A year ago, Peter Taylor wrote about his Ithaca mile announcing experiences in a report titled “How I Spent My Winter Vacation (Or: My Trip to Cornell for the Hartshorne).” He did it again this year (on his birthday weekend), and the result is another gem. He’s a professional, and true to his craft. He writes of entrant Zofia Wieciorkowska: “I insist on saying her full last name every time rather than cheating with ‘Zofia.’ ” Whatta guy, and whatta story. Thanks, Peter, for sharing your time and talents with the masters before, during and after the races.

Peter writes:

Tom Hartshorne graciously invited me back for the Hartshorne Mile (January 19, 2008, Cornell University), and I accepted without hesitation. My only question: “Will I be good enough?” There would be eight mile races. Would Peter Taylor strike out every time the big stars came to bat?
Here is my story:
January 18 (Friday), 9:14 a.m. Today is my birthday, and it’s also time to drive 300+ miles to Ithaca, New York (from Fairfax, Virginia) for the meet. Last year, I noted in my diary that I was “borderline senile” (I always write something nice for my birthday), and this year I am a bit less intelligent.
I head over to my fitness club, and before working out I weigh in. Let’s call it 212.5 (or was it 212.0?); regardless, it’s a huge number, and I feel very large indeed. I run 4 miles on the treadmill in 37:29, and that’s 9:22.25 per mile. I am definitely not in “race shape.” I weigh out at 209.75.
11:09 a.m. Leave the Fairfax Racquet Club and point the car for Cornell. I insist on taking the shortest, most scenic route, which from the Maryland border consists of the Capital Beltway, I-270 North to Frederick (Maryland), staying on the road as it changes to Rte 15, remaining on 15 for perhaps 4 hours (all in Pennsylvania), then taking Rte 14 into New York and then Rte 13 to Ithaca. Last year I got lost twice.
3:15 p.m. I am at a McDonald’s just above Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and soon I will be in “God’s country.” There will be virtually no inhabitants, and I wonder what will happen if a catastrophe strikes (let’s imagine a boulder rolling into my car). Troy, Pennsylvania, really leaves a mark. I go past the Troy Motel, but there are no cars whatsoever in the lot. Was it closed 50 years ago with no notice to the proprietors? I go through downtown Troy, which seems to have fewer people than a 5K masters racewalk in South Carolina in August. I pass Troy Lunch; has anyone eaten there in 40 years? Oh, what I would give to see some masters people.
5:20 p.m. I arrive in Ithaca, and almost immediately I become lost.
5:51 p.m. I get to my hotel after being escorted (can you believe it?) by some kind lady and her son (I’m guessing she’s Cornell faculty).
Soon Dave Albo (M50, Colorado) walks into the lobby, and I say to myself, “That’s Dave Albo” (I’ve never actually met him). He and I talk a bit, and I find it took him 16 hours to get to Ithaca from Boulder. He represents the quintessence of a theme that I pursued with my friend Chuck D. at the fitness club –- the commitment to an idea.
Enough value is attached to participating in the Hartshorne Mile (and to everything it involves) that people will go huge distances to be there. Chuck D. doesn’t think it’s crazy (and neither do I); before I left the club this morning he said he would do the same thing if he had the money and time (and was in shape, etc.).
After a while I meet Frank Condon (M65, California). Of the competitors, he seems to have the best chance of breaking an American or world mark tomorrow (M65 indoor US mark is 5:23.05 by the legendary Sid Howard). I find that Frank weighs 174 pounds (I had pegged him at 172), and immediately I mention the other Californian in the meet, Nolan Shaheed.
Nolan reportedly weighs 125, and so between Frank and Nolan they weigh in at 299. I make a big deal of the fact that I, just one person, weigh over 200. Tom Hartshorne (is there a more gracious or accommodating host?) insists I weigh less than 200. Thanks, Tom (I think he really means it).
Before we go to dinner I meet Kim Sheffield (W40) and husband (they’re from Florida). I tell Kim she has probably heard of me, and I pretty much act like I am a big deal. When the evening is over, I am actually overconfident.
