The following should have a picture of the Belle Watlings from 1978. Once I figure out how to put it up, it will be done, but I think you can get the drift for now without the picture.
When the Old Geezers Club hit its Peak
By Bill Donnelly
When people think of the Belle Watling AC today, they think “OLD!”I do not mean they think “Cripes, that club has been around forever!”No, they think “OLD!”People think: “Average Age between 87 and OLD!”; “I sure hope I can even walk when I’m that OLD!”; “I wonder if any of them knew Grover Cleveland!”I’m still one of the “Babies” of the club at 56 years of age, and I suppose I help keep their average age under the century mark.
When I first joined the Belle Watlings in 1975, I thought “OLD!”Most Watlings were in their forties, with a couple in their late thirties, and Dave Bogdan, Fred Gordon and I were the youngsters at 27.But the Watlings were one of the top running clubs in the area, and we used to bring home the team trophies when we traveled all over the state to run races.You see, there were not many races around in those days, in fact we were lucky to find one a month, and that usually took some traveling.Many of the races back in those days also had team competitions, and this led to the growth of the running clubs such as Checkers, Greater Buffalo, the Philharmonic, and NickelCity.You see, the competitive spirit and friendship that existed among the runners led to the team concept, which led to running clubs.Yeah, right, much the same as the competitive spirit and friendship among the nation’s leaders led to World War I.
Anyway, the runners back in the Day were a very competitive lot, as were the teams, and this led to some very good PRs.We were mostly runners who used the occasional short race as training for the Big Show, the marathon.That was what mattered, and of course, the Boston Marathon was the Main Event.I believe that at the 1978 Boston, the Belle Watlings put together perhaps the best effort ever by any Buffalo running club that competed in the Main Event.
Some people feel that 1978 was perhaps among the best Bostons in its own right, as 2047 men (out of 3872) and 29 women (out of 186) broke 3 hours, and 32 broke .By comparison, in the 2001 Boston, which I can attest to as having been the same, weather-wise, 840 men (of 8592) and 45 women (of 4814) broke 3 hours, with just 19 breaking .There were no Kenyans there in 1978 either, as 9 Kenyans broke in 2001.I am using gun times for the 2001 Boston, as that is all we had back in 1978.
The picture accompanying this article is of most of the Belle Watlings at their water tower in Hopkinton in 1978.The gathering at the tower before the race is a Watling tradition started when The Founder, Dick Sullivan, discovered in one of his earliest Boston’s that the tower is named after a Sullivan, saw that as a sign, and so he adopted it as the “Belle Watling Water Tower”.The rest is history, although I do wonder what The Founder was doing rooting around over by the water tower in the first place.Perhaps a lack of enough facilities is the answer, or maybe he was having a secret meeting with Kathy Switzer before the race.(Now come on, he would only be giving her pointers.)(I mean running tips!)
In listing the PRs of the Watlings, I rounded down to the minute to simplify things.Also, if I listed actual times, mine would be while that of Bill Donnelly’s brother Tom Donnelly would be , a difference of a mere 15 seconds.Needless to say, compared to gives me a full minute on him.Is this fair, you ask?I’m the one writing this, so HA HA Tom.Know too that all the PRs listed above were not run on this fine day of April 17, 1978.The Belle Watling A team did have some fantastic results, however.
Only the top three runners for a team counted in the team scoring, and our team came in third out of 71 teams.In those days they gave each team member a place number for where he came in among just those on teams, and then added them up.First place was the Greater Boston Track Club, who, with the overall winner Bill Rodgers, fifth place finisher John Thomas, and twentieth finisher Tim Donovan, ended up with just 10 points. In second place with 66 points was the Washington DC Running Club, followed by the Belle Watlings with 67 points.One point behind us was the Atlanta Track Club, which was gratifying to us since our Club is named after the Gone with the Wind character that ran her house of ill-repute in Atlanta, GA.
The three top runners for the Belle Watlings?They were Ralph Zimmerman, who finished 28th in , John Pfeil, who finished 56th in , and Fred Gordon, who finished 76th in .Now-a-days, instead of doing points, Boston just adds up the times of the top three finishers.Doing it that way, the 1978 Watlings had a combined time of .The winning team in 2001, the Lehigh Valley Road Runners, had a team time of .Looking at the records, the 1978 Watlings would have easily won any of the last five Bostons.
Not only was Zimmerman the fastest Belle Watling, he was the fastest runner from the state of New York.He was 40 seconds and five places behind the 1972 Olympic Marathon gold medal winner, Frank Shorter.At 30 years old, Shorter was seven years younger than Ralph, and that day, Zimmerman set the US age group record for those 35 to 39.Not bad for a guy on the brink of OLD!
I was the fourth guy on the Belle Watling A team.I finished 320th, but my time of even (I’m not rounding down here to impress Tom, my time was , period) was well over ten minutes behind Fred Gordon’s time, our third man.Fred always could kick my butt.One of the few times I ever beat him was that same year in the Lockport 10 Miler, which you all know is in the lovely month of February.That day Fred ran to Lockport from his home near DelawarePark, a distance of 20 miles (while climbing over snow banks), then ran the race, and even took a wrong turn during it.I beat him by four places.HA HA Fred, I beat you.I’m not making this up.
I was darn happy with my time in Boston though, as I may have gone out a bit too fast.I kept a running journal that year; unfortunately, it was the only year I did so back in the Day.I’ve kept one ever since 1990, but boy, do I wish I had kept one for all the years I ran in the 1970s.Listen to the voice of wisdom kids, or at least listen to me, and keep a journal.It makes fascinating reading all these years later.
Anyway, in my entry for that day, I have it that I hit ten miles in 55 minutes.YOW!I go on to say that my legs tightened up on the hills and I had to slow down.I’ll bet I did.That was my style, the old going out like a bat out of hell routine and then hanging on.Hey, it is down hill at first, and I sure liked to use that to my advantage.Now-a-days that whole course just eats me up.
Besides the Belle Watlings, other Buffalonians did well that day, some unattached, and some representing the Buffalo Philharmonic AC and Checkers AC.Some would be future members of Checkers, including Zimmerman and myself.Leading the way for Checkers was Jim Herzog, who ran a , followed by Paul Allaire () and James Harrington ().Allaire was a real baby, being just 19.The Philharmonic was led by Peter Mathias in 2:50:55, followed by such OLD-TIMERS as 47 year old Jesse Kregal, in 2:59:48, 44 year old John Peradotto in 3:09:25, and 43 year old Russ Miller in 3:10:01.I also must mention my good friend and my dentist, the Late, Great Allen Gross, who at age 50 hit a .Running unattached and doing well was Mike Miesczak in , and his fiancée, Nancy Dragoo, who ran a .Nancy Miesczak would go on to set many records at all distances across the state and elsewhere.
Among the Belle Watlings, Dave Bogdan, John Richardson, Bob Herzog, Tom Donnelly, Pat Janiga, and Paul Schwandt all broke 3 hours that day.The Founder, 49 year old Dick Sullivan, stayed back to make sure no one got lost, and he finished in .I should mention that Tom Donnelly ran a that day.Actually, I think I’ll round that up to , or better still, I’ll round it up to the nearest hour.HA HA Tom, you ran a 3 hour Boston that day.
