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Pendleton News
Blazin' Brown
Wayne Short
The first-ever All-Marine Cross Country Championship was dominated by local runners Saturday as Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego's Jeremy Brown and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar's Tara Smith took the individual titles. Miramar laid claim to the overall team title at the event, which was held on the 5-mile San Mateo Area course.
Marine Corps Regional Running Program manager Cori Thornton and All-Marine Sports director Steve Dinote, both of whom were on hand for the event, couldn't have asked for a better inaugural championship, as more than 50 runners from across the country turned in some impressive performances.
"We didn't know most of these people even existed," said Thornton, adding that the event was meant to be a stage for unknown talent to show their skills.
"We achieved our goal in finding these people," Thornton said.
One of those unknown runners was Brown, who previously ran for the team in 2000 but stepped out of the competitive spotlight.
"I got married and got away from it for a while, but I'm looking forward to competing again," Brown said.
Thornton marveled at Brown's winning time of 27 minutes, 45 seconds, indicating he'll be a part of the Regional Running Program's stable of top runners.
"Jeremy Brown looked really good," Thornton said. "I didn't even know who he was."
Brown said he felt he had a faster time in him, but the course conditions slowed him down a bit.
"I wanted to run a faster time, but with the mud pits, it held me back a bit," Brown said, referring to standing water left by recent rains.
"I definitely could have run faster, but the end result was there, and that's all that really matters."
Miramar's team of Smith, Tim Tapply, Joseph Galvin and Bernard Gladstone posted a combined time of 2:02:46, 27 seconds better than Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii's team of Andrea Stover, Andrew Atterberry, Kenneth Dawson and Adam Becker.
In the women's division, Miramar's Smith fell back early in the race, but came from behind to overcome front-runner Michelle Vanostrand from Twentynine Palms in the final straightaway for a near-photo finish in a time of 33:36.
The race unfolded just the way Smith envisioned. She said she prefers to run from behind.
"I'm a hunter," Smith said. "I didn't think she (Vanostrand) was in first. I was just going for the next one. I thought she had it. I was really laboring, but I just pushed it out in the end."
Smith says she has been out of competitive running since high school, but admits the competitive juices are flowing with the prospects of running for the Marine Corps.
"I would love to represent the Marine Corps; that would be awesome," she said.
Western Region RRP representative Mike Conover, who is based here, was impressed with the turnout.
"It's great to see teams travel here for the race, and all the interest in Marine Corps cross country running," Conover said.
Conover also added that he was impressed with Camp Pendleton newcomer Kenny Detwiler.
"He (Detwiler) has a really good resume and could be a real factor in the near future," Conover said.
Detwiler says he is happy to finally get the opportunity to compete in running with the Marine Corps.
Moreover, it's one of the reasons he enlisted.
"I knew a lot about Marine running from my recruiter, so I knew I wanted to compete before I came in," he said.
Thornton said next year's site for the championship has not been determined yet, but says that all the runners liked this year's venue.
"Everyone I asked loved the course," she said.
Next on the agenda for the All-Marine team is the Armed Forces Cross Country Championship, which will be hosted by the U.S. Air Force in February.
That event will be in conjunction with the 2005 USA Track and Field National Cross Country Championship in Vancouver, Wash.
Runners interested in learning more about the All-Marine and the Regional Running Program can visit its official Web site at www.usmc-mccs.org/mxrun/.
Local runners interested in the Regional Running Program can contact Mike Conover at 763-0781.
'Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego's Jeremy Brown (center) wasted little time jumping to a lead Saturday at the first-ever All-Marine Cross Country Championship. Photo by Wayne Short.