2003 Will Rogers 10K

Report by: Eric Barron

Some people like to sleep in on their birthdays, but America never sleeps; and on its 227th birthday, a couple of thousand Americans rose early and celebrated by running the 2003 Will Rogers 5K/10K. For its part, America served up red TCLA singlets aplenty, white sharks off the coast, and blue skies.

As for the racing, the popular 10K was hilly as ever and typically warm. That did not stop Rasmus Tamstorf from turning in one of the better performances of the day, winning his age group, and finishing fifth overall. Tyrone Black, more fit but less healthy than last year at this time, ran almost as fast as last year, and took third in his division. Also breaking the 40-minute mark for TCLA were Jose Castillo and Clarence Smith.

Blair Tarr finished in over 40 minutes, but in time for second in his division, and at a few seconds past 41 minutes, Peter Glassman took third in his age group. Trying to chase Peter down, Gary McArdle hit his time goal, and Brian Panosian followed soon after. John Loveless, who had trained on the course, dipped under seven-minute pace, and a few seconds later, Dean Goodman earned the silver in his division.

The next three TCLA'ers tried to make things tougher for themselves. Tim Petersen swam an ocean mile just before the race; Kelly Smith spent a good while in Europe a few weeks ago getting married and thinking about training while eating plates of pasta; and Wenise Wong lined up at the back of the pack of 1100 (but she wove her way forward to finish as TCLA's first woman).

Shortly behind Wenise were Reuben Villanueva and Robert Newmark, both of whom spent several weekends running the course in preparation for the big day. Robert, however, had the added pressure of having to run knowing that 40 club members would soon descend on his house for a post-race party. Just over a minute later, Mike Kukuchka and Tim Garlick made their way across the finish line.

Keeping it under 50 minutes, Michael Berger ran a steady race, and Eric Gilbert ran strong for second in his age group. Right on Eric's heels, Cindy Bernstein also turned in a great effort. Alison Song and Ellen Kukuchka both ran a little slower than last year, but with the sun stronger than last year, this is to be expected. Behind them, Jeff Bernstein struggled through the hills, though pushing his daughter Lauren in a stroller might have had something to do with that. Finally, Sharon Yamato had a breakthrough race and discovered that when the going gets tough, she can still keep going.

Without the detour through Will Rogers, the 5K is a relatively fast course, and Nathan Shopay proved that with his fourth place overall finish. Seth Morris and Mike Sudo, the next two TCLA finishers, each earned bronze medals, and just behind Mike, Elizabeth Farnan took home the gold in her division. Colin Walker crossed the line with Elizabeth, and promptly demanded half her medal. A few minutes later, Lydia Salinas kept TCLA on the victory stand with second place in her age group. Lastly, and by no means least, it was great to see Paul Scott back at the races.

Thanks to those cheering on the runners (Amy Aukstikalnis, Jacinda Raiche, Jim Spear at his usual post on Brooktree, Rikako Takei, and Terence Young) and to those working at the race (Peggy Sauve-Enriquez and her husband, Paul). Special thanks to Robert Newmark for again hosting, and hosting well, the annual post-race party.