And I used to think some of those guys in the Belle Watlings were OLD.I tell you, I wish I could hit some of the times now that they used to do.I’m still a Belle Watling, and proud of it.I’m still one of the “Babies”, but the OLD guys keep bringing home the hardware.They even still do some traveling to find races with team competition so they can clean up in the OLD categories.And they do, and I hope I can still come close to what they are doing when I’m OLD!But I’ll still just be one of the “Babies”, and I’ll still be chasing the times they are doing now.
This was part of the toast I gave my brother Tom when he got married six years ago. Of course I tied the story into his making the best choice of his life when he married Julie, his wife now of six years. Sometime I will put the whole Trouble for Tommy story on this blog. He had quite a childhood.
More Trouble for Tommie
Chapter 79
Fangs for the Memories
By I. Seymoore Duckz
It was a hot, still summer’s day in tiny St. Cloud, Minnesota.The temperature was heading towards the century mark, and most residents (with names like Lars, Gerta, and Gayland) looked anxiously towards the sky, knowing that such a day could easily end with a tornado suddenly sweeping down on their fair town.
Meanwhile, back at 507 3rd Ave. So., Bill and Marion Donnelly had no concerns about what the weather might bring, for they lived daily with the threat of disaster.No day passed for this quiet and soft speaking, fun-loving couple without the threat of calamity visiting them.For they were the parents of the human tornado that went by the name of Tommy Donnelly.
On this particular hot, sunny day, the other six Donnelly siblings were busy with either their Good Will Club, searching the skies for alien invaders, or busy filling squirt guns so they may try to cool off Marion, who was heavy with child.When was she not? Three year old Tommy was busy playing in roofing tar, seeing what effect it would have on his curly blond hair.
Suddenly, Bill Sr. was on the front porch frantically calling to his always well behaved children, and Tommy, to get into the house immediately.Apparently a police report had just been issued on the radio that a rabid dog was in the vicinity of St. Cloud State College.The first six Donnelly children were in the house in a matter of seconds, of course, for they were well trained to obey their father’s commands at all times.When Tommy finally came in 47 minutes later, Bill calmly explained to them about the rabid dog, and how they might as well help mom with the chores inside while waiting for trouble to pass.
Trouble rarely passed the Donnelly household.Being too small to do any chores, Tommy sat amid the galoshes by the front screen door.The Donnelly’s had never had a pet that Tommy remembered, and he had always wanted a dog.The idea that a “rabbit-dog” was in the neighborhood fascinated him.In his mind he pictured a hopping, long-eared dog munching on carrots, for what else could a “rabbit-dog” look like.
When the big German Shepard ambled into the front yard, Tommy was a bit surprised, but quickly called to it.Too young to know about doggy body-language, Tommy naturally thought the crazed cross-eyed stare and the frothing drool dripping from Fang’s mouth meant that the pooch just wanted to play catch.
Looking around for something to throw to the hound, Tommy grabbed one of the stocking caps that hung on a hook, which was waiting patiently for winter, not wanting to be a dog’s chew-toy.Tommy opened the screen door and threw the hat to Fang, who pleased the boy by leaping and catching it instantly.
Bill Sr. happened by at that instant, and sprang into action.You see, The Donnelly clan had but two stocking caps to share amongst themselves, being such a big, and proud family without a lot of ready cash on hand.For the frigid Minnesota winters, you dared not venture out without a stocking hat for fear your ears could freeze right off.Why else do you think so many Minnesotans had names like Lars, Gerta and Gayland, names that can be heard even without having ears anymore?This particular hat, which now rested firmly in the doggie’s tight sharp-toothed grip, was the one Marion referred to as the Billy, Michael, Tommy, I mean Katie’s hat.
Now, Marion and Bill had almost saved up enough money to buy another stocking cap for the family, but a spate of recent fines and damage payments concerning Tommy’s exploits on the 10th Street Bridge had wiped out their savings once again.Therefore, without a thought to his own safety, Bill instantly headed out the front door in the direction the startled dog had gone off in.
Tommy watched delightedly as first the dog, and then Bill disappeared around the back of the house.After only a few seconds of shouting and loud growling from behind the house, Tommy was once again rewarded by the sight of Bill sprinting back towards the front of the house, frothy hat in hand, screaming for Tommy to open the door, with the frothy-mouthed dog hot on Bill’s heels, snapping his jaws in outrage.
Bill had not run so fast since his days as the miler for Notre Dame, and legend has it that if Tommy had not opened the door on Bill’s seventh time around the house, Bill would have been the first man to break the four-minute barrier for the mile.In fact, it is said that when Roger Bannister read of this episode in the St. Cloud Daily Times, he hired out the same rabid dog to pace him in the mile two weeks later, and thus he was the first sub-four-minute miler.
Meanwhile, once back inside the house with the worse for wear hat in hand, Bill could only catch his breath, look at Tommy rolling on the floor laughing, and wonder what punishment now.He knew there would be none, for punishment would never teach young Tommy to make better choices when dealing with life’s challenges.Bill knew that only with growing up would Tommy ever likely, or hopefully, outgrow his habit of making foolish choices.Would that ever happen?Would he ever start making good choices?Only time would tell.
I did the Flying Pig Marathon back in 2000, and then in 2004 I traveled with some friends who were doing that race. This is their story.
Traveling witt da Wiseguy
By Tony Legatuna
As told to Bill Donnelly
Foist things foist.I’m known as “Big Tony” Legatuna.I’ll tell you right off I’m a wiseguy, a made-man in da Family, if yous knows what I mean.My cover, er, job is driving a limo for my boss, Vinny “Chickenlegs” Pauladuchi.Now da other day Vinny calls me into his office and tells me of a job he wants me to do.Seems he owes a big favor to “Uncle Chuck” Paul.
Now dis is a mug what changed his last name years ago to Americanize it, if yous knows what I mean.Something to do witt mistakes he made in his yoot, so I can’t really blame him.Yous know what they say, yoot is wasted on the young.
So anyways, Vinny wants me to drive “Uncle Chuck” and his wife, Patricia, and some of their acquaintances to a marathon called da Flying Pug Marathon being held in Cynci Nitti, Kentucky.Now I of course jump at da chance to drive down to Cynci Nitti, because I know da history of da town.See, it was named after da widow of my distant cousin and right-hand man to Alphonse Capone, that being one Frank Nitti.See, after Frank died in da 1930s, his widow Cynci moved across da Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio, and sets up shop.Took over da town and soon named it after herself.They say she was pug-ugly, so I’m guessing that’s why they named da marathon da Flying Pug.
Sos anyways, I picks out da biggest stretch limo we got, and oily in da morning of May foist, I picks up my charges.Now we gets a late start cause one Jonathan Bialek took it upon himself to oversleep, thereby causing much pain and consternation among those what showed up on time.I asked “Uncle Chuck” if he wanted me to take care of da situation, if yous knows what I mean.Da late Jonathan coulda been sleeping wit da fishes right now, and I don’t mean witt da Legatunas, if yous knows what I mean.Miss Patricia Paul overhoid me and would have none of that.Jonathan, let me just tell you, you owes Miss Patricia big time.
But then da mug shows up, and he’s wit dis dame wit da handle Lisa Maly, and now I knows why da mug “overslept”, if yous knows what I mean.A real looker, this dame was, let me tell yous.But then so were all da dames on dis trip.I can’t say da same for da guys on da limo, but they all had some good looking dames hanging out witt them.
