Whine And Dine

 First up, the announcement by Clark Haley of the one-time rules change for the 20th Annual Coach Harry Groves Golf Tourney brought howls of protest from the "real" golfers among us.  The cacophony from the rabble rose to such levels at our reception, that I was worried there would be intervention by the authorities.

 

Announced as a 2 club maximum for each golfer in the foursome, it was soon amended to 3 clubs per golfer.  Still, chaos reigned.  Clark held firm at the 3 club maximum and not the "3 clubs and a putter" demand from the influential group of Fuller Brothers!

The anonymously sponsored open bar added to the general good cheer throughout the night.  The night concluded with a putting contest win by Mike McCahill.

The dawning of a new day led eventually to the start of the Coach Groves Golf Tourney.  While this was happening, an intrepid group continued the traditional climb of Mt. Nittany (started by Spouse the Better) followed by a trip to the Creamery.

Rain held off until well into the outing, and the torrential rains only lasted for one hole, followed by summer-like heat and humidity.  We always see a myriad of conditions on the Mountain View Country Club, although conditions were excellent overall.  The brief shower came over Skimont (or whatever it is called now), as if Bear Meadows knew that PSU distance runners were there and just wanted to say hello.

The 3-club maximum for each golfer led to strange shots throughout the day.  Try putting with a 5-iron! My "bag" consisted of a 5-iron, a pitching wedge and a putter; my 3 best clubs.  None of which I can still hit on a consistent basis.  I did, however, have a number of shots that counted and saved par a few times for our foursome.  The new rules added a fun element, and brought a new strategy and synergy to each foursome.  This format brought everyone closer together, which has always been one of Clark's stated goals.  

The longest drive was recorded by philanthropist Ken Brinker.  The longest putt of more than 22 feet was recorded by co-director Harry Smith (garnering the Smith family another year with the purloined Golden Putter).  Tim Brown placed his shot closest to the pin on the ninth hole.  The furthest traveled alum was Brian Boyer, who brought his family from Vienna Austria!

Overall, scores turned out better than anyone had predicted and there was a tie between 2 foursomes at one-under par for the victory.  The rules for ties were eventually thrown out and it was decided using a complex formula involving Elon Musk's new Twitter algorithm and the volume of whining from each group.

The foursome of Paul Mundy, Harry Smith, Gary Black and  Tom Shiffer were given the nod and will have their names engraved on the cherished "Cup".

The Awards Dinner was held at The Hyatt Place Hotel, and entailed a very good spread of grilled chicken, flank steak, baked potato bar and all kinds of other things.  The chocolate cake was especially enjoyed by Tourney Winner Paul Mundy. We had an inspirational speech from former XC and Track and
Field captain Che Arosemena, now attending the Army War College in Carlisle.

Throw-Up Thursday

 15 years ago...

Diamonds Are A Guys Best Friend

 Via our West Coast Promoter Mike Fanelli, via Founder and Keeper of the Beer Clark Haley comes this picture from the 1980 Run for the Diamonds in Berwick, PA.  I think both Greg Fredericks and Larry Mangan won diamonds that year.   Not bad for a couple of milers...

The Founder Of Our Group Never Even Missed Me

1981 was the first year after my graduation from Dear Ole State, and yet the PSU XC world continued on.

In fact, the future Founder of our Group, Clark Haley, started that year and probably never even heard of me for quite some time.  Gary Black probably let him in on my existence at some point, and he probably promptly forgot about it.

I only became a member of the group at the first ever Alumni Golf Tourney in 2002 because Gary made me go with him.  The rest of the crew were all well known to Clark Haley. Since then we have spread the group to all years and both (should I say all?) genders.

A Wolverine Of A Workout

We have talked several times recently about The MichiganWorkout.  I related how it is considered one of the most difficult workouts by many in the distance running community.  And we even have friends of the group who were there at the beginning of the phenomenon.

My logs from back in the day weren't detailed enough to regale specifics of the Nittany Lion version of the workout from Coach Groves.  That is why we have more than 1 Officer of the Group!  Thankfully our Chief Laundry and Morale Officer Larry Mangan has kept his more detailed logs and has specifics on two of these workouts from back in the day.

"I had to dig deep into the archives and find a calendar from the fall of 1980 to find evidence of this "Michigan" workout (I need to clean off my keyboard after typing that school up north and out west).

