Trials of a Race Director

As co-director of the Community Bank of Elmhurst 4 on the 4th, I have my hands full worrying about timing malfunctions, bad weather, quick response by the paramedics if needed and on and on and on. Here's one I never thought I'd have to worry about. Today, I received a jury trial summons for the week before race week. If I actually serve, the trials last 3-7 days according to the information provided. This is a moral dilemma because I believe strongly in particpating in our democracy, not just taking a free ride. But I also have a few things to deal with that week like packet stuffing and getting ready for packet pickup at Dick Pond in Elmhurst. Do I try to get out of it? Nope. Life is never dull. I wonder if they let you go out for runs or download on-line registration reports if you're sequestered in a jury room somewhere?

Raising the Bar

Carey Pinkowski, director of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, is in London for a meeting of the World Marathon Majors. Virtually the rest of his staff is at the Bank of America Open golf tournament this week. But that didn't stop Susan May and I, representing the Elmhurst Running Club, from meeting with marathon officials to begin our preparation as captain and co-captain of Aid Station No. 2 on marathon day this October. Suffice it to say, no marathon will have been better prepared for anything than Chicago will be this year. I don't want to give away their plans, but if you're running, and you don't get water or Gatorade, you will be in some other race, not this one. It's quite impressive what they have done. If you ran the Shamrock Shuffle, you saw a preview. Speaking of the marathon, it's just about time to crank up the training. I am considering a fall 26.2 myself. I'm not sure where.
One thing at a time, starting with Roselle's fast 5K on Sunday and the MC200 Relay the following weekend. Did you run in the cool air today? If felt great, didn't it?

Right on The Money

I've got to give some credit to Mark Colpoys, the Director of Marketing for Fleet Feet Chicago. When queried last week by yours truly to predict the winners of Saturday's Soldier Field 10-miler, Mark didn't hesitate. "Picks to win: Jessica Langford, Jeff Jonaitis" topped his e-mail reply. Well,Langford, 36, of Rockford, won handily on the women's side with an awesome 58:51, easily besting Murphee Hayes, 34, of Marathon, NY (gotta love that town's name), who clocked 1:01:02. In the men's race, Jonaitis, 27, of Tinley Park, known fondly as "JJ" in local running circles, edged always-tough Jack Kafel, 32, of River Forest, 50:40 to 50:42. You can find all the results at www.chicagoaa.com. It looks like Kafel is rounding into form to defend his title at the Community Bank of Elmhurst 4 on the 4th (July 4), but JJ never has run that race.

Going Back 32 Years -- in the 3,200 Relay

St. Charles North (7:45.97) and York (7:47.05) paced a strong 3,200-meter relay on Saturday at the boys Class AA state meet in Charleston. All teams in the finals got under 8 minutes, a superb accomplishment. Now, consider this. In 1976, the two-mile relay (now, 3,200) in Illinois was a race for the ages. Check out these results, courtesy of the Rockford Register-Star through good friend Chuck Wallin:
1976 times (converted to 3,200-meter times)
1. Thornton 7:35.7
2. Lyons Township 7:36.2
3. Rockford East 7:36.8
4. Bloom 7:37.4
5. Evanston 7:38.4
6. Thornwood 7:39.6
7. Champaign Central 7:40.8
8. New Trier East 7:42

What?? No York?? Yep, everybody else was even better.

The 1976 race might have been the best ever at an Illinois state meet. And there's your history lesson for today. Was track a stronger sport then? What do you think?

Time to Chill

We're heading out of town and out of contact for a few days. It's a small lake in northern Missouri. I know there are two-lane highways to get us there. That's all I know. We're meeting good friends from back in the day when we lived in Milwaukee. While I'm out there, loafing, jogging, drinking a beer or two and otherwise unwinding, I'll be thinking of all you runners at the Soldier Field 10, Western Springs Tower Trot, Ridge Run, Elgin 10-miler, St Alexander's 5K, Madison, Jacksonport and everywhere else this weekend. It's time for me to re-charge for the Madison-Chicago 200M Relay June 6-7. I'll be running close to 19 miles in three chunks over about 20 hours for our Grand Masters team (50-and-over), Fossils Velocity. My team captain Chris Nemeth assigned me to Legs 12,24 and 36, which means I'm running anchor. I don't take the responsibility lightly on a team of hard-core studs like this one. To quote one of my favorite songs from xc skiing's American Birkebeiner: "I got to put in some training, or I'll have a whole lot of paining." Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

Derrick Out of State Meet?

A very reliable source, who quotes two more reliable sources, says Chris Derrick of Neuqua Valley HS is out of the state meet today and tomorrow because he has mono. He is the top qualifier at 1,600 and 3,200 meters. Let's see what happens.

Soldier Field 10

The Soldier Field 10-Miler, presented by adidas, while not the only show in town over the Memorial Day weekend, is the showcase event in the Chicago area. Despite some local elite runners being out or limited by injuries, Dave Zimmer and Mark Colpoys at Fleet Feet have assembled a strong field. Colpoys, FF's Director of Marketing, picks Jeff Jonaitis of Tinley Park and defending women's champion Jessica Langford of Rockford to win. However, Colpoys wrote in an e-mail, "Chad Ware may give JJ a run for the money!" Jonaitis won the Lakefront 10-miler on April 27 against a strong field that included Greg Costello and Jack Kafel. Last year at Soldier Field, Costello won in 50:53, while Langford ran 58:22. Costello is on Colpoys' list of runners "out with injuries or recovering from other races." Also on that list are Karen Prisby, Claudia Becque (U.S. Marathon Trials) and Jim Akita. The sold-out starting field of 7,500 will enjoy the long-expected weather warm-up. Translation: It won't be freezing on the lakefront when they go at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. I'll try to update if I can. If you're running, good luck and have fun crossing the 50-yard line!