2007
200712/16/07 - Masters Repeat as Champs at Christmas Relay
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The Strider Masters Men made it two in a row, and three of the last four, in winning the PAUSTF GP Season -Ending event, the Christmas Relays. While the drama of the 2006 or 2004 relays was not quite the same, the club did need to end the season on a positivie note. With the all-star team of Fred "Never Met a Relay I Didn't Like" Zalokar (24:45), Steve "The Ringer" Kraft (24:52) , Rob "Excelsior Crusher" Elia (24:39) and Jeff "No Mo Long Stuff" Mann (24:30) the race was never in doubt. The team led all other over-40 teams from wire to wire, besting the next masters team by nearly four minutes. 250 teams participated in the 34th running of this event, on a bright sunny day at Lake Merced. Going into the race, the masters needed a miracle to catch Excelsior for the season Grand Prix title. Excelsior was 6 points up on us after CIM, requiring us to beat them by six places to surpass them. Miracles do happen on Christmas however, and Excelsior knew it. In 2004 the Reebok Aggies held a four point lead over the Striders coming into the relay. They fielded a very slow squad thinking all they needed was to finish. Finish they did, and finished they were. The Aggies staggered in in 7th place behind the winning Striders. The 6 point gap gave the Striders the Grand Prix title by two points! Not only did the Striders win the Master division and the $225 prize money, but finished a very-respectable 5th place overall, and only 4 seconds behind 4th place. Their team time of 1:38:37 was the fastest masters time recorded at the event in over 5 years. Only the 2000 Strider team had recorded a faster team finish in club history. |
10/21/07 - Striders Run Away with Redwoods
 Tim Holds off Jeff at Finish |
Where's Alan? That was the only question left before the Striders won their second consecutive Humboldt Half title. It was an cold and windless day in the home of the giant trees, but fortunately the rain had passed. With temperatures in the low 40s at race start, the gloves came out. But with little competition in site for the Strider Masters team, the gloves quickly came off, as the team placed 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th in the 40-49 mens division. Excelsior did field a team but not with the usual depth, as they merely hoped to grab second. After the first four Striders had finished, the game of "Where's Waldo?" began, except instead of the red-and-white-striped cartoon guy, we were looking for our 5th scoring man - Alan "just finish" Dehlinger. Alan, still suffering from various injuries over the past year or two, gutted out yet another race and took one for the team. Jeff Mann ran most of the 13+ miles in 3rd place (masters) before finally reeling in Excelsior's Vitas Ezerskis with less than a quarter mile to go. His time of 1:15:21 was a PR effort and #8 on the Strider list. Tim Keenan and Thom Trimble worked together for nearly 10 miles, just behind Jeff Teeters. The three finished 4-5-6 within 25 seconds of each other at the finish. Excelsior was clearly out of the running for the win, if the Strider's 5th man would cross the line in the next half hour. Alan did not dissappoint, cruising in at 1 hour 37 minutes. Cal Massey, running only his second half marathon, won his age group (13-18) with a PR time of 1:29:48. His dad Rick also recorded a PR, finishing in 1:51. Meanwhile, Jeff Mann's 2nd place finish moved him into the lead in the PAUSATF Grand Prix, just ahead of Humbold winner Mike Woodward. Jeff Teeters moved into 4th place in the GP. The team victory moved the club to within 2 points of the master division leading Excelsior team. |
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09/16/07 - Striders Slip by Excelsior for Banana 5K Title
 Steve Runs 15:33
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"Manly Man" is the reason the Striders won the double-point Banana Chase 5K in GG Park, or more precisely - "Mann - Lehman". It was the super-fast time of track star Jeff Mann combined with the last-minute decision of John Lehman to run, which resulted in the victory.
Jeff blazed to a 4th place finish in a personal masters best time of 16:12, just 12 seconds behind the winner. While John Lehman was not quite so swift, his solid 5th-man time saved us 80 seconds on our team time, which would have dropped us to 2nd and cost us 2 points and $200 for the day. It did take five men to complete the team however, and the other guys between Jeff and John were Rob "Never Miss a Banana Race" Elia, Tim "Pleeze Gimme a sub-17" Keenan, and Thom "Just Beat Excelsior, and Earn a Little Dough" Trimble. Excelsior was just over a minute behind in second, with a strong Aggie 1-4 man team in 3rd The fastest Strider banana of them all was Kid Banana, Steve Whitelam, who ran a PR 15:33 for 18th place overall (#13 on the Strider 5K List). Steve led the "Open" team to a 5th place finish, and 4th place "A" team placing to earn $50 for the young-uns. The Open team displayed great age rangibility, with the youngest member Cal Massey at 16 to "ole" Bill Brusher at 56. The Masters team moved up two points in the standings on the Excelsior squad. We are now only 3.5 points out of first place (including the dropped race).
