## Because Life is Not a Destination...

I have always loved the north woods. The forests of northern Michigan,
Wisconsin, and Minnesota are a perfect place for outdoor sports, whether
it be hiking, canoeing, biking, or running. Several years ago I ran
across an ad for the first annual Journeys Marathon claiming that it was
a run through the scenic north woods. For several years, I considered
making the trip to Eagle River, Wisconsin to run this race, but this
year I finally sent in my entry form. As I have often done, I called my
sister, Carol, and persuaded her to run it with me.

This year's race was held on Saturday, May 13th. In keeping with the
spirit of the north woods, we decided to camp the night before. After
setting up our tent in the Nicolet State Forest on Friday night, we
headed to Eagle River to pick up our race packets. A fairly small group
of runners were gathered at the middle school talking about the day that
lay ahead.

Early the next morning, we were back at the school to catch a bus which
would take us to the starting line. Journeys marathon is a one-way race,
and the bus traced our race course from finish to start. Wow! It is was
a little unnerving riding a bus for well over a half hour - knowing that
within an hour we would be retracing this route on foot. Perhaps of
greater concern was the periodic whining of the bus engine as it
struggled to climb some hills.

As we climbed off the bus, we were greeted by a light drizzle and a
stiff northwesterly wind. It required some mental toughness to strip
down to shorts and remove my warm-up jacket. But after a singing of the
national anthem, the gun sounded and we were off. As advertised the
course wound through the beauty of a northwoods national forest and past
many scenic lakes. The race was fairly small - a few hundred runners,
but actually quite comfortable. In contrast to the Chicago Marathon,
runners could quickly find their pace without being elbowed and the
water stops were not over crowded. There were also plenty of runners to
insure that we were not running along.

The race finished in Riverside Park in Eagle River. On most days, this
would have been a great place to sit around and recover from a marathon,
however, the cold rain that was falling encouraged us to leave the
finish area fairly quickly. This is a fairly low budget race (\$35 entry
fee), and although the finish area was not a feast, there was ample food
to munch on. T-shirts were given to all runners and finisher metals to
all who completed the full 26.2 miles.

For runners who don't run marathons, there was also a half marathon and
10 K available. If you are looking for a small spring marathon in a
scenic setting, I would recommend this race.

And, in case you are wondering about the title, the theme of Journey's
marathon is: Life is not a destination, it is a Journey.

John Schlueter

Ironhorse Triathalon

The day started out at 5:00 AM and raining when I woke. By the time I
got my gear all set up it had stopped raining but was still threatening.
The swim was a triangular course, 1.5 miles. 46 minutes later I stumbled
out of the water. The bike is a modified H course with 3 turn arounds on
rural 2 lane farm roads. There was a water and Gatorade bottle exchange
every 10 miles. By the 5th mile it was raining and continued to rain for
most if not all of the rest of the ride. At 20 miles I broke a spoke on
a climb up a hill and had to finish the ride with a rear wheel that was
way out of wack. Everytime my wheel went around it got really tight
through the brake pads. At 30 miles the sky opened up and it started to
pour and continued to pour for the rest of the ride. Luckily the roads
were not that slick until we entered the park. There the tar laden road
was like ice. I managed to get by without any accident and got into my
soaking wet running shoes almost right on target to meet my goal for the
race. After 2 hours and 20 minutes of riding I was happy to be on solid
ground again. I watched my heart rate closely on the bike and continued
to keep a good eye on it on the run, knowing that I had 10 miles to go.
I started to pass runners almost immediately and continued to pass
runners over the course of the run. It stopped raining as I started to
run and then started up again with a 1/4 mile left to finish. The heat
got turned up to about 85 degrees and the humidity was 100%. I really
was hoping for the rain to continue for my run but no such luck. Mile 7
and 8 seemed so long and I was really looking forward to that 9 mile
mark. I hit it and picked up the pace and finished strong. After running
for an hour and 15 minutes I finished and beat my goal time by 4 minutes
and was thrilled to cross the finish line. My finish time of 4:26:42
didn\'t even come close to placing in this event. There were 17 states
represented in this race by many very good triathletes. This was my
first long distance event that I have competed in. My longest before
this being a half marathon and Olympic distance triathlons. This was
quite a bit more and so much more thrilling to finish. The swim course
was new and was great with the exception of not enough buoys along the
course to mark the way. The bike was 80% the same as past years and is a
really good course. The run was completely changed and was a huge
improvement over previous years. This is what I was told by all I spoke
with regarding the race. I would agree with their sentiments. The run
was completely shaded (if there was sunshine) and constantly rolling
hills. Some bigger than others. Great race management and post race
food. If anyone wants to try a longer distance tri without going to the
ironman distance this would be a great race to try.