January 19 (Saturday), 4:45 a.m. During the night I dream that the field had scratched to four runners, all wearing orange, and I can identify none of them (nor do I have a sheet to do that). I am much less confident now, but the sound is supposed to be much better this year than last. In Barton Hall I meet Dr. Rick Hoebeke, the meet director, and we talk entomology a bit. I think I have a chance (at announcing well, not at getting a Ph.D. in entomology).
As things turn out, I have a pretty good day. I make some nice introductions, especially for Alisa Harvey and Nolan Shaheed, and my race calls are quite strong. I don’t always trust the sound, however, and a couple of times Tom Hartshorne tells me to get closer to the mike (yes, this is not your ordinary assignment).
Frank Condon runs in a non-elite race (with Harry Nolan, M60) and others, and I believe that Frank will get the American record with no problem. Later, he and I more or less agree that he went through the half in 2:34, a tad fast. Somewhere fairly late in the race Frank essentially loses it, and he finishes the race on heart.
I keep the crowd informed that Frank is ahead of pace, and he eventually breaks Sid Howard’s record by 1.03 seconds (but he does it on sheer willpower). There’s an underlying story here, however (see later text).
Colin Corkery (Massachusetts) is very impressive in winning the M50+ elite (in 4:42.94). I had forgotten what a smooth runner Jerry Kooymans (Ontario, Canada) is, and for awhile he looks like a big winner (but Colin eventually runs him down). Nolan Shaheed runs 4:45.59 (he ultimately gets second), and Jerry turns in a 4:47.24. I half-apologize to Nolan for not clarifying that he is older than the other competitors (Nolan is in M55); he says he doesn’t mind.
Patty Blanchard (New Brunswick, Canada) runs a 5:22.20 at age 50, but she is grouped with the 40s and thus doesn’t get quite the attention she deserves (but enjoys a more appropriate group for the competition). Suzanne Myette leads the 50+ race (5:50.19) but is placed second to Patty in the standings.
In W40+ elite we have Alisa Harvey, and that settles that. Alisa, absolutely flawless at age 42, runs 4:52.33, and Zofia Wieciorkowska (I insist on saying her full last name every time rather than cheating with “Zofia”) gets second in 5:08.95, and Kim Sheffield is third in 5:10.74. Very good times for a flat track (no banking at all).
In the M40+ we have John Hinton (M45, North Carolina) and Alain Boucher (M45, Ontario, Canada), among others. John runs a brilliant 4:20.18 to break Albin Swenson’s M45 world indoor mark of 4:21.90, and this is really my only reason of the day for kicking myself.
We hadn’t talked at all about John’s record chances before the race, and I never say a word about the mark during the event. It remains for John to point it out to Tom later (“I think I broke the record”). I should have said something during the race, but I did not. The important thing is that John is a superb runner and he got the mark (I end up not kicking myself at all).
7:00 pm. At the banquet I single out five runners, four of whom came long distances. Dave Albo I acknowledge for his 16-hour trip from Boulder to be a part of the action. I point out the two Californians, Frank Condon and Nolan Shaheed, and I tell part of the Condon story.
About a week ago he was sitting at a red light in California in his sports utility vehicle, only to be rammed from the back by someone chatting on his phone in a Honda (the Honda was essentially destroyed). I can’t imagine the forces that Frank absorbed with his legs, his back, his neck, etc., and yet he not only came to the meet but broke the mark.
I acknowledge Kim Sheffield for coming up from Florida, and then I point out Alisa Harvey. I describe her as a big-time runner, and that she is (11-time All-American at Tennessee, once ranked no. 1 in America in the 1500, multiple Olympic Trials, etc.). She won her race today, and here she is at the banquet. I also recall for the audience the day she did us proud at the 2006 Penn Relays.
Running in the open mile she broke two American W40 records, the 1500 (4:26.49, still not accepted) and the mile (4:46.29, accepted). In my humble opinion, this was one of the greatest masters performances of the decade if not in the history of our program, as she broke the 1500 mark by 6.24 seconds and the mile record by 7.71 seconds. No other runner in U.S. masters track fits the “big-time” label more than Alisa does.
January 20 (Sunday). I drive back; Troy Lunch is closed. There is a single vehicle at the Troy Motel; why is it parked there?