THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1994 TAG: 9406150477
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRED KIRSCH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940615 LENGTH: Long
As anyone who drives along Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach in the early-morning hours could tell you:
{REST} It's Thursday.
It's 6:15.
It's the 50th Street Running Gang, about to head off toward the pier on another 5.2-miler.
It began about 20,000 miles ago when lifelong buddies Brown and Finley began meeting Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for a ``little run and conversation.''
It wasn't long before they looked over their shoulders and there was John Pagenstecher falling in with them. And soon there was Dobbs. And then came Cheyney Cole and . . .
On this morning there are eight of them padding down Atlantic Avenue past the Cavalier Hotel and swinging up on the Boardwalk as the sun is coming up.
``This is our golf game,'' says Brown, a 40-year-old lawyer and triathlete. It's also their bar, their coffee shop, their hangout, their ``place.'' There is, says Brown, no other place - well, almost no other place - they'd rather be than cruising down the Boardwalk.
``It's not so much I want to be here,'' says the 37-year-old Cole, who works in commercial real estate. ``It's that I have to be here. You're not here. They'll talk about you the whole run. So you have to show up just to protect yourself.''
Everyone shows up. Rain. Wind. Northeaster. Doesn't matter. The 50th Street Running Gang is known for not knowing when to come out of the rain.
``Only makes it more fun,'' says Finley on this picture-perfect morning.
About a mile into the run, the small pack begins to string out. Up front is Dobbs, his green shoes glowing in the distance.
``If you want to get in a hard run, you go with Jon,'' says Brown. ``He won't let anyone get in front of him. That's what's nice, though. You can find your spot. You can run hard or drop back and talk.''
The talk is always the same. About last night's game, about work, about wives and kids, about lawyers (``Sam's phone number? It's 1-800-CASH.''), about Paddy McLaughlin's uncivilized New Jersey roots, about food, about sex.
``We've been talking more and more about sex as we've gotten older,'' says one of the gang, who's dropped back to talk.
For most of the 50th Street Running Gang the ``road'' is the place to talk things out and get some good advice.
``We're like a moving support group,'' says Brown. ``We really share everything. We've talked out divorces, plans to get married, problems, whatever. We rally around each other. We're there for each other.''
When Dobbs, 35, got married last year, the 50th Street Running Gang were the groomsmen. They showed up in tuxedos and running shoes.
When Brown's father died last January, the funeral was scheduled for a Monday, a day the Gang doesn't run together. But Brown asked the guys, ``How about going for a run?''
Everyone was there.
On Fridays after work, most of the guys drop by the Thunderbird Cafe for ``one beer, that's all.''
``You run thousands of miles with someone,'' says Finley. ``You develop a pretty strong bond.''
The bond is often hard to break. Pagenstecher, who recently moved, put off leaving the area for months and months because he couldn't bear to leave the group.
``You really kind of join by osmosis,'' says Cole. ``I'm not sure how it happens. One day you're out here running. And once you're here, there's no way you're leaving. The day wouldn't be the same without this.''
Anyone is welcome if you can stand the jokes and the pace of the Tuesday and Thursday 5.2-miler and Saturday's 7-miler in the winter and 10-miler in the summer. The Saturday winter run is called ``7 at 7 at 7'' - 7 miles at a 7-minute pace at 7 o'clock.
The latest member of the group is John Burley, the new minister at Galilee Episcopal Church. He's been tagging along since last November.
``He had no choice,''' says Finley. ``We found out he lived on 50th Street. If you live on 50th Street, there is no excuse for not running. Absolutely none.''
The Boardwalk is beginning to fill up with bikers and walkers as the 50th Street Running Gang makes the turn at the pier and begins to head back.
``You see the same people every day,'' says Finley, greeting a walker. ``It's like a little community out here. We're all part of the scene. You feel connected to everyone.
``Plus, it's a pretty interesting scene at this hour. We've seen some amazing things on the beach.''
From where he is, he can't see Dobbs, who has made the turn off the Boardwalk and is less than four miles from the finish. Skip Smith, who works for a construction company, isn't far behind.
``I'd run with them,'' says Dobbs, who operates a tree service, ``but they are so boring. When I ran with them, I used to carry a backpack and put rocks in it so they'd bounce around and I wouldn't have to listen to them.''
They're all in now, stretching and talking on the corner of 50th.
``Got to go,'' says Brown. ``Got to fix breakfast for the kids.''
Dobbs. Smith. Jamie Curran. Burley. Cole. McLaughlin. Finley. They begin to disappear into the morning.
50th and Atlantic is empty.
They'll be back Saturday.
by CNB