November 9, 1987
Fitness
TURKEY RUNS, IRONKIDS, AND THE QUADRUPLE DIPSEA
With the great turkey glut just weeks away, it’s time to begin planning some races that will burn extra calories. There are a number Thanksgiving turkey runs of note this month:
- November 21: Thanksgiving Fun Run 4.3-miler in South San Francisco starts at 9 a.m. For more information, contact Richard Janal at 415-877-8560.
- November 22: Exertec Turkey 8K in Napa begins at 8:30 a.m. Call Steve Zanetell at 707-226-1842.
- November 22: 12th annual Turkey Trot 8.1-miler in Pleasant Hill starts at 9 a.m. The number to call is 415-676-5200. This one is hilly and run entirely on trails. It is not recommended for beginners.
If turkeys aren’t your favorite animal, there’s a duck and skunk run. On November 22, the Blind Duck Relays (2 men, 1 woman on each team; each runs 5K) begins at 9 a.m. in Oakland, contact 415-834-3110. On November 27, the Pt. Pinole Skunk Run 10K begins at 10 a.m. in Richmond: 415-841-1190.
The annual Kilpatrick’s IronKids national triathlon championships recently held in Arizona featured some notable performances by Bay Area youngsters.
In the junior division, Jonathan Stevens (7 years old) of Fremont placed 31st overall and 2nd in his age group while Jesse Alvarez (8) of San Jose placed 47th overall and 7th in his age group. Caitlin Kane (10) of Portola Valley placed 14th overall and 9th in her age group; and sister Meghan (8) placed 26th overall and 6th in her age group.
In the senior division, Randy Stone (14) of Sunnyvale placed 15th overall, 9th in his age group; Michael Cazalet (13) of Los Altos Hills placed 23rd overall and 6th in his age group; Eric Kary (13) of Portola Valley placed 25th overall and 7th in his age group, and Jonathan Lane (13) of Portola Valley placed 37th overall and 11th in his age group.
In other competition, Nicole Cornwall (14) of Turlock placed 15th overall and 5th in her age group and Kari Horn (11) of Santa Rosa placed 26th overall and 6th in her age group.
For those who love long runs on trails, there are two excellent races this month:
On the 14th, there’s the Skyline to the Sea Trail Marathon, two-thirds marathon, and 50-miler. (The 50-miler is a Western States 100 qualifier.)
The marathon and 50-miler begin at Castle Rock Park along Skyline on the Peninsula, and both end at Big Basin State Park. The races are run on the Skyline to the Sea Trail, and inspiring trek through coastal redwood groves that feature a net elevation loss of 2,200 feet.
The 50-miler begins at 7 a.m. The marathon and two-thirds marathon begins at 9 a.m. (the two-thirds marathon starting point is Saratoga Gap). The entry fee is $1 per mile for the 50 and the marathon; the two-thirds marathon costs cost the same as the marathon. There will be an awards ceremony and a pasta and beer bash afterwards. Contact Tri-Sports, 21 Live Oak, Berkeley, 94705, 415-540-7008.
Two weeks later, on the 28th, there’s that dip into insanity, the 5th annual Quadruple Dipsea.
The race starts and ends at the Mill Valley Park and you get to visit Stinson Beach twice during the course of the day. The total distance is 28.4 miles, starting time is 7:30 a.m., entry fee is $10 in advance. Contact John Medinger, P.O. Box 7147, San Francisco 94120, 415-894-6674.
While milling about after the Humboldt Redwoods Marathon recently, a runner looked at the yellow stick’um patch on his T-shirt and asked, “Who’s Jack?”
“Jack” is Jack Leydig, owner of Jack’s Athletic Supply in San Carlos. He supplies T-shirts and other services to various running events.
Back in 1977, when I moved to California, Jack was selling T-shirts and supplying timing equipment to road races out of his Volkswagen bus. He was a very credible runner (still is), with a marathon personal record of 2:25:15 and a 10K of 30:50.
He also is the past director of the West Valley Track Club. These days, he heads the club’s Masters and Long Distance Running committee, directs the Christmas Relays, and he doesn’t mind when people ask, “Who’s Jack?”
November 16, 1987
Fitness
SPORTS MEDICINE CLINIC OFFERS A BODY OF INFORMATION
Abraham Lincoln believed that everyone is created equal. On the other hand, we are frequently told that each of us is unique.
A visit to the Marshal Hale Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center in San Francisco for a health and fitness evaluation makes a strong case for the unique perspective. It soon becomes obvious that no two people are alike.
