Good Sports

by Budd Glassberg

Reprinted with permission from the Zionsville Times Sentinel on June 13, 2007

This Race Made FANS of Us All

After eleven hours and thirty minutes of circling Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis last Saturday, my elder daughter, Josie, was weaving her way through runners on what was called the shuttle. She would continue until she added two miles to her round the lake loops to bring her total to her goal of 35 miles. Her younger sister, Elle, stopped at 33 miles about the time I stopped at 53.5 miles, 1 ½ miles short of my goal (I must have miscounted by one loop around the lake as I thought I had only 51 miles). Twelve others in our group completed various distances from 9 miles to 46 miles. The core of our group was alums from the University of Illinois circa 1973. The remainder was made up of spouses, daughters, close friends, and Glen Turner (the focus of my column last week who completed 62.2 miles in the 12 hours). Known as the Team Half Dazed, fifteen of us participated in the FANS 12 Hour Run/Walk.

Other than my two girls and Glen, the rest of us were in our mid to late 50’s and had selected this event to bring us together for a few days of nostalgia and laughs. Members of the team varied in their training for the event, but having partaken in this type of activity before, I judged that most had under trained and overachieved at the end of the day.

The day itself was near perfect conditions for running and walking around the lake just north of the Minneapolis airport. It was cool at the 8 AM start, but not cold. Our group began by walking. A few of us switched to a running pace after a one loop warm-up. Each loop consisted of 2.42 miles. Our base was a tent next to the medical tent near the start/finish line. After every loop we could count on one or more of our members resting in folding chairs in front of the tent. The day progressed with small benign clouds peppering the sky and a slight warming of the air. We would see other team members along the way sometimes joining them for a few minutes or for an entire loop. Conversation and taking part in the buffet of food served by a myriad of amazing volunteers seemed to be the focus of our group as none of us really had the ability nor the desire to win awards (except for Glen who had finished his 10 day run only three weeks earlier and decided to stop at 12 hours rather than the 24 hours he had originally signed up to do). Only in the last three hours, when rain first threatened and then made good on it’s threat, did we experience anything but perfect conditions and even when it rained, the water felt good. Jan and Steve Hansen, former Zionsville residents who graciously housed the three Glassbergs in their home visited us at Andres French Cuisine (the other aid station on the loop) to help us get through the last two hours and provide moral support.

Stacy (30.7 miles), who walked the first 45 minutes with me, and I took a break at four hours by standing in lake water up to our mid thighs. The cold water refreshed us and kept our leg muscles from hurting the next day. Josie and Elle ran two loops with me separated by a couple of hours. Bres (28.3 miles) ran five with me. I walked with Phil (30.7 miles) and Jeff (30.7 miles) at various times. Harvey and Debbie (18.6 miles each) and Scott (45.7 miles) walked a bit with me while Cher (23.6 miles), David (13.7 miles), Jeanne (11.3 miles) and Fred (8.9 miles) managed to avoid me completely on the loops, but I was able to visit with them at the tent site.

All of us were amazed by the distances that our group was able to amass. Most of us made good use of the free massages provided by the event organizers. While some in our group experienced blisters and limping to the vehicles on Saturday night, by Sunday’s dinner all were walking with a normal gait. Surprisingly, we pentagenarians recovered much faster than a person in his 20’s after a hard 10 kilometer run. I attributed the speedy recovery to a relaxed noncompetitive approach to the race, wading in the cold lake waters, and the expert massages given by race volunteers.

Personally, I was not disappointed with not attaining my goal for the event. I had started the event barefoot, with the expectation that I would switch to my homemade running sandals after 10 or 15 miles. To my surprise, I was able to take every step of my race barefoot without any damage to my feet or joints. I was thrilled that my feet held up so well and that I had broken my record for my longest barefoot run by more than 43 miles.

On Monday the team began to disperse to both coasts and parts in-between. The common feeling among us was that this was one of those memorable weekends we had experienced. Hopes are high that we might soon meet again for another adventure.

Correction: In last week’s column, I stated that Glen Turner had no home. He informed me that he does indeed own a home in Colorado that he rents out. He stays in a part of it when he is in Colorado and does stone work to help offset the expense of his travels. I apologize for this error.

Budd Glassberg is a resident of Zionsville who is active in the local running community. Visit www.runz.com for reprints of all his columns. You can reach him by mail at budd@runz.com.