2004 12-Hour All-Night Fun Run

Comparisons

On July 5—6, 2003, the Across the Years race committee presented a free, non-competitive, all-night 12-hour run to inaugurate the newly built track at Nardini Manor, to be used for the annual races in December. Because of the success of last year's race, and to provide an opportunity to try some new things this year, the race committee sponsored another 12-hour run this year, which was run on June 12—13, 2004.

The race was moved back a few weeks this year for various logistical reasons, which had the benefit of providing more moderate weather. It was warm at the start, but the humidity was low, and the temperature dropped quickly with the onset of nightfall. The thermometer showed it below 70 degrees for most of the night, and as low as 62 during the predawn hours. The odoriferous reminder of nearby farms was present, but not nearly as overwhelming this year.

Last year the field on the north was growing corn, requiring that the irrigation canal along the north straightaway be filled, contributing greatly to the humidity along that stretch and across the Nardini campus. This year a different crop is growing in the field, and the canal was empty. In short, it was an ideal night for summer nighttime running.

Last year 35 people in all were recorded as running, 14 of whom stayed around for a group picture at the end, but this year's run had a more modest turnout, with 18 total runners recording mileage, and only five still running until the end.

Although the promise was that nothing but water would be provided, thanks to the generosity of Nardini Manor hosts Rodger and Tana Wrublik, an aid table fit for a running king was assembled by the time darkness set in, with everything a runner might need. Late at night there was even some delicious hot chili.

In 2003 all runners counted their own laps and turned in the number at the end. It did not matter, because no winner was declared. This year we had two timing systems in place. Rodger Wrublik has purchased a chip timing system — not the ChampionChip, but one powered by AMB transponders. Rodger had the sensing device buried under the surface of the ground. It does not use the giant red mats that most runners are accustomed to seeing at running events.

The system was not quite running right at first, although after a while it was apparently doing all right. Meanwhile, a backup timing system was available, a program that runs on an ancient 1980s vintage Macintosh. This computer was used for years to help time Across the Years when lap counters were required. At the end of the second hour, when we changed run directions, we were all assigned pseudo "bib numbers," and had to call out our numbers to timer Frank Cuda every time we passed by. With so few runners this was not a tedious job, except for Frank, who had to stay on duty and be alert for the next 10 hours, and who, with his wife and daughter, started the run with us, but sacrificed the rest of his own run to help out.

Highlights

The track at Nardini Manor is certified at 500 meters, but we metrically challenged Americans prefer to see distances in miles.

• Gary Culver aimed for a distance goal of 100K. He didn't quite make that, but was steady as a rock, as he turned in an admirable 196 laps, 98K (60.9 miles).
• Robert Andrulis, fairly new to ultrarunning, reached the 50-mile point with about 40 minutes to go, singing and joking cheerfully the whole time, then added a few more laps for a total of 169, 84.5K, 52.51 miles.
• Gail Piceno was also steady and cheerful the whole night, finishing with 140 laps, 70K, 43.5 miles.
• Lynn Newton ran the FANS 24-hour race exactly one week ago, and was uncertain whether he'd be able to run at all. He was pleased by his performance of 139 laps, 69.5K, 43.19 miles, just one lap behind Gail Piceno. Lynn's four fastest laps of the night by an order of magnitude were his last four of the race, but it was not good enough to catch up to or pass Gail.
• Jim Good was also impressive. Jim ran one lap short of 50K at a blistering pace, lapping all other runners repeatedly, then packed up and went home shortly after midnight. (I wonder if Jim realized that his lap count was just short of 50K, since it appears likely that this was his goal.)
• Charles Roberts finished with 101 laps, one more than 50K, for a total of 31.38 miles, then hung around to cheer on others the last part of the race.

Results

Bib	Name	Laps	Miles
4	Gary Culver	195	60.5865
2	Robert Andrulis	169	52.5083
9	Gail Piceno	140	43.498
6	Lynn Newton	139	43.1873
7	Charles Roberts	101	31.3807
1	Jim Good	99	30.7593
10	Burke Painter	88	27.3416
8	Debbie Allen	67	20.8169
3	Laura Nagy	65	20.1955
12	Amy Cuda	43	13.3601
14	Sandra Fontaine	42	13.0494
17	Dean Bailey	41	12.7387
18	Adam Hunt	40	12.428
11	Frank Cuda	26	8.0782
13	Catherine Cuda	18	5.5926
15	Paul Bonnett	23	7.1461
5	Dan Brenden	9	2.7963

Pictures

The only pictures available from the race were taken by Rodger Wrublik early in the morning, near the end of the race, when most of the runners had already left. The runners represented here are those who stuck around to the end.

Click on any image to see it bigger