I have a tendency to fall in love with sports that I’m not remotely good at.
I spent years in baseball playing two positions: Scorekeeper and emergency player. Before collecting my first hits in sandlot ball as an adult, my career highlight was hitting a foul ball in the final at-bat of my high school career.
My long stint in basketball was just as uneventful, although in this sport I ended my J.V. career with a lifetime-high in points AND an ejection.
I even warmed the bench for my school’s competitive math team. I’ve always enjoyed playing with numbers, but I was never quite sharp enough to “take the field” for our solid group of mathletes.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from this string of seemingly dead-end sports endeavors, it’s this: You don’t have to be good at the sports you enjoy, you just have to have a passion for them. I never became a pro baseball player, but I still love throwing batting practice with my son in the backyard. My sixth-grade dreams of playing basketball for the Chicago Bulls eventually faded, but I’ll still jump in your pick-up game and give you a few boards and maybe a phantom basket or two.
And while my math skills have most certainly declined since my “glory years,” I still use them almost every day in another sport that I also love, but I’m objectively bad at: Running.
For me the math game starts in the planning stages of the run. I calculate the distance of my route and how fast I’d like to run. Elevation charts and previously-recorded runs are taken into consideration for this phase, as are the number of steps required to defeat opponents in weekly challenges.
The act of running itself is somewhat of an algebra equation, with the “x” factor, of course, being the runner. I’m a big fan of workouts that play out over varying paces, like progression runs and ladders. And on race day, I think we all have a built-in calculator that begins operation as soon as we learn our splits from the first mile or segment. From that point, we make decisions on whether to push the pace or slow down. Some math nerds, like myself, will even calculate how impossibly fast we’d have to run to snag that elusive personal record.
Of course you can’t be a fan of math and running without also having an appreciation for the post-run data, whether it be in the form of race results or a self-recorded workout. I especially love this analysis phase, which allows me a chance to marvel at the pace of the race winners and see how I compare to others in my age group.
Whether you like your math equations simple or complex, running gives us a chance to scratch that arithmetical itch. And the best part is no matter your skill level, it will always average out to a positive experience if you enjoy yourself.
1 STEP BACK, 3 STEPS FORWARD
It was a busy Saturday for racing on the C&O Canal Towpath, with nearly 300 runners turning out in Williamsport, Md., for Lock 2 Lock Marathon weekend.
We’ll start with the 26.2-mile race, which saw Top 10 finishes from Hagerstown’s Bryan Durboraw (9th in 3:04:32) and Bryan Seifarth (10th in 3:05:43). Lauren Cramer finished as third female in 3:21:26 and she was joined at the finish by fellow Hagerstown runners Drew Merrill (3:35:05) and Erin Helman (4:06:33), as well as Fairfield’s Stephen Swanson (4:02:59).
The Lock 2 Lock Half Marathon saw four area runners nail down sub-2 finishes, including Chambersburg’s Matthew Smith (1:34:26), Smithsburg’s Jonathan Kisas (1:50:19), Greencastle’s Michelle Dawson (1:54:39), and Hagerstown’s Allie Isaacs (1:56:00).
Trail running ace Jana Fridrichova, of Hagerstown, ran away for victory in the Lock 2 Lock 10K. She recorded a time of 45:46 to defeat a field that included Hagerstown’s Shelby Moleskie (2nd in 47:57), Chambersburg’s Montana Duty (5th in 53:01), and Fairfield’s Tracy McCleaf (1st Masters in 1:04:35).
Two popular half marathons — the Harrisburg Half and Bird-In-Hand Half — were held last weekend and drew dozens of competitors from the Local.News area. In Harrisburg, Fairfield’s Tim Skoczen set the bar for locals, crossing the finish line in 1:33:00 to lead a group that included Chamberburg’s Derek Book (1:33:23), Matt Baker (1:54:59), and Krista Ocker (2:08:33), Mont Alto’s Shaun Kipe (1:40:00), and Waynesboro’s Ken Arendt (2:01:30) and Michael Ritenour (2:01:31). Jose Bermudez, of Hagerstown, registered a 1:42:09 at the Bird-In-Hand race and was chased by Chambersburg’s Aaron Horst (1:52:03), Aubrey Burkholder (1:54:01), and Christine Molloy (2:00:30), as well as Hagerstown’s Wyatt Martin (1:58:52) and Fayetteville’s Abigail Zychal (2:01:38).
In Gettysburg, the Labor Day Free 5K drew a large crowd of area runners, none faster than Fairfield’s Kylee Partilla, who crossed the finish line in 24:09. Partilla was joined at the finish line by fellow Fairfield runners Matthew Hobbs (24:18), Kyle Benner (24:30), and Chayce Hobbs (25:08), as well as Fayetteville’s Danielle Portier (24:39).