Health and fitness evaluation centers are nothing new. They began springing up in the early ‘80s when the Running Revolution turned into the Fitness Revolution. A con-current revolution was caused by the development of the microchip. The miniaturization of diagnostic equipment made testing possible for everything from jet engines to the human body.
The Marshal Hale Center offers one of the most complete evaluations in Northern California. For $275 the client gets a health and fitness autobiography that is 38 pages long. It takes several hours to read and comprehend.
The evaluation takes two visits, usually scheduled a week apart. The first visit involves filling out paperwork on family and personal medical history and current physical activity. It also involves some homework prior to the visit: a detailed diary of three days’ worth of meals. Each actual visit takes about one hour, thanks to the evolution of sophisticated testing methods.
During the visit, cardiovascular fitness is evaluated on a computerized stationary bicycle, pulmonary values are tested by using a spirometer and a body composition analysis is taken in a matter of seconds through the use of an impedance analyzer.
Additionally, blood and urine samples are taken and a flexibility evaluation involving a half-dozen movements is made.
Patti Cashman, a former national-class bicycle racer and the exercise physiologist in charge of the program moves the client through the series of tests quickly, efficiently, and almost painlessly. (Let’s face it: it’s going to be awhile before science takes the sting out of needles used to draw blood.)
The information and materials gathered are sent to various labs and then returned to the center for collation.
During the second visit, the client’s medical history is reviewed by a physician, and a general physical examination is made. At that point, the doctor (six physicians from the Marshal Hale Hospital are involved in the center) makes recommendations for improving general health. Cashman then makes exercise and diet recommendations.
All the recommendations are based upon the comprehensive testing results, which are bound together in book form.
The book begins with a nine-page section explaining the major factors that can undermine one’s health; this general overview is followed by detailed explanations of each risk factor.
The next section analyzes the client’s risk factors as gleaned from both diagnostic information and the family and personal medical history. The client’s score is placed in context with risk factors and recommendations for improvement are outlined.
Six pages follow with evaluation of the client’s blood and urine. Everything is measured, from serum cholesterol and creatinine in the blood to T4 uptake in the urine (a measured thyroid function). The measurements are recorded next to the ideal ranges for each factor.
This is followed by three pages involving body composition (body fat vs. lean weight), with the last of those pages making exercise recommendations to reduce excess body fat.
The next page deals with pulmonary function based on spirometer tests. This is followed by five pages that record and explain the cardiovascular test (stationary bicycle). These pages also outline recommendations for improvement. There’s also a page that outlines exercise recommendations based upon types of exercise that are of interest to the client.
The final 10 pages deal with nutrition. The three days of food intake diaries have been fed into a computer, and the nutritional values of the foods have been evaluated scientifically and impartially. Calories per day are calculated, as is the proportion in the diet between protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Calcium, cholesterol, iron, fiber, and salt in the diet is also measured.
Calories eaten are compared to calories the client’s metabolism burns and the numbers burned by exercise. The nutritional values are presented for every item eaten during the three days during which diaries were kept. A vitamin and mineral content evaluation also is computed.
Finally, recommendations are made for improving dietary habits.
November 23, 1987
Fitness
THE FLIP SIDE TO MODERN TANNING SALONS
In the last several years, there’s been a tremendous surge of interest in tanning booths. It seems almost half the exhibitors at health and fitness shows are pushing the irradiated coffin-like boxes.
There is a mania loose in the land: No matter what may be happening on the inside, people desire to appear healthy on the outside, to have that eternal tan…preferably with a golden tint to it.
The evidence that too much sunshine can cause skin cancer, excessive skin dryness, and premature aging has been on the book for many years. But now scientists are beginning to take a closer look at the effects of artificially stimulating a tan. Their findings are not encouraging.
Tanning booths are the health club’s modern version of the old-fashioned sun lamps, which irradiated only a small portion of the body. A health club in Falls Church, Virginia, where I was a member in the mid-‘70s, featured tanning booths. By today’s standards, the booths were primitive. They looked like shower stalls, and you had to stand up in them. The “tanning consultant” hadn’t been invented. Even in the dead of winter, these tanning booths were seldom used.
Today’s booths, on the other hand, seem to be very popular.
Admittedly, these tanning coffins, lit from within, can look inviting. But they are merely boxes in which a person lies while ultraviolet (UV) lights bate the body. When the booths first opened, they were equipped with UV-B lamps. In the past few years, manufacturers have changed to UV-A lamps, feeling these are safer.
