March 16th was the kick off for the Promises to Keep 135. The event was called Courage Festival and it was hosted by Secura Insurance of Appleton, WI. The brainchild of Brian Gruender, would start with him as the first speaker, followed by me and then Clarence Hartley, of GA. Clarence, at 82 finished 1st in his age group at the 2011 Boston Marathon, is a two-time cancer survivor [ Read More ]
The 2012 race season opened the first weekend in March with the Caumsett Park 50 km hosting the USA National Championships. The race was won by Joe Gray and perennial winner, Mike Wardian, was the runner up. I had a solid run, winning the 60-64 age group to secure my 70th national championship title and finish my 170th ultra marathon. See you in a few miles….roy
I started the 900th race of my career on Sep 17 in Cleveland, OH at the 24-Hour USA Championships. I had 3 goals in mind; one, run over 100 miles, two, win the gold for my age group and three, come out injury-free. I met all 3 and with the age group win kept my unbeaten streak in age group competition alive with 19 consecutive wins. I thought it was [ Read More ]
As the New Year lurks ahead of us, we can look back at the year gone by and make plans for the upcoming year. Sometimes this can be a good thing and others it can be really scary. Having dealt with a number of injuries, only one, running related, I am grateful to be moving forward to a healthy New Year. Making plans, at this time, to participate [ Read More ]
It has now been 3 weeks since I last ran. My body is starting to feel the positive affects of and extended break from running. The weeks have gone by unexpectedly fast and I have had no anxiety about not running. There are so many other things to do. I have returned to the swimming pool, gone biking and lately, on long hikes. The hikes are intended to be the [ Read More ]
Following a roundabout way of getting to Gibraltar, I met up with colleagues from the Netherlands and we drove from Malaga, SPA to Gibraltar. I joined a few others staying at the same hotel and we were greeted by the CEO of Sports and Leisure, Joe Hernandez He took us to the Leisure Center and we had a nice dinner, albeit quite late. Luckily, he called ahead and kept the [ Read More ]
Arrived Safely in Athens on Thursday where Victor met me at the hotel. On Saturday, I went to the ceremonies at the Tomb of The Athenian Soldiers,where the flame was lit and the torch was passed. Next was a ceremony at The Battle of Marathon Museum where I presented two of my uniforms (Spartathlon and USA) a Boston Marathon Finisher’s Medal, Wigwam socks (with US flag), and gifts from the [ Read More ]
A call from my grandchild was on my mind as I ran my final, extreme workout prior to going to an international competition. Running, hour after hour, you have time to think. The night before, Katie called to tell us of her weekend in Madison with her parents and brother. The trip happened to take place on her seventh birthday. For someone who was always shy, and did not like [ Read More ]
As kids our mom’s always were telling us to stay out of the puddles. Perhaps I should have listened. Seemingly, the only reason I could ever think of to stay out of a puddle was to remain dry. Mom was probably thinking of the extra loads of laundry, the changes of clothing, and other motherly duties. Then, during a marathon event, just past the nine-mile mark, I stepped in a [ Read More ]
It was the winter of 1981, when a couple of Sheboygan librarians decided to schedule a meeting of interested runners. The purpose of the meeting was to establish a Sheboyga n running club. With approximately 25 individuals in attendance at Baxter’s Beef and Pizza, the group was all in favor of the idea. The name Shoreline Striders was chosen and a request forwarded to the RRCA (Road Runners Club of [ Read More ]
