July 11, 1988
Fitness: THE RACE TO FILM WOMEN’S OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS
While the top female marathoners in the world are preparing for the Summer Olympics, two Santa Cruz filmmakers are running a race of their own.
They are attempting to finish a 60-minute documentary on the 1988 Women’s Marathon Trials. The film would be an historic tribute to the uphill battle for women to gain entrance to this most prestigious of running events.
The film focuses on efforts by three Bay Area women to qualify for this year’s Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials, which were held in May at Pittsburgh, Penn.
The project began two years ago when filmmaker Nina Koocher and aspiring screenwriter Phyllis Peterson decided to tell the story of how women earned the right to compete in the marathon distance at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Before Los Angeles, the longest distance women were allowed to run in the Olympics was the 1,500-meter event.
Koocher and Peterson decided that in order to make the history of women’s long distance running more vital, it would have to be placed in the contemporary context. Hence their idea to film three Bay Area women in the process of training for the Olympic Trials.
The film is titled “Qualifying Time.”
The three subjects of the film are Judy Leydig, Eileen Bickard, and Nancy Ditz.
Leydig, who qualified with east for the Trials in 1984, failed to qualify this year after making six attempts in 18 months. She came within three minutes of the standard of two hours, 49 minutes and 59 seconds.
Bickard, a high school counselor, qualified early with a 2:48:51.
Ditz, one of the top female marathoners in the nation, not only qualified for the Trials, but took second place in the Trials with a 2:31:02, guaranteeing her a spot on the 1988 U.S. team.
Koocher and Peterson have completed the shooting part of the film. Now, they face a marathon effort of their own—finding the money to complete the project. The pair still needs about $112,000 for processing, rental of background footage from archives, and editing the thousands of feet of film.
They hope to raise the money in time to have the film finished by the first week of September, just prior to the opening of the Summer Olympics at Seoul, Korea.
Perhaps the most poignant aspects of the film are those covering Leydig’s repeated attempts to make the qualifying time. Koocher and Peterson decided to shoot Leydig’s sequences in black and white. The newsreel mood of Leydig’s attempts compare favorably with the archive footage, and contrast with the rest of the film, which is shot in color.
Armed with a 10-minute clip of Leydig, Koocher and Peterson are making the rounds of running clubs, corporation, and anyone else who will view their efforts, in an attempt to raise the money necessary to finish their project.
Public television station KQED in San Francisco reportedly is interested in airing the finished film.
Koocher and Peterson now find themselves in the last miles of a marathon effort, hoping for an aid table around the next bend.
“Every little bit helps,” Peterson explained. “We have rolls of film sitting at the lab waiting to be processed. Each $100 processes another roll of film.”
NOTE: Donations, which are tax deductible, can be made out to West Valley Track Club, 206 Oakland Avenue, Capitola, Calif. 95010. For more information, call Nine Koocher at 408-475-5989.
July 18, 1988
Running Roundup: RACE TO REPLACE S.F. MARATHON RUNS INTO SCHEDULING PROBLEMS
Yesterday was, at one time, the announced date of the 1988 San Francisco Marathon.
When that race didn’t pan out, yesterday became the date of the San Francisco Distance Classic, a half-marathon fielded in the place of the full marathon.
That race didn’t work out, either. The Distance Classic now has been rescheduled for August 28, starting at Sloat Avenue near the Zoo at 8 a.m. and finishing at the Marina Green. The entry fee is $15 in advance, $20 race day. Rainbeau Bodywear is sponsoring the event.
Runners can receive $2 off the entry fee and also receive a pair of bicycle shorts by registering for the race at Rainbeau’s store at 300 Fourth Street in San Francisco, Aug. 13-27. For information, call 415-777-9786.
The problems encountered by the San Francisco Marathon organizers since the race moved out of Golden Gate Park and went city-wide have been well publicized. But the city’s budgetary crisis now threatens to restrict other participatory events. Supervisor Bill Maher has proposed a set of severe limitations on them.
