Past Runners in Cumberland Area-Tell Us More

[ericjoe]

I would love to hear more about the people from this area that ran Boston qualifying times in the past. A standard of 2:50 is quite remarkable. George mentions there were 8-10 people back in the day. Who are they? What kind of times did you run George? What kind of times did they run? Do you have any links to photos? I know Dave Rinehart qualified for the Olympic trials but I am not sure of the year or his time.

Thanks.

[wvrunner]

Eric,

Sorry for the late reply but I'll try to help as much as possible. If you talk to guys like George Brown, Denny Albright, Doc Workman, Jeff Smith and Dave Rinehart they have great stories they can tell about what happened back in the first running boom.

From what they told me Cumberland was a pretty competitive area. With Dave being a sub 2:20 marathoner and Jeff being a low 2:20 marathoner. Many names which I have forgotten were also in the sub 2:40 group.

Legend has it that the weekend long runs were large gatherings with the group starting out together but spreading out once the big dogs took off. I know the area mecca for running was Allegany College. Even when I started in 1987 you would pass at least 1-2 runners and often more if you ran the Mason Road course from AC. That course was marked every half mile from the fire hydrant by the gym all the way out to the Pennsylvania line.

The late 80's and very early 90's were still fairly strong. Dave and Jeff were still in the 30's for 10K with a host of others under 33. Tom Langan, Denny Albright and Steve Bell were some of the guys who ruled the roads too. I remember Doc Workman and Bob McGreevy running very fast times well into their 60's. Marathoning seemed to be something that was focused on a little less.

Things really thinned out throughout the 90's as far as adult runners were concerned. Maybe a bit of a down period. The late 90's and 2000's have brought an ever increasing upswing back to our area. It's great to see that again.

Funny thing, many of the guys who once lived in the area and have relocated will always say who much they misss running in the Cumberland/Frostburg region. If you think about it we do have a wide variety of places to train and all types of terrain. I also think we have a group of runners who are very supportive of each other.

[gdbrown]

First, please accept my apologies if I miss anyone, and please feel free to make corrections, as necessary.

I believe the QCS running club was founded around 1975 or 1976. Some of the earliest members were Ray Kiddy (not the same person who is VP at Allegany), Harry Cornelius (now in his late 80s or early 90s), Tim Travis, Don McCreary, Dennis Albright, and Frank Palumbo. If memory serves me correctly, these men were 6 of the original 7 charter members.

Lynn Bridges and I were two of the the first high school students to join the club shortly after its inaugural meeting.

Tom Cioni, Larry Zajdel, Joe Altobello, Tom Grove, Tom Ogurcak, Sandy Dyche, Rip Coulehan, Bob McGreevy, Steve Shoemaker, Pat McWhirter, Bob Thomas, Marv Bridges, Charlie Thompson, Dr. Gary Flemming, Dr. Robert Feddis, Dr. Glen Workman, Dr. Don Smith, Dr. Don Manger, John "Slug" Armstrong, Dan Whetzel, Steve Bell, Jim Morton, Derrick Winfield, Wendell Winfield, Bob James, Joe Straub, Stanley Mals, John Landers and Chip Brand made up most of the male membership in the club through 1981. In addition to Lynn Bridges, Liz Moran, Betty Harvey, Bev Hunter and Noreen Feddis represented most of the women who competed in QCS races during the early years.

One of the first races in the area during that era was conducted by Coach Bob Lewis, long time successful track and field/cross country coach at FSU. He organized the Western Maryland 10 Miler; it was an out and back course on the C&O Canal towpath.

The primary place for QCS races during those days was on Mason Road. The five miler was an annual spring and fall race, in addition to a 10k. The Striders also hosted 6 and 4 mile predicted time runs (for those who had watches they weren't allowed!) on the C&O Canal towpath; those were always fun.

Regarding marathons, this is my best recollection of people running marathons from 1978-1984:

-Dave Rinehart: After a 5 year layoff, trained for the 1978 MD Marathon and ran 2:33 in his debut. He ran Boston a few times and qualified for the 1984 Olympic Trials Marathon (held in Buffalo, NY) with a winning time of 2:18+ at the Jim Thorpe Marathon in Carlise, PA.

-Jeff Smith: Winner of the Marine Corps Marathon in 1982 with a time of 2:21:29. A former Atlantic Coast Conference 5,000 meter champion while running for the U of MD, Jeff also won the Metric Marathon during that same year.

-Tim Travis, Bob Thomas, John "Slug" Armstrong all had BQs by running sub-2:40 at Marine Corps.

