May, 2007
May, 2007
Teammates & Friends:
With the Penn Relays behind us and the bulk of our outdoor season just ahead of us, we're in the calm before the
storm. Our team is still a bit battered and bruised but I hope that this lull will give everyone time to heal and
get back into shape. We've added a substantial number of new members to our club, perhaps due in part to our high
profile during the Indoor Nationals and some local newspaper and TV coverage.
In my rush to provide coverage of the Indoor Nationals, especially as it related to Mass Velocity, I was remiss
in not thanking many Mass Velocity members who had a direct hand in the planning and operation of that meet. Carroll
Blake is the USATF-NE Masters Chair and the Indoor Nationals was his responsibility. John Olseki, USATF-NE Vice
President and Lee Hess, former Masters Chair were also very actively involved in the design and performance of
the Indoor Nationals. They are already hard at work on next year's Indoor Nationals. When you see them, please
thank them.
Covered in this month's Newsletter is what Tucker Taft called the Penn Relays roller coaster, our usual assortment
of Notable Quotes, the names of our 7 new MVTC members, reminders about the outdoor season meets, especially the
Outdoor Nationals in Orono, Maine, a newspaper columnist gives Mass Velocity some ink, information about our outdoor
practices and "Who are those kids in red speedsuits." Want to find out? Start reading.
Cochise McBride just nudging out Neil Steinberg for 5th place in the M50
Roger coming in third in the M60
Penn Relays 2007
by
Tucker Taft
This year the Penn Relays were a real roller coaster, with
highs and lows, ups and downs, that combined to make the event both exhausting and exhilarating. The roller coaster
ride began before the Relays even started, as several faithful members of the Mass Velocity club determined that
they couldn't make it to Penn this year. We had hoped to have 4x100 and 4x400 teams in several age categories,
and hopefully even an A and B team in the M50s. But from the beginning things looked pretty "thin," and
it wasn't clear we could put together even one all-Mass-Velocity team in any given age group. The demise of the
Tendonitis track club turned out to be Mass Velocity's gain, as Bob Davis, and then several of his acquaintances,
let us know they were interested in joining Mass Velocity and/or running at Penn. Combined with an old connection
I had made two years ago when trying to put together our first Penn Relay team, we managed to put together almost
a complete set of teams. And then the
fun began...
As seems to be the rule more than the exception for folks our age, people started dropping out for one reason or
another: family commitments, strained this, painful that, travel complexities, etc. Several made valiant efforts
to overcome difficulties, but in the end we lost at various stages along the process, Bic Stevens, Charlie Kelley,
Ron Johnson, Tom Goulet, John Huth, and James Morton. However, after much scurrying, we were able to piece together
what looked like teams.
And then the rains came. I rained cats and dogs and probably a few elephants Friday morning, and for the first
time in a long while, the Relays were shut down, at least twice, for lightning in the vicinity of Franklin Field.
The net effect was a series of delays, that grew to over two hours overall, but were never really official, so
that events would suddenly be announced and folks found themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time.
When the 4x100 gun finally went off, it was about 2:15, and we had two M50 teams, one M60 team, and Mary Rome as
a member of an W70 team. A pretty good showing given the surrounding chaos. Unfortunately, the M50 B team had trouble
with one of the handoffs, and Tom Gillen ended up down on the track, valiantly trying to get the baton into Bob
Davis' hand. Ultimately Bob got going again, but the team had to struggle to finish in under 56 seconds. Meanwhile,
however, the other teams did well, with the M60s coming in second (only inches from first), the M50 A team coming
in 4th, and the W70 team with Mary Rome cleaning up in their division (albeit without too much competition!).
After the excitement of the 4x100, the roller coaster continued on its merry way as we began to see the 4x400 teams
crumble before us, with folks who we had hoped would be alternates deciding they just couldn't make it all the
way around the track any more. The rain delay was a great advantage for James Morton, who was flying in from Chicago
at the last minute, but alas, his leg refused to cooperate and along with his teammates concluded it wouldn't be
wise for him to try to race. I began to hang around where folks were warming up for the individual 100m master's
races, making myself an absolute nuisance as I tried to round up another runner for the 4x400 M50 B team, at that
point not realizing we actually needed two people, one for the M50 B team to fill in for Bob Davis who didn't think
he could handle the 400m, and one for the A team to fill in for James.
Ultimately I found Lloyd Hathcock, who said he could give it a try. I didn't know Lloyd from Adam, but when he
proceeded to go out and run a 12.90 in the M60 100m, edging out Roger Pierce, I felt like we had a ringer. In general
in the individual 100m races, Mass Velocity had a number of excellent showings, with Cochise McBride just nudging
out Neil Steinberg for 5th place in the M50, Roger coming in third in the M60, and Dick Camp missing first in the
M70 by only 6/100ths of a second.
