The Groton Gophers had three well trained people represent them in the 2007 Cortland Leaf Peeper 1/2 marathon. The YMCA supplied a great day for a fantastic run. The temperature was perfect. The sunshine bright, and the leafs were in peak color. The Gophers responded well to the conditions.

Nancy Jacoby came in first of the Gophers. Her training strategy was to become sick the week before the race. It seemed to work well for Nancy and she ran a strong race. The second Gopher to cross the finish line has a very unique method. Ray Wagner utilized the extended taper method. He tapered all summer, and ran just 14 seconds shy of his own PR. Way to go Ray, keep tapering and you'll qualify for Boston. The final Gopher to finish was Steve Gallow who choose the sprain your ankle, take 4 weeks off, don't do a lot of long distance runs. This worked somewhat for Steve and he arrived with a fairly good time.

Keep up the good work Gophers.

2007 Wineglass Marathon a Humbling Event.


The 2007 Wineglass Marathon started out as a great event for the Gophers. Ron Moore and Stephen Codner had worked on a summer full of training. (Mostly by themselves.) Would it pay off?




We also had a relay team made up of a new Gopher-want-to-be Hal Coghill, and long time Gophers Ray Wagner, and Steve Gallow. All three of the relay team didn't have the training to run the whole marathon this year. Hal suffered from a broken ankle in July, and Steve a sprained ankle in August. Both are recovering nicely. Ray suffered from overrunning during his training for the Green Mountain Relay. He deserved a rest for this year.



The morning started out very cool, and clear with some fog around the hills. A perfect morning to start a marathon. Ray was running the first leg of the relay. Steve Codner's plan was to start out slow with Ray for the first five miles, and then start to pick up the pace. Ron's plan was to run how he felt. The gun went off. Ray, Ron, and Steve all looked great at the start. Hal and Steve G. got on the buses to be at the hand off points.
Ron was in the lead at first. Steve C picked up his pace after mile 5. Ray who had hoped to run around an 8:30 pace for the first leg of the relay came in after 9 miles beating his predicted time. Now it was Hal's turn. Meanwhile Steve C caught up to Ron at about mile 14. Ron was beginning to have blister problems. Steve C told him he was still on schedule to do well, and continued past. Hal then caught up to Ron and ran along side to make sure he was ok. Steve G was at the second relay stop ~mile 18 where he was able to see the leaders come through. He was also looking for Steve C, Ron, and Hal. Steve C came through and stated that he was ahead of schedule by 4 seconds, but wasn't going to be able to maintain the pace. A few minutes later Hal arrived at the second relay ahead of our predicted schedule. Steve G took off. All along the route he began to hear people cheer for him, "You look Great!!" He would respond with "I just started." To which one person responded, "That's the attitude." After that Steve G just said thank you to the people who cheered. Around mile 22 Steve G caught up to Steve C and ran with him about a 1/4 mile. Steve C was beginning to struggle but felt he was still on his way to a PR. Steve C told Steve G to go ahead. As the race progressed so did the heat. Steve G struggled the last mile, and was glad he wasn't running the full marathon. The relay team came in with a 3:35 which was better then their prediction. Meanwhile Steve C's quads began to cramp on him. He arrived at a 3:50 minute marathon struggling to finish.
Further back while Steve C struggled with cramped quads, Ron calf had locked up with cramps of his own. Ron stuggled to finish the race. Ray said it best, "The Marathon is a humbling experience." Now comes the time of rethinking our training and how will do it differently.
Ron's going on to run another marathon in Philly in November. Go get them Ron!!!

2007 Utica Boiler Maker

The Groton Gophers had a large showing at this years Boiler Maker. The veterans Steve Codner, Ray Wagner, Ron Moore, Audrey Moore, Kyle Gallow, Kari Gallow, and Steve Gallow showed the rookies Allen Gallow and Derek Wright how to run a race. A good time was had by all. Way to go Gophers!!