Date: Fri 08-Sep-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

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Road-Race-1995-Preview

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1995 Newtown Bee Road Race Preview

B Y K IM J. H ARMON

It is an arduous course, The Newtown Bee 10k, with brutal climbs along Point

O'Rocks and Platt Mill Roads, and knee-pounding downhill slides along Brushy

Hill and Boggs Hill Roads, and to have two runners finish close enough to

tease each other at the finish line would seem almost impossible.

Almost.

In the 11-year history of The Newtown Bee 10k, a 6.22-mile journey that begins

and ends at Dickinson Park on Brushy Hill Road, the disparity between first

and second place has averaged 39 seconds.

Only twice has the race been decided by fewer than 33 seconds and without

those two races - in 1985 and 1986 - figured into the total, the average

finishing time between first and second places jumps to 43.2 seconds.

But no race, anywhere, could get as close as the race in 1985 did.

Ten years ago this week, Bob Hensley of Waterbury, Mike Ambrose of Bridgeport,

and Gerry Vanasse of New Milford were locked in an almost epic battle that saw

not only first and second decided by one second, but first and third decided

by just 16 seconds.

"It was a three-man race all the way," Hensley said at the time. "Nobody

wanted to commit themselves at the start."

Vanasse, who had gained national recognition by finishing second in the Boston

Marathon in 1984, and Ambrose led the race most of the way, with Hensley

trailing along in their wake. Ambrose gathered in the lead until Hensley made

his move along Brushy Hill.

Hensley overtook Ambrose about 150 yards from the finish line, just as Brushy

Hill Road bends around past Point O'Rocks Road near the Dickinson Park pool

entrance.

Hensley finished in 31:03 (a course record that survived until last year, when

Paul Mdugua, a native of Kenya, finished in 30:51), Ambrose was second in

31:04 and Vanasse followed in 31:19.

Sally Zimmer of Windsor won the women's race in 36:53, a new record (that only

stood for a year) by almost three-and-a-half minutes over Oona Mulligan's

initial pace-setting time in 1984.

Also - as if a photo finish wasn't exciting enough - in an unusual twist,

while Hensley, Ambrose and Vanasse were toiling along Boggs Hill Road in 1985,

an interloper - as he was called in the Bee - joined the race and paced the

three leaders for about a half-mile, leaving the course without incident.

More Excitement

Maybe it was real estate man Bob McCulloch's flashy red and white 1959

corvette that did the job as the pace car or maybe it was the presence of

popular home town runners Pat O'Neil and Oona Mulligan, but the initial

running of The Newtown Bee 10k - a home town race - was greeted with a fair

bit of excitement.

Then the runners met the course.

Up Point O'Rocks to Boggs Hill, across Palestine to Platt Mill, and then down

Brushy Hill to the finish . . . a 6.22-mile race that could be as tough as any

in the area.

"It's a good honest course," Neil Wood of Danbury said in 1984, shortly after

finishing first in 31:24, "but not one for real fast times."

Mulligan, who was the first female finisher and 26th overall in 40:16, said,

"I was a little nervous before the race because when you're in your home town,

everyone expects you to win."

The race was as close as it could get in 1985, but in 1986 it was nearly as

close.

Scott Mosley of Danbury, who finished about three minutes off the pace in

1985, came back with a comparable time of 34:20 - only this time it was good

enough for first-place.

But just barely.

Joe Smith of Newtown High School, who became a CIAC Class L cross country

champion, finished 13 seconds later, second overall in 34:33, improving

himself 10 seconds from his time in 1985.

On the woman's side, Susan Faber of Oxford set a standard - 35:42 - that has

survived to this day. A Seymour High School and University of Tennessee star,

Faber crushed the course record by 71 seconds and was at the top of her game

that year.

"There's really no competition for me right now in Connecticut," she said at

the time. "I feel kind of sad."

That same year three members of the McGovern clan - Katie, Maureen and Terry -

all competed in and won (?) their respective divisions.

She was a three-time Class S state champion at Litchfield High School and

six-time Division II All-American at Southern Connecticut State University,

and in 1987 she began her three-year reign as The Newtown Bee 10k women's

champion.

Paula Brunetto, 21, stormed into first place and ninth overall in 35:50, just

14 seconds off the record-setting pace marked by Susan Faber the year before.

At the time, Brunetto was teaching at Lewis Mills in Burlington and coaching

cross country at Farmington High School. She had competed in a triathalon but

was looking to compete in the 1,500-meter Olympic trials.

Greeted with a little more fanfare, though, was the appearance of Rodney

LaFlamme of Southbury, one of the top area runners at that time. LaFlamme

eased into the finish at 32:14, a full minute ahead of John Geier, a former

State Open champ from Bethel.

