Not sure what year this was, but
Greg Fredericks sent me this great pic of
4 PSU Greats, (including him in the 4, which he would be too humble to do himself!) Notice
Coach Lucas and the tremendous shape he was in. He probably represents PSU's longest duration in-shape Track and Field Field figure of all time. Sort of the
Al Oerter of PSU! Since Al apparently made it to the CDT Mile Track Meet and I somehow missed him along with
Dick Buerkle. Coach Lucas told me he has run more than 160,000 miles in his day, starting in the early 1950's.
Coach Groves comes in a close second to that. Just ask us distance runners how in-shape Coach Groves was in 1979, when he trounced many of us in the
Nittany Valley Marathon. (
All distance runners had to run the marathon that year, and the 800 men had to run 15 miles, an alien concept today I'm sure.) I had to hustle in to beat him and
Liz Berry (
2:44 or so!) that year but I had a plausible excuse, pneumonia 3 weeks prior. I helped 3 milers run their first ever run over 15 miles that day and all three beat me at the marathon distance. My advice to
start slow and taper off was a big help to each of them. (Actually just the start slow part, we picked it up after each 5 mile segment until I crashed after the 20 mile mark. The rest kept going!) There is a prize from the Group Store for the first correct answer to the question
"Who were the three Milers Dave Baskwill paced to their first Marathon experience in 1979?" Answers must be in the form of a comment at the end of this post.
Charlie Maguire is seen standing on the right, in front of Greg in the photo which was taken on the annual
Whipple's Dam Run. I've had a lot of feedback from people on the posts about Charlie. We all wish he was still with us. RIP
Outstanding post!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
I appreciate the comment, but it fails to win the prize! Just kidding, Walt. Hello from flooded Central PA.
ReplyDeleteCoach Lucas has run about 1 light-second. Very impressive!
ReplyDeleteNever thought of it that way. (That's why I got "B's" in both Physics classes at PSU. I dip my head in shame!) That great comment wins an honorary prize of a 2 oz. glass from the store. Perfect for maple syrup to put on pancakes or waffles "or other liquid choices". Contact the blog officers for disbursement of your wonderful prize.
ReplyDeleteWyatt was one and he edged my by one place. 2:35 something I think. Was Snyd the third? LTM
ReplyDeleteSo close and yet no cigar! At least you remember it almost as well as I do. 2:35 ain't bad for a Miler in the Winter on snow covered roads without specific training. The three of you were in third place when we started to pick it up at the 20 mile mark, with Scharsu in the lead and (maybe?) Felice in second. The Felice part is a guess, as I know he won it one year.
ReplyDeleteRapp?
ReplyDelete"Quiz - Could it have been Larry Mangan, Mike Wyatt and Mike Cook?"
ReplyDeleteAnonymous wins a Group t-shirt with his answer "Rapp" assuming he also meant to include Wyatt and Mangan (and I think he did). The other answer of Mike Cook wasn't correct, and Mike will get a kick out of it. He was a half-miler and ONLY had to run 15 miles that day, I'm sure. (I'm sure means "I'm not sure" for anyone who keeps up with the blog, BTW!)
ReplyDeleteHow could I forget Tom Rapp??? Oh right, it must have been the mental pain of running 26.2 miles despite a complete lack of preparation for the event!!! I walked down stairs backwards for a week after that "race". LTM
ReplyDeleteI will eliminate myself from the discussion and then add "those guys from the 70's were animals". And I still don't know who won the contest!
ReplyDeleteM. Cook graduated from HS in 1979 and would not have arrived at PSU until that fall. I don't think he was there that day. He and M. Wyatt never overlapped. RW
ReplyDeleteIn the best track race of my PSU career, Greg Fredericks "overlapped" me twice. 28:08, I believe. Somehow, I'm still proud of it.
ReplyDelete