & Clark Marathon: Marie Bartoletti running her second marathon in two weeks, still
managed to place third in her age group.
September 26
Bozeman Marathon: Maniacs Jack Thornton, Dennis
Spurlock and Mike Wakabayashi
Quad Cities Marathon: Tom Detore and Steve Monk. Steve is proud of his streak of running all
7 renditions of this race, thus qualifying him for lifetime free entry! Why
can't more marathons do this?
Omaha Marathon: Kevin Brosi
Boulder Backroads Marathon: Jack and Gunhild Swanson
From
last month, Gunhild Swanson offers
this race report from the Elkhorn
Endurance Run:
Elkhorn Endurance Runs were held on Saturday, August 28, 2004. They are wonderful, tough, scenic trail ultras, 100 K and 50 K. The race benefits the local Shriners Hospital, and entrants are asked to get pledges / donations in lieu of doing trail work/volunteering that most other ultras require as part of the entry. 30 participants started each race. The race directors Bobbi and Jim Pomroy did a wonderful job, as always. I'm told some of the aid stations are so remote, they pack supplies in with horses and mules, and camp out. At one of them, the guys had a campfire going and cooked salmon. Boy was that a treat. If you wanted a shot of whiskey, they could accommodate you too. My run went well. I finished 3rd female in 14:32:51, 1st and only Super Duper Masters, and 15th out of 28 overall. Pomroys host a really great awards breakfast at their fitness retreat on Sunday morning that is simply not to be missed. A large contingent from the Calgary, AB area attends the races each year. Gord Hobbins, owner of Gord's Store, a running/fitness store in Calgary, shows up loaded with great drawing prizes, such as Ultimate hand bottles, waist packs, Gnass gear bags, shirts, duffel bag, heart rate monitor, time / distance watch, etc. I wonder how he gets all that stuff across the border? He's definitely owed a huge thanks. Many others were generous with their time and other support. 10-year finishers of the 100 K are awarded a large wooden rocking chair, and there were 4 lucky recipients this year. For a run on the wild side, I highly recommend it.
Meet the Press
Ø
Cathy Troisi: Mentioned several times in
the latest issue of Marathon and Beyond.
Ø
Bob Dolphin: Catch his latest interview
in Fall 2004 issue of RaceCenter Northwest.
Ø
Press release from
marathonguide.com (Pocatello Marathon):
Idaho State Journal Pocatello Marathon - Sep 4 - Pocatello, ID
The Pocatello Marathon was a victory for the Marathon Maniacs, as team members
finished atop the men's and women's fields and also gained the second spot in
the men's race. After giving early chase to a leading runner who faded, Chris
Warren of Renton WA soldiered on alone to the finish in 2:53:15, almost getting
caught by teammate Tony Phillippi of Tacoma WA who finished in 2:53:39.
Warren's win was a follow-up to his second place finish at the Silver State
Marathon two weeks prior. And for Phillippi this was a PR by nearly six minutes
and continued his streak of running and completing marathons wearing sandals -
Bite Sandals. In the women's race,
Laura Bleakley of Vacaville CA made it three wins in a row as she set a new PR
of 3:17:30 and added the victory to wins at the Crater Lake and Silver State
Marathons.
Ø
Idaho
State Journal (Pocatello Marathon)
http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2004/09/05/sports/sports02.txt
Noteworthy Accomplishments:
Ø Iridium Maniac: By completing 6 marathons in 6 weeks (Crater Lake, Grizzly, Mesa Falls, Pocatello, Skagit Flats and Shore to Shore), Sue Fauerbach has made the quantum leap to Iridium Status (4 stars). Nice running Sue!
Ø More Iridium: By completing 9 states in 9 months, Steve Supkoff also made the jump to Iridium status. I think Steve has definitely caught the marathon travel bug!
Ø Belated Golden Guy: Maniac Doug MacLean progressed to gold level, by virtue of completing 4 marathons in 4 separate states/countries (BC, Wa, Id, Mn).
Ø Back to back Boston Qualifiers: A Maniac first…Tony Phillippi and Laura Bleakley both ran the Top of Utah and Montana Marathon double quick enough to qualify for Boston in both races. Awesome!
Ø Milestone Mark: UltraManiac Glenn Tachiyama…150 marathons/ultras!!
Ø
Thanks again to John Elliot for his valuable time and
effort for linking marathonmaniacs.com with marathonguide.com, and establishing
the race spreadsheet and bulletin board options.
****Please note: While we are trying our best to stay up to date with all of our members and all of the races they run, unfortunately we may have missed some of you. If we did, it wasn’t intentional!!! To make sure we get all your races and that you get recognition on the website marquee as well as the monthly newsletter, we are asking you to send us an e-mail each time you run a marathon. Thank you for your help in making this a great marathon club!
