2012 Weekend of Races

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Midland Daily News

‘Club 26.2’ inspires students to run the equivalent of a marathon leading up to Saturday’s Dow RunWalk

BY FRED KELLY fred.kelly@mdn.net

For several students and teachers at Northeast Middle School, running has become more than just a hobby. It has become a lifestyle.

Some might even say it’s almost a must-do.

“Club 26.2” is a program sponsored by the Midland Community Center and the Dow Chemical Employees Credit Union which encourages students to run or walk roughly the equivalent of a marathon, 26.2 miles, during the month of May leading up to this Saturday’s annual Midland Community Center’s Dow RunWalk, part of the Dow Weekend of Races.

The purpose is not only to prepare kids to participate in the 5K RunWalk but also to breed healthy habits which can last a lifetime.

According to Linda Doran, a sixthgrade teacher at Northeast, Club 26.2 caught on quickly after it was introduced to the students last year.

“The kids were fired up, and then it just got contagious,” said Doran, who has also taken up running after professing to “hate” it for years. “The kids feed off each other and (talk about) things like, ‘What did you do (in terms of running) this weekend?’ and ‘How did you feel?’ and ‘Where did you run?’”

Fellow sixth-grade teacher and recent convert to running Jayme Swanson agreed that Club 26.2 was an almost immediate hit with Northeast’s students.

“We pitched the idea to the kids last year to see if we could get them to start running and walking ... and it went over great,” he said.

So great, in fact, that the number of Northeast students who have registered for this year’s Dow RunWalk has more than doubled from last year.

A year ago, 17 students and four teachers participated in the race. This year, the numbers are up to 45 students and seven teachers — along with 11 parents and seven siblings of students.

Sixth-grader Breanna Chritz, 11, is one of those participants.

“I’m excited because I want to see if I can run the whole thing again and beat my goal,” said Chritz, who also competed in last year’s RunWalk. “I want to try to (finish in) 30 minutes, because last year I did 34 (minutes).”

Chritz, who also completed the 5K Great Lakes Loons Pennant Race recent-

THOMAS SIMONETTI | tsimonetti@mdn.net

From left, Kenny Steinhilber, Garven Huntley, Zane Warner and Ryan Bailey log the number of laps they’ve run at Northeast Middle School recently as a part of Club 26.2, which is a running initiative to encourage kids to walk or run the equivalent of a marathon over two weeks in May. ly, said finishing races is “a lot easier” since she has started running regularly.

“I probably couldn’t (finish races if I hadn’t been running regularly), because it would’ve been too hard,” she noted. “It’s a lot easier to run longer distances since I started running. I wasn’t used to it before, but now I can run longer distances.”

Fellow sixth-grader Maddi Roberts, 12, agreed, noting that running regularly has also helped her become a better soccer player.

“I run a lot at home, because I like to train for soccer. I try to run as much as I can, and ... I have more endurance in soccer (since I’ve been running),” said Roberts, whose best time in a 5K run is 26 minutes and who finished fifth in her age group in a 5K race in northern Michigan recently. “ ... I’m excited about (this year’s RunWalk), because I want to beat my old

record and be faster,” she said, adding with a smile, “And I’m also very nervous.

I hope I get enough sleep the night before, and I hope my parents will let me have good stuff for breakfast.”

Swanson, who likes to lift weights but began running only recently, said he now feels like something’s missing if he cannot get out and run.

“When you have various injuries that sometimes sideline you, it’s weird when you have to stop (running). I never thought I would miss running,” Swanson said. “ ... A year ago, I never would’ve thought I would be frustrated to have to stop running.”

And the benefits of running, he added, are significant.

“How did it change me?” he said. “I feel fantastic.”

Doran agreed, noting that, over time, she progressed from hating running to

loving it.

“Eventually, you get to the point where you feel bad when you don’t run,” she said, adding that she had to take six months off from running recently due to an injury. “ ... You get jealous of people when you see them running on the street. ... (Running) changes the whole way you feel, it changes your body, and you feel bad when you don’t run.”

Kathy Spaulding, a teacher at Northeast, was instrumental in getting Club 26.2 started. As a liaison between the school and community organizations, Spaulding picked up a mileage club registration form from the MCC last year while searching for a healthy activity for students — and Club 26.2 was born.

