by Charles Clines
Many runners , including me, can point to the Cowtown 10K as the start of their new-found sport. Some have graduated to the marathon and others participate in the 5K or relays.
Because Cowtown is Fort Worth’s most recognized running event, there also have been several memorable and remarkable moments. Maybe one of the most surprising moments came in 1997 when surprise entry Catherina McKiernan, an elite runner from Ireland, entered without fanfare and upstaged invited celebrity runner Gwyn Coogan, a 1992 U.S. Olympian.
McKiernan not only outran Coogan, but she set a Cowtown women’s 10K course record with her blazing 31-minute, 32-second effort over the 6.2-mile course. Coogan finished in 33:10, which would have been a course record had it not been for McKiernan, who also happened to be Gwyn’s nemesis in several international runs. Both runners received the Miller Challenge $1,000 bonus for setting a course record.
McKiernan obviously was pleased with her sterling effort, but was less pleased that she wasn’t given the same hospitality shown Coogan and that hardly anyone knew her status in the running world. She had stopped in Fort Worth en route to Europe after training in high altitude in New Mexico.
She set a women’s standard that will be hard to top, if it ever will be.
Personal reflections
What to do with these ``You’re Welcome’’ cards that I had ready to send my editors in anticipation of their ``Thank You Letters’’ for 33 years of service at the Star-Telegram? So far, I have not heard one word from any editor…no `thank you,’ no `sorry to see you go,’ no `good luck,’ or even a `we’re glad to get rid of you,’ comment since my Jan. 8 early retirement. After 33 years, you’d think there would be at least one acknowledgement of my being there. But the only thing posted was an e-mail from the sports editor on January 8th that said, `Charles Clines has retired.’ As you can see, there are some big hearts at the S-T.
The Arthritis Foundation Joints In Motion team went to Dublin, Ireland, in October to run the Dublin City Marathon and everyone finished, including a teary-eyed president of the Fort Worth branch, Deborah Phelan. And to show how much of a running bug that was going around on that team, several of the Dublin participants, and the ones who trained for Honolulu and Disney, are sticking together and running on Saturday mornings. Two are now thinking about running the Cowtown Marathon. And all were first-time marathoners.
And thanks to Dr. Tom Kleuser for repairing my right knee on Dec. 27 for a torn meniscus. I recuperated fast and am ready to run - well maybe jog - again.
And speaking of thanking people for their years of service: Thanks for Judy and and Don Barton for their hard work with the FWRC over the years.
