Sunday, July 6, 2008

Good Vibrations from 4 on the 4th


With apologies to Brian Wilson, the genius of Beach Boy music, there really have been good vibes this year. When you work hard, lose sleep and fly around like mad man for about 36 hours until the race is over, it's is gratifying, very gratifying.
I'm posting pictures of the men's finish and Katie McGregor as she nears the line. Thanks to Gen Wilczewski for the nice pictures. After beginning to analyze data provided by Doug Pearson of the Elmhurst Running Club, I can say we had four national-class performances, making the day even more satisfying. On age-graded scoring, Lois Gilmore, 77, Janesville, Wis., graded out at 929.6 with her 35:38.5.
On an even playing field, she would have won the race. Nancy Rollins, 61, Evanston, who will be here for dinner in about an hour, ran 27:25.2 for an age-graded score of 929.4. Lukas Verzbicas, 15, New Lenox, who was the third finisher physically but fourth behind Jack Kafel in Chip scoring, graded out at 929.1 with his blistering 19:34.2. Finally, Mr. M55-59, Sam Cortes, 57, Orland Park, ran a 22:40.1, good for an age-grade score of 900.7. Sam's first words to me were "Bob, that was a great race. . . I think I ran a national-class time." I hope he was right on the former. I know he was right on the latter. Time for a Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat. What a weekend.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bob,

Great job on the race! Thanks for the cool weather!

Bob Richards said...

John, Great to have you at the race. Say hi to Mark B. when you see him. We've ordered cool temps for next year from Fox 32 weather's Amy Freeze, who also ran the race!