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A small but elite corps of runners competed in the
annual Wanderer track meets in mid-August at the Roxborough
High School Track. The first meet on August 16 was made
even smaller by a driving rain storm, but that did not
dampen the performances.
None of the runners were quite in the league of Kenyan
distance man Eliud Njubi who starred in last year's
meets and who set a meet record in the 5,000 meters
of 14:52, a mark which should last for at least a couple
of millenia. But the quality was excellent.
Neill Clark won the mile run over
a very strong field in a time of 4:41 on August 16.
Neill came back the next week to shave .2 seconds off
his time to win the mile again. In both races, local
running legend Chuck Shields came in
second. Chuck was timed in 4:46 on the August 16 meet
and 4:44.2 on August 23.
The 5,000 meter run on August 24 was perhaps the most
competitive race. Wanderer Phil Ranly
grabbed an early lead, and then he battled with Kevin
Forde and Steve Metraux up
until the last lap when Chuck Shields
stormed to the front to take the race in 17:10.3. Chuck
had placed second to Kevin the week earlier.
Steve Metraux of Philadelphia Runners
should have won some type of iron man medal for competing
in the mile run, the 3,000 meters and then the 5,000
meters on August 16. Steve figured he would take it
easy the next week, only running in the mile (5th place
in 5:22.1), and the 5,000 meters (second place in 17.14.6).
Sarah Tabutt won the women's division
of the mile on August 16 in a time of 5:49.5, but was
nipped by Erin McLeary by .3 seconds
the next week. Erin was timed in 5:48.8. Wanderer Barbara
Gorka was top finisher in the womens division
of the 5,000 meters on August 23, in an excellent time
of 20:35.1.
Wanderer veteran Marc Zesselman won
the 800 meters on August 16 in 2:46.6 followed by Diana
Garrotts in 2:46.7. The next week, David
Spandorfer won the 800 meters in a swift 2:17.1.
Megan Campewell won the womens 800
in 2:30.3.
Wanderers Chris Moore, Lynne
Andersson and Jennifer Rezeli
also excelled during the two meets. Another repeat star
from last year was 7-year-old A.J. Lofton.
He completed the mile in 7:10.4 and then came back for
a 3:22.1 performance in the half mile, shaving more
than 45 seconds off his performance a year ago.
Medley relay races were held at the end of each meet
and were hotly contested.
Race director Leslie Turchetti and
club members Matt Palombaro and Melanie
Wright did a great job organizing and supervising
the meets and were ably assisted by Philadelphia Masters
impresario Kyle Mecklenburg.
Wanderer gourmet chef Jan bin Reuter
cooked up some great barbeque beef for the August 16
meet, but was knocked out of commission for the August
23 meet by the dentist. Instead, vegetarian fare was
prepared by Leslie with Matt
winning a blue ribbon for his brownies and Susan
Hurrey supplying the watermelon.
The prizes for the two meets were kindly supplied
by Liberty Sports Magazine.
Click
here for the complete results (PDF format).
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Susan Hurrey delivers the
watermelon for Wanderers
track meet.
Tim Kelly leads Steve
Metraux in the middle of
the pack of the one mile.
Seven-year-old A.J Lofton
returned for a splendid
performance in both the
mile and 800 meters.
Erin McLeary nips Sarah
Tabutt at the finish.
Race brain trust confers
at finish line. That’s
Kyle Mecklenburg, left,
Jim Adderley, and
Melanie Wright.
Yeah, Matt. Looking good. |