I found two in 1980:

October 6, 1980 - 3 mile warm up, mile 4:40, 2.5 mile at 5:30 pace, 1320 yards "hard" (no time), 2.5 mile at 5:30 pace, mile 4:48, 3 mile warm down.

October 27, 1980 - 2 mile warm up, mile 4:32, 3 miles at sub 6:00, 1320 3:25, 3 miles back to track (no time), mile 4:25, 3 mile warm down.

As to the 4:14 mile Gary Black remembers, we did have a November 3, 1980 4xmile workout on the Blue Course that went 4:36, 4:25, 4:45 and 4:17 (alternating uphill/downhill miles). I remember that workout because at the end it was cold and dark, Harry handed out those reflective vests and we had to drag ourselves back to Rec Hall - I hurled at least twice on the way back. Three weeks later we finished 3rd at the NC2A meet."

And out of the blue, Manager John Barber sent me this smuggled video of that second workout on the golf course out of the PSU archives without Coach Groves knowing about it.  It turns out that wolverines and badgers are really the same thing.

Forty-one Years Is Long Enough

Friend of the group, Martha White Collins (U of Virginia) ran 10:09.2 for the 1978 two-mile State Championship.  The PA record stood for the past 41 years until Marlee Starliper ran a 9:54.75 3200M (9:58.2 2-Mile) yesterday at the Glenn D. Loucks Games in White Plains, New York.  (Doesn't a PA record have to be run in PA!!!)

On that day in 1978, Gary Black won the 1-Mile State Championship leading to the headline...

Black and White Win Gold!

The Hardest Workout Of Them All?

Daughter the Younger's Division III Hartwick Hawks Cross Country team has 2 weeks off until their 3 season-ending Championship Season meets.  As part of the school's Parent's Weekend, the team will host parents and Alumni for a workout on Friday at 4:00PM.

The workout chosen by second-year head coach Tom Hartnett is "The Michigan Workout" from Head Coach Ron Warhurst.  Tom has invigorated both the Men's and Women's teams by regaling them with the mystique and history of the endurance test he ran while at Division I Sienna.

The workout isn't your typical "intervals" workout, as it is one that requires a recovery almost as lengthy as a 10K race if run properly.  Here's a summary of a classic "Michigan Workout" from Competitor Running:

Here’s how to do a standard version of The Michigan:
— Warm up with 2-3 miles of easy jogging followed by 4-6 x 20-second strides.
— Run 1 mile (4 laps) on the track at your current 10K race pace.
— After the mile on the track, jog 2-3 minutes off the track to the start of where you’ll run a mile at your tempo run pace. An out-and-back stretch of road or dirt loop will work well for this part of the workout.
— Run 1 mile off the track at your tempo pace, or roughly 20 seconds per mile slower than the mile you just ran on the track.
— After completing the mile off the track, jog 2-3 minutes back to the track for the next interval.
— Back on the track, run 1,200m (3 laps) at your current 10K pace, aiming to hit the same lap splits you ran for the first mile of the workout.
— After the 1,200 on the track, jog 2-3 minutes off the track back to the start of where you’ll run your second tempo mile.
— Run 1 mile off the track at your tempo pace.
— After completing the mile off the track, jog 2-3 minutes back to the track for the third interval.
— Back on the track, run 800m (2 laps) at your current 5K race pace, or roughly 4-5 seconds per lap faster than you ran your first two track intervals.
— After the 800 on the track, jog 2-3 minutes off the track back to the start of where you’ll run your third (and last) tempo mile.
— Run 1 mile off the track at your tempo pace.
— After completing the mile off the track, jog 2-3 minutes back to the track for the last interval.
— Back on the track, run 400m (1 lap) faster than your current 5K race pace, or as if you were finishing the last quarter mile of a race. Focus on running fast but relaxed—hold your form!
— Cool down with 2-3 miles of easy jogging, stretch, refuel.

Coach Groves adapted this workout for use (or misuse!) by Nittany Lions.  We ran a few in 1979 and 1980.  Our version entailed a 3 mile warm up from Rec Hall (1979) or Beaver Stadium visitor's locker room (1980) to the new track in its current location absent the Indoor Complex.

A timed mile was then run as one group, immediately followed by a tempo run of 2 miles to the Observatory fields past the Deer Pens for the second timed mile.  Immediately after the second timed mile, runners return to the track at tempo pace for the last timed mile, this time in scattered, bedraggled groups.

