100 MARATHON CLUB NORTH AMERICA

NEWSLETTER NUMBER TWO – May 30, 2002

 

The one-year anniversary of the 100 Marathon Club North America occurred at the 2nd annual Yakima River Canyon Marathon (YRCM) near Yakima, Washington, on April 6, 2002.  At the packet pickup and expo, Lenore and I set up a club booth for recruiting and for the sale of short and long sleeved T-shirts that have the club logo and name on them.  On display for ordering were sample #100, #200 (up to #600) pins to represent event accomplishments for members.  The new members who signed up brought our total membership to 83.  Since then we’ve added five more for a total of 88.

 

Of the 383 entrants in the marathon, 21 were club members.  At the pasta feed those members present were called to center stage by Lenore for recognition and to receive a certificate of membership.  All other members will receive their certificates by mail.

 

The club member with the most marathons who ran the YRCM  was Big Dave Carter from Bedford Beds in England.  He had 495 marathon completions!  Since then he ran his 500th MARATHON on May 19th at the Halstead Marathon in Scotland.  Congratulations, Dave!!  As if running a marathon isn’t difficult enough, Big Dave often carries a large flag.  In our race the British Union Jack and an American flag were attached to the base banner.  On it was printed, “Big Dave’s Running Tour.”  Big Dave was accompanied by Roger Biggs and Jack Brooks also from England.  Roger has run over 220 marathons and Jack, who ran his 50th marathon at the YRCM, is well on the way to his first 100.  Dave, Roger and Jack are 50 staters who added Washington to their state list on the trip to the U.S.

 

Jerry Martin, 54, of Greenacres (near Spokane, WA) is the first club member who is a wheelchair athlete.  He participated in his first marathon at Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, in 1982 and completed his 100th event at Portland, Oregon, in 2000.  At the Yakima River Canyon Marathon on April 6, 2002, he finished in a time of 2:15:55 for his second, consecutive wheelchair division YRCM win.  This was his 109th marathon.  He has many wins and high place finishes as one would expect from an athlete whose personal record is 1:50.

 

Two women club members ran YRCM #2, Gunhild Swanson, 57, of Spokane is a runner who has dominated several age divisions the past 20 years.  She also has been the overall women’s winner in several races early in her running career.  She and her husband Jack (also a 100 Marathon Club NA member) travel widely to run marathons.  This includes trips to Germany, Gunhild’s homeland before emigrating to the U.S.  She has run over 130 marathons/ultras with a marathon PR of 2:56:28.  Not only did Gunhild win her age division at the inaugural Wings of Gold Marathon held on Whidbey Island (north of Seattle) on April 27, 2002, she was the first woman overall!!  The next weekend in the well-known 7 ½ mile Bloomsday Run in Spokane where there were 45,754 finishers, she won the 55-59F age division.  Currently, she’s training to run her first Western States 100 Mile Endurance run (Squaw Valley to Auburn, California) in June.

 

Chris Ralph, 50, is a well-known marathoner, ultrarunner and ultramarathon race director in the Seattle area.  In spite of being diagnosed and treated for multiple sclerosis, she is an active runner and has amassed almost 130 marathons/ultras.  The most spectacular and difficult race that she and a running partner have run is the Iditarod Trail in Alaska.  This race is 100 miles long, and participants are required to drag their own “aid stations” on a sled as they run.  She was the overall women’s winner!  Chris was the first race director of the spectacular, and arduous, White River 50 Mile Run near Mt. Rainier in Washington State’s Cascade Mountains.  She also is the race director of the Bridle Trails 50K in the Seattle area.  This is a forested run on muddy trails, mostly in darkness….a challenging ultra.

 

Congratulations to Mae Palm, 62, of Whistler, BC.  She won her age division at the Vancouver International Marathon on May 5, 2002, at Vancouver, BC., in a time of 3:57:07.  This was her 100th  26.2 mile marathon, and we welcome her as one of the newest club members and the first Canadian woman to join.  Mae has a remarkable record.  She has completed three ironman triathlons….two at Penticton, BC, in 2000 and 2001 and the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii last year.  In the latter, she finished first in the 60-64F division by an hour over the next competitor!  For this accomplishment she was named the Women’s Master Triathlete of the Year by the Canadian Triathlon Federation.  Mae also beat the cut-off time of 30 hours at the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run in 1995….finishing in 29 hours and 54 minutes!  She also set seven records at the Elk/Beaver Ultramarathon 100K Championship in 2000 where she finished in third place overall.

 

We were privileged to have Jose Nebrida from Chicago return to run our YRCM #2.  After the tragic day of September 11, 2001, Jose pledged to run a marathon in all 50 states and DC within two years carrying the American flag.  We were honored that he chose our marathon for his Washington.  He is a naturalized citizen who loves his country and feels that this is a way to show how thankful he is for all the opportunities afforded him in the U.S.  He was well on his way to achieving this goal when a heart attack and triple by-pass surgery stopped his progress….but only for a short time.  He plans on returning to his 9-11 goal as soon as his “speedy” recovery is accomplished.  His doctors consider his progress so far to be phenomenal and attribute it to his marathoning and exercising.  We wish this “speedy recovery” for him.

