Winter is BACK, but regardless, greater Kalamazoo is no doubt on the run! With 80 Comets and Meteors in the Beyond, 70 in the SHufflers Galloway-based marathon program, and the possibility of a turnout reaching epic proportions at “Reach for the Stars” Borgess Run Camp, the streets of West Michigan will be flowing with hundreds of runners over the next 4 months! Is it a local or a national trend? Here are some interesting facts from www.marathonguide.com
The Numbers: There were approximately 397,000 marathon finishes in the USA in 2006, up from just under 383,000 finishers in 2005 - an increase of about 3.7%.
The Sexes: For the first time in years, the percentage of female marathon finishers dipped - from 40.0% of finishers in 2005 to 39.9% of finishers in 2006 - a small fraction, but does this signal the end of a trend or the beginning of a new one?
The buddy system was launched into action at last Saturday’s Run Around Gull Lake! Sensational job taking care of each other out there! In particular, Good Samaritan honors go to Jim Roth for driving to retrieve injured runner Phil Goodwin and for notifying Beyond authorities of the situation. Honorable mention goes to Francine Bangs for running back to retrieve Carol Gokey, Julie Wojtaszek for retrieving Jeff Dattillo, and Sherrie Mann for alerting the authorities that a couple of trailing runners may need direction. Kudos to Gale Fischer for assisting with the search for Phil. Yes, we really DO care about each other….feel the love (or at least some warm fuzzies!)
Wendy Haney and Chuck Zahnow will be rocking to the tunes of the Screaming Javalinas, the Gin Blossoms and Azz Izz at PF Chang’s Rock n Roll Marathon this coming weekend. Wendy will be running the full marathon and Chuck the half marathon. Good luck Chuck and Wendy! Did you know……Wendy is Chuck’s sister-in-law!
Was it benzene, anti-freeze or some kind of dioxin wondered Tony Golubski? Whatever it was, it was strange looking; kind of a Garmin green. “It won’t kill you’”assured Mark Sigfrids, the owner of the toxic-looking beverage placed at one of the aid stations! “But you don’t want to drink it!”
Welcome back Bob Smola! Bob returned from a non-running related injury to run not one, but TWO laps around Gull Lake for a total of 23.5 miles! After completing 86 (or maybe it is 87 or 88 marathons), Bob has earned the reputation of being the leading West Michigan expert on “how to train for marathons without getting injured”. Runners up Gale Fischer and Space Captain Bonnie both ran 20-milers this Saturday. Gale just for the “fun of it” and Bonnie to run off holiday overindulgence!
Better late than never! The Beyond’s very own Space Captain Bonnie (Open Division) and Hydration Expert Brenda Stoddard (Masters Division) were both recently honored with USATF Michigan Board of Excellence Awards for Long Distance Running….for 2005! The Beyond really does have credentialed Space Crew!