For those of us in the middle or back of the pack among the large number of distance runners in that day, keeping up with the leaders on the "tempo" runs between timed miles, was not an option.  Merely trying meant running essentially a 10K race (usually on a Wednesday).  This almost guaranteed a horrible race on Saturday if one was on the schedule!  I have to check my logs to see if I have any of these workouts documented with the surrounding races?  Or any of you can check yours and chime in!

Gary Black remembers one of these workouts with Tom Rapp clocking a 4:14 on the final mile, to the taunts of those coming in behind him.  I was nowhere near this event, as I could not keep up with the leaders following the second mile.  But I wasn't in the last group either, and I'm kinda sorta proud of that!

I have reached out to Ben Flanagan, Michigan's NCAA 10K Champion to opine on his remembrances of any Michigan Workouts.  I hope to hear back soon.

I had breakfast with Ben at 2017 Big Ten Champs.

Jonathon Cross, Michigan Alum and Friend of the Group, ran for the first years of Coach Ron Warhurst and may offer some great insights also!

5 Track Alumni (Golfers), 11 PSU Degrees And 29 Years

In rooting through my childhood home, I came across a wedding album I didn't know existed.  I thought it was lost to posterity just like my medal from the 1977 PIAA Track Championships.  But alas, there it was with pics of the wedding party including my brother, 2 sisters, my wife and her two brothers and the Best Man, who is my blog muse!  We were married 29 years ago at Eisenhower Chapel and had the first ever wedding reception at the newly built Atherton Hotel.  Man, how time flies.

Steve Black, sisters Sue and Beth, Barb, me, Rob Whiteside, brother John and Gary Black.

Our official wedding photo.

Blog Muse Rob Whiteside toasting us.  Wish I could remember what he said. Something about "What took you so long", I suppose.

Stephen Dwight Black 11/16/1958 - 4/1/2017

Stephen Black's funeral mass was celebrated at St. Bridget's Church in Richmond, VA on Friday, May 19, 2017.  It was a beautiful service celebrating the life of a very uniquely talented friend and family member.

Among Steve's talents were entirely self-taught musical abilities on bass guitar and keyboard,  Steve appeared in the very first band to perform at the PSU Dance Marathon, Milo Thunder and the Road Hogs.  He was also the bass guitarist in Paul Sousa's first PSU band with Ted Lyon on lead guitar.

Later Steve turned to acting.  His credits include multiple parts in John Adams: The Mini-Series ( Steve actually appeared next to star Paul Giamatti on the front page of the USA Today article about the series!) and multiple appearances on the television channel Investigation Discovery.  He appeared annually as George Washington in Richmond's historical reenactment of Patrick Henry's Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech.

I include multiple examples of Steve's acting gigs.  I hope you will view them and say a prayer for him and his twin sister Barbara.

Wicked Attraction: Live Free or Die - Steve had a large part in this episode as the boyfriend and chief suspect in the murder of his girlfriend. (Hint: he didn't do it!)




Monsters and Mysteries in America: The Mill Race Monster - Steve plays a bemused cop doubting everything about the reports from teenagers about a 7-foot tall green monster.  He actually ad-libbed the bit eating and drinking coffee and the director liked it and left it in.

The Magenta Shamrock:  NOT SAFE FOR WORK due to sexual content (not by Steve!) Steve has only a brief appearance in this well-made short film, which is, in the end, a kinda sorta love story.

The Gravediggers: Hang 'em High:  This was a self-directed and self-written short film about the hanging of Nathan Hale. Steve appears as one of the gravediggers and you can spot Gary Black playing a Redcoat! 


 

This Gem Brings Me Both Joy And Shame

Our superb William and Mary Connection and current coach of Gettysburg High School, Brian Mount somehow dug up a gem of an article from the Centre Daily Times from the days before color was invented, 1978.

This article includes me and gives me both joy and shame at the same time.  As most of you know, I am not afraid to point out my poor performances whenever I can, but this one probably can't even be called one of them!  This was during my "great groin pull" (now known in medical circles as a high ankle sprain, I believe?) of 1978 from a stupid choice of fencing as a Phys ed class.  (I did end up taking second place in the class tournament with a superb 3-phase parry and thrust to win my Semi-Final and earn an "A" in the class. Can't remember the world renowned fencing coach who ran the class, but he said it was a great showing that last day.  So I got that going for me anyway.)

