Allen
Park-based Front Line Racing Team makes
its mark in marathon racing (Photo of
coach and eight team members at the AP 8K,
plus one of its members finishing third)
Gorgon –
Front Line Racing Team 8-6-06
By Dave
Gorgon
Fred Vanhala says the Front Line Racing
Team got its name after a group of five
guys who ran the Detroit Free Press
marathon together in 1999 were big enough
to be the “front line” of a football team.
Vanhala, a resident of Allen Park, was one
of those guys. The others were his
brother, Mark, Bill O’Neil of Allen Park,
Marv Phelps of Riverview and Jeff Horka of
Plymouth.
“Our team
average was 70 pounds more than the
average marathon runner,” Vanhala said.
“We averaged about 215.”
The
experience didn’t stop Vanhala from
founding “The Racing Team for
Michigan.” In fact, Front Line has become
one of the most successful self-funded
running teams in the country.
Since 1999,
Vanhala has gathered a pool of more than
100 runners from nine states that he can
call on to compete for the team. The
runners train on their own or with local
clubs, but compete as a group for Front
Line in marathons and other events that
involve team scoring, including the USA
Indoor Track Championships and USA Cross
Country Championships.
Since
forming, Front Line has won more than 50
competitions. Last year, the team won nine
championships. They year before, there
were 13 titles.
On August
26, the team will attempt to defend its
title at the Crim 10-Mile Team Challenge,
a race that attracts about 4,000 runners
to Flint.
In that
event, a team can enter 10 runners and
count the performances of five toward the
finals score. A team scores one point when
a runner wins an age group, two points
when the runner finishes second and so
forth. A perfect score would be five
points.
Other team
gold medals have come in the Free Press
Marathon, the Crystal Lake Marathon
Five-Person Relay, the Riverbank 25K USA
Track and Field Team Race, the Glass City
Marathon, the Eastern Michigan University
Classic Distance Medley Relay, the Chicago
Marathon, the Akron Marathon, the
University of Detroit Mercy Titan Cross
Country Invitational, the USA Cross county
Nationals in Indianapolis and the Stampede
of Races in Ann Arbor.
Team members
hold national records. Last year, Paul
Aufdemberge of Redford set the U.S.
masters (40 and older) record in the
10,000 meters with a time of 30:04 in the
Hillsdale Gina Relays. This past February,
Eric Green of Pontiac set the U.S. indoor
mile record for runners ages 35 to 39.
And even
when they don’t win, the runners are
usually near the top.
Take this
year’s Boston Marathon on April 17. Front
Line entered a team of women in the open
division and finished fourth among the 44
teams. Another group of team members were
fifth out of 41 teams in the women’s
master division.
The year
before, Front Line was fourth in the
women’s masters, fifth in the women’s
open, eighth (out of 60 teams) in the
men’s masters and 10th (out of
69) in the men’s open.
Vanhala, who
also is president of the team, said he
formed Front Line to feed his competitive
juices.
“I just
enjoy the sport and I enjoy the runners,”
said Vanhala, who ran for Allen Park High
School and then coached Gabriel Richard
High School in 1978 to 1981.
“I enjoy the
competitiveness. I was a high school coach
a number of years and had a great time
with it. But I had to face the real world
and give up high school coaching. This
replaces not being able to be a high
school coach any longer.
“I like to
win things. I try to put the best team
possible together for all of our
competitions.”
Running is
often an individual sport, so putting
together the right team can be a
challenge.
“It’s
difficult because runners by nature aren’t
team-oriented,” he said. “Sometimes it’s
like putting a round peg into a square
hole to get them to buy into the team
concept.”
After not
being “very connected to the running
community for a decade and a half,”
Vanhala introduced himself to many runners
and talked to them about representing the
team. After winning two titles in 2000,
word spread to all parts of the state.
Front Line now has pockets of runners from
Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and even the Upper
Peninsula.
“We do have
a good percentage of the top runners in
Michigan competing for us,” Vanhala said.
“I’m always trying to chase down some
more.”
While 75
percent of the Front Line runners are near
the top of their age group, the rest are
“middle of the packers,” Vanhala said.
“Although
our emphasis is on the elite runners,
we’re happy to get some recreational-type
runners,” he said.
Andy Hass of
Royal Oak is one of the more notable team
members. An accomplished marathon runner
at age 28 and a former member of the
Michigan Tech cross country team, Hass was
the top runner from Michigan in the 2001
Boston Marathon and was the 12th
fastest U.S. runner in the 2004 event.
“Fred does a
good job for us,” Hass said. “He finds the
races and sets up all the logistics. He’s
put together a who’s who of Michigan
runners on his e-mail list.”
Front Line team members also compete in
shorter events, including the Riverview
Winterfest, which took place in February,
and the Allen Park Street Fair 8K Run,
which took place Saturday.
In
Riverview, the team members took honors in
three of the four top categories.
Aufdemberge was the overall winner, while
Julie Winter and Eric Stuber were masters
champions. In addition, Ryan Piipo,
Marybeth Reader and Dave Burkhart won
their age groups and five other runners
were runner-up in theirs.
In Allen
Park, eight team members performed
admirably in the race. Six finished in the
overall top 30 among 380 registered
runners.
Hass, wearing a Front Line Racing Team
uniform, finished third overall in 26
minutes, 25.2 seconds – a pace of 5:19 per
mile. He won the men’s 25 to 29 age group.
The other team members present for the
Allen Park race were Paul Vockler of Allen
Park, Dan Drinane of Southgate, Tom Yates
of New Boston, Tom Piazza of Troy, John
Tarkowski of Northville, Pete Braun of
Troy and Doug Ogden of Chelsea. Team
member Gene Zimmerman of Riverview helped
with the organization of the event.
“Allen Park doesn’t have a team
competition,” Vanhala said, “but I
encourage the runners to support my
hometown.”
Piazza, 47,
won the men’s 45-49 age group in 28:54.7
and was 14th overall. Ogden,
43, and former Western Michigan University
runner Yates, 44, finished 1-2 in the
40-44 group and placed 15th and
17th overall, respectively.
Tarkowski, 53, was second to marathon
record holder Doug Kurtis in the 50-54
group in 30:22.4 and placed 26th
overall. Vockler, 24, was third in the
20-24 group in 30:46.4, good for 29th
overall.
“It’s my first year,” said Braun. “So far,
I’ve enjoyed running for Fred. My big goal
is to get as fast as I ran in high
school.”
If Vanhala gets his way, Braun may get
there sooner than he thinks.
“I am a competitive nut,” Vanhala said.
“Nobody will play Monopoly with me. Nobody
will play cards with me. In the running
world, it’s the same thing. Whatever I can
do to win, I do it.”
