Racing Report:
Marty Friedman, Ace Reporter
Marty Friedman, Ace Reporter
While the hardy runners were challenging the heat and
distance in the LA Marathon, the speedsters (wimps?) were content to attack a
5K in Redondo Beach. And we were happy to have a cloud cover that reduced the
expected heat, although the air was quite dry. The course was flatter than the
4th of July course (thank goodness) and a few malcontents, but not
many, even grumbled that it was short (Editor’s Note: some were glad that it
might have been!).
Perhaps the most astounding result of the day was Debbie
“Rampaging” Richardson finishing as the 2nd Overall Female, in a
blistering 19:50. The only woman in front of her (Sloan Boettcher) was a former
neighbor and friend of Debbie’s sons…and is half Debbie’s age! Karina
“Ballistic” Bird continued her excellent speed demonstration with a 5th
Overall in the women’s ranks. Her time was 21:20. On the men’s side, local
talent David Cardona easily cruised the course to win in 15:35. Bill “Whirlwind”
Weber and Jon “Mach Speed 2” Megeff were 4th and 5th
overall, in 16:51 and 17:03 respectively. Not far behind was Humberto
“Superman” Sanchez, debuting in his first race as a Master, in 17:39.
In addition to “Rampaging”, we had 3 more women AG winners.
Cheryl “Rolling” Rose took the 55’s,
Sheila “Driven” Daniels aced the 60’s and naturally Sue “Rebounding” Reinhardt
conquered the 65’s. Marian “Dynamo” Drahnak was 4th in her AG and Corrine
“Stealthy Sandbag” Schratz was 2nd in her AG; I refuse to identify
that division.
Our other notable women finishers included Amy “Bounding”
Boland, Risa “Karma” Kahn and LaToya “Sublime” Stallworth. Paige Sullivan,
Kevin’s talented daughter, zipped through the course, pacing Coach Ed for a bit
midway before turning up her headset to listen to some tunes. Marina Garcia
“Sneaky” Sanchez showed her post-baby strength with a 37:29, pushing the
stroller with racing wannabe Miles Sanchez, as he checked out what this racing
stuff is all about. And Gretchen “Nerveless” Newman ran while “Mischievous”
Martin enjoyed the course from his stroller, though through much of the race he
was busy playing electronic games – kids!
In addition to “Superman” and “Mach Speed 2”, there were 3
more men’s AG winners. Ed “Air Mail” Avol continues his comeback in the 60’s.
Marty “Flying” Friedman took the 65’s (but felt his time benefited from a short
course). And Pat “Wingman” Wickens ran strong in the 70’s.
We had a bunch of AG 2nds. Jason ”Shooting”
Shamaly ran a strong PR time of 19:21 in the 40’s. He didn’t want to hear
anything about a short course, but would have PR’d regardless. James “Ramjet”
Reinhardt blazed to a 19:14 in the 45’s. Jim “Nuclear” Newman was 2nd
in the 55’s. Leo “Butane” Burzynski was 3rd in the same division.
Pat “Stealth” Saraceno continued his strong running finishing behind “Air Mail”
in the 60’s and Jack “Mad Jack” McDowell finished behind “Flying” in the 65’s.
And if Kevin “Swift” Sullivan expects recognition for his 19:29, 3rd
in the tough 50’s, he will have to print neater race entry forms; The results
displayed Keu NSullivan, but please don’t blame Race Wire for that.
You can check out the times of you and your competitors at
Racewire.com, or go to Village Runner for a link (under Southern California) to
the results.