Wanderer running sensation Beth Johnston shattered the club's marathon record with a sizzling time of 3 hours and 31 minutes at the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, PA., on October 7. Beth fought off a headwind in the final miles of the course and tightening muscles to complete the race in a time which was also a personal best. Beth's performance improves on excellent times posted in the past year by Brooke Hunter, 3 hours and 44 minutes at the Philadelphia marathon, and Kim Pierce, 3 hours and 45 minutes at the Burlington, VT, marathon.

Meanwhile, the Wanderer men are still working on breaking the mythical 4 hour mark for the marathon with time running out to achieve this feat by the end of this year.

On October 14, Kilian Mullet scampered over the 10-mile course at the Oley Valley Country Classic in a time of an hour and four minutes and in the process set all sorts of Wanderer running marks. The Irish mountain runner, who is a recent signing of the Wanderers, finished 25th in the race. Dan Gordon completed the undulating course in the beautiful Oley Valley in 1 hour and 16 minutes.

A day earlier, Dan medaled in the 5-k Footsteps for Friends run in Bryn Mawr. Dan's time of 21 minutes and 12 seconds won him a third place medal in the male 50-59 category. The performance was greeted with the usual question, "How many men 50 and over were in the race?"

"I have gotten used to it," said Dan. "The questioning doesn't bother me any longer"

The Footsteps for Friends race also marked the debut of new Wanderer Sara Craig who ran the course in 25 minutes. Tad Sperry continued his preparations for the upcoming Baltimore Marathon with a time of 23 minutes in the event.

The Wanderers web page is still awaiting results of Scott Quitel's performance at the New Jersey shore marathon at Atlantic City, and Martin Paquet's run in the Lausanne, Switzerland, marathon. The event is the beginning of Scott's month of marathon madness in which he will also compete in the New York Marathon and the Philadelphia Marathon.

Meanwhile up north, Richard Takata ran through intermittent rain and cool temperatures to record a time of 4 hours and 13 minutes at the Canadian International Marathon on October 14.

At the end of last month, Michele Tulino bounced back from a brilliant performance in the Reach the Beach relay in New Hampshire by running the next day in Philadelphia in the Terry Fox 5-k. Her time was a very snappy 21 minutes and 30 seconds.

Additional reports and news stories