“I’m not an athlete or a runner, so this was not something I was real gung-ho SEE “CLUB 26.2,” PAGE 3

Midland Daily News

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Upcoming races in the area May 19 May 20 May 26 June 1-2 June 2 June 9 July 4 July 14

Dow RunWalk 5K/10K The Qualifier marathon/half marathon GOTR Trail Run 5K/10K/half marathon AlphARace 3.5 miles Run for the Cure 5K Tri-for-Life Race for Chase Volkslaufe 5K/10K/20K Coach Bob Cole 5K

Midland Midland, Bay City Mount Pleasant Midland City Forest Caro Millington Frankenmuth Sanford

July 21 July 22 August 11 August 14

Tri-City Kids Triathlon Haithco Duathlon/Triathlon Sanford & Sun Triathlon/Duathlon Panda Bear Run 5K/10K/half marathon

Midland Saginaw Sanford Alma

For more information, go to www.active.com (do a search for Michigan) or go to espn1009.com and click on “2012 races.”

Daily News file photo

Runners prepare for the start of the 5K race at the starting line on East Collins Street before last year’s Midland Community Center’s Dow RunWalk.

This year, the Dow RunWalk takes place this Saturday as part of the inaugural Dow Weekend of Races.

ALPHA: Features night and day races and an attempt to break a world record CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

race waves are at 11 and 11:30 a.m., and the championship wave is at 1 p.m. Minimum age is 16 for the adult day races.

Also on Saturday are the kids’ races, going out at noon.

The 12 obstacles include, among other things, logs, rolling pipes, a 10-foot cargo net, two eight-foot wooden walls, a series of hay bales, a series of tires, monkey bars across a creek, a 12-foot rope climb, and the 200-foot water slide and mud crawl to finish the race.

The water slide will run down the big

sledding hill at City Forest, using a big sheet of vinyl plastic.

And that’s where the potential world record comes in.

Using a separate water slide from the one being used for the alphARace, Curell hopes to set a world record for the longest cumulative distance traveled on a slipand-slide within one hour. He believes the record is 85,060 feet.

“As long as can get 100 people to go down it six times apiece, we should be able to destroy that record,” he said.

The obstacles at City Forest will be set up on May 31 and June 1.

Curell said the alphARace idea was born from the recent boom in extreme obstacle races such as Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder, and Spartan Race. He and Trotter have both taken part in many such races.

Part of what makes alphARace unique, Curell said, is that it partners with nonprofit organizations, in this case the MCC, to help them raise funds. Future plans are to hold alphARaces on military bases while raising funds to benefit military families.

The principles of alphARace — as listed on its website — are competition, perse-

verance, giving back, treading lightly, and working hard and playing hard.

The Midland race will be only the second installment of the alphARace. The first was held in Mayville in the Thumb last July. Future races are planned for Grand Rapids in August, Indianapolis in September, and Shreveport, La., in November.

Registration for the race is still open at www.alpharace.com. Cost through Friday, May 18 is $65 for the adult race and $25 for the kids’ race. Starting May 19, the fees go up to $75 and $35, respectively.

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Midland Daily News

For Withrows, Saturday’s Dow RunWalk is a cherished family and community event

BY DAN CHALK chalk@mdn.net

Courtesy photo

Midland’s Scott Withrow, left, and his son Evan Withrow, shown after a recent race, have run the Dow RunWalk together about six times.

For Midland’s Scott Withrow, as for many others, this Saturday’s 27th annual Midland Community Center’s Dow RunWalk is more than a race.

It’s a big social event and a chance to connect with the community.

Withrow, 54, will be running in the event for what he believes is the 15th time, having started in 1996 and having only missed two years over that span. He’s running the 10K on Saturday.

“The cool thing is seeing all your friends and fellow runners,” said Withrow, who is vice president of Saginaw Bay Underwriters Insurance in Midland. “It’s a great commu-

nity event. It’s a good family event.

It’s a well-planned, well-run race.”

Withrow has also enjoyed the Dow Run/Walk for the chances it’s given him to bond with his son, Evan, 21, who’s a student at Michigan State University. They’ve run the race together about six times.

