Running Backwards to 1990: A Jog Into the Striders Archives

After a brief hiatus, everyone's favorite jog into the past is back!  In this edition of Running Backwards, we're heading back to the year 1990.

As many years do, 1990 started off with a quick summary of 1989.  Just think, these guys thought 1989 was a strange year.  Obviously, they hadn't experienced 2020 yet!  Also, Ron Paquette, Donnajean Pohlman, and Gene Roy got their photo taken with a guy that is almost Chuck Norris.

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Throughout the year, there were several mentions of Maine running magazines and newsletters that were ceasing publication.  Maine Running and Outing Magazine seemed to be the biggest one to call it quits that year.  I'm not sure what's harder to believe:  That there were so many publications about Maine running back then or that so many were stopping circulation BEFORE the internet became widely available later that decade.

Although he's no longer a member of the Striders, David McIntyre still pays attention to the Central Maine running scene and recently showed up at our Fall Classic 10k and took some very nice videos of the leading pack.

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I'm not sure which publication this "Town Line" was reprinted from, but it's a really nice article about Doc and Mardie Brown.  It's too bad that myself and many of our younger members never got a chance to meet them, since they seem like truly amazing people.  And personally, I was excited to read that they had a house rabbit. (For those of you that don't know, the current club president has two house rabbits).

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We no longer make a list of all of the injuries that our club members have, but apparently they did back in 1990!

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Not sure if his Arizona tan or the photocopy quality of this photo, but Rick Stuart is looking like he's straight out of Hollywood in this photo.  Oh, and his 1:20:21 time was good for 18th place at the Mount Washington Road Race that year.  

1990 was the year that Mardie Brown won a "Youth Award" as Tom McGuire looks on from the background.  Also, can you believe that Runners World was "saluting" the Central Maine Striders back then?  Yep, the Striders were that awesome back then.

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The 1990 Boston Primer 15-Mile Race saw Cranberry Island's most famous resident grab 6th place, while legendary Striders Tom McGuire and Gene Roy came in 24th and 25th.

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Talking about legends, Joan Benoit Samuelson showed up multiple times in the 1990 Interval newsletters.  Below she is pictures with a couple Striders legends.

In 1990, the Striders issued their first "computer generated" newsletter.  We told you the Striders were a big deal back then!

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Current members Anne-Marie and Rick Davee were featured in a "Meet Our Members" article in the July-August issue of the Interval in 1990.

The legendary Roy family were featured on the front page of the September 1990 Interval.

Some 1990 "updates" on a few guys that are still members today:

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Some things just never change.  Tom McGuire was asking for members to help out.  Current President Ryan Goebel would like to add, "We still need help.  Please let me know if you want to help out with any aspect of the club."

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It was nice to see a little write up about some of the Striders ladies in the Interval.  Current Strider Linda Benn was amongst a group of them that took a trip to Boston to run in the Tufts 10k.

Gene Roy put together a pretty good group for a winter weekend run.  We can't wait for this Covid thing to finish so we can get back to some club group runs!

I told you the club was big back then!  For comparison, we currently have 75 memberships (which is up from 60 last year), and we hosted two races (the January Thaw and the Fall Classic 10k).  Check out the planned 1991 race calendar below.  Wowsers!  That's a lot of club races!  Also, look how many club members were willing to be race directors (hint, hint... anyone?).

And to end this edition of Running Backwards, here's proof that our membership fees are still a great value.  In 1990, a membership cost $12 and stamps were 25 cents.  Here in 2020/2021, club membership is $20 and stamps are 55 cents.  In case you are rusty on your math, club memberships have risen only 67% in the last 30 years, while stamps have risen by 120%.

That's all for this edition of Running Backwards.  Thanks for jogging along all the way to the finish line!