So let’s get da introductions out of da way foist off.Besides da ones already mentioned, there was Bill “Meterman” Donnelly and his goil, Diane “Swear on a Bible” McGuire.These two mugs were along for da ride just to cheer on their friends in da race.Nice guys, if yous knows what I mean.Also in da limo were Jack “Rodeo Boy” Rimlinger and his old lady, Susie.And I can’t forget Bill “Bo Didley” Bly, even though I’d like to.We just called him Billy Bo Didley.
Chris “Bubblegums” Connelly was there for da race, as was his goil Lisa “Da Banker” Fadden.She woiks for da M&T Bank, as does Laura “Boston” Ginnette and Mairead “Braineac” McKendry.They was all running da race, and now I knows who to go to when I gots some money what needs laundering, if yous knows what I mean.That McKendry dame went to one of those high falutin Poison Ivy League colleges like Yale, or Clemson, or FloridaState, I’m not sure which one.But she was ok for a high falutin college dame.
So da trip down went just ducky and I got the mugs to their race expo in Kentucky, and while they ran around getting race numbers, chips, free junk and shirts from da Fleet Feet from Cynci Nitti, I went and paid my respects at da graves of Cynci and Frank Nitti.It was a very moving ordeal, let me tell you, and I made sure I went back every chance I could over the next two days.
But anyways, for some reason da Flying Pug Marathon started across da river in Cincinnati, sos I had to get these mugs to their hotel over there, and then we went out to eat.That was at some high falutin Italian place called Bippity Boppity Boom or something.We ate well and a good time was had by all, but da food was nothing like my dear old mama, “Big Rosie” Legatuna, could make.Oh well, when in Rome, eat like da Romans do.
Well, now I had to get da mugs back to da hotel, cause da race was starting at in da AM, if yous knows what I mean.Most went right to sleep, except for Billy Bo Didley, who stayed up all night writing some top ten list or something.Da others thought it was pretty funny, but it all kinda went right over my head.I’m guessing Jonathan didn’t sleep much, what witt getting all that extra sleep the night before.
But oily da next moining I got da runners loaded up, along witt da Pauls and Lisa Maly, and off we headed.For some reason they weren’t thrilled witt me stopping back in Kentucky to pay my respects at da graves again.I still got da mugs to their race just in time, which was good, as they didn’t have to stand around for long in da cold rain that was coming down.Off they went into the cold windy morning, I dropped da others off at a coffee place, and headed back to da hotel for da others, but of course I went by way of Kentucky.Yous just can’t pay too much respect to da dead.After picking up Bill, Diane, and Susie, it was once more back to Kentucky before getting the Pauls and “Nervous Nelly” Lisa all to da finish area.Just a comment, da flying pugs on all da shirts looked more like pigs to me.Guess they couldn’t afford a good artist.
So Lisa, Susie and I waited for da crew to come in, but that wasn’t good enough for da others.They ran out to meet da runners, and “Uncle Chuck” ran in witt Chris, Miss Patricia and Diane ran in witt Lisa, And Bill ran in witt Billy Bo Didley.Let me tell yous, these mugs what ran the whole marathon did ok if yous ask me, what witt da cold conditions and all.
They all broke four hours, and they were all pleased to have beat da time of some mug named Loncto, at least ways the time what he ran in da last Boston Marathon.He must be some kinda runner, what witt them using him as da role model to beat.Anyways, Chris ran a , followed by Jonathan in , Laura in , Mairead in , Lisa in , Billy Bo Didley in , as was Jack Rimlinger.Not bad for a bunch of mugs as these guys was.
Being these mugs was as wet and cold as da weather outside, we headed right back to da hotel, skipping da party.They wouldn’t even let me get back one more time to Kentucky to pay my respects.What’s da woild coming to anyways.
After da showers we headed back to Buffalo.We had some tired mugs in da limo, some slept, some watched movies, some had a beer or two.Let me tell yous, they all deserved it.It was a successful trip all around, if yous knows what I mean.And I got to pay my respects several times to Cynci and Frank Nitti.
I never much liked winter.I hated going out into the cold, didn’t much like winter sports, and oh yeah, I HATED going out into the cold.As a lad growing up smack-dab in the middle of Minnesota, and then moving to Buffalo when 16, that pretty much meant I never much liked upwards of nine months of the year.
But then I started running, and all that totally changed.Suddenly, I didn’t mind the cold so much as I started to experience so much that I had been missing. I think what I came to appreciate the most was the beauty of nature, especially in winter.I came to realize that, as I ran, I was experiencing things with my senses that most people were totally missing.I think I became kind of smug about that, in fact I still feel that way.
How many get to experience the beauty of feeling you are the only person alive seeing the beauty of Forest Lawn in the early morning after a windless snowfall has left snow precariously balanced on every branch and twig in the cemetery.How many times have you stopped while running in the country to watch a nearly frozen brook that is more beautiful than any postcard you have seen?Even the thrill of running around Delaware Park in glorious bitter cold sunshine, yet as you look to the south you see the line of nearly black clouds on the horizon, and you thank God you decided against going to Chestnut Ridge because you know it is getting two feet of snow.
My strongest memory of winter running goes way back to when I was training for my first Boston in 1974.In those days I ran my miles everyday no matter what.Neither snow, freezing rain, blizzards, my girl friend, nor time of day could stop me from getting my oh so many miles in.At this time in my life I made my living as a substitute teacher.Not much of a living in that, so that year I also worked delivering and picking up tax forms for 24 offices of a tax preparing firm that shall remain nameless, but whose initials are H&R B.This endeavor would take me four hours, so that on days I also taught (or at least survived the kids) I would not get home till eight at night.Yet running I would go.
I would spend no time stretching in those days, but by the time I put on seven layers of cotton shirts and sweats, and four layers of long johns and sweatpants, usually with some old socks pinned inside the front to prevent frost-bite to certain delicate body parts (THANK GOODNESS for modern protective running wear), it would be 8:30 before I was out the door heading for eight laps around the Delaware Park Meadow.I remember that first January night clearly, for it was bitter, with no wind or clouds.Heading around the park with the snow crunching beneath my feet, I was totally alone with only my daydreams of winning the Boston Marathon to keep me going.
Just as I was going by the zoo at Colvin, the nearby howl of a wolf shook me to my soul, for even as a boy growing up on the prairies of Minnesota, I had never heard such a terrifying sound, for wolves were long gone there.What a sound it was, and what feelings it leaves one with when not expecting it.My next lap was probably the fastest I ever ran, and I was probably wondering how I would clean my long johns later.
The wolf was still howling, perhaps at the moon, but as the laps flowed by, I got to look forward to going by the zoo and hearing my friend, for to me I made it a greeting from one solitary soul to another.For the rest of that winter, the nights were more special if I heard the howl.It was something I alone was experiencing out there in the cold darkness, and did I feel smug about that.
Here's a rather long recap of a vacation we took two years ago to my sister's place in Saint John, in Canada.
The sticky Case of the Disappearing Syrup
By Bill Donnelly
It was a dark and stormy night!Well, to tell the truth, it wasn’t actually night, more like five of the o’clock in the afternoon, so it wasn’t really dark yet, but just not sunny out since there was a drizzling rain, the kind that makes you damp through and through, so I guess you could say it wasn’t stormy either.I just always wanted to start a story like the first line I used in this tale.So I guess to be truthful, it was a drizzly gray day when Diane (that’s my assistant and main squeeze who I take along with me on tough cases), and I set off by automobile, leaving the mean streets of Buffalo behind us, heading for the wide open expanses of Eastern Canada, that being Saint John, New Brunswick to be exact.
