2015 USATF Club National Cross Country Championships

San Francisco Golden Gate Park, December 12, 2015.

by Dan Trone, SDTC Life Member

The 2015 USATF Club National Cross Country Championships were at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on December 12th, 2015. The San Diego Track Club sent teams representing the women’s and men’s open division (younger than 40 yrs.), women 50-59 yrs. (2 teams), women 60-69 yrs., women 70+ yrs., and men 60-69 yrs. (3 teams). There were also many San Diego Track Club runners racing on other recreational and sponsored teams, too. This tome is about the 60+ traveling harriers. I am not 60, did not run the race, and tagged along to be their mule, just looking forward to another adventure. I met and recognized so many runners from San Diego that I’ll bet America’s Finest City was the second most represented only behind the host city.

The travel plans started during the summer when tireless Paul Baumhoefner started recruiting a men’s 60-69 team – in the end, he recruited 3 teams! Robb Latimer, Greg Wilson, Peter Stern, Douglas Kenyon, Paul Baumhoefner, and I travelled together. Waiting for our flight to depart San Diego, I noticed Bill Walton in the packed Southwest Airlines terminal. Of course we flew into Oakland, home of the Raiders (Paul’s team). Paul sat right next to Bill at the gate their 17 inch different in height less than half in the sitting position. Bill Walton still towered over Paul. The flight was uneventful. We took the scenic route from Oakland airport – monorail to the BART, BART to Market and Powell Street, cable car to Fisherman’s Wharf, and walked to our hotel. Whew! Almost 2 hours! Glad I wasn’t running the next day – my legs were a little flat after that trek

C:UsersDan.TronePicturesSan Francisco street car_December 2015.jpeg

The night before the race, legendary coach Joe Vigil (pronounced V-hill; great name for a running coach) gave a motivating keynote presentation at the host hotel. [http://www.denverpost.com/running/ci_28222178/joe-vigil-receive-legend-coach-award-from-usa-track-field] I thought we were going to hear about training programs, race tactics, and how to get your head into the race. Instead we heard about life, adventure, sportsmanship, and being part of a team! Refreshing and true! How many races do you go to as part of a team and come away only remembering your mile splits and how you did? Coach Vigil talked about the things of life – the funny stories we remember when we do things together, and how the memories of being part of a team can stay with us for the rest of our lives. I agree – especially since I was not running this race 🙂

It rained hard a few days before race day, so the course was honest, muddy, and squishy. Race day was clear, crisp, cool, and no rain! Side bar — the day after the race the weather was so bad that seagulls were flying sideways with a lot of yaw in the high winds and swirling rain, and the grey cloud cover made midday seem like dusk. Missed perfect cross country weather by 1 day – maybe next time?

The disclaimer at the foot of the official race map reinforced what most cross country runners love; they are tough mudders: “DISCLAIMER: USATF and the author of this route make no warranties as to the conditions, safety, distance accuracy, or suitability for running of this route. Run at your own risk!”

That says it all! There are no wimps in cross country and you just toe the line and ‘Go!’ under any conditions. Most of the old-timer courses are understood to be approximate – 8 kilometers give or take. [GPS has taken a little fun out of estimating the distances for cross county races because they are precise. Another strike against technology? GPS takes a little fun out of XC.]

The men’s 60+ race went off without a hitch; they were the second race of the day and the course was still in pretty good shape. Teams lined up in their assigned boxes, the start line was wide and soon narrowed to about 15 yards across. I ducked in at the first kilometer and ran about 5km of the race from the back, staying out of the way and swinging wide at times. I cut across the course and cheered about 400 meters from the finish line, in time to see the top finishers approach. The amazing Greg Wilson, who splits his time between San Diego and Maui, was in 10th place! His front side was pretty clean – not much mud – which means he was with the front pack most of the race. Mud on the backside is proof of strong strides that kick mud behind and up – even someone who is in the lead from the beginning is clean on front and covered in mud on the back!

The results are posted below. The teams did great! The 60+ SDTC A-team came in 7th even though a couple runners were coming off injuries. The SDTC 70+ year old team was missing their captain (3 runners are needed to field a team) and the two that made the trip were folded into the SDTC 60+ C team. If the caption made the trip, the 70+ team might have placed 3rd overall! Next time ….

Coach Vigil spoke at the awards ceremony later that night. He is truly a treasure! In response to a question about training he brought up a very good point about diet. Younger runners can get away with eating pretty much whatever they want because they burn it off. Howeve, as we get older, we should be more concerned about watching our diet, reading our aches and pains, and allowing time to recover. As we age, we should not be too concerned about weekly mileage (we are running slower in training and won’t be able to run as many weekly miles), so Coach Vigil did not say there was a magic number of miles per week we should run (of course training mileage is determined by race distance, so talking about training mileage is an open ended question). He closed his presentation by emphasizing team commitment and enjoying the experience, just as he did the previous night. Enjoy the ride and remember the journey!

The next morning, the day after the race, some of us wanted one last run before heading home to San Diego. The weather was nasty, so we went to breakfast instead 🙂 We took a limousine back to the BART – no street car this time – and made the uneventful flight back to San Diego. I sat next to a SDTC women’s team member who said they ran a few miles that morning in the dreadful weather! Well, that put me in my place!! I should have gone for it.

The storm we experienced in San Francisco that morning made its way down the coast in time for us to experience it again shortly after landing at Lindbergh Field. Same storm twice in one day, but it’s always great to be home in America’s Finest City!

Now that cross country season is over, we are back to being prisoners of the white line on the freeway (excuse me Joni Mitchell) and running road races. Everyone knows, though, that grass and dirt are good for running legs, and eventually we are all dirt and to dirt we will return to running.

Next year’s championship is in Tallahassee, Florida, December 10th, 2016. Will the SDTC send a few teams? Start planning now.

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A couple notable SDTC individual results: Hank Sullivan was 3rd in the 65-69 yr. age group and garnered an individual medal; Greg Wilson was 10th overall out of 190 runners.

USATF National Club Cross Country Championships Golden Gate Park -San Francisco, Ca

http://www.usatf.org/Events—Calendar/2015/USATF-National-Club-Cross-Country/Results.aspx

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Team Results 60+ Men [There were 36 teams]
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7. 80 San Diego Track Club-A ( 32:45 1:38:14 2:10)
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1 9 Greg Wilson 63 31:21 1637
2 34 Gregory Wagner 60 33:22 1636
3 37 Hank Sullivan 66 33:31 1635
4 ( 74) Les Shibata 60 36:45 1632
5 ( 89) Marc Frommer 63 37:44 1628

23. 255 San Diego Track Club-B ( 37:36 1:52:47 1:42)
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1 75 Paul Baumhoefner 63 36:50 1625
2 83 William Molesworth 63 37:25 1631
3 97 Rick Bushore 62 38:32 1626
4 (111) Robb Latimer 63 39:29 1630

36. 387 San Diego Track Club-C ( 43:06 2:09:18 2:36)
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1 122 Steve Edwards 64 41:29 1627
2 132 Peter Stern 71 43:44 1634
3 133 Douglas Kenyon 72 44:05 1629
4 (139) Benjamin Spowart 60 53:44 1633