Evan said it’s been fun to run the race with his dad because Scott is the one who got him involved in running when he was about 8 years old.

“Being able to run race with him (has been great),” said Evan, who competed in track and cross country at Midland High School. “When I was little, it was me trying to keep up with him, and as I got older, it became him trying to keep up with me. ... We would usually stay togeth-

er (throughout the race), and the last 100 meters we would race it out.”

Evan also likes the community aspect of the Dow RunWalk.

“I really like the course because it goes through a couple different neighborhoods in Midland and there’s just a lot of people cheering you on,” he said.

For Scott Withrow, running in general encompasses both family and friends.

Withrow, who has run 13 marathons, runs about four times a week with his friend and fellow marathoner Mark Maxwell. They’ve been training together for at least 12 years, and their sons, Evan Withrow and Andrew Maxwell, graduated together from Midland High and now both attend MSU.

“The cool thing is seeing all your friends and fellow runners.”

A number of Midland streets will be closed Saturday morning during the Dow RunWalk During Saturday’s annual Midland Community Center’s Dow RunWalk, several area streets will be closed to accommodate the racers from 7:40 a.m. to approximately 10:15 a.m.

Many of these streets will be open before 9:30 a.m., once race traffic has safely passed.

The streets that will be affected are Mill, Pine, Grove, Carpenter, State, North, George, Rodd, Ashman (between Nelson and Baker), Louanna, William, Thurlow Court, Lingle Lane, Dartmoor Court, Hines, Carpenter (between Mill and Ashman), Union, Townsend, Cronkright, Harrison, East Reardon, East Baker, Collins, Nelson, Manor, Helen, Noeske, Balfour, Holyrood, and West St. Andrews (reduced by one lane).

South Saginaw will be reduced to one lane of southbound traffic between St. Andrews and Manor Street.

To ensure the safety of the RunWalk participants, limited vehicular traffic will be allowed on the race route immediately before or during the race. If residents’ streets are within the race route, they will only be able to enter/exit when given approval by the race course volunteer on duty.

Access to the Midland Country Club will be on West St. Andrews from Saginaw Road, and traffic can exit on West St. Andrews to Helen and Eastman.

“If you are within the race route and know that you must enter or exit during the designated race time, we recommend that you park your car on a side street outside of the race route,” said Jennifer Adamcik, race director.

Anyone interested in a race route map to further check streets can pick one up at the Midland Community Center or see the map at www.dowrunwalk.mymcc. org

Daily News file photo

Runners make their way along the course during the 5K run during last year’s Midland Community Center’s Dow RunWalk. In addition to the 5K run, the event features a 10K run, 5K walk, 1-Mile Fun Run, Tot Trot for ages 3-5, race expo, and a MidMichigan Health health and fitness fair.

Midland Daily News

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Midland’s Rettelle among those hoping to qualify for Boston Marathon at The Qualifier on Sunday

BY FRED KELLY fred.kelly@mdn.net

For a lot of distance runners, qualifying for the Boston Marathon is the culmination of years of hard work and training.

Midland’s Maggie Rettelle, however, is hoping to accomplish the feat in far less time.

Rettelle is one of many local runners who will be competing in The Qualifier on Sunday in the hope of qualifying for Boston for the first time. It’s a pretty ambitious goal for a woman who just recently took up distance running and is embarking on her very first marathon.

But it’s also an attainable goal, according to Rettelle.

“At this point, finishing (The Qualifier) is my priority, but I’m also really focused on qualifying (for Boston), too,” said Rettelle, 39, who will be competing in her first marathon. “ ... It would be the ultimate success

story — someone coming into a sport brand-new and being able to accomplish (qualifying for Boston) in less than six months. That’s not usually heard of,” added Rettelle, who would need to finish The Qualifier in three hours and 40 minutes or less to qualify for Boston.

Although she is a fitness buff, Rettelle’s competitive running background consisted of only three 5K races prior to running in the inaugural Midland Resolution Run 5K this past New Year’s Eve. Since then, she has been focused on training for The Qualifier — running three or four days a week for up to 20 miles at a time, as well as doing Maggie cross-training and yoga.

