Friday, April 16, 2010

The Westminster Main Street Mile, an annual Westminster rite of spring, took place last Wednesday



The Westminster Main Street Mile, an annual Westminster rite of spring, took place last Wednesday  Filed April 15, 2010  By Kevin Dayhoff


It was a perfect spring evening last Wednesday for a short stroll down Main Street in Westminster for almost hundreds of runners.

The 29th running of the Westminster Main Street Mile went off without a hitch thanks to over 50 volunteers, the Westminster Police Department, Fire Police - and the Westminster Volunteer Fire Department which each year opens-up its engine bays for the pre-race registration, the after-race ice cream and results.

The annual Westminster rite of spring, sponsored by the Westminster Road Runners, is our local equivalent of the running of the bulls made famous by Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises; well sort of… At least the local version is totally family oriented.

“Well the sun’s out. That’ll bring out a lot of the families…,” said Tom Reese, a veteran race volunteer. In years past, cold and rain have greeted the runners and spectators.

His wife, Chris Reese, was busy with past race director, Liuda Galinaitis, at the one of the pre-race registration tables. They had a huge bag of M&M’s to help the runners with the pre-race jitters.

The annual event dates back to 1981, said Beth Weisenborn, who returned again this year’s race director.

Kevin Spradlin, also a longstanding volunteer for the race has dubbed her the “ex-club president in waiting,” in recognition for all the years she has served in that capacity. Oh yeah, she does such a good job, we just let her keep doing it, said Spradlin.

Weisenborn said that the race is known as one of the fastest one-mile courses in the world because it begins at the top of East Main Street at Fair Avenue and follows Main Street west to the Westminster Branch of the Carroll County Public Library – “all downhill, with a total vertical drop of 144 feet.”

According to Weisenborn, Dr. Sam Case started the race years ago along with the late Terry Burk and the late Dr. David Herlocker, who passed away in 2008.

Burk, the popular owner of “The Treat Shop,” then in downtown Westminster, was killed while jogging in 1995 with two friends on Route 97 at Kalten Road when a car struck him and fellow jogger, and former race director, Herlocker.

The race was originally organized, said Weisenborn, “around the idea of having a fun, family race event at the beginning of the running season, and then everyone would head up the street to The Treat Shop for ice cream.”

The race grew in size over the years and now attracts runners and families from all over the mid-Atlantic region. The ice cream sundaes were replaced several years ago when the health department encouraged the distribution of ice cream sandwiches instead.

This year’s second place finisher with a time of four-minutes and twenty-four seconds, Mark Eissens, 29, almost did not make it in time for the run this year. He traveled from Virginia and got caught in traffic. He drove straight to the starting area, got out of his car, ran to the starting line with seconds to spare, and right down the hill…

The race has turned into an annual affair for the family of former Maryland State Delegate Joe Getty. This year’s race occurred on Getty’s birthday, which had nothing to do with the fact that he did not run this year due to an injury. His youngest son, Samuel, did run the race this year.

The family has run together in the race for over 15 years and it has become the source of some friendly sibling rivalry, when Getty recently sent out an e-mail to the family that “Number one son, Justus, placed 12th in 1999 with a time of 4:42. He had not previously realized that he was upstaged by number two son, Nathan, who placed 11th in 2003 with a time of 4:41.”

To which his son Justus, responded on the family’s Facebook page, “Not only did Nathan BEAT ME, but now we have to publish it in the NEWSPAPER? … Dad, you're going to give me a complex or something!”

The event which always begins at 7 PM sharp is actually two races.

The first race was officially timed. To qualify folks needed to be age 11 or older and capable of running a mile in less than 10 minutes.

The second race is the “Connor Smith Memorial Fun Run,” for everyone under the age of 10. It is neither officially timed nor scored. However, a clock showing the unofficial race time was displayed at the finish line. All the participants in the Smith Fun Run wear a race identification badge which bears the number “1,” and all the children who participated were awarded a medal at the finish line.

This year’s adult race winner came from near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Ashley Sollenberger, 28, had a winning time of four-minutes and twenty-three seconds, besting Eissens and a previous winner, Remus Medley, 40, who crossed the finish line at four-minutes and twenty-five seconds.

Medley did, however get past the finish line ahead of his daughter, Brittney Rooks, 16, from Poly High School in Baltimore. Rooks, the fastest female in the adult run crossed the finish line with a time of four-minutes and forty-nine seconds; edging-out last year’s winner, Sherry Stick, 31, who had a time of four-minutes and fifty-two seconds.

Both times are just slightly behind the current International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) recognized world record holder, Svetlana Masterkova, of Russia, who ran the mile in four-minutes and twelve-seconds on August 14, 1996.

It’s a family affair for the Rooks-Medley family, from Baltimore, who are training for several upcoming marathons, along with several other friends and family who made the trip to Westminster.

The mile-run times recorded Wednesday puts Westminster among world leaders. The first recorded time for the mile was July 28, 1852 when Charles Westhall ran a 4 minute 28 second mile in London. Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four minute mile on May 6, 1954. He ran it in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.

The current IAAF recognized world record holder for men is Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, who ran the mile on July 7, 1999 in three-minutes and forty-three seconds.

The world records are only slightly faster than that of the fastest-youngest female in the Westminster race, Hannah Lyon,12, or the fastest-youngest male, Mark Broomfield, 14.

The fastest-oldest female was Yvonne Aasen, 78; and the fastest-oldest male was John Elliot, 71.

After the race, Stan Ruchlewicz, the Westminster economic development director smiled and said it was a good event for downtown Westminster.

Everyone went home tired and full of ice cream. “It’s a great event for families to come-out and share in the common experience of such a unique event,” said Weisenborn, as she started packing-up and already looking forward to next year’s event.

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