Still running

Mike Scannell has been there and done that during more than a quarter century of competitive running.

The 44-year-old Grand Blanc resident no longer had the urge to go through the arduous training needed to remain an elite masters runner, nor was he keen on traveling the country to major races.

He was content to run two or three times a week and settle into retirement.

Fred Vanhala of Allen Park knew Scannell's situation, but also knows how to push the right buttons when recruiting runners for his Front Line Racing team.

Once Vanhala let him know the runners he was lining up for the USA Track & Field National Club Cross Country Championships ... well, let's just say it was an offer Scannell couldn't refuse.

"We kind of joke that it's like in Godfather III where Al Pacino says, 'I try to get out, but they keep pulling me back in,'" Vanhala said. "I keep pulling him back in. We put some pretty good teams together, which makes it attractive for him to keep competing."

Scannell immediately resumed regular training and was fit when he showed up on the starting line for the national meet last Saturday at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. His ninth-place finish helped Front Line win the 40-and-over team championship in an upset over pre-race favorites from Colorado and California.

Front Line, comprised entirely of Michigan runners, had 73 points. Fleet Feet Racing of Boulder, Colo., was second with 86 and defending-champion Team Runners High of California was third with 90.

"For this masters championship race, we pulled the fastest masters runners in the state together," Scannell said. "There wasn't one guy in the state who could have broken into the top five."

As it turned out, there wasn't anybody in the nation who could beat the team's top runner, Terry Lokken of Marquette. Lokken, a relative unknown because he rarely races outside of the Upper Peninsula, finished the 10-kilometer course in 32:44, seven seconds ahead of Danny Martinez of Alhambra, Calif.

Scannell moved his way through the pack after standing around 50th place at the mile mark, finishing in 33:27. He was 12 seconds out of fourth place, a gap he might have made up had he not fallen midway through the race.

"It was muddy and rainy, so you don't pay attention to times," Scannell said. "Time was not a factor in this race at all. My expectation going into the race was I was going to be very happy in the top 20 in the nation, so I raced very well."

Scannell, who ran for Arizona State in the 1980s and once beat Bill Rodgers in a marathon, was the team's No. 2 runner. Front Line took eight runners, with the top five times counting toward the team score. The other runners were Paul Aufdemberge of Redford (34:01), Patrick Lencioni of Ann Arbor (34:06), David Watkins of Birmingham (34:59), Eric Stuber of Lansing (35:20), David Peterson of Farmington (36:48) and Doug Ogden of Chelsea (37:20).

Scannell said this meet became the focus of his training once he accepted Vanhala's invitation.

"Around July 15, I was still running two or three times a week, not very much," Scannell said. "Fred pulled this team together and said, 'It's Dec. 9. Do you guys want to go for it?' Some guys started committing. I said, 'OK, if you guys commit, I'll start training again.' In August, I started upping my mileage. I ran up to 60 miles a week. It's not a lot for me, but triple what I had been doing. I was running an average of 22 to 24 miles a week. I did prepare specifically for this race with a lot of directed workouts."

With next year's race closer to home in Cincinnati, the group is expected to remain intact to make a run at repeating. Scannell certainly plans to be there, his short-lived hiatus from the sport notwithstanding.

"I wish I could say, 'No,'" he said. "I'm happy in retirement, but Fred continues to suck me back to do these events. I'm like, 'Fred, find someone else younger, faster.' "