So.... it is 1979 in Lawrence, late summer and the Topeka Public Library
decides to put on a race in Topeka on September 23, 1979. It actually says
September 22-23, 1979 on the award plaque, but it was only 9 miles, and we
weren't that slow. There were two races to be run simultaneously, a 9-mile
Open race, and a 9-mile Relay consisting of three 3-mile legs, with teams
consisting of at least one woman. So Bob Hughes and Jo and I decided to form
a team, and got Mike Ott and Jim connected with Jo's sister Bev, who lived
in Topeka at the time, to form a second team. At this point we had reached
some sort of critical mass of competitiveness, self hype, testosterone,
trash talking, etc. That "it was on."
The teams were actually very evenly matched, at least I think. Bob and Mike
were of similar speed at 3-miles, and both capable of something like
5:00-5:15 pace. Jim and I were likewise of similar speed at 3-miles,
something like 5:35-5:50 pace, although on the track, Jim was faster than
me. Jo and Bev were also of similar speed, something like 6:10-6:30 pace.
There were no rules on order of competitors, and since Jim and Bob seemed to
take the lead in the whole, "who's the fastest, who going to kick whose
butt, blah, blah, blah", it just seemed right that they anchor the relay,
and it was up to Jo and I and likewise Mike and Bev, to set up the ultimate
showdown. Bob with better endurance and faster at anything greater than
probably a 1/2 mile, and Jim with probably better top end speed for at least
the last 1/4 mile. Bob expected to be about 2-minutes behind at the hand off
and would have to run down Jim. Jim had made it pretty clear that if Bob
caught him with less that ~1/2 mile to go, that there was no way that Bob
could out kick him!!!!!
We ended up with Jo running the leadoff leg, followed by me, and then Bob as
our anchor, while Mike was the leadoff, followed by Bev and then Jim as
their anchor. We had many strategy sessions over a few beers, and I am sure
that Mike and Jim had the same. We also had many runs with Mike and Jim,
Bob, Jo and I, and pretty open discussions about why the other team did not
have a real chance to win, and why it should have been obvious that that was
the case. I am also sure that neither team bought the other's story.
Race day arrives, and we all show up, and Bob, me, Bev, and Jim, go off to
the 3 and 6 mile hand off points. As some of you remember in those days,
sometimes the races were not marked very well, a few chalk arrows, etc. If
you were lucky, the race leaders were guided around by a guy on a bike or a
motor cycle ,and you hope to keep someone in sight. So this is what
happened... Mike took off with the leaders, there were 2-3 guys who ran the
full 9 miles at near 5:00 pace, and Mike ran with them. Jo immediately lost
sight of them to run her pace, I don't remember the time, but there were a
few people around her when she got to the handoff point. I took the handoff
from Jo and took off. Mike had handed off to Bev a few minutes earlier.
However, she was left to run the second leg with 2-guys running 5:00 pace
and no one else anywhere close, and they promptly ran off and left her... so
this is where it got really vague, but after the fast guys ran away, she
missed a turn, and got off course, and ran several extra miles touring
Topeka. Needless to say I did not miss the turn, but could understand how
she got lost. The course was not marked very clearly. When I showed up at
the 6-mile point ahead of Bev and saw Jim and Bob waiting, we knew something
was wrong, Bev should have been there ~2 minutes earlier. My time turned out
to be ~17:40 for the 3 miles. Not a great run for me, but I can assure you
that it was all that I had. Jim was really hyped up to run, and then reality
hit and he was clearly depressed, and we could all understand. Mike, Bob,
me, Jo, and Bev all got to run, Jim did not, and the showdown was just a let
down. Bob ran well, but without the incentive to "run down" or at least try
to run down Jim, it was sort of anticlimactic.
Bob, Jo and I got first place in the Open Relay and each got nice little
plaques, that I still have. Obviously we wanted to win, but I would rather
have raced and finished second and listened to the endless gloating (those
that knew Jim, know that I don't mean this as a negative comment), than have
this have ended this way.
So now, its just a trophy and a reminder of the fun and the sometimes
disappointments that we have all had in running. Its also why we ran and
hopefully still do, to run with good friends, as Peter said develop lifelong
and transcending life connections that we carry with us. It fun to remember
the good times that we had together.
[September 2006]