Roselle: Going the Distance, And Then Some

I had just started my "move" in the Roselle 5K on Sunday as we approached a right turn about 1.4 miles into the course. Then I saw runners coming from the opposite direction, and I thought "uh-oh" as I realized quite a few runners had missed the turn, gone a block or two out of their way, turned around and were rejoining the course. While an arrow clearly marked the turn on the pavement, there was no course marshal at this key spot on the course. Apparently, the top runners (20 to 30 from what I'm told) thought a police car blocking traffic two blocks past the correct turn was where they were supposed to be headed. Ouch! Some of CARA's finest runners, who were really running well, were screwed. Some finished after running the extra distance. Some bagged it, not finishing at all or jogging in. If you look at some of the big names who did finish, in many cases, they have at least 45 seconds to a minute of extra running time. What a shame. What a mess. In my own age group, Sam Cortes said he was really running fast. He isn't in the results. The race director did apologize twice and urged affected runners to call him and "they would be taken care of." I'm not sure what that means. I wonder what will be done if anything. Runners should know the course, but in this case, the police car apparently made for some super confusion up front. For the record, Steve Bach, 21, of Bloomingdale got the win in 17:40.7, while Lindsay Flanagan, 17, of Roselle, fresh off a runner-up finish in the state 3,200 for lake Park HS, won the women's competition in 18:10.
Photo: Elmhurst RC swept the women's 45-49 as Lori Dunn (left) took third in 20:30.5, Christine Lipa (center) won in 19:44.5 and Kristy Howland (right)took second in 20:09.4. My race went well. In my final tuneup for the Madison-Chicago Relay, I ran 20:13.4. Nothing to write home about, but it was my best 5K of the year.