It was a great day for running and 14 members of the San Quentin Thousand-Mile Club ran 15 laps around the baseball field for a fast three miles and showed that despite losing valuable training time while on quarantine they were still tough and fit.
Newcomer Chris Scull took off like a gazelle and led the initial lap while running at a very fast 5:00 per mile pace. Soon Chris realized that for a Three Mile Race he needed to conserve some energy and he backed off that pace.
At that time, Eddie Herena moved into first place. Eddie maintained the lead throughout the race, but Mike Villanueva made a valiant effort to catch him on the final lap. Eddie managed to hold on for an 18:55 finish with Mike just four seconds back.
Larry Ford had been running neck and neck with Mike for the first 14 laps, but could not handle Mike’s kick on the final lap and finished 25 seconds back in 19:24, a 53-second improvement over his 2010 Three Mile Race performance.
Stephen Yair Liebb ran a steady race and finished in a strong 19:50. Chris Scull slowed his pace after his speedy first lap and finished in just under a seven-minute per mile pace at 20:59. Louis Hunter was the next finisher in 21:20. His performance was 1:22 faster than he had ran in the 2010 Three Mile Race, the biggest improvement of any of the 1,000-Mile Club runners who had run in last year’s race.
Bill Pillars, Dee Whitaker, Joey Mason and Andrew Gazzeny were the next four finishers. They all ran under an 8:00 per mile pace, which was the goal that Andrew had set for himself at the start of the race.
Another newcomer, John Vaden, ran a steady race and finished in 24:26. John Neblett showed that he has been putting in consistent training miles as he held a steady pace and finished in 24:35.
Coach Alton McSween gutted out the three miles with an ugly-looking swollen big toe and ran 24:41, while Jonathan Wilson battled plantar fasciitis and sore feet, ran 25:50.
The race in April was supported by Laura Bowman, Coach Frank Ruona, community volunteers Jill Friedman and Diana Fitzpatrick, Thousand-Mile Club Chairman Steve Pascascio and Everett Spells.