You see, I’m a Dick, that is to say, a private eye.During the day I work for the local natural gas company, keeping people in gas when they need it, or turning off the juice when the deadbeats decline to pay what’s owed my bosses.That’s right, a mild mannered Mr Gasman by day, but by night, I take on cases that prove to be too tough for the local flat feet to figure out, or maybe I just take on the tedious work of following some skirt because her old man don’t trust her and pays me to provide the proof of her indiscretions.Rotten work, but it keeps providing me with enough whisky so I can wash the taste of the street out of my mouth each night.I gotta get out of that unhealthy habit of licking the street every time I get out of my car.
Name’s Bill, but to my friends and enemies, of which I got many, I go by Gumshoe.The nick-name actually goes back to a very embarrassing and painful time for me I’d rather not go into.OK, let’s just say it had to do with my high school senior prom and me stepping on a big wad of gum on the dance floor and ending up with my foot stuck to the top front of my date’s dress and her being exposed for all the world to see and me running after her with the top half of her dress flopping behind me still stuck to my shoe thanks to the gum, but that’s all I’m going to say on that subject.
So anyways, the reason for us heading out towards Canada on that drizzly Saturday afternoon was that my sister, who goes by the name of Elizabeth, but who’s nickname is Gumshoe-Dress (since she was the dame what was my date at that prom so long ago, and I’ll never forgive my mom for making me take my little sister to my prom, nor will Elizabeth ever forgive my mom for her humiliation that night at the hands, or should I say foot, of her big brother, but that’s all I’m going to say on that subject), anyway, Elizabeth had thrown a big fat mystery my way.It seems that, for no reason them Mounties out there could figure out, all of New Brunswick was in the midst of an extremely severe shortage of maple syrup, and what with the biggest Canadian National holiday, which we all know is “Pancake Day, Eh”, coming up on the first Monday of September, people were understandably nervous about what a shortage of maple syrup would mean to the economy.
Why, there was a very real fear they would be reduced to asking their big brother, the good old US of A to step in and declare all of Canada the 51st state.Not a bad thing for them, if you was to ask me.First off, they would get a bailout like everyone else here, plus they could stop using their play money, and stop carrying around so much darn change but rather be able to stuff their wallets with paper dollar bills.Also, they can finally tell what the weather outside is because they would use real temperatures for reporting the weather (imagine thinking 30 degrees is a hot day), and distances would get shorter using miles instead of kilometers (it’s much easier running just six miles instead of all of ten kilometers). The advantages are endless I tell you, while the one advantage to the US of A is we would have more English speaking Americans to off-set all those Latinos here.Of course, there is the problem of all them Frenchies, but I figure we could just ship em all off to PEI and declare that a Third WorldIsland nation.
So anyways again, what with me being the big hearted magnanimous guy I like to think of myself as being, off we head, taking two and a half days to traverse the 900 miles to get to my sister’s lair, which actually sits right on the shore of the gorgeous Saint John River in Grand Bay-Westfield, Canada, just outside of Saint John, a city what’s seen more than it’s fair share of hard times, and the maple syrup shortage wasn’t helping.
So me and my main squeeze Diane arrive at the abode of my sister just in time for some much needed grub and relaxation before taking on the case.We are greeted at the door by Elizabeth, who I thinks ekes out a living teaching little brats to deal in black-market pottery and other various arty-types of endeavors.She is with her main squeeze, her brand new ball and chain who goes by the name of Phil Nelson.A big, strapping hunk of Canadian manhood, Phil makes his living on the high seas, just like most of his ancestors, going back to his Great, Great Uncle Admiral Lord Nelson, the famous British slave trader.
My sister proceeded to fill us in on what was happening with the maple syrup case while filling our bellies with a delectable seafood chowder, made with bits of seafood that I suspect was hand caught by Phil on one of his recent expeditions on the high seas.After getting our fill of both food and information, it was down to the shore to watch the stars, drink mass quantities of Canada’s national sport drink, which goes by the name of Schooner, and just shoot the breeze and catch up on the goings on of our family and friends, those few who remain above the sod.
The watch on my wrist told me it was time to stop flapping our gums and hit the sack, that and Diane’s snoring in the beach chair next to mine.Needless to say, but I’m saying it since this is my narrative; I was tossing and turning all night with visions of poor Canadian brats going maple syrupless.I had to solve this case before we had a country full of squealing rug rats not able to keeps up with USA kids in the obesity race because they aint getting their daily fix of pancakes.
The next dawn found me wide awake, and over that first cup of joe, I found out Elizabeth had to get into town to run her weekly water-boarding class, a little side gig she had going to keep her in enough whisky to help wash the taste of the street out of her mouth every night (she had that same darn habit of licking the street I did-I think we inherited it from our great uncle Frances who died at a young age when he wasn’t looking while licking the street in front of his house and he got himself squashed flat by a street sweeper).
I decided Diane and I should tag along, as I learned long ago, you find clues to a mystery in the craziest places.Now I call this class water-boarding, because that’s what the local yahoos call this perverse form of torture my sister dishes out.Elizabeth likes to call it water-aerobics, but after giving it a whirl, I’ll go with what them locals who see it for what it is.
So we arrived bright and early at the work out joint in the heart of Saint John, a pretty nice place since it was built for the Canada Games of a few years ago.There was an Olympic size pool, that by my calculations, must have been frozen over for the games, since ice hockey and curling are the only games Canadians know how to play, as far as I know.So this is a senior class that’s to last 45 minutes, and looking over the group as they were putting on their floatation devices, I’m thinking this will be a breeze, kind of treading water for the better part of an hour while these old timers struggle to just stay afloat.
You see, Diane and I consider ourselves to be in pretty good shape thanks to all the running and bicycling we do, and this group of 70 to 80 year-olds didn’t look to be in too good a shape, if you know what I mean.And what I mean is while they came in all shapes and sizes, the majority size was somewhere between large and whoa-mamma, look out below.I mean, they didn’t let these dames jump into the pool for fear the tsunami they would create would wash the kids in the other end of the pool right out into the street and on into the Bay of Fundy.And they was all dames, other than me and this old codger who limped into the pool area with a cane.
I’m standing there licking my lips, thinking that during this easy workout I can keep my eye on all these dames and maybe get an idea about the maple syrup.But then I notice one skirt in particular who had a smirk on her face that sent shivers down my spine as if the iceberg that sank the Titanic was giving me a back rubdown.To say she was big would be a gross understatement, why that dame looked like a rhino on steroids.Weighing in at least 375 if she weighed an ounce, her bathing suit looked like a circus tent on steroids, and she was 85 years old if she was a day.She had on a most colorful bathing cap that looked like a bowl of Fruit Loops on steroids, and as she eased herself into the water, the pool level rose and began to gently overflow the sides.Her name was Gertrude Starchesski, or just plain Gerti to her friends.I decided, for my own well being, to keep from getting between her and the side of the pool.
