Looking Back - 1989 30K

This weekend was the twenty-fifth annual 30K, if I count right. Well, maybe not quite annual since there were two races run in 2001. Regardless, it seems like an appropriate time to take a look back and so we are reproducing the story and results from Jan. 19, 1989, the twelfth annual race. GWTC’s core races have been remarkably resilient over the years. The 30K seems to have fallen on some tough times if you look at recent turnouts, but I have confidence it will find a way to survive. Daryl Ellison was the race director in 1989 and Jessie Close and Mary Jean Yon were the winners. Here is Daryl’s recap from that year, taken from the February 1989 Newsletter.

One word describes the race this year – hot. The weather was probably better for sunbathing at the beach than for a 30K race. But the heat didn’t seem to bother Jessie Close as he sizzled to the first place finish in 1:45:31, easily outdistancing defending champion Tom Burr, who finished second. Jessie’s run makes him the ninth fastest all time for this race. Masters winner Tom Tomasello also did well in spite of the warm weather; his 1:56:23 ranks as the third fastest masters time in the history of the race. Overall women’s winner was Mary Jean Yon in a time of 2:22:07. Jane Hanlon, who had run the Jacksonville Marathon just a week earlier, finished strong in second place. Women’s masters winner Gail Reinertsen’s time of 2:27:45 ranks eighth all-time for women forty and over. There were 107 entrants and 98 finishers, which compared favorably with previous years when this race was a Grand Prix event.

All the volunteers deserve a thank you and acknowledgement by the club: To Comer Cherry for donating the oranges and bananas and the use of his truck, to Don and Linda Meeks for the use of their camper as the soup kitchen, to Kent Vann for the photos and Charlie Yates for the calligraphy which made up our awards, to Linda Ellison for preparing the food, to Avi Wygodski for videotaping the race, to Schef Wright, Kay Posey, Rod Anderson, Dick Husband, Fleetwood Fesmire, Jerry Kleehammer, Bonnie Benge, David and Judy Waters at the aid stations, to Jo Idelson, Betty Winkler and Marti Trovillion for registration, and to Jerry Maurey for timing.

Special thanks go to Tim Simpkins Sports for providing prize money of $580 – $50 went to the open winners, $40 to masters, $25 to age-group winners and $15 to age-group second-placers, both men and women.

Thanks again to everyone. Hope to see you all again next year, along with cooler weather.

Daryl.