Tamalpa's (L-R) Mark Richtman, Tom O'Reilly, Roy Kissin, Brian Pilcher
Photo credit: © Lillie O'Reilly Photo
TAMALPA RUNNERS 4x1,600 M50 RELAY WORLD BEST
College of Marin
September 18, 2007
4 x 1600 Meters Relay (50+)
Tamalpa Relay Squad
Brian Pilcher (50) 4:47.86
Roy Kissin (50) 5:01.62
Tom O'Reilly (50) 4:52.30
Mark Richtman (52) 4:49.54
Official Time: 19:31.4
Note: USATF does not keep records in the 4 x 1600m relay.
*****
Veteran Runners Break Lyons' Relay Record
By Barry Spitz, Marin Independent Journal
THE CIRCLE, or perhaps more properly, the oval, has been completed.
In 1996, 55-year-old Steve Lyons ran four laps around the College of Marin
track in 4 minutes, 52.1 seconds to lead a quartet of Tamalpans to the world
4x1,600 meter relay record for men over 50. Tuesday evening, in the Steve
Lyons Memorial Meet at San Rafael High, another Tamalpa 50-plus foursome
broke the 1996 record.
The former mark of 19:43.3 was set by Lyons, Frank Ruona, Jim Williams, and
Don Porteous. The time worked out to an average of just under 4:56 for each
1,600 meters.
In 2004, Lyons, the winner of 17 black Dipsea shirts, was in his final days
of a long battle against ALS when the inaugural Steve Lyons Mile Festival
was staged. He attended in a wheelchair.
On Tuesday, with scores of onlookers cheering, Brian Pilcher of Ross led off
with a blistering 4:47.9. Corte Madera's Roy Kissin followed with a 5:01.6.
Tom O'Reilly, who competed on a dirt track as a student at San Rafael High,
actually outran his designated pacer as he clocked a 4:52.3. Then Novato's
Mark Richtman, oldest of the four at 52, anchored with a 4:49.6. The
combined time of 19:31.4 lopped 12 seconds off the old record.
"We're the world's fastest geezers," Pilcher joked after.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FROM FRANK RUONA, TAMALPA RUNNERS
The Tamalpa senior men smashed the record. I knew that when Brian Pilcher
ran a 4:47.86 opening leg that our record was gone. I was on the Tamalpa
senior men's team that set the record of 19:43 in 1996. I ran the opening
leg in 4:58; Jim Williams ran leg two in 4:57; then Steve Lyons really took
off on leg 3 and ran like a 4:53; and Don Porteous finished up with a 4:55.
When Brian ran 10 seconds plus faster for this team's first leg,
I knew it was over.
Some background about the 4 Tamalpa Senior runners on the team:
Brian Pilcher turned 50 last August and decided to take up running again
after not doing any serious running since high school in Beverly Hills, CA.
He ran the November Tamalpa Club Race 5K and finished in 18:38. He then ran
several cross country races for Tamalpa and got faster with each race. This
year he has been the first senior PA finisher in the Marin Memorial Day 10K
and in the Empire and GGP cross country races. He was also the first
senior male finisher in the Falmouth Road Race this summer. Brian and Mark
Richtman have been religious about their track workouts the past couple of
months and Brian was obviously very fit for this effort.
Roy Kissen, who ran the second leg, was an outstanding distance runner at
San Ramon High School. He went to the State meet in the 2 mile in 1974 and
1975, finishing third in 1975. He then went on to Stanford University where
he was a National Class distance runner and competed in the 1980 and 1984
Olympic Trials. Known as 'The Champ' among his Tamalpa Brethren, Roy has
not done much competitive running other than Tamalpa Club Races in the last
several years.
Tom O'Reilly is the eldest of three outstanding running O'Reilly brothers.
He started to show his excellent speed at an advanced age when he had an
outstanding year on the PA/USATF Road Racing Circuit as a 48 year old in 2005.
In 2007 he was leading the PA/USATF Road Racing Short and Long racing circuits
after the first 6 road races. Tom came back from a second place senior men's
finish, by about a whisker, at the Banana Chase 5K on Sunday to run a strong
4:52.30 third leg on the relay.
Mark Richtman, until this year, was known for his exploits on the Ultra
Running Circuit. In 2006 Mark was the first Senior finisher in the Way Too
Cool 50K, the Miwok 100K and the Western States 100 Mile Endurance run; in
2005 he was the first Senior finisher in the Headlands 50K and the Miwok 100K;
and in 2002 he was the first masters finisher and second overall finisher in
the Miwok 100K and first masters finisher and third overall finisher at the
Western States 100 Mile Endurance run. In 2007 Mark decided to do some short
stuff. I think he has shown us that he has an amazing range of talent to race
competitively from 1 mile to 100 miles.
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