Joys:

• The mentions of great friends Ted Lyon, Jim Clelland, Kevin Kelly O'Brien, Pete Bortolotti, Brian Boyer, Gary Black and Tim Backenstose. Both Glenn Chumley and Mark Stephenson were friends, but I did not know them as well as the others.
• Only the second race that I can confirm beating Gary Black.
• The mention of my daughter's namesake and great friend Martha White (Collins) and Nittany Lion great Kathy Mills (Parker).

Shame:

• Again losing out to Kelly, Jim, and even Ted.  I swear I beat them some of the time, but no one ever produces evidence of those times!   hee hee hee
• Placing right behind Glenn Chumley, An HALF-MILER!!!  Glenn was famous for running a 1:53 half on Wednesday at practice and then 1:55 for the meet on Saturday. (hee hee hee)  That, AND making the front page of the Collegian by streaking during a snow storm.  Coach could never prove it was him because the photo was from behind, but we all knew just by his running style.  One time years later, I saw him ahead of me jogging in Fairmount Park.  I caught up with him and it was certainly him.  I recognized him by his distinctive running style even after a few years.  Someone out there will comment on just what this was.  I can't seem to place it in words right now.  Anyway, Glenn, I tip my hat to you for beating me in an XC race.

Reggie Dunlop Might Have Been Our Coach This Day

 Early in the 1979 Cross Country Season an intrepid cast of characters set out in a van for the home of the Charlestown Chiefs.  Instead of meeting the Hanson Brothers on the ice, we met a bunch of other runners for the Johnstown 10K.

But we did use the Cambria County War Arena as our dressing room.  That's the scene of much of the filming for what Paul Newman called his favorite movie, Slap Shot.  We actually dressed in the stands right where goalie Denis Lemieux met player/coach Reggie Dunlop after asking Manager Joe McGrath "Who Own the Chiefs?"    Owwwwwns...




Several of us set PRs for the 10K, and everyone knows Johnstown has hills!

Penn State Runners:

  5.  Gary Black                 29:58
  7.  David Baskwill           30:37
  8.  Brad Althouse            30:40
11.  Mark Hawkins            31:01
12.  Marc Dunmire            31:14
14.  Don Ziter                     31:33
15.  Doug Kent                   31:54
18.  Rich Prann                  32:17
19.  Ray Krombel               32:20
23.  Mark Fordney             32:50
26.  Mike Cook                   33:07
42.  Roger "Gunny" Roll   34:53

I further pissed everyone off after the race by winning a pair of running shoes randomly from a local running store, delaying the return to State College!  They ended up giving me an injury...

"We go to Florida and I get the money." 

-Denis Lemieaux.

    

The Older We Get, The Faster We Used To Be

Our William and Mary connection, Brian Mount, sent along this news clipping from the days of yore.  This was probably results from the 1985 or 1986 White Rose 5-Miler.  I ran the flat and fast version of this in the 70's, but was already retired by the time this version came around. This is a deep field that would hold up well in any major race today!

There are a few PSU athletes listed, including brother-in-law Gary Black.  I never knew he ran in York! Some of my high school running partners ran too, including the incredible York College Grad Gary Townsend in 7th place (24:34).  He was a big part of the 1977 winning team at the Runner's World 24-Hour Relay at Fort Meade.  Mike McAndrews (25:18) was also a high school competitor.  Notice Shippensburg Coach Steve Spence (23:47) and  Inside Track running store owner Mark Amway(23:52) too!  Winner Kevin McGarry (23:35) is the brother of Nittany Lion Rick McGarry.

Penn State Track Alumni Golfers among the leaders were "Noisy" Jim Clelland (25:01), Robert "Snid" Snyder (25:13), and Gary Black (26:26).  And I've heard rumors that Zeb Stewart was there too!

Painful Memories!

