From running log:Ran 5 mile road race in Baraboo, Wisconsin (Old Fashioned Day Race) in the rain. Mile splits: 5:25, missed the 2 mile mark, then 17:40 at three miles (5:53 pace at that point), missed the 4 mile mark, then finished in 29:54 (5:59 pace). I would have been at least 40 seconds faster if a d*mned train didn't cut me off on Walnut Street! I got 3rd in the High School Division, 10th overall. I was 10 yards behind Klecker and Connors at the train tracks. They sprinted and made it right in front of the train, I didn't. I just sat there, fuming! Coolidge got 3rd overall, and I beat Whitaker. I'm still fuming. That f'ing train on such a perfect day for a race. What a final half mile that would have been between Matt, Terry, and me. My right hip was tight, but my right knee is in more pain after the race.
30 years later:
There are moments in one's running career that are never forgotten. That moment of running the last mile, knowing that there would be a right hand turning coming up and a final push to the finish line, but also knowing that a train track would need to be crossed ... combined with hearing the train coming, horn blasting, seeing runners ahead of me scrambling under the guard rail, trying to out-run it myself, the urge to risk it all being weighed against my better judgment ... I'll never forget that scene. Matt Klecker and Terry Connors were going to be, in my estimation, my two main competitors in the cross country season that was about to begin. Here we were racing each other for bragging rights and an early season psychological advantage. I had let them pull away from me slightly in the previous mile on purpose, planning to make my move in the final half-mile, which included a steep uphill (uphill running being more my forte than theirs) from the river up to the finish. Never once did it cross my mind that my strategy would be ruined by a train! It was incredible, absurd, unbelievable, unexpected, infuriating, frustrating, comical, and disheartening all at the same time. I've scanned in an old yellowed photo of me finishing this race (below). In the photo, it looks like I'm in agony, but it's not really my legs and lungs that are hurting, as I recall it I was nearly in tears as I kicked it in, absolutely convinced that I could have won my division if not for that rotten train cutting me off.
While I had waited there for the train to pass, about 20 more runners had caught up, so we engaged in an all-out battle over those last few blocks. I beat them all to the line, but it was little consolation for what had happened.
Now, after over 600 more races covering 30 years of running, I think back to that afternoon and silently thank myself for not trying to cut in front of a lumbering freight train all in the name of a crummy little medal. Not only did I decide not risk my life, but I wish Matt and Terry had done the same, it would have made for a better race. By the way, I'm certainly glad that neither of them tripped or stumbled, or they would have been killed or maimed. And who knows, perhaps their "easy victory" over me that day gave them a sense of over-confidence going into the season, while my intensely frustrating loss made me feel only that much more determined to catch and pass them during the season. Hindsight isn't perfect, but maybe this race helped to set the stage for the drama that was yet to come.
(Apologies for these mediocre scans. The old newspaper clips are in bad shape, and I try to enhance them a bit with Photoshop, but there isn' t much more I can do. If you click on the image, it should expand and be a little easier to read.)
I remember this as my first road race, and not only was it rainy, but the dewpoint was in the high 70's. It was for me a benchmark to see if I could really go out for CC that year. I finished, though way back in the pack. I realized I would probably not be making varsity, but I was forming/strengthening friendships that have continued for these last 30 years!
ReplyDeleteDoug, et.al:
ReplyDeleteHello! Looks like you're having fun with this blog---Best Wishes.
An aquaintance somehow came across your blog and forwarded it to me. Frankly my recollections of the 1979 are vague, at best. I tended to be far more focused on academics in high school than sports. While I enjoyed running---and still do---I viewed it more as a social and fun outlet. Certainly I was never as serious or good at it as my brothers Tom and Barney, and future sister-in-law Janice Klecker (Barney's wife) who was to win the '92 Olympic Marathon Trials and represent the U.S. in the Barcelona Games.
I had to chukle though at you entry concerning the train and the Baraboo 5 mile road race: I DO REMEMBER THAT because Terry Conners and I had become friends at the time (common friends during our summers working in Wisconsin Dells and a mutual intent to attend UW--Madison) so we were very much running together and when we saw the train what we immediately saw was a rare and fun opportunity to "screw Hegley" because we knew Doug took these things far more seriously than we did. Hence as we sprinted to beat the train we actrually were laughing so much on the other side that it afforded Doug a chance to closer the gap on us towards the finish. We laughed about the train whenever we saw each other that Fall. (I don't recall wether I beat Terry or vice-versa; we just always recalled the timely train to ruin Hegley's day.)
........................not a lot of other thoughts. Contact me at matthewklecker@mac.com if you like.
All Best Wishes, Matt
Me, serious? Well, okay, true. Yes, that train ruined my day. I was in such a state that if you had told me then that you were laughing I might have blown a gasket. Now it all seems so long ago and rather funny. Maybe my sense of humor is better-developed now! Thanks, Matt, for the comment. Maybe you took running more as a social outlet, but even so you were pretty darned good at it.
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