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. They 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. Herena maintained the lead throughout the race, but Mike Villanueva made a valiant effort to catch him on the final lap.
EXTRA KICK
Herena held on to finish 18:55, with Villanueva just four seconds back. Larry Ford had been running neck and neck with Villanueva for the first 14 laps, but could not handle Villanueva’s kick on the final lap and finished 25 seconds back in 19:24, a 53-second improvement over his 2010 time.
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 2010, the biggest improvement of any of the Thousand-Mile Club runners who had run in last years race.
Bill Pillars, Dee Whitaker, Joey Mason and Andrew Gazzeny were the next finishers. They all ran under an 8:00 per mile pace, which was the goal that Gazzeny had set for himself at the start of the race. Another new comer, John Vaden, ran a steady race and finish 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 Jonathon Wilson battled plantar fasciitis and sore feet and ran 25:50.
Laura Bowman, Coach Frank Ruona, Community Volunteers Jill Friedman and Diana Fitzpatrick supported the race.
