THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 5, 1995 TAG: 9509050121
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Fitness Quest
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 115 lines
Sonny Burton knelt in the starting position, his hands touching the warm asphalt of the Norfolk Academy track, and pushed off for the upteenth time. Stopping after a few feet, the gray-haired Great Bridge man wiped his hands on his headband, shook his head and grimaced.
``I'm babying my legs,'' he said, rubbing both thighs. ``Afraid I might pull something.''
Dwayne Miller was watching. ``You're taking too big a stride,'' he advised as he crouched, and to demonstrate, leapt up, taking exaggerated paces. ``You're taking giant steps. Stay lower longer. Take baby steps.''
Burton is 60 years old, running seriously again for the first time in 22 years. Miller is 30 with a Nike sponsorship to his credit, and he's vying for the Olympic Trials as a sprinter and long jumper.
Though headed in different directions, there's room for both in the Pony Express Track Club. Pony Express, founded five years ago, is the area's only masters track club with members ranging in age from 30 to their late 60s. Although many in Pony Express gear their workouts to fitness and fun, most aim for masters track and field competition, which is open to anyone 35 or older. Masters meets, held year-round at the regional, national and international levels, divide participants into five-year age groups.
Although some in Pony Express have extensive track and field backgrounds, others, like Tony Besase of Virginia Beach, are newcomers to the sport.
``In high school I always played football; I never had time for track and field,'' said Besase, 61, suited up in his Pony Express gear - shorts and a white tank top with the club's logo, a red mustang with a lightning bolt down the center. ``I never knew they had something like this. . . . Now I can't wait for the meets. It gets my blood pressure up.''
Besase, who owns his own freight company, tooled around with antique cars and played golf regularly, but never set foot on a track until three months ago when he saw an ad for the Senior Olympics.
``I told my wife, joking, `I think I'll go enter that and see what I can do,' '' he said.
What he did was win eight gold medals, three silver and a bronze. Ever since, ``I dream about it at night.''
Leonore McDaniels has her share of medals, too. McDaniels, who at 59 became involved in track and field, said through her German accent, ``Ever since I started this, it makes me feel amazed at my own body, what it can do. It's fascinated me ever since.'' She used to train with the Salem High track team, but she and her husband, Russel, joined Pony Express a year ago. ``It gives you a sense of competing and belonging,'' said the 67-year-old Beach resident. ``You meet other competitors and learn from them, too. There are more experienced sprinters here than me, people who have been at it longer than I have.''
McDaniels, who has competed in Japan and Finland, holds world records for the 65- to 69-year age group in the pole vault, high jump, heptathlon, long jump, triple jump and 60-meter hurdles. Although she's recovering from recent back surgery, she earned seven medals - five golds, a silver and a bronze - in July's world masters championship in Buffalo, N.Y.
``I guess you could say I have too much adrenalin,'' she said with a chuckle. ``I'm never without goals. Right now I'd like to get to 7 feet in the pole vault.''
Although athletes like McDaniels are world-class, Joe Mack, one of the club's founders, stresses that everyone is welcome at Pony Express. ``Fitness is a big part of why people over 40 should run,'' he said. ``Most people aspire to getting faster every year. Most people who are older want to see what they've still got. We welcome them; we'll work with them.''
Mack laid the groundwork for the club at a masters meet in Charlottesville in September of 1990. Competing as an independent runner, Mack met up with three other local guys and, on a lark, formed a winning 4 x 100 relay team. The next year, Pony Express entered its first competition together in the 4 x 100 relay at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, finishing third.
``We want to promote track and field in this area and allow post-high school and college runners to have a place to compete,'' said Lawrence Lee, 40, another Pony Express founder. Lee, an ex-Granby High runner, coaches the Pony Express sprinters.
Deborah Parker of Virginia Beach was yearning for that kind of outlet. At 32, she's too young to participate in masters competition and instead competes in sub-masters for ages 30 to 35. A standout in track since elementary school, Parker was the first female to run cross country at Lake Taylor High and the first woman to join Pony Express.
``I've been longing for a track club in this area,'' said Parker, a long jumper and sprinter. Parker will often spot a potential member jogging around the Norfolk Academy track. ``I'll wait until they cool down and then nab them. will say they didn't know you can still run at 30. It doesn't take much to build up your speed if you have that competitive spirit.''
Besides, said Besase, if he has the guts to give it a try, anyone should. Practices are informal, usually Tuesday and Thursday nights at Norfolk Academy for Southside folks and at Christopher Newport University for the Peninsula crowd. Members often car-pool to meets together.
``If a guy has just a little bit of athletic ability, he should come out and give it a try,'' Besase urged. ``The idea of beating somebody isn't important. It isn't whether you're first or 10th. If you cross the finish line, you did OK.'' MEMO: If you want to join the Pony Express Track Club, call Joe Mack at
482-5558.
The Virginian-Pilot's Fitness Quest is a six-month project to inspire
our readers to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Through the end of the year,
we are focusing on health, exercise and diet, as well as reporting
monthly in the Real Life section on four people's quest for fitness. To
join Fitness Quest or share your story, call Infoline at 640-5555 and
then press BFIT (2348).
ILLUSTRATION: PONY EXPRESS TRACK CLUB
[Color Photos]
Photos by L. TODD SPENCER
Paul Boccard, above, works on his pole vaulting technique while Tony
Besase, right, perfects his long jump.
by CNB