Three track records fell at the 1000 Mile Club’s recent relay races.
The 4x200m fell first. Eric Nelson, Leroy Lucas, Tone “Barefoot Tone” Evans and John Willie Windham ran a 1:47.42, smashing the old record of 1:49, set in 2012. Two races later, the same team set a new record in the 4×100 at 47:04. The team of Abel Armengal, Oscar Aguilar, Jesus Sanchez and Jose Sandoval challenged the record breakers in both races on May 30.
“We want to give an extra shout out to our competitors today,” said Windham. “We were trying to break records after we found out the first one fell. So, we pushed ourselves to get it done.”
The Distance Medley tumbled next. Runners Miguel Quezada, Clifton Williams, Carlos Ramirez and Eddie Herena ran a brisk 13:19.99 to break the record of 14:22, set in 2012.
A Distance Medley consists of the first runner going three-quarters of a mile, the second runner a quarter-mile, the third runner a half-mile and the final runner going for a mile.
In the last race of the day, Evans, Windham and Nelson added Quezada to their team. They were going for a fourth record in the 4 x1¼ mile; however, they missed the time by seven seconds. Chris Scull, Sergio Castillo, Marlon Beason and Alberto Mendez came in third.
“After knocking down those other records, we tried for a third. We all were a little tired,” Evans said, laughing while catching his breath.
The day started with the 4×1 mile relay. The winning team consisting of Quezada, Bernard “Abdu’l Rahiym” Ballard, Eric “Abdu’l Wahid” Moody and Chris Cole They ran a total time of 23:52. Second were Morceli Abdu’l Khadeer, Eric Nelson, Edward “Wakil” Scott and Marlon Beason in 26:50.
“We want to thank our coaches for showing up,” said Lucas, smiling. “Aye Coach! Come over and take this picture with us! We got the record!” Lucas shouted to Frank Ruona and Kevin Rumon.
Nelson also scored 47 official points to propel his team, Net Zero, past The Franchise in overtime, 80-77. There was disagreement over whether he broke a record with his performance.