Rettelle She has also run in six more 5K races in the past four-plus months.

“I am a competitor, and I am heavily

into fitness,” said Rettelle, a registered dietitian and part-time fitness instructor who recently opened her own gym.

“I really wanted to diversify my accomplishments in fitness,” she said of her decision to begin running marathons.

Unfortunately, she has been coping with a very sore ankle lately and had to switch to cycling in lieu of further running over the past couple of weeks.

“I actually went to the doctor (last week) with what was potentially a stress fracture in my ankle from overuse. It turns out I don’t have a stress fracture, but I do have a lot of soreness that I’ve been working through while training,” she noted. “That just adds to the stress and excitement (of preparing for my first marathon).”

And Rettelle said she is determined not to let the injury keep her out of The Qualifier.

“I am running no matter what,” she said firmly.

Rettelle added that the injury has affected her psychologically as much as physically.

“That has challenged me mentally, the challenge of not being able to run and having to be patient,” she said about two weeks ago. “These (final) two weeks will be the most challenging — just letting myself heal.”

Whatever happens at The Qualifier, Rettelle said preparing for her first marathon has been an unforgettable experience — both good and bad.

“I think the most daunting part has been the necessary mental preparedness for it. And, right now, the physical limitations (I’m facing) are the scariest part,” she noted. “But the most exciting part has been just the camaraderie among the running groups I’ve joined and the people I’ve met along the way. “ ... The journey leading up to it (has been rewarding).”

Midland’s alphARace at City Forest in early June is a rugged alternative to traditional races

BY DAN CHALK

‘Oh, this is something different,’ and they’re excited about trying an alphARace just because it’s different than a road race,” McIntyre said.

The night adult race on AlphARace Friday, June 1 will be run director Gigi in two waves: at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Runners will McIntyre wear headlamps to guide them through the course. Minimum age

chalk@mdn.net

It’s a three-and-a-half mile obstacle course, in the dark, with a headlamp on — capped by a 200-foot water slide and a mud crawl.

And that’s just the first night.

The inaugural Midland alphARace on June 1-2 at City Forest will feature night and day adult races, a kids’ race, and an attempt to break a world record.

AlphARace co-founder Brad Curell, of Mayville, promises an exhilarating weekend for the 700-plus participants who are already signed up for the event.

“It’s going to be an exciting day, a lot of energy, and just an opportunity (for people) to be able to push themselves and to experience a physical high,” said Curell, who along with longtime friend Jonathan Trotter of Midland founded alphARace, which will be spreading into other states later this year.

The alphARace is presented by the Midland Community Center, which was looking for a signature racing event for the first weekend of June after the MCC’s

alphARace founders Jonathan Trotter, left, and Brad Curell annual Dow RunWalk moved two weeks earlier to become part of the inaugural Dow Weekend of Races.

Curell said he and Trotter plan to make the Midland alphARace an annual event.

Fifty percent of the proceeds from the race will go to the MCC. Race director Gigi McIntyre of the MCC said the alphARace offers a unique alternative to traditional road races.

“I’ve talked to quite a few people who do a lot of 5K and 10K races who thought,

is 18 for the night race.

“We are the first obstacle course race in Michigan to have a night race,” McIntyre said.

A local band, Chris and Memarie, will be performing at City Forest during the night race.

Then, on Saturday, June 2, for the adult day races, race waves begin at 8 a.m. and will go out every half hour. Women-only SEE “ALPHA,” PAGE 11

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Midland Daily News

The Qualifier marathon and half marathon routes

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ourMidland.com

Midland Daily News

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SPILMAN: Marathoning has become a way of life for Midland man CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

schedule was a little bit erratic, you could just squeeze in a run wherever it fit – after work, before work, in the middle of work, late at night, early in the morning, whatever.”

Spilman’s passion for marathoning is so strong, in fact, that his daughter, Libbie, 14, was named after former U.S. Olympic distance runner Libbie Hickman.

“I was so into the marathons at that point and we were trying to pick out names for our daughter, and Libbie (Hickman) had been on the cover of Runners’ World (magazine), so there she is,” Spilman said.