The next section of the roller coaster occurred as I jogged over to the "paddock" area thinking it might
be time to start getting ready for the 4x4, and discovered that I was already about 15 minutes, late, and the masters
4x4 runners were "crossing over" into the final paddock area, and there I was with my jogging shoes and
my sweat pants still on, having not really warmed up at all. I threw all of my stuff off, grabbed my cleats, and
then ran in my socks across the wet walkway, only to discover that the only other "Mass Velocity" M50
present was Lloyd Hathcock. The entire M50 A team, and the rest of the M50 B team were nowhere to be seen. Finally
they all showed up, but at that point we realized that the M50A team had not been able to locate a fourth to take
James' position, so they ended up sadly having to scratch. Surprisingly, the M50 B team ended up in the "pole"
position, with apparently the four teams who were seeded above us literally left at the starting gate with their
pants down. The rain delay had confused the schedule sufficiently that all of the elite teams missed the call and
ended up locked out.
The 4x400 gun finally went off and the top three teams off the start were a "Shore AC" team, the M60
Mass Velocity team, and the M50 B team. And that was the way it ended, though there was a moment when the M50 B
team nudged past the M60 team, and a final moment when the Athena women's team gave our anchor leg runner Larry
Zwick a serious scare down the home stretch. Here was our moment of serious exhilaration, with two MVTC teams in
the medals. This was tempered a bit by the recognition that if we had somehow managed to steal one member of the
M50 B team to run with the M50 A team, we would have easily gotten the gold medal.
The highs of Friday afternoon began to roll into lows on Saturday as Dave Neumann and Jeff Elliott managed to scrounge
up a fourth member for their M40 4x400 team, only to lose both Tom Goulet and John Huth, leaving them still one
short. Dave and others spent most of Saturday trying to find that one last teammate, but ultimately had to accept
defeat.
A bit of a downer for the final day, but realizing that the Penn Relays happens every year, and we will have learned
some lessons this year that will help us have an even better showing next year, buoyed my spirits a bit as I made
the long nearly-six-hours drive home.
LESSONS LEARNED
You just can't have too many alternates for a meet that occurs at a significant distance from Massachusetts. Travel,
sickness, injuries, and general complexity combine to mean that you need all the alternates you can get. Jeff Elliott
suggested that we should follow the formula that Neil Steinberg used to use, where they would bring 7 people to
run the 4x100 and 4x400, with one person expecting from the beginning to run both, and everyone being willing to
be an alternate for their less favorite distance. I think in the future we should make it a requirement of being
on any Penn Relay team a willingness to be an alternate for the "other" distance. We had three able-bodied
4x100 runners none of whom felt ready to run the 4x400, but probably would have been at least willing if not eager
to run if we had made it a prerequisite and given them enough notice.
The other big lesson has to do with trying to avoid injuries in the few weeks before the Penn Relays. I'm not sure
how you can ensure that folks stay healthy, but we might suggest no other serious competitions on the weekend before
Penn, and encourage "careful" training leading up to the big day.
I suppose the last lesson is to play things a bit conservative in the 4x100 handoffs. It is a lot better to have
the previous runner come too close than to end up too far away. With all the adrenaline in the air, it is so easy
for the next runner to shoot off like a jackrabbit, leaving the previous runner straining to catch them.
As I said, the Relays were a combination of exhaustion and exhilaration, but I suppose that is the way that any
really good race ends up.
Now let's all get healthy, have a great summer, and then storm the Nationals in Orono, Maine with some major Mass
Velocity momentum.
"Tuck did an outstanding job trying to keep us organized (the phone
list circulated in advance was a real necessity). The conditions were very difficult with two rain/lightning delays
that backed up the day over 2 and 1/2 hours, but he worked very hard to try and make sure that anyone who could
run did so and he had his recruiting hat on the whole time.
This club has some amazing runners. It was just great watching Cochise in the national spotlight doing so well
in the 100. Roger as always did an absolutely unbelievable job in the 100 and in the relays. He must have a whole
section of his home filled with awards and trophies!! The breadth of talent in the club is just amazing! It was
obviously a shame that a couple of the teams did not run, but it was a very difficult day to be sure.
There was a point when you would have been proud, however. At the end of the Mixed 4x400 - Mass Velocity was in
the evening lights as the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. Runners on the winning team Shore AC were impressed when
we told them that our "A" team didn't even run the race!! (Of course there were a few other teams including
a certain club from Houston missing from the race, as well).
I'm looking forward to the schedule of upcoming events - thanks for keeping us informed." - Tom Gillen
"Hi Phil, (Phil
Felton, Penn Relays Masters Coordinator)
Thank you for all your efforts on our behalf year after year. I wanted to let you know that the 40+ MVTC 4x4 did
not run due to lack of interest. There had been a "perfect storm" of injuries, illnesses and last minute
family obligations that prevented our 40+ team from making it to the line. I
enjoyed my three days in Philadelphia and was ready to run but did not have a full MVTC squad to join me. Our foursome
that ran 3:41.7 indoors this year would have run, if healthy, as good if not better - perhaps battling for third
place given this year's results. There is always next year! Thanks again." - Dave Neumann
"Mass Velocity, It was great to be involved in the relay at PENN
and I thank all of you for the opportunity. I hope to see you in Maine in August." - Larry Zwick
"Following in Terrance's footsteps I ran a 7 mile race in the woods
this Sunday. I went out with the elite runners and covered the first 3 miles in 28 min. Then came the BIG hill
that took me down a few pegs!!! The middle miles where uneventful and I hit the water stop tired but still upright.