 

Peter Graham, secretary of the 100 Marathon Club United Kingdom, invites all interested runners to the club’s Greenwich Centenary Foot Tunnel Marathon at London, England, on August 4, 2002.  This underground marathon below the Thames River commemorates the 100-year anniversary of this historic pedestrian tunnel. The London entryway is located by the Cutty Sark sailing ship.  The tunnel connects Greenwich and the Island of Dogs.  It is 390 meters long and is sited about 40 feet below the river surface.  This course requires 56 7/8 laps to complete a marathon and is a one-time event.  If you have interest in it, contact Peter Graham by e-mail at peter@grahams.co.uk or write to him at 2 Trinity Court, Trinity Road, London N2 85H, United Kingdom.  The race is capped at 100 entrants.  I have four entry forms that I can provide to club members who would like to run this unique, one-time event.

 

Bob Fletcher let us know that his book Spaghetti Every Friday is available to club members at the reduced price of $10.00.  His website is www.spaghettieveryfriday.com.  I’m reading it again and coming across names of runners whom I didn’t know when I first read the book….e.g., Al Becken of San Antonio, Texas, who ran the inaugural YRCM last year.

 

The following 100 Marathon Club NA items are available:

 

  1. Short sleeved, teal colored T-shirts (sizes M, L and XL) with the red club logo on the front and white 100 Marathon Club printed on the back.  The cost is $15.00 plus $2.00 for mailing.
  2. Long sleeved, white T-shirts with the red club logo on the front (sizes M, L and XL).  The cost is $15.00 plus $2.00 for mailing.
  3. One-inch size 100 Marathon club North America pins.  For completing 100 marathons the pin is red with the number 100 above two running figures.  For 200, the color is blue; 300, green; 400, gold; 500, silver; 600, copper.  These pins are available for $10.00 each (includes postage).

 

You may order as many as you qualify for.  They are a specialty item and will be available as we receive requests and notify our supplier.  The first order will be placed soon, so let us know as soon as you can which pins you want.  We’ll add your request to those ordered at the YRCM in April.

 

Your input is welcome for future newsletters.  If you’d like to have something included in the next one, please send it to us.

 

The second anniversary of the 100 Marathon Club North America will be celebrated at the weekend festivities of the third annual Yakima River Canyon Marathon on April 5, 2003.  the website for our marathon is http://www.ontherun.com/yrcm.  The parent site (ontherun.com) has the results of this year’s race and my report about it.

 

Bob and Lenore Dolphin

10519 126th Avenue S.E.

Renton, WA 98056

 

(425)226-1518 (Renton)….(509)966-0188 (Yakima)

 

e-mail:  dolphinmteam@earthlink.net

 

 

 

 

 

100 MARATHON CLUB NORTH AMERICA ROSTER

 

Tom Adair, Daniel Archambeau, Eugene Barker, Dick Bartlett, Lois Berkowitz, Victor Bhatt, Roger Biggs, Steve Boone, Jim Boyd, Ray Boytim, John Bozung, Ron Bucy, Cliff Burgess, Ed Burnham, Tim Byrnes, Chuck Cammack, Burt Carlson, Bob Carpenter, Big Dave Carter, Marty Chalfin, Harold Copeland, Richard Cromwell, Rich DeCample, Eugene DeFronzo, Carol Dellinger, Tom Detore, Bob Dolphin, Brian Doherty, Steve Edwards, Eb Engelmann, Evan Fagan, Frank Fleetham, Bob Fletcher, Ron Fowler, Steve Frederickson, Steve Fuller, Deborah Gobins, Gayle Godfrey, Peter Graham, Randy Hansen, Mark Hartinger, Wally Herman, Jerry Herndon, Christian Hottas, Karl Jensen, Greg Judge, Sharon Kerson, Andy Kotulski, Jim Kunz, Bob Lehew, Phil Little, Bill Mack, Jerry Martin, HiGuy Matti, Don McNelly, Paul Morgan, Stan Nakashima, Jose Nebrida, Stan Neumann, K-G Nystrom, Mae Palm, Mel Preedy, Chris Ralph, Edwin Roth, Henry Rueden, Edson Sanches, John Schaap, Ray Scharenbrock, Del Scharffenburg, Jim Scheer, Frank Searfus, Clay Shaw, Seth Sundit, Gunhild Swanson, Jack Swanson, Barbara Szlechetka, Ralph Thompson, Gene Trahern, Zach VanBlack, Dave Vent, John Wallace, Ross Waltzer, William Watson, Carol Westerman, Bill Whipp, Ray Wold, Rick Worley, Lynn Yarnall.