
DATE: Tuesday, August 5, 1997               TAG: 9708050244

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SERIES: HAMPTON ROADS AT PLAY

SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   83 lines

READY, SET, RUN AREA RACES ATTRACT RUNNERS OF ALL TYPES.

Jackie Drew began running in 1978, with a friend who was trying to quit smoking.

The friend lasted a week.

Drew's still going.

``It's just part of what I do,'' she said. ``It's a habit. Like brushing your teeth.''

In that sense, Drew, a 44-year-old statistical analyst at Old Dominion University, is like thousands of others in South Hampton Roads who are addicted to running. You see them all over, in all kinds of weather, logging their miles, doing speed work, or simply jogging to stay in shape.

On Saturday mornings, you'll usually find a couple hundred of them on a starting line, listening to Sharon Brown, the veteran race starter for the Tidewater Striders.

The Striders, a local running club with about 1,500 members, put on 62 races per year. Brown starts them all, including last Saturday's Run for Sight 5K, held at Granby High.

Her pre-race instructions, given for insurance purposes, never vary. On Saturday, Brown stood at the line, a starting gun in her right hand.

``No roller skates, no baby buggies, no dogs on leashes,'' she said, before pausing momentarily. ``And no headsets.''

With that, Brown fired her gun and 161 runners were off.

The fastest four returned in under 16 minutes. Others took twice that long.

No matter. The good thing about road racing is that everyone can find their level.

``You're always going to get passed by somebody,'' said Brian Chopp, 35. ``And you're always going to pass somebody.''

A former high school miler, Chopp took up running again in March to lose weight. He's lost about 10 pounds, and also dropped nearly three minutes from his 5Ktime. His best is 19:21.

``Running a race each week allows you to focus on a goal,'' he said. ``Plus, when you pay your money you have a tendency to come out for the race.''

An average race entry free is about $12, and usually includes a T-shirt. Most of the races benefit charities. Saturday's co-sponsor was the Ward's Corner Lion's Club.

The Striders sponsor races all over South Hampton Roads, and even hold one in Hampton. Summertime races are usually five kilometers, which is a little over three miles. Longer races are held in the spring and summer.

``We try to keep things low-key during the summertime,'' said R.P. Kale, the club's executive director.

That's fine with Drew, a grandmother who covers five kilometers in a very-respectable 24:30.

``I don't like to push myself because then it's not fun,'' she said. ``I run because it's something anybody can do. You don't have to be particularly athletic.''

Not everyone takes the same approach. Brown also works the finish line, where she and her staff watch for the occasional runner ``going for an Academy award'' in the final meters. In more than a decade of volunteering for the club, she and her husband, Rick, have seen it all.

``People falling. Dogs cutting in front of them. People being chased by dogs,'' she said. ``One of the problems we have is people not watching their bodies in this heat. They don't realize how quickly you can dehydrate.''

Fortunately, Saturday morning was cool for mid-July. No one overheated.

Certainly not 9-year-old Steven Bradley Crace, of Chesapeake. A black belt in American Kickboxing, Crace began running as part of his martial arts training. One of the requirements for his black belt was that he complete a 10K.

Crace finished Saturday's 5K in 30:15, tops in the under-12 division.

Then, holding his prize, a gift certificate for a local running store, Crace was off again.

Time to sign up for baseball. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

GARY C. KNAPP

The runners prepare to start their own watches Saturday at the

starting gun of 5K race at Granby High School in Norfolk. The

Tidewater Striders run 62 races per year.

Graphic

RUNNING

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]