I should have taken the Mountain Dew for the sugar, but I didn't and the last 2 miles my calf muscles in both legs
started cramping big time. Little old ladies and fat old men went chugging by me. I stopped to try & stretch
my legs & wow!!! Off I ran for 200 yds & back came the cramps,ugh!!!!! FINALLY the end is in sight. I gather
up what little energy I have left and sprint ??? the last 400 yds through the finish 1:26.41. 64th place out of
150 plus entries. I promise to stay with sprinting for the rest of this summer. The distance runners are not as
friendly and fun to hang out with as our fellow sprinters."
- John Novak
"Dear Teammates, Family and Friends: Just a note to thank everyone
who has contributed in one way or another to the success I have experienced this winter. I've been living a dream.
My partner in life, Dawn, supports my track obsession with love and without pause, and I love her beyond words;
my sister and nieces are always there with words of encouragement; my best friend is always supportive of my adventures;
my new found friend, Rizz, has become vested in my mental rigor; my coaches Carroll and Roger kept me sharp, yet
injury free; our leader, Larry, is the best organizer we could hope to have - he is a diligent and aggressive advocate
for masters track; and my teammates, well, what can I say - you have each made this a special season with your
sound advice and word of encouragement.
There is little more to say, except thanks a million. I hope I have reciprocated the support, goodwill and fellowship
I have received from all of you. I am blessed to be a member of MVTC and to share this experience with each of
you. This is a special team.
With love and admiration,"
- James Morton
 |
WWLP (Regional NBC TV Station) names James Morton "Athlete of the Week" <-- click for online story and video replay of TV broadcast |
A warm welcome to the following NEW MEMBERS of Mass Velocity:
Barbara Jordon - South Burlington, VT - W70
Bill
Robinson - Leominster, MA - M40
Adrian
Sheldon - Sudbury, MA - M45
Bill
Devine - Monson, MA - M60
Chris
McConnell - Andover, MA - M50
George
Araneo - Boston, MA - M50
Jonathan
Choate - Southborough, MA - M35
Motel Rooms Booking Up Quickly
Greater
Bangor Accommodations / On-Campus Housing Info
PDF
Entry Forms and Information
Carroll Blake writes
"Last year we practiced on Saturday mornings at MIT. (James, Cochise, Roger, Warren , Charlie and me. We are
going to do it this year but have not set the dates and time as of yet. We sent out the times and dates on a weekly
bases." So, if any MVTC member would like to receive e-mail notices from
Carroll regarding team practices, please send him an e-mail by clicking here (cwblake@comcast.net).
Warren Graff
writes: "There are three 'Twilight' meets at MIT on Wednesdays, May
16th, 23rd, 30th 6pm sharp. Several of us went
last year and it's a great track, well-run meet (USATF sanctioned), but low key and a good way to find out where
you are in an event or just use it as a workout. The 400 is a gang start and breaks after the first turn (no stagger)."
Many of you may remember donating spikes, flats, warm-ups and speedsuits
to be used by the deserving kids at Springfield's High School of Commerce. I want you to know that everything was
put to good use. The warm-ups were all used during the very chilly start to the outdoor season and your flats and
spikes have all been distributed. With your help and some help from volunteer assistant "Coach Larry"
our team is out to a good start.
Two weeks ago at the regional Steele Relays the Commerce boys took 1st
Place in the 4x100m relay, 1st Place, 3xTriple Jump, 1st Place, 3xLong Jump, 2nd Place, 4x200m and 3rd Place in
3xHigh Jump. Our 4x100m relay is the team to beat at the Western Mass Championships. We're hoping our 4x1 will
move onto the State Championships and then onto the New England Championships.
This past weekend, Commerce tenth-grader David Christensen became the 100m champion in the Mass. State Track Coaches
Association Freshman/Sophomore Invitational.
Thank you all for your help. Your financial contributions helped us underwrite
the cost of speedsuits and I believe we are now the only high school team in Massachusetts with them. If you have
any shoes or clothing you'd like to donate, I will gladly accept it. Just bring it to any upcoming meet.
Financial contributions are always
needed and can be made by clicking
HERE.
I
have no doubt that the Penn Relays is the biggest, most exciting track meet that I might ever hope to be at. When
I was in high school in NYC none of the city teams went but now I see that my high school and almost every other
city school sends their best. I guess I missed out. I hope that one day I'll get to go to Penn, but I have no
intention of going just to watch. I figure I have two ways I might make it.
One of these days I might get good enough to make it onto a MVTC team. If my knees hold up and as I age-up into
the M60 group, I might sneak onto a spot on a B-relay. The thought of going as a spectator means I've given up
and I have no intention of doing so until it's absolutely necessary. But now there's a another way for me to go
- as a coach. Perhaps sometime in the near future I can take some of the boys I coach to the Penn Relays. Then,
even if I can't run, I'll still feel as though I'm contributing and I won't have given up.
Never quit!
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