New Members for the Month of September
9/06 - David Knapp (Colorado)
9/06 – Sean Meissner (Oregon)
9/10 – Keith Panzer (Colorado)
9/11 – Kevin Brosi (Texas)
9/21 - Susan Bell (Texas)
9/27 - David Dassey (California)
UPCOMING MANIACS at the RACES
10/2 – St. George (Bill Mandler, Ted Coulson, Doug MacLean, Linda Horne, Steve Monk)
New Hampshire (J. Ellis, Paul Hargrave, Roger Biggs)
Baker Lake 50K (Diana
Robinson, Glenn Tachiyama, Cheri Gillis, Tim Lofton)
Capitol Peak 50K (Van Phan,
Tony Phillippi)
10/3 – Portland
(Marc Frommer, Chris Warren, Ruben Contreras, Van Phan, Mike Shiach,
Gunhild and Jack Swanson, Mike
Wakabayashi, Greg Walchli, Cyndie Merten,
Alicia Britt, Roger Biggs)
Twin Cities (Meghan Arbogast, Marie Bartoletti, Steve Supkoff, Bruce Katter)
Sportshoe Center Maine (J. Ellis, Keith Panzer)
10/7-10/9 – Tahoe Triple: 3 marathons in 3 days! (Annie Thiessen, Cathy Troisi, Bobbie
Howard, Laura Bleakley,
Sean Meissner, Tom Detore, Chris Warren, Tony Phillippi,
Steven Yee)
Les Wright, the race director has opened the entry back up; it is going to cap at 125
entrants, so if you’re even remotely pursuing the option of participating, by all means
e-mail him…you might hit the jackpot. Don’t think about it…Just Do It!!!
10/9 – Lake Tahoe (Sue Fauerbach)
Hartford (Kevin Brosi, Roger Biggs)
10/10 - Bizz Johnson
Trail (Anne Thiessen, Bobbie Howard,
Sean Meissner, Gunhild and
Jack Swanson, Tom Detore, Chris Warren, Tony Phillippi, Steven Yee, Sue
Fauerbach,)
Chicago (Michael Brisbois, Janet Burgess)
Just Around the “Bend” (David Hipps, Maura Schwartz)
Long Beach International (Gregg
Wachli, David Dassey)
Mt. Rushmore (Deo Jaravata, Keith Panzer)
Royal Victoria (Susan Marshall, Jennifer and Guy Yogi, Eric Gierke, Kurt Lauer,
Ruben Contreras, Earl Fenstermacher, Mark Looi, Al Harman)
10/16 - Baltimore (Stan Neumann, John Richeson)
Indianapolis (Janet Burgess)
10/17 - Des Moines (Marie Bartoletti, Tom Detore, Cyndie
Merten, Keith Panzer)
Spokane (Sue Fauerbach, Lisa Stranc-Bliss, Gunhild and Jack Swanson, Gregg
Walchli, Mike Wakabayashi, Dennis Spurlock, Chris Warren, Tony Phillippi,
Steven Yee
10/23 - Halloween (Alicia Britt, Gregg Walchli, Chris Warren,
Tony Phillippi, Steven Yee
Whiskeytown 50K (Sean
Meissner)
10/24 - Detroit Free Press (John Elliot, Ibra Morales, Keith Panzer, Steve Supkoff)
Mystic Places (Bob and Lenore Dolphin)
Nike 26.2 (Terry Watanabe)
Sisters Poker Run 36 miler (Maura Schwartz, Sean Meissner)
10/30 - Javelina Jundred 100 (Lisa Stranc-Bliss, Cheri Gillis, Gunhild
Swanson)
10/31 - Grand Rapids
(Tom Detore, John Richeson)
Marine Corps (Marie
Bartoletti, Kevin Brosi, Ruben Contreras, Steve Monk, Stan
Neumann, Bob and Lenore Dolphin, Keith Panzer, Mike Shiach
Tri Cities (Marc Frommer,
Kurt Lauer, Tim Lofton, Susan Marshall, Jennifer and
Guy Yogi, Diana Robinson, Jack
Swanson, Mike Wakabayashi, Chris Warren,
Tony Phillippi, Steven Yee)
12/04 – Reggae (Jamaica) (Nelsen Petersen) Join Nelsen from Destination Marathon for this
exciting 5-day, 4-night winter adventure. For more information, go to the maniac website,
and under maniac links go to Destination Marathon. The information can be found under
the heading “Video Journeys”. But don’t delay…there are only 12 spots available!
In an attempt to make the Marathon Maniacs one of the best and unique running clubs out there, we want to hear how we’re doing. You as members know what you want and what you don’t want, so don’t hesitate to let us know. We can’t guarantee that we can accommodate every request, but we’ll do the best we can.
If you have a desire to share your race experience with the rest of the Maniacs, feel free to write up a race report, submit it to us and we’ll post it in the monthly newsletter. This is a good way to get the info you want into the letter and not just what we might write.
Maniac Discounts
· $5 off
marathons put on by Bob Green
· 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)
End of the
Year Maniac Awards
That’s right Maniacs, we still plan to have “End of the Year” Maniac Awards. The founding Maniacs are still working out some of the details, but look in the website to see what we've come up with!
More to come in the October Newsletter and to the web site soon.
The President has written…