Greg Fredericks sent me this listing from the days of yore.  I have talked about it several times before but didn't have the entire listing before.  Remember, this was an "extra" race/training run including many milers.  Nothing like this ever happens today. There are numerous things to note:

• I "coached" the 5th, 6th and 7th runners to their first ever run over 15 miles.  I coached them so well that they all beat me when I hit the wall at 20 miles. I made them start slowly and pick it up at each 5 mile mark.  We were in third place behind Alan Sharsu when I dropped like a rock.  Larry Mangan, Mike Wyatt and Tom Rapp all had incredible range from 800M to marathon.
• I managed to stagger home ahead of Liz Berry, hearing the cheers behind me as she set the team record.
• This is the only race where I ever defeated Gary Black.
• Seeing Marc Dunmire defeat Coach Groves with curses in the air was great! (RIP Marc.)
• Psychology Prof Hersh Leibowitz ran 3:25:01 at age 53! (RIP Hersh.)
• The weather is listed as 50 degrees with no wind.  That is a lie.  There was snow on the roads and we all had windburn!
• Greg Fredericks did not run! Just for the record...
• The high number of non-finishers may be due to the 800M guys running only 15 miles???
• The combo of Jim Clelland and Kelly O'Brien gave Alan Scharsu a run for his money!
• Bruce Baden was an animal!

Three Dope(y)s For Sure

Barb Black and Gary Black both finished their third Dopey Challenge on Sunday.  That's the 4 day, four races at Disney World, 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and Marathon.  The hardest part may be waking up at 2:00AM or so to get ready for each race!

Added to participants I know this year was Hal Darr, York's greatest promoter for Running.  Hal didn't finish his third Dopey.  Although he has 50 Marathons under his belt, he hasn't run 2 in any State in the Nation.  That's right, he saved the Disney Marathon for last on his 50 Marathons in 50 States he started in 1978.  And he made it extra hard by doing The Dopey to boot.

When we met Hal at the Running Expo before the event, he had just started his nasty cold many of us have had this season.  He got really sick, but managed to endeavor to perservere for the entire 48.6 miles.  Congrats, Hal!

And don't forget to vote in the Performance of the Year 2015 poll!

1982 Atlantic Ten Cross Country Champions

Keeper of The Cup Harry Smith brings us this great pic of the 1982 Atlantic Ten Cross Country Champions from Belmont Plateau.

L to R bottom row:

Barry Enright, Jeff Adkins, Ricky Garcia, Clark Haley, Paul Mackley, John Evans, Harry Smith

Top Row L - R:
Rob Whiteside, Mark Overheim, (A-10 Commissioner?), Coach Harry Groves, Nick Kello, Gary Black, Zeb Stewart

My favorite parts of this:

1. Zeb and Harry S. rocking the mustache.
2. Rob rocking the old school gray t-shirt.
3. My first ever mention of Barry Enright on the blog!
4. Gary distracted as always.
5. Nick weighing more than he does NOW!
6. Clark with a hat reminiscent of Bushwood CC. (Looks good on him, though.)
7. Coach Groves with the Dirty Harry sunglasses.

More Olden Photos With Even More On The Last One From Yesterday!

The "dozens of readers"  (I'm working on "scores" now!) of this blog are the best of the best almost without exception.  I am sent a random photo by someone I've never actually met just to make sure both of our technological set-ups are sufficient, and I post it as a preview of more to come, and it becomes one of the most-read posts in a long time.

Turns out I was right.  That is Pete Bortolotti on the left-side of the pic.  And that's Terry Losch of Rapid Transit Sports, the descendant of Greg Frederick's original Athletic Attic store next to him!

Doing it one better was Director of Fun Teddy Quinn's submission of the CDT write-up of that meet highlighting Ricky Garcia's victory in that steeplechase event!

Trackmen dominate Relays

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Rich Bradley | Posted Apr 18, 1983