The UKV-A lamps do produce longer wavelengths that penetrate the skin faster. But Paul Strickland of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health has conducted animal experiments with UV-A lamps, and found that regular exposure can still cause malignant tumors.
Regular exposure to UV-A rays also can cause the body to lower resistance to UV-B. This means that if you get your tan at a health club and then walk out into natural sunshine, your risk of contracting skin cancer actually increases.
Despite the problems associated with overexposure to UV rays (cancer, cataracts, and retinal damage) only one state—Ohio—has laws governing tanning salons. California is considering such legislation.
Surprisingly, the manufacturers of tanning equipment are backing this legislative effort. But then, it’s always better to be regulated than outlawed.
In many ways this tanning mania appears quite similar to the get-thin mania that we’ve been cursed with over the past two decades.
Slimness, not thinness, is what denotes health and fitness. A year-round golden tan does not denote anything except exposure to radiation.
In reality, the slim (by dietary manipulation), tanned person is in many cases a sham. The well-rounded person, who takes an hour a day to exercise and stay fit, doesn’t need to diet and doesn’t have time to waste lying around in a tanning booth.
November 30, 1987
Running Roundup
SLEIGH BELLS, CHRISTMAS CAROLS, AND RELAYS TOP HOLIDAY LIST
While the rest of the country winds down aerobically for the Holidays, the Bay Area girds for a smorgasbord of running events.
The honor for kicking off the Bay Area’s Christmas running season goes to Antioch, where the Holiday run (your choice of 10K or 3 miles) will be held next Saturday at the Raley’s Shopping Center at 9 a.m. The entry fee before Wednesday is $8, $5 if you’re under age 14. Call Clark Gelhaus at 415-757-7412.
On Sunday, hard-core runners will be in Sacramento for the California International Marathon (7:05 a.m.), leaving two local run-walk events up for grabs.
In San Leandro, the Sleigh Bells Dash consists of a 10K run and a 5K walk. The 10K starts at San Leandro Marina and the 5K at Marina High School, both starting at 9 a.m. Included in the $10 entry fee is a T-shirt, bells for running shoes, and post-race Christmas party. For more information, call 415-283-6593.
In Walnut Creek, the Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis 10K and the Sleigh Bell 2-mile Stride each start at 9 a.m. The $10 entry fee includes a shirt and bells. Call 415-283-6593.
On December 13, there were two Christmas runs. The Christmas Carol Charity 5 & 10K, one of the more worthy events of the year, starts at 8:30 a.m. in San Francisco. The runs, with entry fees ranging from $15-$25, are sponsored by the city’s firefighters. Proceeds will be used to buy toys for needy children. There is also a corporate team division. For more information, call the San Francisco Firefighters at 415-393-4087.
An hour later, in Napa, Santa’s Kis’s Run begins in Browns Valley school. Entry fee for the 8K is $12 for adults, $8 for children; the 100-meter race is $1. There is a pancake breakfast afterward. Call 707-257-2900.
On Sunday, December 20th, it’s the 14th annual Christmas Relays, a race around Lake Merced that begins at 9 a.m. There are plenty of divisions. Each team consists of four runners, with each person running one lap of the 4.464-mile course. The cost is $25 per team; if you wait until race day, the price goes up to $35. For information, call Sue Lee at 415-284-4247.
No holiday would be complete without a Dolphin South End event. This year the gang is getting together on Christmas morning at the Stow Lake Boathouse in Golden Gate Park at 10 a.m. for the DSE Christmas Day Blind Date Relays. The fee is $1 and the contact number is 415-994-5727.
Many years ago when the West Valley Track Club Relays were moved from Highway 1 (they used to run between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay) to Lake Merced for safety reasons, John Lehrer hatched the idea of putting runners back onto the course around the Holidays.
Lehrer came up with the Recover from the Holidays Fat-Ass Fifty. He kept it simple. No entry fee, no prizes or awards, no T-shirt, and no wimps. And you supply your own aid. When Lehrer moved to Southern California, he passed the race over to fellow runner Joe Oakes, who has carried on the tradition. The race is scheduled for 7 a.m., December 27. For information, call Oakes at 415-941-6287.
As though one Fat-Ass Fifty weren’t enough, Adrian Crane (he successfully ran the Death Valley-to-Mount Whitney course in July) has put together one for runners living in the Modesto area. Same date, same starting time as the Joe Oakes event, but Crane’s course is a loop and run through quiet country roads. Same entry fee, same rules, same race name. Call 209-575-3041.