Peter Taylor’s Hartshorne Diary 2011: Nice moves at afterparty
Pete Taylor in '09.
Anyway, here’s the latest Pete Taylor diary:
Still Another Excellent Adventure: My Fifth Trip to the Hartshorne Mile
The Prelude
January 21. It’s 7:15 AM, and the day for driving to Ithaca, New York, has finally arrived. Tomorrow, for the fifth time, I will announce the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile at Cornell University. The last major event I announced was masters nationals in Sacramento, California, this past July. There my performance was subpar, but not everything that could have made it better was under my control. Almost certainly I will do better at the Hartshorne.
I eventually leave home (Fairfax, VA) for the 3-mile trip to Fairfax Racquet and Fitness Club. But before I get in the car a former neighbor, Dina B., approaches me and asks whether I can teach her how to use the Internet (she is not from the U.S.). I tell her I am leaving for New York and will instruct her on Wednesday. She asks me to lend her $20 for gas, which I give her. Then it’s off to the club. After I work out, I will set off for Ithaca, an additional 312 miles.
I have determined that I should run a 5000-meter race (track or road) at some point, as I haven’t run any races at all since 2001 or 2002. I now run one day, bike five, run one, etc. (limit the running to protect my right foot). As a test, I run 2.5 miles on the treadmill at the club, rest 7 minutes, then run 3.11 miles. Running essentially all out I can manage only a 28:08, or 9:02.8 per mile. Hmmm…
4:46 PM: I got a late start from the club, and I am still in upstate Pennsylvania. On FM 96.9, Alanis Morissette has just finished serenading me with “You Already Won Me Over.” Sweet; it puts me in a good mood. At 4:47 I pass the Troy Motel, which epitomizes for me the lonely rural motel — no obvious reason for its existence, drab in the extreme, and yet no doubt still open.
6:23 PM: I roll into the hotel parking lot in Ithaca. For some reason, it took me 6 hrs and 25 minutes, and I didn’t even get lost. I had hoped for better. Tom Hartshorne, the world’s best host, is to take me to The Antlers restaurant at 7:00. I run into Nolan Shaheed in the hotel lobby, and I am able to remember a few things. Things are looking pretty good.
At night I sleep very poorly. In fact, it would be generous to dignify many of the hours with the term “sleep,” as I feel for much of the time that I am conscious, but yet much of it is probably the thinnest form of sleep imaginable. I remember waking up about 1:25 AM, thinking later that I was getting no sleep at all, but actually some of what I got after 1:25 must have been a form of sleep.
At 5:30 AM I give up and get out of bed. I want to do well, but at some point I have concern about whether I can announce at all. Forget about preparing for Albuquerque or making up for Sacramento 2010, can I even do Hartshorne?
The Big Event
January 22. For me, the five non-elite races go reasonably well, although I have my usual trouble with the microphone at Cornell. Eventually, with the help of Tom Hartshorne, I settle in at several inches from the mike and do the best I can.
The most notable story in the non-elite is that of M65 performer Gary Patton. Gary runs an excellent 5:27.31, but that performance is overshadowed by his trip. He lives in Rock Rapids, Iowa, from where he drove to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He then flew to Detroit, only to find when he got there that his flight to Ithaca was canceled. Mind you, although an elite-level competitor, Gary is entered in a non-elite race at Hartshorne.
Undaunted, Gary rents a car and drives all the way from the Detroit airport to Ithaca, New York. He has heard good things about the Hartshorne Mile, and it is just something he wants to do during his lifetime. Now he has done it, and bravo to him for running a terrific time and, even more, for driving all the way from Michigan.
The first of the elite races is for women 50+, and the winner to me has to be either Julie Hayden, who led until well into the last lap at the 2010 Hartshorne, or Cheryl Bellaire, who won it last year. For the longest time it’s Hayden… Bellaire… Myette (Suzanne), and Bellaire looks perfectly positioned to unleash her great kick.
What happens? Early in the seventh lap, Myette runs right by both Hayden and Bellaire (the tape shows that Bellaire never reached the lead), and now it’s Myette’s race to win with Bellaire the chaser. To the surprise of some, no doubt, Suzanne holds off Bellaire all the way to the finish, winning in 5:48.74 to Cheryl’s 5:50.53.
At the banquet later, Suzanne pays wonderful tribute to the late Diane Sherrer, who covered this race for the Ithaca Journal for so many years and was a driving force in women’s running in upstate New York.
In the second elite race, men 50+, the late scratch of Anselm LeBourne opens the way for a range of possible winners, but the logical choice, Tom Cawley of New Jersey, comes home first in a very nice 4:43.89. The man in fifth place, however, is a bigger story. That would be Nolan Shaheed of Pasadena, California. The world indoor record holder for M60 at 4:57.06, Nolan, wearing a very nice lime singlet, looks for the longest time as if he might surpass his own mark. He is a bit flat in the later stages, however, but still manages a scintillating 4:58.21 at age 61. One hopes the many collegiate athletes in the arena are duly impressed.
The next elite race, women 40+, is similar in some ways to the men’s 50+. Another superstar, this one being Virginia’s Alisa Harvey, is competing, and the possibility of a record has to be considered. The W45 indoor American mark is 5:04.73 by Joan Nesbit-Mabe, although Alisa has already run 5:04.02 this year (in an invitational at the Naval Academy).
As was the case with Nolan, there is a bit of flatness for Alisa late, as it turns out to be not the right day for a record. Still, Alisa runs a terrific 5:08.11. Both superstars, Alisa and Nolan, are so thoroughly experienced that they know the story before anyone else. Alisa, for example, remarks later that her first half felt like a hard 2:31 (her estimated time at that point). It simply wasn’t the right day for her.