Jeff, Tim and Rob - Just So Happy to Be Here! |
MASTERS MEN
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06/03/07 - Fleet Feet Mile moves to Stockton
 Fred Sprints to Victory in 5:32 |
The ever-moving Fleet Feet Mile moved once again to another valley town. This time Stockton at the University of the Pacific (UOP). The new course consisted of two road loops around the baseball field on the north side of campus. While there were a few turns the course proved to be somewhat faster than the rectangular Davis course. Also, the ability for spectators to watch the ENTIRE race was a big plus. Chip timing and large display clocks at each quarter provided excellent results and splits. The temperatures were mild with only a slight breeze - near perfect conditions for a fast mile.
The Striders garnered their first division gold early on as Fred Martin nipped Gary Hall in a thriller in the Men's 60+ heat. Fred took the lead over Tamalpa's Frank Ruona just past the half mile mark, hit in 2:43. Fred gradually pulled away and appeared to have an easy victory at the top of the stretch with just 200m to go. A late charge by Chip's Gary Hall made Fred work all the way to the line, with just meters to spare. Perry Hayden placed 6th in the division with a 5:51, while Ross Franco completed the Strider team in 17th place In the Men's masters race, the Striders were represented by a slightly injured Jeff Mann, fresh off his 4:28 mile effort at Kezar. Jeff, nursing and achilles strain, took it out quite easy for the first loop. Over the last quarter mile Jeff made a strong push to move by several runners and nearly stole the race. Jeff placed 3rd in a time of 4:41. Tim Keenan hung behind Jeff early coming through the 1/2 mile in around 2:27. Tim clicked off the same split for the second half and held off everyone near him down the final stretch to finish 9th in 4:54. John Lehman ran conservatively from the back to record an even-paced 5:03, while Thom Trimble opted for the "B" heat and stole the win with a fast finish over the last 1/4 mile, in 4:58. Senior runner Bill Brusher filled out the masters team with a time of 5:39 in the 50-59 heat. |
 Jeff Mann Kicks to 3rd in 4:41 |
2/4/07 - Striders Turn in Top Finishes in SF Half
Mark Tipton
 Christine Chapon, sets Strider Club Masters Record |
On what turned out to be a sunny and windless morning in the City, five Striders showed good early season form in the San Francisco (Kaiser) Half Marathon. Covering the entire length of Golden Gate Park and most of the Great Highway (twice), the course is almost flat. Unfortunately for the runners, the only hill comes in the 13th mile, but this failed to phase our hardy crew. Tim Keenan ran a fine 1:17:34 and was right in the thick of things with a 32nd place overall finish and 6th among the 40-49 set. He earned a medal for third place among men 45-49 -- just 7 seconds behind the second placer -- and recorded the 3rd fastest half marathon ever run by a Strider 45 or older. Mike Maguire cracked the top 100 with his 1:22:52, good for 94th place overall and 11th in 40-44. Jim Granahan (1:31:58) was 13th in the 50-59 bracket but 4th among 55-59 year olds, missing a medal by just over a minute. Breaking her own five-year-old Striders masters record, Christine Chapon ran a very nice 1:33:09 to finish as the 3rd woman 45-49. This is the first chance in some time that Christine has had to race this event, as she has helped organize (and jog with) the Students Run Oakland contingent here in recent years. Mark Tipton, in his first road half marathon, got a PR with a 1:40:34. Len Goldman, still battling injury, gave the 5K a spin and took second place among the 60-plussers with a 20:06. Because of the crowd at the start and the lack of chip timing at this race, actual times were a bit faster than the gun times listed here. |
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Super senior Strider Len Goldman was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2006 Masters of the Year Rankings by Running Times magazine. Len was ranked third in the 2005 rankings. Check out the January 2007 Issue to see a full listing of the age-group rankings. Online version to be posted later. Along with being the PAUSATF Super Senior Road Race Champion for the second year in a row, some of Len's better performances for 2006 included:
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