I give it 2 thumbs up :)

John Koss

Argonne Sharpshooters Air High

Twice every year the Aurora Sportsmens Club, located in beautiful Sugar
Grove, puts on a Summer Biathlon. This particular biathlon is a 5-K race
with two shooting intervals. First, there is a trail run of about 1500
meters on un-groomed trails through woods, followed by shooting 5 shots
in a prone position, another 2000 meter trail run, shooting 5 shots
standing-up, and finally, another 1500 meter trail run. Runners are
stagger-started because there are only a limited number of shooting
positions at the range. Your final score is your overall clock time
minus 15 seconds for each target you knocked over while shooting prone
and minus 30 seconds for each \"hit\" while standing. All shooting is
done with the target 22\'s (provided by the club) on the club\'s target
range.

If you were not a registered biathlete you had to attend a clinic before
the race. For this particular race there always is a clinic both Friday
night and Saturday morning (race day). At the clinic you see a short
video on tactics and safety and then spend the remainder of the time at
the range shooting. Although some of us are registered biathletes (from
previous years), we still go to the clinic on Friday night just to get
in some practice shooting.

Furthermore, to be able to use a 22, both at practice and during the
race, you have to have an Illinois FOID (Firearm Owners Identification
Card) card. Participants that do not have a FOID card shoot with an air
rifle. (To obtain a FOID card, all you need to do is fill out a simple
form, attach a current picture, and send it along with \$5 to the State
Police.)

Last June 10 a horde of Argonne multi-sport athletes took on this rugged
challenge. The Argonne contingent included veterans Laurie Culbert, Karl
Grimm, and Richard Page, and raw recruits Corrie Patterson-Kamiya and
Mark Kamiya. It was a hot and humid day. Luckily, there was a nice wind
and most of the course was shaded.

A couple of hints for the uninitiated. First, pace yourself so that you
are not huffing and puffing while you are trying to shoot (try to take a
few calming breaths before every shot), and secondly, get your
application for your FOID card in early. For some reason the state seems
to take a long time on processing these forms.

There were about 60 participants and there were the standard goodies at
the finish. The run costs \$15 if you pre-registered or \$18 on race
day.

So if you are looking for a new and different challenge, try a biathlon.
The second one this year is at the Aurora Sportsmens Club on July 8.

Karl Grimm

Beat the Heat

Paul Eident and Jack Picciolo have been organizing the morning runs this
summer for the running club. The June and July runs have gone very
smoothly and the dedicated runners that have turned out have had a great
time. The third of these runs will be held on Wednesday, August 16. If
you are interested in getting your day off to a running start, meet us
at the North Gate Trail Head of Waterfall Glen. Participants can choose
from a 4-mile running course or a 2-mile walking route on the forest
preserve trails. At the conclusion of the run, there will be juice and
muffins available for a snack before heading into work. Contact Paul
Eident for further information on these runs.

Help Needed

The ARC is always in need of volunteers to help out at our monthly fun
runs. Very little work is actually involved, but we don't want to rely
on the same people for all our races. If you can help out, please
contact Karl Grimm.

Director's Run

The ARC's annual Director's Run will be held on Wednesday, July 26. As
usual, there will be a 3 mile course for runners and a 2 mile route for
walkers. Refreshments and raffle prizes will be available at the finish.

Running Club Shirts

The running club is in the process of designing new running club shirts.
Years ago the Argonne Running Club had running shirts made, but the last
of these shirts was sold a long time ago. Most current members have
never had (or seen) one of these shirts. We hope that these new shirts
will be popular among running club members and will make us much more
visible at area races.

The Latest News

The Running Club Newsletter may not always make it to you before the
current months fun run. However, the ARC is taking advantage of this
electronic age to keep you up-to-date on the upcoming events. In
general, we try to send out email reminders to our paid running club
members to inform them of upcoming events. As always, you can check our
web-site for the latest club news:

http://chemistry.anl.gov/ARC/

Chuck Jonah deserves a lot of credit for keeping this web site current
with the latest Running Club news. Check it out!

Cool Down

The Argonne Running Club Newsletter is edited by John Schlueter. Please
send your stories, photos, tips, race reports, race entry forms,
comments, etc. to me. Mail: Bldg. 200, Rm. A185; Internet:
JASchlueter@anl.gov; Phone: 2-3588. ARC president: Karl Grimm, Bldg.
208, Rm. A205A, 2-6721, b23921@ra.anl.gov. ARC webpage:
chemistry.anl.gov/ARC/ webmaster: Chuck Jonah, Bldg. 200, Rm. B157,
2-3471, CDJonah@anl.gov. For membership information, contact Paul
Eident, Bldg. 200 Rm. L175, 2-3579, eident@anlchm.chm.anl.gov.