By David Yon
Who would have thought Ryan could eat so many pancakes? Well, actually it was his running that broke a record. Breakfast on the Track, is a mile race (and more) done the Wright way. Felton, Bonnie, Beth and Jamie Wright brought talent from three generations of race directors together to create a delightful family event. Over 130 runners showed up this morning and competed at the mile, 400 meter relay and the Hamstring 100 (complete results). The mile runners competed in six different heats depending on their projected finish times, then listened to music and ate pancakes. All ages from five (Cecilia Williams) to 76 (Charlie Yates) were represented and the 14 and under age groups were impressive. Come to think of it, so were the over 70’s.
The mile remains one of my favorite events, even when I have to watch from the sidelines with an injury. It is the glamour event in the U.S. made even more exiting this year with the blazing debut into stardom of high school phenom Alan Web. Webb you may remember smashed the 4:00 barrier earlier this year by running 3:53.43 and will run this year for the University of Michigan.
Ryan Deak wrote 4:14 on his shoes before starting this morning’s race and I have no doubt he will wear a pair of shoes that will cover a mile in less time than that before the school year is out. On August 18, 2001, all he did was smash the Breakfast on the Track record with an outstanding 4:21 effort. Lee Willis held set the old record in 1999 when he ran 4:26 while Ryan crossed the line later in 4:42. (I remember when I used to beat Ryan also; we were both much younger then.) Saturday saw five people break the 5:00 minute mark. The last one was Bill McGuire (4:59.43) as he just nudged Tim Unger (4:59.09) for that honor. Ross McMillan (4:42.73) and Scott Keatley (4:51.82) were the others.
Sarah Docter-Williams broke her own event record by a fraction when she finished first female with a time of 5:08.94. Her previous best was 5:09.08 set last year. She was pushed hard for three laps by Kara Newell who ran 5:17.15 to take second. Seven women broke the 6:00 minute mark including Julie Clark (5:37.82), Angela Dempsey (5:42.76), Allie Hunter (5:47.02), Mollie Drake (5:48.41) and Allison Eagan (5:54.79).
Ryan Deak, Kara Newell, Mollie Drake, Allie Hunter, Ross McMillan, Laura Hawks, Casey Perkins and others will open the high school cross country season in the next week or so. Ryan and Kara start the season ranked number two in class 1A boys and girls listing. Check out a meet when you can.