Spilman’s older son, Alex, 16, runs track and cross country at Bullock Creek High School, and his younger son, Stephen, 11, has become Spilman’s “pit crew” on his training runs.

“He rides his bike for 20 miles and carries water bottles and talks to me for the whole time,” Spilman said.

“He gets me through those long training runs.”

Spilman said his favorite marathon is the Boston, which he has run five times, including last month.

“It’s quite an international event, and just getting (a qualifying time for Boston) is already putting you in the top 5 to 10 percent of your running peers,” he noted.

“You’re really going to be challenged. It’s a great time, a great experience.

“It’s just expensive (though),” he added. “Boston is a little bit under $200 (for the registration). It used to be $50 or $60 back in the day.”

NICK KING | nking@mdn.net

Gary Spilman takes a recent training run in Midland in preparation for Sunday’s The Qualifier marathon.

Sometimes, marathons can also provide lessons that serve well in life.

In October of 1999, Spilman ran the Detroit Marathon, which that year was specially set up to end on the infield of Tiger Stadium, which had just finished its final season before the debut of the new Comerica Park in 2000.

About 15 miles into the race, Spilman pulled a muscle in his leg and was forced to walk the rest of the way to

the finish. But he was determined to do so.

“It wasn’t going to kill me to continue walking,” he said. “To me it was more important to finish (the race) than to save myself to run in a race two or three weeks later. I’d never been on the infield at Tiger Stadium before.”

The experience reminded Spilman that if something is worthwhile, you must persist in order to attain it.

“Persistence pays off, especially when you know ahead of time what your goals are and what you’re going to achieve,” he said. “If there’s a little bit of pain involved or there are some major obstacles that you have to overcome that aren’t going to hurt you in any way, you have to just gut it out and get to the finish line. It’s worth it.”

While Spilman gets ready for his 52nd marathon, he’s helping his friend and Dow colleague Eric Eidsmoe get ready for his first at The Qualifier.

“It’s kind of hard for me to comprehend as I approach my first,” Eidsmoe said of Spilman’s having run 51 marathons. “It’s definitely been real helpful, just in terms of having a general training plan, doing runs at different paces, gearing up the training, and learning when to taper off.”

Spilman has used his own mistakes to emphasize what Eidsmoe should do to be prepared for a marathon.

“I’ve kind of been giving him my two cents here and there,” Spilman said. “He’s much better prepared for this than I was for my first (marathon). He’s following all the right protocols. So I think he’s going to do very well.”

“If there’s a little bit of pain involved or there are some major obstacles that you have to overcome that aren’t going to hurt you in any way, you have to just gut it out and get to the finish line. It’s worth it.”

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Midland Daily News

The Qualifier is drawing multisport athletes

BY JOHN KENNETT jkennett@mdn.net

Jill Gushow and her running friends were so excited about The Qualifier marathon that they didn’t wait until the actual race this Sunday to try out the course.

“A group of us ran part of the course on April 22,” said Gushow, who is human resources director at Morley Companies, Inc. “Some of the group took a wrong turn and ran 19.5 miles while others went 22 miles. We had to make sure we knew where we were going.”

Gushow looks forward to the Dow Weekend of Races, which will include the Dow RunWalk on Saturday and The Qualifier marathon and half marathon on Sunday.

“There should be a lot of hype because you can qualify for the Boston Marathon,” said Gushow. “The half marathon makes it even more special. There are a lot of people rallying around this. It should be a good economic boost for our community.”

For Gushow, The Qualifier is an opportunity to run her first marathon.

“I’ve been running my whole life,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of half marathons and did two half-marathons a couple of weeks ago.”

She would love to meet the Boston Marathon qualifying time of three hours and 43 minutes for her age group.

“That is absolutely the goal,” she said.

“It should be a fun weekend. On Saturday, a bunch of us are going to volunteer, and Sunday my kids will be at the finish line and I’ll just hang out with them and my mom after the race.”

Gushow is a member of Mid-Michigan Multisport Racing Club, which was established in 2003 by Craig and Sherry Elford to promote health and wellness in the Mid-Michigan region through physical activity and participation in multisport activities.

The club has about 50 members, from beginners to elite athletes, who compete in world-class events in various sports such as triathlon, duathlon, mountain biking, road cycling, adventure racing, running, and swimming.

