Monday, November 10, 2008

Runners Sent the Wrong Direction!



The recent NCAA Division 2 XC fiasco brought back some scary memories of another Penn Relays Marathon. At the Div. 2 Regionals this past weekend, lead runners were sent the wrong way, well into the race. They backtracked through the woods and rejoined the race at a narrow area. Pandemonium ensued, and the race was called at the 3 mile mark. It was then rerun 2 hours later! Looking at the Map, I wonder how anyone expected an error wouldn't be made!

At the 1982 Penn Relays I was waiting in the stadium for my future wife to finish (she was in the top 5 most of the race!). The lead runners were announced and placed on the scoreboard. Lo and behold, the leader was Bill Kvashay, PSU '79, about to run a sub 2:18 marathon. But he never appeared until the 2:39 or so mark. Virtually no one knows this other than me and Bill, but he was sent through campus at the entrance to the Stadium by a policeman! The Penn Relay officials never even apoligized to Bill. I have seen Bill only once since then, at the PIAA State meet, he coaches a team from out Pittsburgh Wilkes-Barre way. He didn't seem bitter about it at all. He is a better man than I. Addendum: It would have been a time that would have qualified him for the Olympic Trials Marathon in 1984 (the year Alberto Salazar cut thousands of little holes in his shirt to combat the heat, and slumped to a fifteenth place finish in 2:14:19).