Trackmen dominate Relays Penn State's Rick Garcia set a new meet record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase race as the men's track team won 13 of the 24 events in the Nittany Lion Relays this weekend at the Nittany Lion Track. Garcia set the record with a time of 8:56.69, breaking the old mark of 8:57.75, which was set by Greg Beardsly last year. In setting the record, Garcia had to beat George Malley, a former American record holder in the event. Garcia finished second in the steeplechase in the IC4As last year and won the race at the Junior Pan-Am and Junior Nationals in 1980, so running against another world class athlete like Malley was no problem. "It was a good, competitive race," Garcia said. "I'd like to run all of them like that." Men's Track Coach Harry Groves was impressed with Garcia and the rest of the team's performance at Saturday's meet. "It's a credit to Rick (Garcia)," Groves said, "to be able to get a pace with this wind and everything. It's really something for the athletes to be able to wait a whole day and then go out and compete in this stuff. Overall, it was a good meet under not the best conditions." Rick Kleban of Penn State repeated as the decathalon champion on the strength of a 15-foot pole vault. Kleban, who said the pole vault is his specialty, scored 950 points for his vault, which led to his final score of 6,574 points. Kleban's 15-foot pole vault set a new relay record for the pole vault event of the decathlon. His total barely topped teammate Jud Cowen, who finished with 6,569 points. Kleban, who holds the Penn State record in the decathalon with 6,830 points, started Saturday in third place, 261 points behind Cowen. Kleban then won his only other event, the 110-meter hurdles, which closed the gap to 117 points. Kleban proceeded to finishthird in the discus — the event before his record-breaking pole vault. His effort netted 320 points more than Cowen's, and put him ahead in the event for good. "This was basically a warm-up meet," Kleban said. "It was an early season meet and it wasn't the best weather, especially Friday. My main goal for the meet was just to qualify for the IC4As." Kleban, who finished fourth in last year's IC4A Championships, said that both he and Cowen qualified for this year's IC4A Championships with their scores this weekend. The IC4As will be held at Villanova University May 21 and 22. The other events, such as the distance relays, were dominated by Penn State. Groves said that he expected the relays to be the most competitive events of the whole meet, but Penn State won three of the five relays and finished second in a fourth. In the field events, Penn State also looked strong, winning four of the seven contests. Lion Mike Valenti won the shot put competition. Penn State's Todd Shenk captured the hammer throw event, Paul Souza won the high jump competition and Ron Campbell took the pole vault. The next challange the squad will face will be next weekend when it travels to New Brunswick, N.J., to take part in the Rutgers Relays. 

 And here's 2 more pics from Greg Reyner's vault! 

That's Gary Black and Mark Overheim.

I want everyone's names submitted in the comments on this one! Florida Relays (1982)? actually 1985!

The Tortoise And The Hare

First up, the tortoise.  And what a tortoise!  A tortoise that, if he could talk, would be able to tell us what the world was like during the same time as the very first wagon train crossed the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming.  No kidding.  I swear I'm not making that up!  Jonathan is 183 years old.  At least.  He could be older...

Just like with Gary, don't get your fingers near Jonathan's mouth.

As for the hare, I have an apology to make.  I excluded Gary Black's Performance from the 2014 Performance of the Year final poll because so many votes came in from his Austrian friends, it overwhelmed the votes from our faithful readers.  Gary's European friend's got wind of the poll and easily bested the totals from any previous poll we have run.  That made Gary's exploits the top performance of 2014, bettering a National title in the shot put, a second place National finish in the 800M and the second fastest distance medley relay ever run in the NCAA.  I felt justified in excluding him from the finals.  But now I have reconsidered.

And now that he bettered his 2014 performance in the 2015 Dopey Challenge in Disney Worlds Marathon weekend (5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon on successive days) by 90 minutes, I have created a special category for his exploits.  So he is the first winner of the Joint Replacement Performance Which Is Still Way Better Than Anything I Can Do With Real Joints Award.  See, Gary ran under 9 minutes/mile in the entire event with 2 artificial hips.  

He will be receiving a lobster dinner from Red Lobster during the Lobsterfest from me as compensation for my error.  And he promises to do better next year!  I slink off in shame...

The Alumni Singlet was a nice touch!

America Is The Land Of Opportunity To Be Dopey

And the home of the brave!

We are guarded by some of the best men and women on the planet.  America's Armed Forces are an all volunteer force, and are routinely criticized by those who don't bother to look into the matter much.

I just spent the weekend with a veteran of the Afghanistan War, who may be one of the bravest I have encountered.  Not only did he pal around with my decidedly boring and pedestrian family, but he roomed with Gary Black for the week.

On Thursday, he ran his first ever 5K.  On Friday, he ran his first ever 10K.  On Saturday, he ran his first ever Half Marathon.  And today, he ran his first ever Marathon!  That's all on his total of 2 weeks of "Training".*

Eric White is therefore named an honorary golfer in our group. 

Dopey runners Gary Black, Eric White and Barb Black in Epcot.

The 3 Dopeys and Daughters Elder and Younger.

*Other than that bit of training called Service in the US Military.  Wear all 6 medals with pride and have a beer on me.  Both Gary and Barb finished with improved times from last year.  Gary ended up running under 9 minutes/mile just as I predicted!  And whatever times Eric ran, he has my eternal respect.

