Merrimack Valley Striders Origin Story
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Ends
So now we were an official club. We elected a president, vice-president, and treasurer, established dues, created a membership form (name, address, age, send money), and created a mission statement - "to encourage and enhance running at all levels". All of this was done at our official meeting spot, Gerry Grasso's mud room with a few beers. Life was simple - a bunch of friends running together, having a few beers after a race, and hoping to improve our marathon times.
Those were the heady days of the marathon boom. A handful of hotshot Americans became our long distance heroes - Bill Rodgers, Jack Fultz, Patty Catalano, and a few others - many of whom ran right here in the Boston area. With so few races available to run at that time, you couldn't help but bump into the likes of "Boston Billy" at a local 10k. But the big deal was qualifying for the Boston Marathon.
"Boston Billy" Rodgers wins Boston...again.
In 1979, the 1st year MVS made its appearance as a team, the qualifying time for a male under 40 was 3:00:00, no excuses...unless you knew Scott Mckettrick. McKettrick was the knarly old Scotsman who was the keeper of the registration list. He had no regard for whiners who argued that a 3:15 ought to be close enough to qualify. But if you were really close and made the pilgrimage into the Prudential Center to personally plead your case, you just might have a chance. My running partner, Ed, was the master of the plead. It seemed that every year his qualifying time would just miss... a 3:00:55 or a 3:00:12. We would drive in together and Ed would fall upon his knees. "Please, Mr. McKettrick, I was taking care of my deathly sick Grandmother. I promised I would run the race for her." He'd get the bye, run another "almost" qualifying time, and be back the next year. Poor Grandma.
The worst time was when The BAA decided to lower the qualifying time to 2:50(!). "I'll never qualify!" lamented Ed. But, of course, he ran a marathon in 2:50:38! Back to Mr. McKettrick. Pooor Grandma.
In our first year, MVS continued to grow. We outgrew Gerry's mudroom and moved our monthly meetings to Andover High. We began having hosted long runs, and even began gathering for training runs. Our coaching back then came from whatever one of us had read in Runner's World or in books written by the guru's of the day - Ledyard (LSD is good if it's long, slow distance), Jim Fixx (The Complete Runner...and then The 2nd Complete Runner), and the heart doctor, Dr. Sheehan (beer is a good carbo replacement drink). Just as MVS grew, so did our sport. No longer did we have to search out races to run. They began to spring up everywhere, and you could find a race to run nearly every weekend!
By 1980, the running boom was in full swing and MVS was on its way. There were lots of races to run and other running clubs were beginning to form. All this created a wonderful competitive spirit. The big race, however, still remained The Boston Marathon. Just like now, you don't even have to say the full name - just "Have you run Boston?" - everyone knows what you mean. This was to be our 1st year of the MVS Bus to Boston.
Yes, those singlets do look like basketball tops...they were!
We learned a few things that first year:
Having a bus was awesome! We got right in without worrying about traffic - though we had to pretend we were an "official bus", a practice that was continued right up until Dave McGillivray became the race director. He knew our little secret, and created a club bus program. Thanks to Dave, we are now legit!
Having refreshments on the bus for the ride home is critical...especially Dr. Sheehan's favorite carbo replacement drink.
Gerry Grasso sampling the bus beer.
Having a waiver that specifies that the fee covers the ride to Boston only, and the ride home is complimentary if you get to the bus on time is a good idea. We learned that the day after the race when I got a call from a non-MVSer that took our bus, got confused at the finish, and took a BAA bus back to the start to find our bus. He threatened to sue me and the club for abandonment!
1980 proved to be an important year for MVS in many regards. There were many firsts, many new initiatives, many successes and a few failures. We learned from them all, and our club continued to flourish. I look forward to sharing more stories from the past with you. For those who were around back then, let me know if there are any stories you'd like to hear.
More to come...
Posted by Tom Licciardello at 4:26 PM