As the summer that wasn’t heads for the homestretch, I thought I’d take time out on another unseasonably chilly evening to reflect on several notable endurance achievements from some notable local athletes. Using the Catskills as their training ground, Sheryl Wheeler, John McGovern and Dick Vincent have achieved some remarkable feats thus far in 2009. From the hills of Virginia to the roads of Sweden and here at home, each of these stellar examples of discipline, fitness and determination has made a mark this year for all to applaud.

For Wheeler, 45, of Kingston the laurels come from tackling a notoriously difficult 100-mile endurance run called the Massanutten 100. It should be noted that the 100 following Massanutten stands for miles and anyone finishing a 100-miler deserves a shout out. In Wheeler’s case, the shouting should be done from the rooftops because while any 100-mile run is hard, some are harder, much harder, than others. What makes some 100’s tougher than others is usually the terrain—it is easier to run on wide carriage roads than technical single track trail—and Massanutten is run in the mountains of northern Virginia in May, on a rocky and hilly course. In addition, running a 100-miler in mid-May requires a training program that begins in early winter and continues on through the toughest weather of the year. So it was that Wheeler prepared for her first attempt at the mind blowing distance of 100 miles. On long training runs here in the Catskills—sometimes eight hours or more—Wheeler would solicit company via e-mail or word of mouth. Holed up in our warm house with our newborn, I would marvel at the tenacity and grit of Wheeler and her merry band of supporters as she readied for her run.

In the running community you have the speedsters; those are the 5K and 10K specialists. Then come the marathoners. And beyond that come the ultra distance runners—people who take on anywhere from 50K (a touch over 30 miles) to 50 miles and above. Locally, there are a handful of accomplished runners at the ultra distances, folks like Doug Freese of Saugerties, Joe Brown of High Falls, Stewart Dutfield of Catskill, John Holt of Woodstock, Dick Vincent of Palenville, Jackie Schiffer of Olivebridge and Charlie Gadol of Gardiner. Running a 100-miler takes hours and miles of preparation, but it also takes the support and accumulated knowledge of those who have run before you: Wheeler had that in quantity. On the weekend of her race, she even had John Holt onsite in Virginia as a crew member. Holt would also be pacing Wheeler for the last 30 miles of the run, keeping her on track and reminding her to eat and drink when her powers of reason became cloudy due to the extreme effort of her task.

Wheeler’s race began in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, May 16. A race Web site was updated every few hours to show the progress of the runners, and we followed it back home. Wheeler showed up in the early miles in the middle of the pack, seemingly taking a conservative and prudent approach to the distance. By early Sunday morning, however, it became apparent that something amazing had happened through the dark of night: Wheeler’s pace had remained strong and steady while those in front of her faltered and she had moved way up in the standings. Later on Sunday morning, while a murderer’s row of accomplished ultra-distance runners ran in honor of Barry Hopkins, a deceased local running legend not soon to be forgotten, the call came in: Sheryl Wheeler had finished her first 100 miler in 26 hours, 47 minutes and 16 seconds. In addition, she had run herself into second place among the women and posted one of the best times ever run by a woman at Massanutten.

Three days later, Wheeler was on the start line of the Olana 10K—a tough trail run around the ornate hilltop home of Hudson River School artist Frederic Church—and I was amazed at her condition. Physically, she was cut and chiseled by the miles of training. She was also glowing, lit from within. And she was ready to run, again. Five miles into the six-miler she passed me on an uphill. Just days earlier, Wheeler had run herself into muteness, unable, according to her pacer John Holt, to answer yes or no to a simple question in the end miles, and was only able to respond with a low growl or grunt. Now she chatted amiably while legs that should have been beaten into submission for weeks to come churned easily past me. The fact of the situation—a runner who still had a 100-miler on her breath leaving me behind as we headed towards the finish line—was enough to spur me into action and I managed to pass Wheeler on the last, downhill, mile. I was still catching my breath when Sheryl trotted across the finish line, none the worse for the effort. In awe, I contemplated 15 or so more times around the course we had just run and looked upon the humble visage of Wheeler, someone who didn’t even seem to realize how remarkable she and her achievement was.

Tour of Sweden
From the time John McGovern made his home in the Catskills, some seven or so years ago, he has made his mark in the local tri- and duathlon community. A ferocious competitor, with an equally hardcore training mentality, the 40-plus-year-old consistently placed near or at the top of most races he entered. Equally impressive is his welcoming and supportive to other members of the multisport, cycling and running communities. McGovern also stages a hellacious event in October called American Zofingen, named after a storied duathon—that’s run-bike-run—in Austria. Among the esoteric group that is multisport, the race has garnered a reputation as one of the toughest events in America.

Recently, Slowtwitch.com, a national Web site dedicated to the postings of the thousands of Americans (the United States Triathlon Association now claims 100,000 members) who participate in triathlon, had a contest with the winner going to Sweden for a couple of weeks to train with some professional triathletes. The winner was John McGovern of Red Hook. Admittedly overweight due to a winter off, McGovern went and worked himself into amazing shape while holding his own with guys who do multisport for a living.

In fact, reading McGovern’s posts from Sweden—blogging was a requirement of the contest winner—I was amazed at the workload he undertook: In the first week there, he covered almost 800 miles on the bike. It was so much riding, in fact, that McGovern developed saddle sores. Not to be taken lightly, saddle sores can get infected and are extremely painful, but McGovern nevertheless continued to ride, run and swim. By the time he returned home after two weeks he was 15 pounds lighter and logged 1500 miles on his bike, a distance many people won’t cover in a lifetime and one that even avid riders might cover in a full season of cycling.

The Streak
32 years and counting: That is how long Dick Vincent has been running. And that is every day of the last 32 years and counting, at least two miles. Does any more need to be said about that?

More Barefootin’
In the last issue I wrote about a movement of people extolling barefoot or minimalist running. At that time, I had recently begun running in something called Vibram FiveFingers, a sort of glove for your feet. Since then, I have run a trail half marathon in the shoes and am still impressed by the experience of running with very little on my feet. In fact, I have tried out two other minimalist products. One is a slipper-like running shoe called the Panka, made by a Finnish company called FeelMax. Light and comfortable, the Kevlar sole is great on pavement but not so good on rocky trail. Because while the sole may stop a bullet, sharp rocks left me running gingerly while I gave the shoes a try at the Shaupauneak Ridge in Esopus.

I have yet to go off trail in my custom made Huarache sandals, but for light running these most minimal of shoes are remarkably efficient. Made by a fellow named Barefoot Ted in Seattle—he takes a PDF file of the outline of your feet as his template to make the soles—the sandal is based on the traditional footwear worn by the Tarahumara, a tribe of Mexican Indians legendary for their ability to run long distances. The sandals are also reminiscent of an ancient Greek or Roman sandal.

Aside from the snarky comments of my non-running friends, the only downside I have found so far from the Huaraches is the slapping sound they make when I run. I was at the track at Dietz Stadium in Kingston recently putting the sandals through a fast workout and the thwack thwack thwack while I ran was disconcerting, and not just to me.

For information on buying or making your own Huarache’s go to BarefootTed.com.

For information on the FeelMax Panka, go to FeelMax.com.