Like Gushow, fellow club member Dr. Greg Dardas is excited about the Dow Weekend of Races and its potential impact on the region.

“It helps to bring up the health of our community,” said Dardas, a neurologist at MidMichigan Medical Center. “It’s a healthy, positive activity that brings others into the community and shows them what we have to offer as far as running.”

NICK KING | nking@mdn.net

Jill Gushow, right, runs hills with, from left, Jack Luna and Cadia Hunpula recently at Overlook Park in Midland. Gushow is training for The Qualifier and runs regularly with a group from the area.

Dardas, 48, will use Sunday’s Qualifier, his seventh marathon, as a springboard for the upcoming MI Titanium Triathlon in Grand Rapids on Aug. 26, where he and Gushow will both compete.

“It’s something fun to do that’s peaceful and quiet,” said Dardas, who began running marathons in 2004. “As a physician, if I’m going to encourage health in my patients, I had better set an example.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Fowler, 43, will use The Qualifier as preparation for the 50mile Run Woodstock race in Pinckney on Sept. 7. The Dow Corning employee has been training for about five years and ran his first marathon in 2007.

“There are six guys I hang out and race with,” said Fowler. “We mostly train for Olympic triathlons (1,500-meter swim/ 40K bike/10K run). It’s addictive to see how far my body can go. The longest race I’ve completed was a 140.6-mile Ironman

triathlon.”

Initially hoping to lose some weight, Fowler began as a recreational jogger, running about one to two miles per workout.

“I lost about 70 pounds,” he said. “It can be very time-consuming, so I train either late in the evening or early in the morning. It forces you to prioritize your life. You have to put the time in to be successful.”

Now, Fowler trains six times per week — three sessions of running and three of biking, with a session or two of swimming thrown in. The first two running sessions will be between eight to 10 miles, and on the weekend, it will be a 10-to-20 mile workout.

“The older I get, the more my body needs time to recover,” he said. “I’ll mix up the runs a little bit with some hill work or some speed training.”

The marathon course begins at Dow Diamond, winds past Dow Chemical and out Bay City Road, through the countryside past Delta College, and finishes in Bay City’s historic district.

“It’s flat, which is great,” said Gushow, who grew up in Auburn. “I’ll be running through my old stomping grounds. I like the farms and fields. It’s very beautiful and special.”

She likes the fact that Morley Companies can be involved as a sponsor.

“I’m so excited that Morley can be a very active sponsor in the community,” said Gushow, who is an attorney. “It’s satisfying that Morley can be a part of this first-time event that will be touching people in many communities. That’s pretty neat for us.”

For more information on the MMMRC club, visit its website at www.midmichiganmultisport.com

Midland Daily News

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M ARATHON MAN Spilman will run his 52nd marathon at The Qualifier

BY DAN CHALK chalk@mdn.net

While Gary Spilman was running his first marathon, the Scotty Hanton Marathon, in Port Huron in August of 1991, he sincerely thought it would be his last.

With about five miles to go, his legs were cramping and it became a struggle just to finish the race, although he did.

“I’m sure that on the course I said something to the effect that this would be the first and last,” Spilman said with a laugh in a recent interview. “In the moment, you’re asking yourself, ‘What am I doing, and why did I even think about doing this?’”

Yet something in that experience inspired Spilman, and instead of marking the end of his marathoning, it had just the opposite effect. It became a springboard to a passion of more than two decades which continues this Sunday with his 52nd marathon at the inaugural The Qualifier between Midland and Bay City.

Looking back at that day in Port Huron, Spilman, a 50year-old Dow Chemical employee and a father of three, says he took the adversity as a challenge and vowed to be much better prepared for his next marathon.

“For me it was a personal challenge, and just completing (that first marathon) was uplifting and somewhat addicting, because then it led to (the thought that) ‘Well, I can probably do better next time if I just do this or if I just do that.’ … It immediately invokes a feeling of wanting to take another shot at it as soon as you can.”

And that’s just what Spilman did, running in the Detroit Marathon less than two months later. After finishing the Scotty Hanton in three hours, 40 minutes and 43 seconds, he ran a 3:51:57 at Detroit, then returned to the Scotty Hanton in September of 1992 and dropped his time to 3:12:38.