So now we’re all in the deep end of the pool, not able to touch bottom, and Elizabeth, who is safely out of the pool, starts us off easy, she says, with running in place.I’m telling you, a minute of this and I’m looking forward to the end.But no, now she picks up the pace, having us go through all sorts of routines, a minute at a time, all the while narrating what we should be imagining what our arms and legs are doing.Pumping your legs like you’re crushing grapes into wine, then moving them so fast that your creating bubbles like you’re in a hot tub (I just expelled a bit of gas for the same effect, but then Gerti smacked my head for doing it, so it was back to work crushing the grapes), then it was scissor kicks from the waist down, keeping your legs straight, imagining you’re slicing butter for chocolate chip cookies, and now I’m sweating and I sees that Diane is struggling to keep her head above water, and after what seems like a half hour of this water boarding, she says to ease off back to a running in place for one minute and I finally spot a clock on the wall and am dismayed to see we are only three minutes into the drill and Diane is already floating on her back and I’m thinking of joining her when Elizabeth says alright, let’s intensify, and I’m thinking of quitting but then I see Gerti with that smirk on her face and I just have to keep going.
So it’s off to work we go, and now we are scissor kicking again, you know the drill, slicing butter for the cookies, but I notice that while everyone else is making a swish-swish sound, I notice Gerti’s swish-swish sound sounds more like a swish-swish sound on steroids, sorta like SWOOOSH-SWOOOSH.I also notice that, besides that dang awful smirk on her mug, she has her hands above water wiggling her fingers, while I’m desperately using my arms in the water to stay afloat.Then Elizabeth says in fifteen seconds we will all intensify by putting our hand above our heads and wiggle our fingers for one minute.Thirty seconds in I’m sucking in water, and I see Diane is floating face down in the water, and all I hear is SWOOOSH-SWOOOSH, and I try to rouse Diane, but she gives me the stink-eye and tells me to leave her alone while she naps.
At this point the other guy in the class gets out, tells Elizabeth his hip is bothering him, and limps off with his cane (I later see him running down the street to catch a bus, no cane anywhere in sight, so I’m on to him, but that doesn’t help me at the time).Finally, after what seems like four hours, and thousands of SWOOOSH-SWOOOSHES later, the class mercifully comes to an end.The other dames give my sister a round of applause in appreciation if you can believe that, but I’m busy trying to find Diane at the bottom of the pool, and I get her to the surface none too late.
By the time I have enough energy to get out of the floatation devise, most everyone else is long gone, so I stagger to the locker room, and being quite out of it, I lurch into it and round the corner into the shower.Imagine my shock to see Gerti there, wearing only what God gave her, except fortunately she was totally lathered up, but with that smirk.My first deduction was what the H E double hockey sticks was she doing in the men’s shower, but then it hits me like a ton of bricks.I’m in the ladies shower, so I skedaddled out of there and made my way to where I belonged, showered and got the H E double hockey sticks out of that workout joint.Unfortunately, I was no closer to solving the mystery of the maple syrup.
So the rest of the day I was too tired to look for clues, so it was back to my sister’s digs to recover from the water boarding.After a while of feeling like I’d been in the ring with Mohammad Ali for fifteen rounds, with me getting the worst of it, Elizabeth says it’s time to head back into town for a track workout.Despite Diane’s protestations, I figure it’s the best way to meet some new mugs and maybe rustle up some evidence as to what’s going on here, maple syrup wise.
So off we meander into Saint John heading for the local track where these masochists head when they wants to suffer the pleasures of tough running.It’s hot (I don’t care the temperature says 28 degrees, it don’t take no private dick to know it’s way above freezing) and it’s muggy, but we get right down to business and start warming up with laps.There’s plenty of runners here, and as far as I am concerned, everyone of them’s a suspect.
There’s Marta, a dame with a pretty mug and a quick laugh, but all that sweetness just smells of maple syrup to me.And the two guys running so fast I figure they gotta be running from something.And what about Alex, who owns a running store that would be the perfect cover for moving hot maple syrup.
Along about 5:30, just as the shadows of the trees would be giving us some welcome shade if it weren’t raining out and there then could be shadows, along comes the coach of these here suspects, a cat that goes by the name of Darryl, aka Coach.The mug has on a sports coat and slacks and an easy going manner that cries out ring leader.We gather round him like a pack of jackals around a dead zebra, waiting for words of wisdom, or at least to find out what the workout’s to be.
With a demonic glint to his eyes and a wicked grin, he simply declares today we are doing Crazy Eights.When everyone groans and starts looking for rocks to throw at him, I deduce we’re in for a long and hard evening.I deduced right.And what’s with this “we” business, he had on a sports jacket, slacks, and an umbrella no less.
The workout consisted of us doing 800 meter runs, and with just a minute rest between them.After finishing each, coach would tell us how to run the next, which could be the first 200 all out, followed by a moderate 400, followed by another all out 200.As we gulped for air, he would give us another variation of what to run, and off we ran, 800 after 800.Finally after running somewhere less than 40 of these (I lost count because of pain) but more than six, he said the last one was to be a full out time trial for 800 meters.
I’m moving along, going as ok as one can while gasping for air, being passed by Phil, then Elizabeth running with Marta, followed by Diane, and even Coach passed me by, smiling and keeping the rain off his sports jacket and slacks by holding up his umbrella, yelling to me he needed to jog one 800 just to get his blood flowing.Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, with 200 meters to go, behind me I hear SWOOOSH-SWOOOSH-SWOOOSH, and sure enough, who passes me but Gerti, slicing the butter with her scissor kicks, hands above her head while wiggling her fingers, and with a smirk on her face as she went by.
After that workout, it was back to Elizabeth’s dwelling, where we partook of some mighty fine carrot soup she whipped up, along with a mess of grilled corn.Then it was down to the shore for some much needed Schooner, which, if you recall is Canada’s national sports drink.After a massive number of bottles of Canada’s national sports drink, which is called Schooner, and after much reflection on how the day went, which as of then hadn’t yielded many clues, just a lot of suspects, I hit the sack reflecting on how the H E double hockey sticks was I going to survive three more days here after barely making it through the first day.
The sunshine pried my eyes open about in the AM, and after a couple cups of java, I checked my vitals and found I was still alive, if just barely.I was going to have to take a different track if I ever wanted to see Buffalo again.So we planned a shindig for that evening to be held at my sister’s pad.I figured this would kill three birds with one stone, as the saying should go.First, Diane and I volunteered to get the supplies in town, which would give me a chance to case the joint.Second, the party would bring together under one roof most of the suspects, and what with plying them with a lot of Canada’s national sports drink, which is called Schooner, I might get someone to inadvertently spill the beans, as those of us in the private dick business say.And the third bird killed with that proverbial rock you may ask?Why, that bird would be keeping Elizabeth from killing me with any more workouts that day, as we had to spend time preparing for the party.
That afternoon we found we had the preparations for the party well in hand, so I suggested we go on the river to case things out there.Like I always say, you never know where you might find a clue.So Diane and Elizabeth take out a couple kayaks to search the shores, while Phil and I took on the more rigorous job of searching the river far and wide in their boat, which they named the Zodiac.It actually looks like a kids wading pool on steroids, and is powered by a Mercury outboard motor.Taking along some of Canada’s national sports drink, called Schooner, we search high and low along the treacherous Saint John River, but to no avail.
So now we got ready for the party, and what a blast it was.The food was great, the night beautiful, and the Canadian national sports drink, called Schooner, flowed freely.Many suspects were there, but the couple that really caught my attention went by the aliases of Earl and Gina.This couple had some strange ways about them that cried out “suspect!”