Trapped Like A Rat 10: Notes From The Road (At least I think it's 10?)

1. This year's flu shot did not prevent the flu very well.  But it did lesson the severity and duration of the illness.  Trust me, I'm almost a doctor.
2. Saw a fairly large boat that fell off a trailer onto 3 of the 4 lanes of I-95 near the Georgia/Florida border.  A boat is usually a big hole in the water that you throw lots of money into.  That one didn't make it into the water.  I think the fine for that maneuver should be in the $Thousands, at least.
3. I have missed more days running in the past month than I did in the preceding 14 years. Back on the treadmill today.
4. Stopped at The Murray Brother's Caddyshack off I-95 for lunch today.  A lifelong quest. Well, several years anyway.  The food was good and I picked up a few knick-knacks for the next Coach Groves Golf Tournament.  Did you know there are 6 Murray Brothers?  Or is it 7?
   
   
   
   
5. Took 3 days to get here to Orlando and am currently ensconced next to the big Ferris Wheel under construction near Universal. Tomorrow is actually officially "trapped like a rat day 1".
6. Both Gary Black ('82, '84 '86) and Barb Black ('80) are running The Dopey again this year.  That's the 10K, 5K, Half Marathon and Marathon on successive days.  Even Daughter the Elder may "bandit" the Half Marathon with my co-worker's number before she the rest of the family abandons Barb before Marathon day, as we must return to work and school earlier than she does.
7. I spent 1/3 of what I did last year on gasoline for the trip from Blog Central to Orlando.  Gas is 2/3 of the price from last year, and I'm getting more than double the gas mileage with my new Hybrid even though I added a roof-top cargo carrier to it!  Go ahead, check my math. 

Nittany Lions From the PIAA List of Past Cross Country Champions

I have tried to put together a list of current and former Nittany Lions who have joined the Cross Country team after winning a PIAA State Championship.  I probably don't have a complete list.  If anyone knows of those I missed, please chime in! (The list has been amended to include those I missed and submitted via the comments. Thanks to the anonymous supporter and RMH!)

1963 Boys’ AAA  Steve Gentry 11  State College. 10:36  (Pennsylvania State University)

1964 Boys’ AAA Steve Gentry  12 State College 10:25.2 (Pennsylvania State University)

1968 Boys’ AAA Jim Allahand 12 Bensalem  12:40 (Pennsylvania State University)

1975 Girls’ AA Mary Rawe  11 Camp Hill    12:28 (Pennsylvania State University)

            1976 Girls’ AAA Kathy Byrnes 12 North Allegheny 13:06.6.(Pennsylvania State University)

1977 Boys’ AAA  Gary Black  12  State College 15:09.4 (Pennsylvania State University)

1978  Boys’ AA  Mike Cook  12 Troy  15:26.8 (Pennsylvania State University)

1980  Boys’ AA Mark Overheim 12  General McLane 10  15:50.7 (Lehigh University)

1982 Boys’ AAA  Eric Carter 11 Penn Hills   15:38.2  (Lehigh University)

1984 Boys’ AAA Steve Brown 12  North Hills   15:44.9 (Lehigh University)

1985 Boys’ AAA  Doug Walter  12  Chambersburg   15:38.14 (Lehigh University)

1986 Boys’ AAA Ron Moore 12 Hempfield Area  15:33.2 (Pennsylvania State University)

1989 Boys’ AAA  Bob Hamer  12  Council Rock 15:37.98 (Lehigh University)

1995 Boys’ AAA  Chris McGinness 12  Abington 15:48.15 (Pennsylvania State University)

2001 Boys’ AAA Daniel Mazzocco 12 Baldwin 16:03.0 (Hersheypark Stadium White Field)

2011 Boys’ AAA Conner Quinn 11  Hatboro-Horsham 16:03 (Parkview XC Course, Hershey)

            2012 Boys’ AAA Tony Russell 11  W. C. Henderson  15:45 (Parkview XC Course, Hershey)

2013 .Girls’ AAA Tessa Barrett 12  Abington Heights 17:30 (Parkview XC Course, Hershey)

2013 Girls’ AA Elizabeth Chikotas 12 Saucon Valley  18:43 (Parkview XC Course, Hershey)

            2013  Boys’ AAA  Tony Russell 12  W. C. Henderson 15:49 (Parkview XC Course, Hershey)