“If you look at my times, I guess they dropped as I began to spend more time doing the right training. It does pay off,” he said of doing proper training.

Spilman said that 16 weeks is a ballpark figure for the time it takes to prepare to run a marathon.

“Most (training) programs are written to take you from a 5K or 10K distance up to a marathon in about

NICK KING | nking@mdn.net

Gary Spilman, 50, of Midland, wasn’t sure he would run another marathon after struggling in his first one back in 1991. But he’s now getting ready for marathon number 52 on Sunday.

16 weeks, through a combination of endurance distance training, maybe a little bit of speed work, and then some tempo runs (short runs at fairly high speed),” Spilman

said.

Spilman worked his way up to running five marathons a year for a couple of years, and finished in under three hours seven times. And now, at 50, he says he optimizes his finishing times by training the right way.

“There are a lot of good references that talk about masters training and how you have to allow yourself a little more time to build back up (after running a marathon),” he said. “If you do that, your body will respond pretty well, and you can drop your times.”

Spilman has run marathons in 12 states. His best finishing time in a marathon was on October 15, 1995 at the Chicago Marathon in 2:52:52. His average finishing time is 3:13:49.

He set a goal to run his 50th marathon before his 50th birthday, and he made it by a week, running the Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City on May 28, 2011 and finishing in 3:18:26.

Spilman has no specific goals beyond the 50-marathon mark, but said the idea of ultramarathons intrigues him.

“Thinking about doing 100 (marathons) or something like that just kind of overwhelms me,” he said.

“I’m wondering if maybe trying something like an ultra(marathon) now, something that’s 50 miles or longer, would be a fun challenge, just because you have to run those in a completely different way.”

For someone who has run 51 marathons and discards about four pairs of running shoes each year, a fair question to ask is: Is it a hobby or an obsession?

“For the most part, it’s a hobby, and at the same time it’s kind of a healthy diversion,” Spilman said, adding that his training runs are therapeutic. “Trying to get out in the middle of the day to clear your head and process things that you need to be away from the desk to mull through, I find that to be extremely helpful.”

What’s more, running has proved to be a pastime conducive to his work schedule.

“You can do it almost any place, almost any time, and under almost any conditions outside,” Spilman said.

“So it was the ultimate partner for me, because if your SEE “SPILMAN,” PAGE 7

Page 10

Midland Daily News

These two runners start training bright and early

BY JOHN KENNETT jkennett@mdn.net

Most people are midway through a good night’s sleep at 3 a.m. But, for Lynsay Wotta and Tami Andrzejewski of Bay City, that’s the time to hit the roads to start training.

Wotta is running the half marathon and Andrzejewski is doing the full marathon at The Qualifier this Sunday, part of the inaugural Dow Weekend of Races.

“We get up and start running anywhere from 3:15 to 4:15 a.m.,” said Andrzejewski, 28. “During the week, we’ll run between five and eight miles a day, four times. On the weekend, it’s a longer run, between 15 and 20 miles. On off days, I’ll do some swimming and lift weights.”

Wotta, 26, believes that the early wakeup is valuable.

“I usually am in bed by 10:30 a.m.,” she said. “The training is going really well.

Just the feeling after we get done running is wonderful.”

Wotta is excited about the challenge of running the longest race she’s ever taken on.

“The longest I’ve ever run is an 8K or 5-mile,” said Wotta. “I’m a little nervous about this half marathon, but am very excited for the challenge. Eventually, I want to run a full marathon.”

For her part, Andrzejewski is excited about running a marathon so close to home.

“This will be my first marathon,” said Andrzejewski, who has one half marathon to her credit. “I’m glad to see something this close to home. It’s awesome and a great opportunity. And the course is great for beginners, because there are not a lot of hills.”

The marathon course begins at Dow Diamond, winds past Dow Chemical and out Bay City Road through the countryside past Delta College, and finishes in Bay City’s historic district. The half

Courtesy photo

Lynsay Wotta, left, and Tami Andrzejewski are training for the half marathon and full marathon, respectively, in The Qualifier on Sunday.

marathon begins at Delta College and winds through the countryside to Midland Road and finishes in the same place as the marathon.