That same year, Joe Smith won his second straight high school division title,

cruising in at 35:21.

The McGovern family was back in full force, with Katie (high school girls),

Terry (boys' 14-and-under), and Maureen (girls' 14-and-under) running with

their father, Phil.

The following year, 1988, saw the appearance of another All-American, Mike

Cotton of New Canaan, a graduate of the University of Virginia, who flirted

with the course record while finishing first at 31:22.

Don Cavanaugh was second at 32:01.

Brunetto, who was concentrating on the Olympic Trials at the time, came back

and won again, although her time of 36:10 was 14 seconds off the pace she set

the year before.

Local runner Ed Sandifer was ninth overall at 35:28 while Marcus Love, who

became a top-flight runner at Newtown High School, came in 13th overall at

35:59.

The 1988 race also saw the appearance of Brian McGovern, 6, who became the

youngest finisher, coming in at 47:55, second in the 14-and-under division to

his brother, Terry.

A record 227 people crossed the finish line in 1989, with David Burke, 28,

finishing ahead of all of them in 31:43, the first of his two titles.

Brunetto won her third and last title, finishing ninth overall while marking

her slowest time, 37:43, of the three races she won.

"This is a fun race," she said at the time, "because it's more like cross

country. It's more relaxed than a lot of major races."

Marcus Love was, once again, the high school division winner at 35:45, but

Ward Richardson, 11, who is in the middle, now, of a fine high school cross

country career, finished with the junior title at 42:06.

David Burke became the first men's division repeat champion in 1990 when he

crossed the finish line at 31:51, almost a minute ahead of LaFlamme, who came

in at 32:43.

"Running is good discipline," Burke said at the time. "It carries over to

work. The more you work out, too, the more energy you have, When I'm not

running, I'm always tired."

Stacie Weihs, 19, of Old Greenwich, took advantage of the low female turnout,

easing into first in the women's division with the slowest winning time -

45:28 - in the history of the race.

It was her first competitive race and she finished 83rd overall, just ahead of

the women's masters champion, Kathie Trocolla of Newtown, who mark a time of

46:33.

Mike Nahom of New Milford, the last two-time winner of the event, made his

first appearance in 1991.

"A friend told me this was a flat course," he said at the time, "but I found

it was as tough as any 10K I've done - except Bethel."

Nahom took first in 32:12, 44 seconds ahead of LaFlamme, who continued to push

for another championship.

Jody Christmas, 36, became the new champion of the women's division, coming in

at 40:19.

And Peter Walsh, four-and-a-half months old, became the youngest finisher ever

when, being pushed by his father and mother, Ed and Alice, crossed the line at

1:05.48.

The race went on hiatus for one year and returned with great fanfare and a

record-tying 227 runners in 1993.

Mike Nahom returned to defend his championship, taking first in 32:25, 61

seconds ahead of Gavin Sloane, the nearest competitor. Uri Romaniuk of

Cheshire finished third in 33:49.

Jean Chodnicki of New Jersey came through the revolving door of the women's

division, taking first at 38:09, the fastest finishing time since 1989.

Sandifer (37:06) and Lynn Fico (48:35) were the top local finishers.

Christmas, the defending champion, came in 20th overall at 46:27.

It was time, in 1994, for a record to fall.

Paul Mdugua of New Paltz, New York, a citizen of Kenya, came up to Newtown to

run a quick race - as quick as it has ever been, as he finished first in

30:51, 12 seconds ahead of Hensley's nine-year-old record.

"It was a tough course and a tough race," Mdugua said after the race, "but

there was no challenge (from the rest of the pack)."

Nahom, making a bid to become the first male runner to win the event three

times, marked a personal best time of 31:43 but was, nevertheless, 52 seconds

off the winning pace.

Diane Tedford of Dalton, Mass., showed up 15 minutes before the canned horn

blared the start of the race, but still finished on top of the female division

in a time of 39:01.

"It's a tough course," she said later. "It makes it hard to keep your rhythm."

And rhythm is what 200 to 250 runners will be fighting to hold on to Saturday,

August 26, when the 11th running of The Newtown Bee 10k gets rolling at 9 am

at Dickinson Park.

Registrations will still be accepted on race day.

The Gap Between

First And Second

1984 35 seconds

1985 1 second

1986 13 seconds

1987 60 seconds

1988 39 seconds

1989 33 seconds

1990 52 seconds

1991 44 seconds

1993 61 seconds

1994 52 seconds

Average 39.0 seconds

W/0 '85 & '86 43.2 seconds

Five Fastest Times

Runner When Time

Paul Mdugua 1994 30:51

Bob Hensley 1985 31:03

Mike Cotton 1988 31:21

Neil Wood 1984 31:24

David Burke 1989 31:43