Running Backwards to 1999: A Jog Into the Striders Archives

Our last two editions of "Running Backwards" went to 1981 and 1982, and were huge hits with our readers.  Thank you again for all the positive feedback.  This month we're going to sprint forward to 1999.  Pace yourself.  It's a long one.  And don't worry, we'll stumble back into the 80's and early 90's soon enough.  

The Interval opened 1999 with an intro letter from Club President David Benn. He mentioned some info on three races that him and his wife (Club Secretary Linda Benn) ran over the previous month, went over some club administrative stuff, and had an obligatory plug for the January Thaw. 

To see the full results from the 1999 January Thaw Road Race, click here.

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In the February newsletter, David Benn shared that Al Sproul, a longtime Central Maine Strider, lost his battle with cancer.  Several Striders attended a celebration of his life.  Al was obviously a very loved and respected member of the Striders, because he's mentioned in nearly every newsletter in 1999.

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Rick Stuart (who coincidentally has recently moved back to Maine) wrote a quick note giving the Striders updates on his west coast running adventures.

​Welcome back, Rick!

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Amanda Russell wasn't listed as a member of the Striders, but in the March 1999 issue of The Interval she wrote this race report about the Boston Marathon (perhaps it was reprinted from another publication?). 

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Ron Paquette & Donnajean Pohlman and Gene & Sarah Roy can never be thanked enough for their contributions to the Central Maine Striders.  That's just as true now as it was in 1999.

Many of the older issues of The Interval included a list of all the members.  We've been thinking about doing this for current members, but in the meantime, you'll just have to settle for seeing the list of 1999 Central Maine Striders.

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In April, The Interval had the results, a quick writeup, and some photos from the 20th Annual Killarney's 10k.  The race director was none other than Tom McGuire.  Rumor has it that he's been working hard to give some other current Striders the chance to start a new Striders 10k race.

The results included Striders regulars Jim Moore and Ron Paquette, as well as a young guy named Pat Guerette.

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Above:  Tom McGuire and Ron Paquette, a couple good men.

Left:  Random Strider photo from the May 1999 issue of The Interval with no caption.  It looks like it could be Julie Millard, but if so, she says this photo is not from 1999.

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Amongst the race results published in the May issue were those from the Unity College 5k, where the Jim Moore and the Roy family represented the Striders.  I'm just going to guess that Gene was also there, but busy helping with the race timing or other volunteer task.

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A few weeks later, Gene got his chance to race at the St. John Family 5k in Winslow.  It looks like having Gene on his tail helped Jim Moore take 5 seconds off his Unity 5k time.

This was another photo in the May issue without a caption, so I'll just caption it: "Man in awe as to how Ron Paquette could be such a great representative of the Central Maine Striders for so many years."

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In the June 1999 newsletter, Club President David Benn gave a shout out to some of the volunteers from the Joseph's 5k, including current Striders Ron Paquette, Donnajean Pohlman, Geoff Hill, Susan Brooks, and Lynda McGuire.

The Roy family made another appearance at the Rangeley 5-Mile Moose Run at the end of May.  Luc Roy finished 3rd overall.  And Sarah seems to have substituted Gene for Rebecca as the family member she wanted to tie.

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That same weekend, current Striders Jim Moore and Ormond Irish competed in the Monmouth Apple Blossom 15k.  Tom McGuire seems to have opted for the shorter Apple Bud 4.7 Miler.

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At the Joseph's 5k in Fairfield, 40-year old Susan Brooks was the third fastest woman (25th overall).  The only two women in front of her were teenagers.  Jim Moore slowed down a bit from his previous two 5k's that year.  Perhaps it was because this time around, he didn't have any members of the Roy family chasing him.  And with mom Lynda volunteering along the course, Kate McGuire edged out her dad Tom by a couple seconds.

Let's just call this one "Four men, four fonts."