Both runners enjoy what the course has to offer.

“This course allows you to celebrate the beauty of the Tri-Cities,” said Andrzejewski. “You can see from Midland all the way to Saginaw and Bay City. I grew up in Bay City. This is one of the few areas in a 15-mile run where you can pass multiple bridges, parks, city, and country farmland. You get to see all sorts of animals, geese and deer.”

Wotta agreed.

“I enjoy running in this area,” she said.

“You get to see so many things. Usually, we don’t stop and appreciate stuff. Our lives are always go, go, go. It’s nice to take time to see the area.”

The pair first met as co-workers at the Brookdale Assisted Living center in Bay City.

“We’ve known each other for three years,” said Wotta. “We met through our marketing manager at Brookdale.”

Both continue to work for Brookdale: Andrzejewski in Grand Blanc and Wotta at the Bay City facility.

Neither one of the two are natural runners.

“I did not enjoy running growing up,” said Wotta. “I would do anything under the sun not to run. I played softball and enjoyed bowling.”

Just as Andrzejewski and Wotta became accomplished runners, they believe others can do the same.

“If we can do it, anybody can do it,” said Andrzejewski. “I’m not a great runner. I never thought I would be running capable of doing (marathons). It’s important to set a goal and challenge yourselves.

You would be amazed at what you can accomplish.”

“If we can do it, anybody can do it. I’m not a great runner. I never thought I would be running capable of doing (marathons). It’s important to set a goal and challenge yourselves. You would be amazed at what you can accomplish.”

■ For race results this weekend, go to www.ourMidland. com

Page 3

Midland Daily News

CLUB 26.2: Motivating both students and teachers to get active and fit CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

about,” Spaulding admitted, adding that she has since started running herself and intends to compete in the RunWalk for the first time on Saturday. “But it was something I thought would be kind of cool for the kids to get involved in. “ ... A lot of times I would hear kids say they didn’t want to go out and play ball or do other physical activities just because they would have to move around,” she added. “That’s kind of concerning when they have that attitude.”

In addition to preparing for the Dow RunWalk and getting into better shape, the students at Northeast also have other incentives to run.

The kids regularly track the mileage they have run or walked and report it weekly to the teachers on the team. They then receive various prizes for reaching milestones, such as bracelets with new charms added for every five-mile increment they complete.

Swanson said the bracelets have been a big hit.

“They’re a bit of a status symbol for the kids in the hallways, because (their peers) can see how far they have run,” he said.

Roberts, for example, has already logged over 40 miles this year, while Chritz has

topped 30 miles. According to Swanson, several other students have also reached the 30-mile mark.

As a group, Northeast’s sixth-graders have a goal of running and/or walking a distance equivalent to traveling from Midland to Acapulco, Mexico. Of that 2,585-mile goal, the kids have already completed over 800 miles — roughly the distance from Midland to Memphis, Tenn.

Jennifer Adamcik, an employee of the MCC who has helped get Club 26.2 off the ground at Northeast, said she hopes the experience will translate into a long-term healthy lifestyle for the students. “(The program is about) hoping to develop healthy lifestyles that will propel them forward so that they will continue to (exercise) in seventh (through) 12th grade,” said Adamcik, who is also the Dow RunWalk race director.

Northeast sixth-grader Adrianna Ellis, 11, is one of those students who seems to have bought in to the idea of a healthy lifestyle.

Ellis said she won’t be able to participate in this year’s RunWalk but added that she tries to run a 5K every Tuesday with her father and sister, which she has been doing since she was nine.

“It makes me feel better,” she said simply.

THOMAS SIMONETTI | tsimonetti@mdn.net

ABOVE RIGHT, Northeast Middle School students Rachel Crowley shows off her bracelet with charms for milestones that she has run with Club 26.2. She has earned more than 30 charms.

BELOW RIGHT, Drew Spencer runs laps at Northeast in connection with Club 26.2.

“(The program is about) hoping to develop healthy lifestyles that will propel them forward so that they will continue to (exercise) in seventh (through) 12th grade.”

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Midland Daily News

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