-Dennis Albright: 2:40s-2:50s

-Chip Brand: 2:40s-2:50s

-George Brown: 2:54 ('78 MD Marathon); Mid 2:40s ('80 and '81 Marine Corps Marathons); and 2:48+ ('82 Boston)

-Dan Whetzel: 2:40s-2:50s (Received major local notoriety as he was on one of the first covers of "Running Times" magazine with a marine on each side of him just after completing the MCM).

-Gary "The Moon Man" Moon: sub 2:50

-Frank Palumbo, Joe Straub and Bob James: low 2:50s - 3:00

-Don McCreary and Pat McWhirter: 3:00 - 3:05

-Sandy Dyche and Bob McGreevy (Masters): 3:00 - 3:10

I think a total of 8-10 of the above individuals went to Boston in 1982. It was "the run in the sun." At the start of the race it was 70 degrees and sunny. This was one of the races in which Alberto Salazar was read his last rites by a Catholic priest after he barely beat Beardsley in 2:08+.

Another big event during that era was the annual 24 hour relay. The first one held in 1977 benefited the construction of the parcours at Allegany College of Maryland. The second one, held at Greenway Avenue Stadium in 1978, benefited Special Olympics. The QCS contingent of 10 runners were just 300 yards short of running 252 miles, which ranked the effort 13th in the world in 1978 according to "Runners' World" magazine.

Those were great times, Eric! I learned a lot from those older and much wiser than me who "took me under their wings." Also, I have learned there is not much comparable to the comaraderie that exists among runners.

As I close, I'm glad to know there is a contingent of local runners who once again have a passion for training and competing in the marathon. Good luck and best wishes to all!

[Justin]

Thanks for the rundown Coach!

I really do think we can rival that group with the pieces we have here now. It would take a ton of work (and a little luck), but I don't think having 8-10 guys hitting BQ times is too far from reach. I also believe we have the horses here in the area to get more guys in that sub 2:30 group. The thing that makes me most excited about what is going on is how young a lot of our guys right now are. Many of them are just out of college! The Masters runners are also really showing up, Rob and Jim especially.

[gdbrown]

I agree with you, Justin. The marathon talent pool is very rich in this area right now.

I'd like to see how well 15+ runners (used to need 15 to field a team) in this area would do at the annual MD RRCA 10 Mile Club Challenge held in Howard County each year in February. This race could serve as a mid-winter gauge for an upcoming spring marathon or a hard training session for those in high school preparing for the upcoming T&F season.

Regarding Rob and Jim in the masters, those guys are "kickin' butt" - what else can one say? Fred Cook is another one who is doing rather well in his 60+ classification. Is starting to run later in life a benefit as far as running fast times?

On a related note, I don't think Tom Ruckert runs marathons, but for a guy in his mid-50s he is putting up some very respectable times, regardless of classification. When Tom's brother, Steve, was in his early 40s he was one of the best milers in the world in the 40+ division.

One thing I noticed when looking back at the individuals from the late 70s and early 80s, I don't think anyone who ran marathons in the open division at that time ran a marathon after 40 years of age.

Keep up the great work, local runners! I can't run with you anymore, but I certainly support you in spirit!

[jarmstrong]

George,
After reading your post with the list of past runners and their marathon times, I got reminiscing about that time in my life. It seems so long ago. I always refer to that period of time as my B.C. era (Before Children). In fact, the 82 Boston Marathon that you referenced was my last marathon. My son was born about 4 weeks after that race. With teaching, coaching, parenting, plus I have always loved to play golf, I just didn't have the time to put in those 90-100 mile weeks like before. In addition, I developed a stress fracture after that race.
While I didn't miss the long and hard workouts that were necessary to run competitively, I did miss the camaraderie and the laughs of those Sunday morning 20 milers at Allegany College. (At least we were laughing at the start of those runs.) I'm not sure what "useful" stuff you learned from the older and wiser runners, but it was definitely a fun era.
I, like many across the country, was influenced by reading Jim Fixx's Complete Book of Running. My first 10 miler was on the roads at New Germany State Park. Coach Lewis brought his FSU cross- country team back to school in the fall. He had a 10 mile race to check on the pre-season conditioning of his team. The way the course was set up, you would go out 3, back 3, then out 2 and back 2. So, You could run either 6 or 10 miles. As I recall, Tim Gavin, FSU's All-American, was coming down the road to complete his 10 while I was heading out with about 3 1/2 to go. Pretty humbling. However, that race set the hook for me. I became a runner (at least for a few years).

[ericjoe]

Thanks Dennis and George for replying to my questions. Its really amazing to me that there were that many talented people in from this area. I can't imagine I will ever run 2: anything but I really do enjoy the running scene and like you said the camaraderie amongst runners is like nothing I have ever seen. All my running friends have helped me in some way, but running in a group that really pushes you goes a long way to making you a better runner. I really appreciate everyone sharing their information with us.

I am really excited to see what some of the younger runners coming up can do in the years to come too.