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By August of 1999, it seemed that Club President David Benn had grown tired of writing a column on the front page every month, so the "President's Page" duties started rotating amongst former club presidents.  Here's a bit of what Tom McGuire had to say in that August issue:

There was another tribute to Al Sproul in the August 1999 newsletter.  Al seems to have had a pretty prolific career on the "corporate circuit".  I wonder if these corporate running competitions still exist.  

Some youngsters may find it hard to believe, but Strava didn't exist back in 1999.  Also, DOS was a computer language that some programs were still written in.  In the summer of 1999, Teresa Nightingale reached out to all RRCA clubs and offered a new computer program called RUNLOG for tracking miles.  This was is an excerpt of what was published in the August 1999 Interval newsletter:

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Distinguished Gentlemen:

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The Striders made a great showing at the Loon Call 5k, with six current club members representing that day.  Rick Stuart came in 3rd overall with an impressive 17:50 time as a 41-year old.  Jim Moore edged out Tom McGuire by a few seconds.  And, Donnajean Pohlman and Ron Paquette seem to have used a little teamwork to keep Gene Roy a couple seconds behind them.

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Ron Paquette took the honor of filling the President's Page in the September 1999 newsletter:

Club Secretary Mardie Brown shared some news about the club's annual meeting, including plans to update the bylaws to conform to the 1999 structure of the club:

Striders masters runners Bob Strout and Rick Stuart finished one-two at the Fairfield Community Fun Fest 5k.  Some kid named Pat Guerette finished third, nearly two minutes behind the 40-something-year-olds.  Susan Brooks beat Julie Millard by 10 seconds to take home the women's prize.

Striders Susan Brooks, Jim Moore, and Mardie Brown were amongst the 142 runners that ran the New Balance 5k in Skowhegan in 1999.

Some random race photos from the September issue.  It's unclear as to why Bob Strout is the only Strider in the first photo who gets named.

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There was a photo of Gene Roy running Mount Washington to close out the September '99 Interval, and then the October '99 issue opened with his turn filling the President's Page, where he shared a good mix of wisdom, humor, and advice on winter running.

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The October '99 Interval included the results from the Bar Harbor Half Marathon with some familiar names that are still active club members. 

Jerry Allanach gave an update from Illinois in the October newsletter.  To this day, Jerry is still a proud member of the Striders, still lives in Illinois, and still occasionally turns up at a Maine race.  This past year, a few of us got to meet him at the Save Your Breath 5k in Augusta.

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Although Mardie Brown was never the President of the Central Maine Striders, she still got the honor of writing the President's Page in the November 1999 issue of The Interval.

In 1999, tips for running safely included "carry coins for a phone call".  Other than the fact that carrying coins won't do much for you these days (unless you use them to throw at any potential attackers), these are still good tips for running safely.

Apparently, Susan Brooks decided that her Bar Harbor Half Marathon on September 18 wasn't enough, because two weeks later she ran the Casco Bay Half Marathon in Portland.  She did manage to take nearly two and a half minutes off her time, so it seems it was probably worth it.

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David Benn took the reins back for the President's Page in the final Interval issue of 1999.  He made a plea for a couple volunteers to take over the Killarney's 10k and Gasping Gobbler 10k.  From what I can tell, 1999 was the last year that the Killarney's race was run.  The Gasping Gobbler seems to have taken the year 2000 off, but then returned in 2001, only to disappear again from 2002 through 2005.  In 2006, the Gasping Gobbler returned as a 5k at Cony High School in Augusta and continues to this day. 

The Striders never began a road race series, even though it seems to have been being explored at the end of 1999.  However, that "kid" Pat Guerette that showed up at a few races in 1999 came back to Maine and started the Quarry Road Trail Race series in 2013.

That's all for 1999!  If you made it this far, thanks for reading.  I hope you enjoyed this edition of Running Backwards.  Candidates for next month's jog into the archives include 1987, 1988, 1990, 1996, 2009, and 2013.