In the final elite race (men 40+), defending champ Nick Berra gets good position early, only to be stalked for seven laps by the redoubtable Charlie Kern, the 2009 champ at Lahti in the 1500. Kern, who has a very appealing, classic style, outkicks Nick to win it in 4:20.50 to Berra’s 4:23.48. Nick is very gracious at the awards banquet in his remarks about Charlie.
Afterword
For me, my announcing grade for the Hartshorne was 91, pretty good but not great. Nolan Shaheed indicates at the banquet, however, that my grade was higher, as does Tom Hartshorne later. Oh, well. At the banquet a band plays after the awards are given out, and several of the athletes put down some pretty nice moves. I am particularly impressed by newcomer Julie Hankin, who ran 5:40.07 in W40+, and Lorraine Jasper, who ran 5:31.96 in the same race.
No, I am not talking about their races. These two young women can dance. They have all the right moves, they dress for the part, and it’s all good.
For good or for bad, one of the two, probably Lorraine, asks me to come out onto the floor to dance with them. I am enough of a traditionalist that if any woman asks me to get out there I will answer in the affirmative. These two, however, are so far above me it is crazy. For a masters analogy, it would be like having me spot Bill Collins 10 meters in the 100-meter dash and then betting Bill $5,000 I would win. That would be grounds for an involuntary commitment, I am sure.
Regardless, in several different dances I get out there with Lorraine and Julie. No shame in that, and in fact I have a lot of fun. Very nice of those two to dance with me (actually, they dance and I just fake it. I’m telling you, these two can rumble. They are electric.)
The next day I drive back to Fairfax from Ithaca; takes me 6 hours and 11 minutes to reach my club. Overall, an excellent adventure, and I have learned from the experience. Before I leave the hotel in Ithaca I run into Julie Hayden and husband, Marisa Hanson (second among the 40+ elite) and Lorraine Jasper. All four are set to run (outside, of course). I tell them it is currently 10 degrees. It is snowing.
8 Responses
Great story, Peter. Living in the sticks of Missouri, I know about many “Troy Motels.” A close-by beauty is the Atlasta Motel. The chap who drove round trip Detroit to Ithaca epitomizes just who we are….a bunch of age-group nutcases. “Gee, Smartty, you really have a way with words.” I know. Never stop competing, kids. The S
Thank you, Jerry. To those runners I interviewed at the banquet: I am contributing to a long article on the Hartshorne Mile that will appear in National Masters News; I will be using some of the material I got from you for that article.
PT
If there is anyone out there who does not know who Pete Taylor is, what he has contributed to Masters Track and Field, and what he goes through to perform his mind-boggling feats of memory, all you need to do is listen: he will probably know your middle name, your favorite movie, where you went to high school and your social security number! What a joy to hear him call out everyone’s name at the starting line! Physiologists tell us that you can never acclimate to hearing your own first name when hooked up to an EMG. Well, Peter Taylor energizes every one of us with his performances. I look forward to hearing him in action soon.
More praise and thanks is all I can add to that wonderful tribute given to Peter by Joseph above. I feel so lucky to know Peter and to be able to direct an event in which he is doing the voice, that voice which adds the theatre and excitement that many track meets are sorely lacking. I feel fortunate to have been able to get to know Peter better these last years and in doing so come to appreciate the tremendous thought and effort he extends in preparation for announcing any event to which he is invited. Thanks for the introductions and excitement (he once relayed the complete call of a 4 x 400 M40’s relay I was racing in at Penn Relays in front of 45,000 spectators to the announcer at the time – whispering names of key runners and what they had recently accomplished. On the backstretch I heard my name come over the PA “Hartshorne, last years indoor national champ in the 800, leading for Central Park Track Club.” It was surreal. I thought I really must be dreaming. At that very moment two competitors steamed by me on the outside. Of course, my 15 seconds of fame and I am being passed by in front of 45,000 I thought to myself. But, by the hand off I caught up to their backs and fortunately handed off to one of the best anchors ever in masters track, Ed Gonera).
Peter Taylor gave me my 15 seconds of fame in my small surreal world of staying healthy and occasionally competing in masters track. I am sure he has done that for many, many other tracksters over the years. Thanks Peter for giving the stars and the rest of us that special attention. Tom Hartshorne
Peter Taylor has been the voice of every national meet I’ve gone to. All I have to hear is “Ok here we go.” and my nerves jangle. Even if I’m not in the race.
My wish is that USATF would check out the above commentary and understand that is why we all want Pete Taylor announcing at Nationals-wherever they may be. NO ONE does it better…
Peter is is amazing. He is simply without peer as a knowledgeable, exciting Masters sports announcer. He is so dedicated that he will often volunteer to do an event without pay, and in some instances at his own expense! And when he is paid for his remarkable services, it is usually a mere pittance. (A couple hundred bucks or so for several days work.) Masters T&F should do better.
Thanks, Peter, for all you are doing on our behalf.
And Peter, lighten up on yourself. No need to be self-critical of your Sacramento gig. I was there, my man. And you were nonpariel!
One thing I like about you, Ralph, is that you are willing to learn new things. Who in the world takes up hurdling as an “older fella.” Well, you did (must have been in your 70s or even your 80s from what I have read. I am guessing you started going over the barriers in your 80s.)
One reason I make this point is that you used the term “lighten up.” My dictionary gives the year 1946 for that expression; many people are reluctant to adopt new lingo as they go along, but not you.
Hope to see you in Albuquerque battling it out with John Means and Orville Rogers in the sprints.
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