Markelle Taylor broke the five-year-old two-hour run record after only being in the 1000 Mile Club for six months by completing 18-11/16 miles.
“I really went hard the first hour. Then the guys started encouraging me to keep the pace and that I could break the two-hour record. I was in pain; but I just thought about my kids and family. That’s when I relaxed and ran free,” said Taylor.
The two-hour run scheduled for Aug. 21 was cancelled due to a Legionnaires’ Disease lockdown. It then combined with the Oct. 9 three-hour run. Most runners chose to compete for two hours.
Glen Mason came in first in the three-hour category, by completing 23-1/2 miles, followed by Reynaldo Campos with 22-5/6 miles and Simon Liu with 19-1/4.
Coach Frank Ruona added, “I’ve seen many guys go for that record over the years. He ran well; I want to see what he does in the coming marathon.”
The runners enjoyed a beautiful sunny day, as they zigzagged through crowds of people on a raggedy track.
First-time runners Chuan Pang and Oscar Arana gave big smiles as they ran on fumes to complete the two-hour course. Pang ran 7-1/2 miles.
“I learned I could push myself past my limits. The most I ran was five-miles, today I did 12. I just focused on what I wanted to do when I got out and my family. That was my motivation. I love them very much,” said Arana.
Pang added, “This was the hardest exercise I ever done. I just kept my head down to block out distractions and kept running.”
Chris Skull and Carlos Moreno came in second and third out of the two-hour runners, completing 15-1/4 miles and 15 miles, respectively.
Carlos Ramirez was the last of the only four runners who finished the three-hours.
“Like with anything you have to train for these events. I did the three-hours, but we didn’t have a lot of training time, and I was struggling at two,” said Ramirez. He completed 19-1/4 miles.
Tone Evans added, “Being down due to the Legionairres’ thing, cut into our training. So our mechanics had to kick in, but we learned to push each other.”
“I thank the coaches and the volunteers for their encouragement and support. They helped us to be more positive and understanding. That is what we need in this environment,” said Al Yaseng.
Volunteer coach, Kevin Ramon concluded, “You have to find something that puts you in the spot you want to be in life. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t find that spot. So whatever you like doing, be it art or running, you have to find that zone and get above the noise.”
