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The first post-Katrina
race for the Gulf Coast Running Club was the Mississippi
Wellness Center Race, which was held in Biloxi on Saturday,
October 15, with the smallest group of runners that I have
ever seen at a GCRC event. Only 43 people ran the 5K and
there were only three one-milers. I got up very early and
woke my wife, Peggy, who offered to ride down with me,
thinking that she would see the effects of Hurricane
Katrina, but that was not to be. Shortly after the big
storm, Antha had emailed to tell me that all of the Gulf
Coast Running Club members were okay, but Bob Clark, who was
missing; however, when I drove into the parking lot, Bob was
the first person that I saw. Denise was at her usual place,
registering runners. Leonard was directing everything else.
Ed Wheeler came riding up on his bike. Everything seemed
pretty normal for the running club. The usual out and back
courses that the GCRC is famous for was double that for this
race. We went out and back twice. Max Lemons won easily with
a time of 17.46. The first female was Andrea Patino with a
time of 23:50. Mark Koch and Belinda Tipton were the Masters
winners, and Bill Gasparrini and Marie Brandenburg were the
Grand Masters winners. This race was also a celebration of
Leonard Vergunst's finally becoming of age. Leonard has
reached the young age of 50, but he hasn't slowed down any.
It was great to see things getting back to a sense of
normality on the coast. Thanks for a well-run race.
Complete results can be found
on the Gulf Coast Running Club web page.
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