The Postman Rings Twice…
New Orleans, LA- Fresh from a pre-race meal the night before
at a favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant in the Big Easy, (Venezia’s on
Carrollton, where he held court with non-runners waiting for a table also…),
Hattiesburg’s own Steve Phillips turned in the performance of the day by
breaking the four-hour mark in the marathon here.
“But seriously, y’all go see about the rest of the Pacers
who are still out on the course…” was his only comment after finishing.
A dejected John Pendergrass, who had enjoyed taking this
reporter to the brink of an anxiety attack on the trip down by talking the
whole way about “the old days” where he would run sub-3 hour marathons, nursed
his injuries in the Saints’ locker room in the Superdome with a hot shower and
Jacuzzi while Phillips finished. (He had
plenty of time to kill after running the half-marathon in another excuse-laced
effort…).
Meanwhile, this reporter was able to hang out for awhile
with none other than the pride of the Gulf Coast,
Dr. Ed Wheeler, who talked with Dr. Pendergrass after the pair had finished the
race. (Unable to contribute to the
conversation between two pioneers in the medical field, I did get their
attention as they talked about the latest JAMA articles when I said,
“All’s I know is that while you guys were applying leaches
to patients to suck out blood and treat infections, we were drafting the
Constitution…”
The only response I heard was, “Take that tunnel there,
Doctor, and hit the showers. If anybody
asks you, you tell ‘em John Pendergrass said it was o.k. to shower in the
locker room. Everybody around here knows
that I ran a sub-2:40 here in ’81, back when this was a piddlin’ fun run, and I
even once lectured to the medical school here.
But, I guess they’ve all forgotten me now, huh…”
The gleeful Wheeler then disappeared as he whispered to the
aloof Leonard Vergundst, who had finished a personal record
2:40ish marathon,
“Follow me, big man.
I’ll show you where we can hit the showers”
Pumping their arms above their heads, the Coast boys then
plowed through the post-race crowd chanting, “Who Dat?”.
As the day unfolded, it was apparent that several casualties
would be left on the course.
Raymond Miller, who ran a perfect marathon through the first
half of the course, faded at Mile 18 and again barely missed the qualification
threshold for his age-group, 3:45.
As usual though, Miller was optimistic as he nibbled on
post-race concessions such as Elmer’s Chee-Weez.
“Just wasn’t my day, babe.
But I got a good wife and good health.
What more could an ole country boy need, huh?”
Gracious as always, Miller’s last comment was that he
couldn’t wait ‘till triathlon season.
The day ended with the return trip to Hattiesburg and good wishes for a job well
done.
“There’s always the next race…”,
all agreed.
As for the other Pacers, the last that this reporter heard
was that several had found the locker room and called in for Lucky Dogs to be
delivered.
I decided to stick an empty Elmer’s bag over my head and
head for the door before security arrived.
(I’d rather be an “Acer” than get caught in the Saints’
locker room with a dentist.) © Tony
Mozingo
Place No. Name
Age S City St Finish Pace Nettime 13.1 Mi
1 533 Meyer Friedman 25 M Franklin LA
2:30:59 5:46 2:30:56 1:12:23
2 5 Leonard Vergunst 49 M Ocean Springs MS 2:40:46 6:09
2:40:43 1:18:45
303 1769 Steve Phillips
50 M Purvis MS 3:56:56 9:03 3:54:27 1:56:19
330 1609 Raymond Miller 57 M Poplarville MS 3:59:23 9:08
3:58:51 1:50:40
337 2147 Steven Ulery 56 M Hattiesburg MS
4:00:18 9:11 4:00:01 1:53:13
283 6705 Tony Mozingo 42 M Hattiesburg
MS USA 1:51:03 8:29 1:50:31
571 1744 John Pendergrass 60 M Hattiesburg MS USA 2:07:42
9:45 2:06:59
697 4050 Nestor Anzola 40 M Hattiesburg
MS USA 2:13:15 10:11 2:12:49
958 6529 Warren Flynt 23 M Hattiesburg
MS USA 2:44:30 12:34 2:41:37
1031 4524 Peter Edwards 63 M Hattiesburg MS
USA 3:13:02 14:44 3:09:04
(This spot, normally reserved for pictures in good race reports, will go blank,
as a lawyer was in charge of taking pictures)
Picture courtesy of Pijume Diwesi,
showing Tony, Raymond Miller, and John
Pendergrass running along together, and being passed by Pijume
Mardi Gras Marathon ©
Pijume Diwesi™
The Mardi Gras Marathon took place in New Orleans, LA
on Sunday February 27. The weather was a
little cold, temperatures in the 40’s and under an overcast sky. About 1,966 high-spirited runners finished
the marathon and 2,394 did it the half-marathon event. The course was flat with the exception of two
overpasses in miles 5 and 9 and ran through historic places such as the French
Quarter, the Garden District, and the City Park.
