Crowley race set
Toolbox
By Tom Haley Herald Staff - Published: June 10, 2006
They will be giving it the old college try Sunday at the 30th annual Crowley Brothers' Memorial 10K Road Race. The field includes a former all-conference defensive back from Siena College, a former great long distance runner from Bentley College, the Norwich University cross-country coach, the Castleton State College cross-country coach and a Cornell University women's ice hockey player.
There is no longer football at Siena, but alumnus T.J. Sabotka is still going strong. He is making his mark in triathlons and last year qualified for the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. The 33-year-old Sabotka is among those who have registered for the Proctor-to-Rutland race named after the late Joe, Frank and Larry Crowley, brothers who meant so much to Rutland and the surrounding area.
Derek Watulak, 26, not only had a great career at Bentley, he is a past winner of the Crowley Race.
Robert Lukaskiewicz is the Norwich cross country coach, but he has also turned heads in many marathons, including the recent Boston Marathon and Vermont City Marathon, with outstanding performances. His counterpart at Castleton, John Klein, is also in the field.
Caeleigh Beerworth has run the Crowley before, but her more serious diversion is playing varsity ice hockey for the Cornell Big Red.
The youngest runner is 9-year-old Lincoln Pritchard and the oldest 64-year-old Christine Tattersall.
Rutland's Jack Arthur, 53, will be running in the race with his 27-year-old daughter Jessie. Jack is a previous Crowley winner. His resume also includes winning the inaugural Green Mountain 10K Road Race at Killington.
These are among the 46 runners who have pre-registered for the event that will begin by the park in Proctor at 8 a.m. and finish on Merchants Row by the Citizen's Bank in downtown Rutland. It is a course certified by the USAT&F and the event serves as the Vermont State Masters Championships.
The race is steeped in history. Its origin can be linked to a challenge between Frank Crowley and Clarence De Mar to see who could win a race between Proctor and Rutland. Crowley was an All-American distance runner at Manhattan College who competed in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. De Mar was the winner of several Boston Marathons.
There will also be a one-mile Kids Race beginning at 8 a.m. in downtown Rutland, as well as a Corporate Challenge Walk.
Unlike the last several years, there will be no prize money this year. Previously $3,100 was doled out to various winners.
"The number of runners is down this year, for whatever reason," race director Mike Lannon said. "But the race is not dead. There are people who are still trying."
There are a couple of relay teams, including 13-year-old twins Mary and Caitlin Atkinson. They are outstanding gymnasts.
"I know they are good little athletes. I don't know what kind of runners they are," Lannon said.
This year's race brochure contained a warning in large letters: "Unfortunately, the race is not attracting enough runners. This may be the last year. Help prevent this from happening. Bring a runner?"
But sitting behind his desk at Rutland Plywood on Friday, Lannon was not talking like Sunday's race would be the swan song. He said he will have to reassess everything and plot his strategy for the next one.
Lannon knows one thing: If the race has anything going for itself it is tradition. It has been a part of the Rutland County community for years. There were sometimes different courses, but there was always the attempt to keep the history of the Proctor-to-Rutland challenge as part of the event.
It is a scrapbook for the running community that covers decades.
Proctor's Mike Canty known that better than anyone. He will miss this year's race, but still has the distinction of competing in 27 of the 30.
He is also a curator of the event's history with a thick scrapbook of articles chronicling the race through the years.
"It's got a lot of history and tradition to it," Canty said.
Canty is wondering whether or not the date is a factor in the dearth of runners. It is, for one thing, very close to the Vermont City Marathon.
"The race at one time was held in August to coincide with the Feast of the Assumption," Canty recalled.
Contact Tom Haley at tom.haley@rutlandherald.com
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