2006 Roxbury Race #31

Torpedoed

    Two guys named Mike made a race of it this week.  One of them, Mike "Abe" Abraham, is just back fro Africa.  The other, Mike "Torpedo" Ruospo, has a part time job involving superheroes.  They were together for five of the seven miles in the race, but in the end, superheroes won out and Torpedo has his first ever Roxbury win.

    Among the women, it was Pam Quist all the way.  Eunice Bussom looked good, but Pam was fifth at the mile, drifted back to eighth on the long hill, and finished 7th, her highest over all finish and 18th win of the season.  Eunice was three minutes back in 11th place.

    Crummy weather, a longer race, and a good selection of other things to do this weekend cut the field to only 34.  Even Points Leader Mark LoSacco missed this week, ending his perfect attendance for the season.  Rumor is that he's in Maine.  The weather was sneaky and the race was long.  There were a couple of bursts of showers during the race, so though it was rather cool, only 65 degrees, the humidity was 100 %, and that wore everyone down.  It knocked one of us off his feet.

How's Jon Binzen ?

    About half a mile from the finish line, Jon Binzen, running his fifth Roxbury of the season was running 7th overall. Two weeks ago he finished between Pam Quist and Dan Lynch, and this week he was just a few seconds ahead of Pam, running about where he should expect.   He was dehydrated, though, briefly passed out and fell hard.  People who know what to do went back from the finish line and picked him up, took him to the finish line, gave him first aid and called the EMT's.  Pam Quist called his family to tell them what was going on, and they met him at the Emergency Room at New Milford Hospital.

    Jon will be a little wobbly from the dehydration for a few more hours, but when he fell, he landed hard and broke a collar bone.  It is really hard to run with an injured shoulder, so he'll probably be getting around pretty well in just a couple of days, but it will be a few weeks before he gets to run again.

    He promises to join us again as soon as he can.

Emergency Preparedness

    Bad news is we needed an ambulance this week at Roxbury.  Good news is we knew how to get one quickly.  Jon Binzen's adventures remind us that it's important that some people know what to do in such situations.

    Thinking about it, we had lots of people at the race who can "take charge" when necessary.  As it turned out, today's people were a surgeon and a teacher, but it didn't have to be them.  We had two police officers, a coach, a nurse and at least two more teachers that WebGuy can think of right off, who have formal training in what to do, and probably some others that WebGuy doesn't know about.  As it was, our jobs became to make sure that somebody was in charge, and, unless we were the ones in charge, stay out of the way and run errands if necessary. 

    So, how do you know when to call an ambulance ?  Most of us are proud and stubborn, and we're too slow to admit we might need emergency help.  You should always call an ambulance, or let someone else call one for you, if a situation involves:

1. chest pains

2. unconsciousness

3. head injuries

4. someone wobbles around a while and collapses

    There are a thousand other ways to need emergency medical help.  These are just a few that are a bit more likely at a road race.

    Also, if you think someone needs help, call the EMT's, even if the victim doesn't want you to.  Better safe than dead.

Safety

    Safety is important to us, as we don't run on closed roads and generally like each other.  

    It is safest if we face traffic as much as safe and possible. (on the other hand, avoid the inside of sharp, blind curves.)  Also, it is much safer if we are all  on the same side of the road, instead of making traffic drive between runners. 

    Fossil has three rules of running:

1. Be safe

2. Have fun

3. It's sometimes fun to beat people.  Set goals you can realistically achieve.

    Be nice to the drivers.  For the most part, they like us, and they are proud to have us running in Roxbury.  Smile, and, if you wave, be sure you use all five fingers.

This week's pictures

     Up top today's winner, Mike "Torpedo" Ruospo hefts what appears to be a large branch.  Is he wielding a tree-shaped torpedo launcher, or is he using his super-human strength to clear debris from the road?

    Below that Eunice Bussom, last week's winner, second today, finishes ahead of a long, empty stretch of road.  It would have been pretty if it had been sunny.

    Then we have Jon's stretcher arriving.  He's a good patient, and he let them treat him.

    Then we have Mo van Moffaert and her friend Carl Hunt, two weeks after a hundred-mile race, finishing today's race together.  Sharp eyes can spot people giving Jon first aid just on the other side of the truck.

    Down the side we have people trying to straighten the posts in the parking lot.  Then there are two Marks, Zerbe and LoSacco.  After that, we have the Fossil checking his time on a watch that matches his t-shirt, and then our new Shepaug Trail sign at the starting line.  Way at the bottom, notice the Dragon is back.  

    New pictures today are by Amanda and Collin's dad.  Thanks, Larry.

      The Roxbury Races are now listed on the Internet both on RunningInTheUSA and on HiTekRacing.com

Current points leaders

Created September 23, 2006.