The restrictions would limit the city to two major events per day. A committee would be formed to regulate such events. Race routes would have to be pre-approved by the committee and Board of Supervisors.
Event organizers would pay for police services and would be assessed 22.5 percent for administrative costs. Race organizers also would have to pay the Department of Public Works for clean-up. Both police and public works monies would be paid in advance of the event.
Letters on this subject can be sent to Supervisor Willie Kennedy, Room 235, City Hall, San Francisco, 94102.
The sixth annual Manufacturers Hanover Corporate Challenge 3.5-miler will begin at the Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco on August 17, at 7 a.m. The race, one of 15 stops in the series, will be run through the Financial District. Local championship teams will be flown to New York for the championships on November 20.
The S.F. stop is expected to see 5,500 runners representing more than 350 companies. Entry forms can be picked up at the Pamakid Runners offices, 1233 Taraval Street, S.F., 94166 or call 415-681-2323.
While the fate of marathoning in San Francisco remains unclear, the Big Sur International Marathon, which was set up as a three-year experiment, has garnered enough support to be able to schedule next year’s event for April 23. The hilly course, which runs along the scenic Coast Highway, received rave reviews from participants, even in its first year when high winds were a negative factor.
Last month’s China Camp Challenge 7-miler was won by Bruce Linscott of Fairfax in 42:29; top female was Hazel Wood of Mill Valley who completed the course in 55:11. In the 4.2-mile race, Ben Coutant of El Cerrito won with a 26:53, while Keiko Takeshita of San Francisco won the women’s side with 34:40.
July 25, 1988
Fitness: A DOCTOR WITH A HEALTHY APPROACH TO THE WINDERNESS
Despite the various types of exercise practiced indoors, fitness purists frequently find that the primordial urge to get outdoors is overwhelming.
Dr. Dan Weinberg of Healdsburg lives, not by accident, in a house overlooking the Russian River. Canoeists and kayakers paddle back and forth in front of his deck all day long.
A practitioner and promoter of aerobic fitness, Weinberg admits to a passion for kayaking and mountaineering. He uses running as a means of staying fit for those pursuits.
It’s one way to escape his job as an emergency physician at Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol. But because of his love for the outdoors, Weinberg, 34, is among the growing number of California doctors who has a sub-specialty: wilderness medicine.
“I discovered that people didn’t know how to take care of themselves outdoors,” Weinberg said. As a doctor, he is frequently asked about what-if scenarios in life-threatening situations.
“Outdoors people are typically independent. They want to know what to do if something goes wrong,” Weinberg explained. But wilderness medicine is controversial among many doctors, who say that medically and legally it invites trouble. “I don’t agree,” he said. “You can teach anyone the basics as long as you keep the admonition of ‘Do not further harm’ in the foreground.
“What many medical people overlook in dealing with the wilderness is that your first concern is to protect the patient from the environment: from hypothermia, dehydration, and sun exposure.”
Weinberg uses an example to prove both points. A female friend of his with several kayakers on a remote river in Idaho. They came across some rafting enthusiasts who, dressed in flimsy cotton, had started their trip in warm sunshine. Now, however, more than half of them were in the throes of hypothermia.
A doctor in the group attempted to render aid, but he was unaccustomed to working in a wilderness environment and acted confused. “This situation was totally out of context with the hospital, where diagnostic tests are available,” Weinberg said.
Recognizing the symptoms of hypothermia, Weinberg’s friend stepped in to administer the proper care. “To her it was common sense,” he said. “She was experienced in the wilderness and knew how to react appropriately.”
Weinberg feels that many people who are physically fit believe that their physical strength is enough to get them through a wilderness emergency.
“In the back of their mind,” he adds, “is the thought that if something does go wrong, a helicopter will come in and evacuate them. They’ve obviously been watching too many dramas on TV where the timely rescue is a pat solution. Real life is rarely that simple.”