Take for example this little ditty.They want to take a trip to Hawaii, but they feel they need a reason to go.So what do they do, you ask?Why, they enter this event called the Iron Man Triathlon, which, if you can believe it, involves a competition in which one swims two and a half miles in open water, then rides a bike for 112 miles, followed by running a marathon, and all in one day, and all one right after the other. To get to the Iron Man in Hawaii, you have to do this somewhere else to qualify, and we won’t even go into how much it costs to enter one of these events, let alone the cost of equipment and time.My goodness, just use your air miles and be on your way.But more on them two suspects later.
After a bit Phil built a bonfire, which I figured was a good subterfuge, as it would put everyone at ease, and maybe make someone open up.When he threw a match on the wood, it exploded in a huge ball of fire, and we had an instant bonfire, and a beautiful time was had by all.When I mentioned to Phil how amazingly fast Canadian wood caught fire, he told me he used a liquid accelerant to help it along.I later learned he had poured vast quantities of Canada’s national sports drink, called Schooner, onto the wood for this purpose.
We spent the evening flapping our gums, and I, in my most subtle manner, brought up the topic I most wanted to scrutinize, that being the maple syrup shortage, but I wanted to do it without raising suspicion of my intended motive, which was to figure out which one of these wise guys was the guilty party.In a way so as not to arouse their suspicion or to put them on guard, I simply threw out: “So, which one of you birds is responsible for the disappearing maple syrup?Don’t try to be coy with me now, I got my ways of finding out, so the guilty party may as well spill the beans now!”
And with that the party quickly dissolved as the suspects all scurried away to their dens of iniquity, throwing out the usual lame excused such as they had to go to work in the morning, or in the case of Earl and Gina, they had to get up at 3:10 in the morning to do their two kilometer training swim in the river before biking 100 kilometers (see, 62 miles would sure would be shorter) after which they had to run 20 kilometers to work.A likely story.I dragged myself up to bed for another night of tossing and turning, trying to make sense of all I had learned at the party, which was that Canada’s national sports drink, called Schooner, sure makes a good fire accelerant.
After dragging my sorry self out of the sack at 7:30, and drinking several dozen cups of joe in order to clear the cobwebs out of my head, Elizabeth decided we might make headway into finding clues by closely examining the roadways of Grand Bay-Westfield, and what better way to do it than to run seven miles in what felt like 90 degree temperature, even though the thermometer at my sisters place said it was only 30 degrees out, so I was wearing sweats.Those sweats, plus imbibing of too much fire accelerant, also called Schooner, the night before, made for a rough run.Add to that the many hills we ran (I heard that the word Brunswick, as in New Brunswick, was a French Canadian word that meant friggin’ hills) I was a bit worn out and didn’t pick up many clues.
So after a great breakfast of omelets and bacon Elizabeth whipped up, we relaxed until a lunch of grilled burgers were whipped up.So now of course we had to work off all the food, so off we went on a 16.6 mile bike ride.They wanted to ride 30 kilometers, but I convinced them I was only up for the miles since they were fewer.But it was still only 31 degrees out, so I was bundled up in even extra sweats, and did I work up a sweat.The mountains we were riding on didn’t help.Did I mention that Brunswick is the French Canadian word for friggin’ high hills?And of course Diane had to be a show off as to what great shape she was in, so she used this special device she has which puts pressure against her rear tire so she has to pedal much harder than us, and of course she beat us all in.Nothing like a dame who has to always be showing us guys up.
Well that evening we had another spectacular dinner by the shore of the beautiful Saint John River.Why, we had grilled shrimp and grilled corn and pasta, washed down with Canada’s national sports drink, called Schooner.Then it hits me as the sun was soon to go down, lets go out on the river and try to catch the maple syrup culprits red handed, as by now I figured whatever was going on had to be done under the cover of darkness, probably on the water, since even I hadn’t been able to figure out this caper.
So we loaded up the Zodiac with life vests and a supply of Canada’s national sports drink, called Schooner, for Elizabeth, Diane and myself, and off we went with Phil handling the big Mercury and doing the steering.By the time the sun had almost set we reached out destination, a small tributary to the big river that was about two miles west.Going in we passed great masses of the water reed they call goose tongue.Now it’s my understanding, after doing much deductive research, that this reed is called goose tongue because it is edible, and when prepared properly, it can taste quite a bit like the famous Canadian national dish, which is fried Canadian goose tongue, which is usually served with pancakes, and with “Pancake Day, Eh” coming soon, there are a lot of very quiet Canadian geese flying about the skies of New Brunswick, and it’s sort of a case of “cat’s got your tongue”, if you know what I mean.
So it’s getting dark, but we’re seeing bald eagles and ospreys circling above, and now and then we pass beaver huts, and we even see the occasional beaver right before it slaps its tail in warning and disappears beneath the surface.We go deeper and deeper into the tributary, and it’s getting so dark we can hardly see. Suddenly we see a dark shape ahead, and as we get close it slaps the water with its tail and goes under, another beaver.But close by is a very strange shape in the water, and as we near it, there are guesses of it being a porcupine or perhaps a deer, or as Elizabeth said, after enough Canadian national sports drink, called Schooner, it might even be a porcupine on a dears head.As we get close it submerges, and Phil explains that it was just another beaver, and it looked so strange because it was carrying a large amount of leaves to its den to eat.
I wasn’t buying it.Because of my highly trained deductive powers I saw and heard things they missed.First off, this so called beaver did not slap its tail on the water before submerging.Second, even though it was very dark out, what looked like leaves to Phil, with my eagle-like vision I saw something much more colorful, more like a bowl of Fruit Loops on steroids.That’s right, and when I saw a pair of hands sticking up above the waters, wiggling it’s fingers, I was almost certain, but what nailed it for me was that, even above the roar of the Mercury outboard motor, I could hear, thanks to my ultra sensitive audible range, the SWOOOSH-SWOOOSH-SWOOOSH as if someone was slicing butter for chocolate chip cookies.
Only one creature with an MO like that, Gerti, but I knew enough to keep my observations to myself, so I did suggest we head back as it was pitch black out and a fog was starting to settle in.So back we went, and as Phil fired up another bonfire, my mind was racing, putting together all the clues I had just gathered out on the dark waters of the mighty Saint John River. Another night of tossing and turning lay ahead of me, but that’s just what I do best.
The next morning dawned sunny but bitter cold, with the temperature hovering around 31 degrees.I had my parka on and was toasty warm; in fact I was sweating buckets.After more delicious omelets, we decided to try a new track, since this was to be our last full day in this beautiful area.We decided to check out an area we hadn’t searched yet, so we went to the Irving Nature Preserve, for which the big oil and gas company from this area must have been named.
Elizabeth wanted to hike eight kilometers, but I was so exhausted I insisted on only doing five miles, which turned out to be how long the trail we followed around the island was.It was a rugged path with many ups and downs, since this was New Brunswick, and we all know what the word Brunswick means in French.The view was spectacular, the wildlife awe-inspiring, and the cold breeze off the Bay of Fundy was invigorating, but we found no new evidence to the mystery.
We had to get home to rest up for a busy evening.It started with a visit to Earl and Gina’s abode, which was high, high up a very high French Brunswick behind where Elizabeth lives.They have a stunning view of the river, but any time these two kooks go out running or biking from home, they end with an amazingly, excruciating climb to the end of their workout.