Obstacle course enthusiasts got their fix at Savage Race Maryland, held in Kennedyville, Md. The “race open” event featured finishes from Fayetteville’s Cody Price (1:31:23), Hagerstown’s Andre Redden (1:36:48), and Fairfield’s Bradford Shughart, while Greencastle’s Rachel Pugh (1:09:16), Joanna Harp (1:09:23), and Dan Harp (1:09:24) were all finishers in the “blitz open” race.
Destination races were the name of the game for a quartet of Local.News runners who ventured out of town take on long-distance events. Zach Schreiber, of Hagerstown, traveled to Illinois for the Chicagoland Marathon and finished the race in 3:16:17. In New York, Chambersburg’s Paul Sick took on the Sackets Harbor Marathon and churned out a 4:35:25 to take second in the 70-79 AG. Hagerstown’s Micah Meredith ran a 1:57:19 at the Parks Half Marathon in Rockville, Md., while Fairfield’s Ryan Orndorff blasted off for a 3:36:05 at the Erie Marathon.
A number of others were active in races across the region and beyond, including Chambersburg’s Shawn Coldsmith (24:47 at Bird-In-Hand 5K), Matthew Walker (26:45 at Sasquatch Preservation Trail Run 5K), Shane Hoverter (29:31 at Lighthouse 5K), Cliff Ocker (57:21 at Pirate 10K), and Stacy Guyer (1:30:27 at Sasquatch Preservation Trail Run 10K), Smithsburg’s Rob Hovermale (19:56 at Kentlands/Lakelands 5K), and Hagerstown’s Joseph Curry (28:33 at Run Wild for Autism 5K), Mike Stutts (37:36 at Pirate 5K), Manraj Singh (48:50 at Ithaca 10K), Mary Plank (2:21:53 at Charles Street 12 Miler), and Dave Ruff (3:09:09 at Mt. Davis Gravel Grinder).
And finally, a shoutout to Hagerstown’s David Forsyth, who put in more than a full day’s work at the Tuscazoar 100 Mile Endurance Race in Dover, Ohio. Forsyth was one of 14 finishers in the race, crossing the finish line in 31:46:50.
And now, a look ahead:
Amblebrook Memorial 5K: Saturday, 8:30 a.m., in Gettysburg. Honor loved ones with dementia and those who have passed from it in this race, which benefits the Adams County Office for Aging. Sign up for the race on runsignup.com.
Five Forks Church Autumn Harvest 5K: Sunday, Sept. 22, 2:30 p.m., in Shippensburg. Compete in this out-and-back race on the Cumberland Valley Rail-Trail, and help raise funds for WIN (Women in Need). Check out the event on timberhilltiming.com.
Ironmaster’s Challenge 15K/50K: Sunday, Sept. 22, 8 a.m., in Gardners. Take a challenging tour of the Northern Michaux State Forest in this event. Learn more at ironmasterschallenge.com.
Also: Boulder Field 18M/50K/100K (Saturday, in Jim Thorpe); Homeland Hospice 5K (Saturday, in Mechanicsburg); Morning Star Shooting Star 5K (Saturday, in Harrisburg); Musser Madness 6H/12H (Saturday, in Pennsburg); Ninja 5K/10K/15K/Half Marathon (Saturday, in York); Rock ‘N The Knob 10K/13.1M/50K (Saturday, in Claysburg); Ron Shields Perry 5000 (Saturday, in New Bloomfield); Totally 80s East Pete 5K (Saturday, in East Petersburg); Troegs Rugged Trail Run for Conservation 5K (Saturday, in Millersburg); Forever Friends Memorial Run 5K (Sunday, in Myerstown); Philadelphia Distance Run 5K/13.1M (Sunday, in Philadelphia); The Dam Half (Sunday, in Mifflinburg); Thirsty Thursday 5K (Thursday, Sept. 19, in Reading); Boulder Beast 24M/25K (Saturday, Sept. 21, in Lock Haven); PB Festival Half Marathon (Saturday, Sept. 21, in New Bethlehem); Gretna Gritty Mud Run 5K (Saturday, Sept. 21, in Lebanon); Hershey Miracle 5K (Saturday, Sept. 21, in Harrisburg); Left, Right, Left 5K (Saturday, Sept. 21, in Middletown); Lehigh Parkway Ultra 50K (Saturday, Sept. 21, in Allentown); Pretzel Twist Race 5K (Saturday, Sept. 21, in Lititz); Step Outdoors TRYathlon (Saturday, Sept. 21, in Wellsboro); Trails 4 Tails 25K/40M (Saturday, Sept. 21, in Hanover); Viking 5K/10K (Saturday, Sept. 21, in Akron); Water Gap 25K/50K (Saturday, Sept. 21, in Milford); YMCA Autumn Dash 5K (Saturday, Sept. 21, in Shrewsbury); Boston Harvest Half Marathon (Sunday, Sept. 22, in Boston); Erie Duathlon (Sunday, Sept. 22, in Erie).
