Toughest competitors

This past week I happened to be listening to ESPN radio and Dan Patrick was on the topic of Michael Jordan and the topic was about his long and obviously brilliant career. Patrick wanted to ask him who he would say was his toughest competitor. Who played him the toughest. This gave me my idea for this weeks column. By no means was I ever at a Michael Jordan status in running but I thought it would be fun to list what I think were my toughest competitors. With thirty-five years of racing I have seen a plethora of tenacious and strong-willed runners. I’ve narrowed this field to a select few and I’m sure some of you will recognize many of the names below. I’ll do this in David Letterman style.

12. George Rolling- When I first started road racing I learned more from the “running reverend” then anyone. His marathon type training made him a threat at any distance.

11. Bobby King- Bobby always gave me my toughest competition in the longer races. One year at Huntington his shoe came untied and he stopped to tie it. I left him for dead but soon he was off my shoulder once again.

10. Mike Remenar- During the early 1990’s Mike was on top of his game and was winning 5k’s left and right. At the 5k distance Mike was tuff to beat.

9. Don Slusser- Don was from Pennsylvania but raced in this area often. He was strong at all distances.

8. Tom Griffiths- Tom, a Cadiz native, was a runner that possessed plenty of speed. You didn’t want to sit and kick with him late in a race.  

7.Bob Geiger- Although Bob, like Don Slusser was not an area resident he raced here often. Bob Twice ran me down in the last half mile of a 5k. He is the only runner to ever have done that to me.

6. Stuart Stickel- Stuart and I battled in the mid 90’s mostly at the 5k distance. I give him credit for many of my sub 16 races. I may not have beaten him at times but he sure brought out the best in me.

5.Steve Habursky- Steve was a guy that in my early years I always thought that I could run him down with my kick, unfortunately I was never close enough to do so. Not many were as good as Steve in the longer races.

4. Lance Tarr- Lance, much like Steve, was stronger the farther he went. Lance and I both knew each others weaknesses so well that it was difficult for either one of us to get the upper hand.

3.Joe Sarver- Joe is the one guy on this list that I can honestly say I hadn’t beaten in thirty-five years. Since his high school days to the present, Joe excelled at every distance from 5k to the marathon.

2. Ed Frohnapfel- Ed and I dueled in some classic 5k battles that I’m sure equaled out in wins over the years. Ed was another tenacious runner that showed no weaknesses.

And the number one competitor I’ve faced.

1. Mike Hudimac- Mike wasn’t called the iron man for nothing. Mike’s training and attitude made him a fierce competitor in the longer runs. Although better at the longer distances, Mike was one to never let down and let you have anything easy, no matter what the distance.

I guess you could call this group the “dirty dozen” but there are still some names that have to make the honorable mention list. These guys were also guys I respected a great deal because of their talent and great racing attitude.

Honorable Mention- Joe-Ed Winesdoerffer, Tom Morando, Joe Ellis, Lou “Scooter” Tolzda, Ron Calissie.

Okay, many would say where is Bruce Smith on this list. Bruce was in a class of his own when it came to racing. My list consists of people I have raced. With Bruce there was no race, he was usually gone early in a race. Hope some of these names are recognizable to many of you. See ya on the roads