We had had enough of the Canadian national sports drink, called Schooner, and the two of them offered us wine or his homemade beer.It was a nice change, but during our visit I had to eliminate the both of them as suspects.You see, at first they seemed to be so serious, what with all their training, and that, in my book, made them very suspicious.
But being at their house with them, I found them to be just a couple of very playful little minx with each other.Before he got his homemade brew out of the refrigerator, I saw Gina shaking it up violently, and when he opened it, the look on his face as it spewed all over was priceless.Almost as priceless as when she tried to drink her wine from the special dribble glass he substituted for her original glass.Oh how they both laughed as wine dribbled down her outfit and onto the brand new counter top.Yeah, much too playful to be suspects.
We had a blast there, but soon made our way to Leo’s Italian Restaurant, which specialized in Thai food.Very good, but strange, which is why we cased the joint.No luck there either, so finally it was back to the beach in front of Elizabeth’s place to gaze at the many stars and watch the meteor shower going on.It was the perfect end to our trip, but disappointing in that we had failed to solve the dilemma of the missing maple syrup, or so I thought.
After sleeping soundly, and a breakfast of strawberry pancakes, covered with a bit of maple syrup Phil obtained on the black market that exists on the high seas, Diane and I packed up and bid a sad farewell, for despite the disappointment of not solving the case, we had had a most amazing visit.While driving away along route seven, I spotted a shop I had totally overlooked before.It was the Grand Bay-Westfield-St John, New Brunswick Canadian House of Pancakes, or GBWSJNBC-HOP for short.
When I saw the sign in front promising an all-you-can eat pancake bar with maple syrup for only $25 Canadian (that’s $1.13 US currency), I had to stop and check it out.As I was entering, I could see the back of the pancake bar, and it blocked my view, but what I heard stunned me.I heard a voice in sing-song mode singing “slicing the butter, pouring the syrup” over and over, accompanied by the rhythmic SWOOOSH-SWOOOSH-SWOOOSH of two large but very powerful legs, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I didn’t waste a minute, but we drove straight to the nearest Mounties station, I found a bloke in a red uniform on his horse, gave him my information, and off he went, and off we went, shuffling off to Buffalo.We made it in two days, and a couple bits of news awaited us when we arrived home.
The first was that Gerti had been apprehended, and “Pancake Day, Eh” was saved.It took ten Mounties to nab her, and she fought hard and furiously when she realized they would be depriving her of her beloved pancake bar.In fact, three Mounties and two of their mounts were seriously injured and had to be sent to the hospital.One victim, Sergeant Joe Friday, said he was squeezed by her legs, and it was if giant scissors were trying to slice the butter to make chocolate chip cookies.He just wanted to get hold of whoever got this woman’s legs into such great shape.
The other bit of news was Elizabeth finally sent us wedding pictures from the July ceremony.Phil did look so very handsome in his suit, and Elizabeth looked positively radiant in her wedding dress.She had, in order to save money, worn the dress she wore to the prom with me so many years ago.She had repaired it quite nicely, but she could not get my shoe unstuck from the front of her dress, so she used it to hold her bouquet, and it worked beautifully.That shoe was the right half of the best pair of penny-loafers I ever owned, but that’s all I’m going to say on that subject.
So last weeks blog was about the joys of training for the Boston Marathon here in Buffalo, NY during a typicaal winter. That happened to be written just before the 2004 Boston, and what transpired at that year's Boston sometimes just seems so normal for us long suffering Buffalonians. Read on:
That summer feeling!
By Bill Donnelly
When first we met, I was writing about the joys of training through a particularly cold Buffalo Winter with friends who were planning to run a spring marathon. Most were preparing for the Boston Marathon, which was held on Monday, April 19.
Wouldn’t you know it, after training in all that miserable freezing weather, the officials in charge of the Boston Marathon apparently struck a deal with the Devil himself, and imported excess heat from the nether regions of Hades. Just for good measure, old Lucifer threw in strong winds that came straight out of all the pizza ovens in Buffalo. Wow, what a scorcher that Monday turned into!
Fortunately for me, I wasn’t running in this year’s race, but I was there to cheer on my friends, and to share with them in their success. I also wanted to enjoy a few barely-malt beverages while all of them were hydrating on water and Gatorade.
At the 1976 Boston Marathon the temperature was 96 degrees at the start, and that race was called “the run for the hoses” for obvious reasons. There was a sea breeze that year, so the last few miles were run in much cooler 60 degree temperatures, but of course the damage was already done. About 40% of those runners did not finish. This year it was 83 at the beginning, got as high as 87, and was still 85 degrees at the finish line. The strong hot tail wind just made things worse.
As I waited at the 25 mile mark by FenwayPark, I quickly realized I wouldn’t see any of my friends come by in the times they had hoped to run. What, you ask, tipped me off besides the heat and my amazing powers of reasoning? The Kenyans, those bird-like creatures from the hot continent who had dominated Boston for fifteen years, were struggling mightily. What chance did the penguin-like creatures from the cold planet of Buffalo have? As most people know, the city of Buffalo was not named after the beasts of the plains, but rather it was the Seneca Indians who named the area with the word that meant to them “Gosh, I wish we could move to Miami for the winter!”
When the crowds began to pass me, I had trouble picking everyone out. I finally spotted Tom Appenheimer at into the race with a mile to go. He is much faster than that. Dan Loncto, a potential three hour marathoner came by at 3:50, and Diane McGuire came by with Bob Honan on pace for a 4:23 marathon, over 40 minutes behind what they were capable of. Rhea Tard’s time of 4:28 was just behind her sister-in-law Leah, and they were both behind Leah’s brother and Rhea’s Husband, Must (a Scandinavian name, I believe).
A few runners such as Fred Lew, Jennifer Hulme, Heather Patterson, Maureen LaChiusa, and Pattie Paul could feel good about their run as they were all within a half hour of what they had hoped to do. Then there were those such as Heather’s husband, Kevin, who finished, but ended up in the medical tent with an IV in his arm for two hours. The thing all these runners had in common was that they were all victorious just for finishing.
Perhaps the best performance of the day belonged to Dick Sullivan, the 75 year old Founder of the Belle Watling AC, and who was running his 29th Boston Marathon. It is said that when he ran his first, the official starter was Paul Revere. I’m not sure that this is true, but it was away back in 1973 that he first toed the starting line for Boston. Having run 28 straight Bostons, he had run his last in 2000.
He qualified for this year’s race with a last May. I must say I was a bit worried about him as the other runners staggered past me. I shouldn’t have worried. I didn’t see him go by, but when next I saw him, he was smiling to beat the band. He broke five hours by a few seconds and he was feeling pretty darn good. With Sully, it was the old Irish saying: “May the road rise up to meet your feet, and may you reach the finish line before the Devil knows you ran.” Well, it’s something like that.
I wrote the following back in 2004 just before the Boston Marathon, which I did not run, but which my wife, Diane, did. Next nugget will be the results of that race. Nothing like winter marathon training in Buffalo.
The Joys of Winter Marathon Training
By Bill Donnelly
Spring is in the air and runners by the boatload are out enjoying the warm breeze and sunshine upon their faces.If you happen to be out and about in the city of Buffalo on Sunday, May 30, you may see hundreds of runners challenging themselves as they try to finish all 26.2 miles of the Buffalo Marathon.As I write this, many of my friends are poised to run the same distance in Boston on Monday, April 19 in the world famous Boston Marathon.And many of you may think to yourself, what crazy people, running that far at once, what an accomplishment!You don’t know the half of it.
