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Post by gdbrown on Jul 29, 2010 17:07:39 GMT -5
Going back a bit to the photo of Dan Whetzel:
The race was the original Great Allegany Run. It was a ten miler that followed the same course as today with a huge exception - runners took a right up National Highway and finished at the Country Club Mall. It was held in late June and those first few years it was about between 80 and 90 degrees. The hill Dan is running up is the Mall entrance off Vocke Road. As you can imagine, the first 10k was down hill and the last 3.8 was a steady climb.
Tim Travis, Donnie McCreary and the CEO of the Kaiser Refractory (brick yard in Mount Savage) were the organizers of the first few GARs. They brought in several outstanding runners from the tri-state area, including Sam Bair (sub 4:00 miler) and company from the Pittsburgh area.
The three amigos in the last photo are Coach John "Slug" Armstrong, Bob Thomas and "yours truly" running in the '80 or '81 Marine Corps Marathon. Slug and Bob are donning the "new" QCS uniform made up of blue "Dolphin" shorts and a gold "Dolphin" singlet with blue lettering. The original QCS uniform was of the same design, but the shorts were black and the lettering on the singlet was black. Incidentally, Slug and Bob dropped me at about the 20 mile mark in that race. Both went on to run sub 2:40 that day.
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Post by gdbrown on Jul 29, 2010 17:10:56 GMT -5
Moving on - Smitty winning what race? (I think I know the answer to this.) Attachments:
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Post by wvrunner on Jul 29, 2010 19:05:16 GMT -5
It looks like Smitty breaking the tape at what is now the Keyser 5K.
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Post by gdbrown on Jul 29, 2010 19:59:28 GMT -5
I agree, Coach Mickey. When the photo is enlarged, you can see "JC's 5k" on the left side of the start/finish line. Joe Altobello has always done a super job with this annual race held either on or around the Fourth of July. I think it is one of the oldest races in the area.
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Post by gdbrown on Jul 29, 2010 20:03:57 GMT -5
Can anyone identify the Irish gentleman at the center of this photo? I must mention that this photo of "The Chairman" was not taken locally. Attachments:
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Post by Justin on Jul 29, 2010 21:59:08 GMT -5
Coach, I was going to say the GAR and the Mall hill, but didn't have the courage. That was a brutal race. I remember my Dad running it. Didn't realize it was run in June! I remember watching that grueling climb more than any other race ever, just too young to remember the time of year. Great stuff Coach!
Come on! Eamonn Coghlan is an easy answer.
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Post by gdbrown on Jul 30, 2010 7:35:45 GMT -5
Eamonn Coghlan, a.k.a. the "Chairman of the Boards," is correct, Justin. For those who are too young to remember Coghlan, he was called "Chairman of the Boards" because he dominated the indoor mile for a long time, and he was especially successful at the Wannamaker Mile (Millrose Games) run at Madison Square Garden in New York. At that time (I'm not sure about today), the indoor track was made of wooden boards - thus the name, "Chairman of the Boards." I took the photo at the Fort Worth Mile in 1985. I was also fortunate enough to have my picture taken with Steve Scott and Sydney Maree after the event - both were at the peak of their running careers at that time. Going back to the original GAR course - you're correct, Justin, it "was brutal race." With that being said, the field during the second running of the event was unbelievable. Malcolm East won in a time of 49:13, and the top three finishers (Terry Baker, 2nd - John Doub, 3rd) broke 50 minutes on that course. Smitty was the top local finisher - he placed 14th and ran 53:06. The first female finisher was Marge Rosasco in a time of 59:30. Out of 398 finishers in the ten mile race, the first 46 broke 60 minutes, and 151 runners broke 70 minutes. The race was held on June 12, 1982. This photo was taken at center court at the CCM after the race. Can anyone identify the shoeless gentleman about to receive his award from Donnie McCreary and Tim Travis? Attachments:
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Post by gdbrown on Jul 31, 2010 17:00:20 GMT -5
For those interested, the gentleman in the photo is Ed Benham. Mr. Benham was age 74 (turned 75 in July of '82) when he ran the old GAR (ten miles) in 72:17.
He didn't start running until after he retired as a jockey at the age of 65. He went on to establish several age-group records, including a 3:48 marathon at age 82 in 1989 (http://www.arrs.net/SA_Mara.htm). His 10,000 meter performance of 48:57 at age 84 was considered an "All-Time Best Age-Grade Performance" in a recent edition of Running Times (http://runningtimes.coverleaf.com/runningtimes/201003?pg=40#pg40).
In 1982, Benham resided in Ocean City, MD. With the exception of the article in Running Times, the most recent article I could find on him was in the Baltimore Sun from August of 1991 (http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-08-08/news/9113008186_1_benham-stiff-competition-games-competitions). At that time, he was living in Glen Burnie, MD. If you read the article, you'll get a glimpse of Ed Benham's wit and his love for the sport.
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Post by gdbrown on Jul 31, 2010 18:41:21 GMT -5
Who are these two young lads? *There is at least one poster who can't answer this question.* Attachments:
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Post by wvrunner on Aug 1, 2010 5:30:46 GMT -5
My guess would be none other than our own Justin Taylor and Aaron Horevay. Both Allegany greats under Coach Brown. Allegany had some fantastic teams in the mid 90's. Justin went on to run for Lehigh while Aaron ran for former Olympian Brian Diemer at Calvin.
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Post by gdbrown on Aug 1, 2010 8:12:37 GMT -5
Coach Mickey is absolutely correct - a young Justin Taylor and Aaron Horevay. It was an honor to work with Justin and Aaron - two hardworking runners who led their team to a state championship in '93 with all-state performances. More importantly...two outstanding young men. Moving on - based on the "one of a kind" trophy - what race did Smitty just win? What year or years did Smitty win this race? Attachments:
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Post by dmickey on Aug 1, 2010 8:59:32 GMT -5
Moonshine, but I don't know the years.
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Post by Justin on Aug 1, 2010 9:20:30 GMT -5
Smitty won in '83, not sure the other year.
Thanks for posting a young picture Coach. I think that may have been my first XC race at Mercersburg Academy.
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Post by gdbrown on Aug 1, 2010 11:27:37 GMT -5
Justin is correct - Smitty won in '83. He also won the inaugural "Moonshine" in 1980. Also a winner of the "Moonshine" - identify this runner and the race (if you can). Attachments:
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Post by Justin on Aug 1, 2010 13:04:09 GMT -5
It's Dave, not sure what race. Something in Baltimore?
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