Two relay race records were smashed and a third was just missed by the drop of a baton at this year’s 1000 Mile Club track event on San Quentin’s Lower Yard.
In the Distance Medley Relay, Carlos Ramirez, Clifton Williams, Markelle Taylor and Eddie Herena set the tone for the day by topping last year’s record time of 13:20, coming in at 12:33.
“It was a team thing – (the team) broke the record,” said Herena, who ran anchor.
The team also broke records individually. Williams ran his quarter-mile in 1:07, setting a new S.Q. 50-plus record. Taylor’s time of 2:17 set a new S.Q. half-mile record and Herena’s 5:14 tied his own one-mile record.
“It feels good to break a record, considering I’ve only been running for three months,” said Taylor. “I joined the club a month ago, mainly for therapeutic reasons – to stay in shape and to keep my mind focused on using prison for self-help instead of being a hindrance.”
The sprint 4 x 200 meter relay was won by Jonathan Cannon, John Windham, Tone “Barefoot” Evans and Donald Ray Walker Jr. in the record time of 1:46.
Last year, Windham and Evans teamed up with Eric Nelson and Leroy Lucas, setting the old record at 1:47. The 2014 team also set the record for the 4 x 100 meter relay at 47 seconds. Lucas ended up on another team this year.
“They didn’t know I was going to run; I came out late,” said Lucas.
“We had different partners this year. Walker and Cannon made the difference,” said Windham.
“They saw my speed on the football field and Tone and Windham invited me to run,” said Walker.
Cannon, Windham, Evans and Walker came in first in the 4 x 100 meter relay with a time of 49:93, even though Cannon dropped the baton on the handoff. They missed last year’s record by a little over two seconds.
“It’s on me,” said Cannon. “We had that.”
“The new guy Walker is extremely fast,” said Lucas. “They ran a good race with the exception of the fumble. I’m happy for the winning team, but I’m also happy they didn’t break my record.”
Windham declined to participate in the final race because he had just run in two sprint relays back-to-back.
Herena, Taylor and Vincente Gomez took the 4 x 400 meter relay in a time of 4:22.
The final event was the 4 x one-mile relay. Chris Scull, Oscar Aguilar, Reynaldo Campos and Gomez came in first with a time of 24:42.
Right behind them were four runners who are over 50. Larry Ford, Bruce Wells, Michael Keeyes and Tone Evans finished the four miles with a time of 25:37.
Keeyes, who is 67 years old, ran a mile in 6:19.
“I hope I’m an inspiration to young guys – if you take care of yourself, you can be in great shape at 67,” said Keeyes.
“I had my best individual mile pace to date at 6:38,” said Haneef Wells.
Darren Settlemyer ran in the first four races. His teams finished fourth, third, second and second in the April 17 races.
“I was wearing them down,” joked the 49-year-old Settlemyer. “The coaches motivate me to run. I want to make their time worthwhile.”
“The guys who ran in all the races are the real MVPs,” said Evans.
“There were great teams and great individual performances,” said sponsor Diana Fitzpatrick. “Chris Scull ran a really fast 400 meters.”
Skull completed the lap in 68 seconds.
“We all train together, gauge off each other, compete with each other, then come out and put our training to use,” said Wells.
–By Rahsaan Thomas