Meyer Friedman from Franklin,
Louisiana grabbed the victory in
the marathon with a time of 2:30:59. Gulf Coast
runner, Leonard Vergunst was the second-place
finisher in 2:40:46. Third place went to
Tod Stratynski from Erie, Pennsylvania in 2:47:35. Una Broderick won the female competition in 3:07:20 followed
by Amanda Kara (3:10:00) and Sarah Guttery (3:15:04). Timothy Vandervlugt
from Oregon was the overall winner in the half-marathon with a time of 1:12:39,
twelve seconds ahead of second place finisher, Sean Nixon, also from Oregon
(1:12:51). Third place went to Francois Lecot from Canada
who finished in 1:13:54. Leslie Wolfe
got the top spot in the women category in 1:27:07 followed by Nathalie Goyer who finished in 1:28:42 and Wendy Ragle
(1:32:40).
Tony has already told the main incidences of the Pine Belt
Pacers during the race. I am just going
to include a little about my performance and the times of other PBP folks and
local runners. I did not start too fast
since I was planning to run a steady 9 minute per mile pace to finish the
half-marathon right under the 2-hours goal.
I had run the Houston
half-marathon in 1:55 back in January, so I thought I could repeat or be close
to that time. I worked my way through
for the first mile (8:30), and got the second mile in 17:10 and the third in
25:50. I kept running a little slower
but fine until reaching mile nine when suddenly; I just ran out of
gasoline. Then I started running very,
very slow. Right at the same time, I saw
Steve Phillips passing me with a steady and strong pace. He was doing great,
and even just smiling and talking to his buddies. I hit the wall hard in mile 10, and the race
was over for me. I walked and almost
crawled the last three miles and just ran a little bit in time for the official
picture before crossing the end line in 2:13:15 and receiving a beautiful
medal. After the run, I forgot about the
race and enjoyed very much the refreshments, food, and music in the post race
party at the Superdome.
The Mardi
Gras marathon also marked
the end of my long distance run season. I enjoyed the participation in races such as
the New York Marathon, the Stennis Space Center
event, the First Light Marathon in Mobile, the
Houston Marathon, and this one in New
Orleans; however, I think I am ready to settle for the
5K races at least until next November (ultramarathoners…
I sincerely envy you guys! I don’t know
how you can make it!!!).
The Pine Belt Pacers were also represented in the marathon
event by Bill Gasparrini (4:20:21), Sarah Gasparrini (4:20:21) from Biloxi, and Ginny Dufrene
from Purvis (4:59:05). There were a
couple of other Pine Belt residents participating in the races. I don’t know whether they are members of the
Pine Belt Pacers Club, but I include their times. The race was directed and organized by the
New Orleans Track Club. © Pijume Diwesi™
Marathon:
Bill Gasparrini – Biloxi – 4:20:21 (4:19:55)
Sarah Gasparrini – Biloxi – 4:20:21 (4:19:55)
Ginny Dufrene – Purvis – 4:59:05 (4:54:31)
Half-Marathon:
Consuelila Hooks – Hattiesburg – 1:53:32 (1:52:06)
John Smallwood – Petal – 2:09:00 (2:06:04)
Katherine Simmerman – Hattiesburg – 2:33:55 (2:31:02)
Jessica Black – Hattiesburg
– 2:44:30 (2:41:38)
Sherry Dykes – Hatttiesburg – 2:55:40 (2:51:24)
Gary
Dykes – Laurel – 2:55:40
(2:51:24)
Donna Johnson – Hattiesburg
– 3:08:23 (3:02:41)
Valerie Bogart – Hattiesburg
– 3:22:06 (3:18:33)
Donna Blair – Petal – 3:39:45 (3:38:19)
Jennifer Blair – Hattiesburg
– 3:39:47 (3:38:19)
Tracy Stovall – Hattiesburg
– 5:20:34 (5:17:16)