Just to get to the point of being able to complete a spring marathon such as these two, one has to put in many months and many more miles of training just to reach that goal.Tough for anyone, but I think even tougher for Buffalonians than for most other runners.As I have been training with many friends for these races, and as a matter of fact, I may run the Buffalo Marathon, I know the hardships they all faced to get there.Now I’m going to try to convey to you what it takes to run a springtime marathon, just in case you ever might think of doing one, or at least to give you a better understanding as to what these amazing, courageous, and idiotic people go through.
Training through a Buffalo winter?Running most every day, going out in sub-zero weather at eight o’clock in the morning (which means getting up by six) to run sixteen or more miles into the wind and snow, with poor footing because it snowed six inches the night before, and gee whiz, the Buffalo snowplows haven’t quite gotten around to clearing the streets this Sunday morning when most people are sleeping in!But let me tell you about the joys of running, as there must be some, for most of these runners have done it many times before, and will assuredly continue to train for spring marathons.
Dick Sullivan, the 75 year old Founder of the Belle Watling A.C. running club, will be running his 29th Boston Marathon this year.His teammate Jack Meegan will be doing his 25thBoston.The list goes on.I’ve run seven Bostons, starting back in 1974, taking a break after 1979, but for some reason getting back into it so that I ran Boston the last three years.I’m not running this year, but I’ve been training with many friends who are.What makes us do it?Surely not Buffalo’s winter wonderland.Or is it?
Let me explain a bit about the running boom before I go on.Back in the Day, or during the first running boom during the 1970s, most runners were marathoners, and we were extremely competitive, running 100 mile weeks even during the winter.My first Boston in 1974 had 1700 runners, which was considered a lot then. My best time of in Boston in 1975 placed me 181st out of 2000 runners.Last year there were 17,000 runners, and a time of would have been in the top 100, and that is true of the last five Boston Marathons.There are way more people running marathons now, and plenty are darned competitive, but more are in it for a healthier lifestyle kind of thing.If training in a Buffalo winter can be called healthy.
Back in the 1970s, we pretty much just ran the miles, getting in speed when a group of us got together, and the testosterone took over and we were soon flying.This was pretty much every day.I can say testosterone because there were very few women running back then, locally you could count them on one hand.Now the figures are pretty even, and I say, viva la figures.Now every one runs more like 40 to 50 mile weeks, but usually using a training method much smarter then we used to use.Testosterone just aint all that great!
So let’s finally get to the winter training that we do today.I’m just talking marathons since I’m still crazy enough to keep running them.Today there are so many more runners who go in for the shorter distances, and I say more power to them.And yes, they too train through the Buffalo winter, just not as many miles.Now a few people do some of there training on a treadmill, but for a imagination-impaired klutz like me, it’s just too boring, and being a klutz, I’m deathly afraid of a misstep, which often results in one flying off the back of said treadmill and landing face-first into the back wall.Happened to me the second time (and last time) I used this terrible invention.
Others like to run indoors on tracks like the one at the FlickingerCenter at ECC downtown.Now this provides a nice warm place to run if you don’t mind keeping track of the laps, which are nine per mile.Not bad if running only two or three miles, but try getting up in the miles, you will get dizzy, confused, and nauseous.Take the case of the two runners who last winter ran 21 miles together up there.I won’t name names, but when my brother Tom and his girlfriend Julie Doell ran those 189 laps, they were not right in the head for months.Now that I think of it, they’re still not!
So anyway, nowadays I train with a group through Fleet Feet, the running store on Elmwood Ave.It’s owned by my old friend from days of running together for BuffaloState, Dan Loncto, and he’s been putting on this training program for about three years.He uses University of Buffalo track coach Vicki Mitchell, who is an excellent runner in her own right.She puts together an amazingly comprehensive program, taking into account a person’s ability, experience, and the marathon they are training for.The program has grown each half year (they do it for fall marathons too, and training through a Buffalo summer is a whole different article) and the crowd she has to work with this time around is 110 nuts, er, runners.Quite a task for the coach, but we have to do the workouts.
We get together each Sunday at eight in the morning for the long runs, and many get together mid-week for the speed work.According to the Buffalo News Runner of the Year race schedule, the racing season ends with the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day (the oldest continuously run race in North America) and starts with the Shamrock run in early March.We marathoners must keep up our mileage throughout this period.Through December we try to keep running between 35 and 45 miles, not tough through that warm month of December.But then comes January and the training program starts, and this winter, as you Buffalonians know, was very cold.Yow!
Again, I won’t name names, so I will give my running partners fictitious names, ones that fit their personality and mentality.I ran with my posse of one guy, Rufus Leaking, and the sisters Leah and Rhea Tard., and newcomer Warren Pease.That first Sunday, January 4th, we ran 8.3 miles, giving me 42 miles for the week.We built from there, hitting ten miles in zero degrees wind-chill the next week, and 10.5 in snow and cold the next.On January 25th, the sun was out and there was little wind, as we ran 12 miles on the hills of Chestnut Ridge.Oh, did I mention it was -8 degrees when we started.But that sun was wonderful.
Now it’s getting colder and I ran 52 miles for the next week, and our Wed. speed workouts are ten miles or more in horrific conditions.On February 8th we ran 14 miles in 10 degree weather, and then came our first race of the year, a Boston tune-up out in Lockport.It is a ten mile race in the area the Seneca Indians used to call Na-ga-winda-inna-facea-alla-wayga, which simply translated means “one heck of a cold and windy day if it’s early February.” It was chilly, with a good deal of wind, but the worst part is the finish.Whoever planned this course thought it would be funny to have a long, steep hill right before the finish!Ha Ha guys, we get the joke, now could you please get rid of the hill!Now we are building up the mileage, as the next week the Fleet Feet group ran 17 miles in the cold and snowy wind.The next Sunday, which happened to be February 29, it was sunny and warm, which meant it was above 32 degrees, and we ran another 17 miles, getting 45 for the week.Now we get to the Shamrock Run, an 8 K, or basically 5 mile race with one heck of a party afterwards.For those who could, it was on to Chestnut Ridge for 18 the next day.I must say, the Irish in me got the better of me, and I couldn’t quite make it to the Ridge. came too early that day!
Now we are getting serious, running sixteen the next weekend, but mostly at marathon pace, which in laymen’s terms means fast.Then the crew decided to run at Chestnut Ridge on March 21st at , to get used to hills, since Boston has many hills, at since the Boston Marathon starts at .Since it was late March, the weather should be ok for running 20 miles.Not!It was 20 degrees and almost a blizzard out there, one of the toughest runs any of them ever did.Unfortunately, I was stuck out in San Diego, Calf. that day, running in shorts and a tee-shirt.Darn it to Heck!I should have sent them a post card.
Finally getting there, the last tune-up for some of the runners, the Around the Bay race in Hamilton, Ontario.Just 30 K, or 18.6 miles, with one hell of a hill right near the end. Must have been designed by those same witty people who planned the Lockport ten miler.So after three months of running 40 or 50 plus miles a week in horrendously tough, freezing conditions, it’s time to start winding down for the Boston Marathon.Now to cut back the miles and rest up to get mentally ready to run the 26.2 miles, which is all most spectators will see you do.But we know better.
