A RUNNER FOR THE '80S; A RUNNER FOR NOW

Following is my column, written for the Republican Herald newspaper, published on May 11.

Among the 3,500 runners who ran the Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5K on April 21 was Wayne Parfitt, a resident of Newport News, Virginia, and a 1983 graduate of Pottsville Area High School.
A distinguished cross country and track runner at Pottsville, Parfitt was a member of the 1982 cross country team that defeated the nearly invincible Blue Mountain team of harriers, snapping the Eagles’ remarkable streak of 144 consecutive dual-meet victories. He was invited by a group of Berks County runners to join their Junior Olympics team. That team went on the win the National Junior Olympics team title in 1982.

After graduation and before pursuing his higher education, Parfitt concentrated on running marathons. He ran his first marathon in Philadelphia at the age of 18, and a year later he returned to Philadelphia to turn in an incredible time of 2:31:09, earning him the No. 1 ranking in the country for marathon runners ages 19 and under.

Parfitt went on to run for Williamsport Area Community College. He ran for one year and became the state champion among Pennsylvania community college runners.

In 1986, Wayne Parfitt officially retired from running and competition.
Due to obligations associated with raising a family and pursuing a career, Parfitt “paused’’ his running pursuits, not for a year or two, but for 30 years.

When he returned to competition, he did so with a vengeance. In 2014, at age 49, he ran the Richmond Marathon in a time of 2:56. After an absence of 32 years, he returned to the Boston Marathon in 2016, and at age 52, he has achieved a personal age-group marathon time of 2:54:09, ranking him as one of the top over-50 marathon runners in the country.

At the Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5K, Wayne made the 6½-hour drive from Virginia to run in his hometown for the first time since 1983. It was as if he just released the pause button. Parfitt won his age division, clocking a time of 19:28, placing 10th overall in the massive field of runners.
Wayne Parfitt quit running because, according to him, “It wasn’t fun anymore.” Today, his passion for the sport has returned, and the reason, as he states, is simple. “I found the fun again.”

RUNNING AND AMERICA'S OLDEST BREWERY

In less than three weeks, 3,500 runners will line Mahantongo Street for the 6th annual running of the Yuengling Light Lager 5K race Saturday, April 21.

As it has done with its beers, America’s oldest brewery has brewed a winning formula, hosting the largest 5K race in eastern Pennsylvania.

When registration opens for the Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5K in October, the maximum capacity of runners is reached within about a week.

Runners enjoy the challenging race course that starts and finishes at America’s oldest brewery, the post-race block party, their Yuengling Light Lager Jogger-branded pint glass, official race T-shirt, the two free Yuengling Light Lagers for those age 21 and over, a chance to visit the Yuengling gift shop, and the opportunity to have their picture taken with company president, Dick Yuengling, who has attained rock star status among runners.

In addition, a portion of each participant’s entry fee is donated to Operation Gratitude, which annually sends more than 150,000 care packages filled with snacks, entertainment, hygiene and hand-made items, plus personal letters of appreciation, to new recruits, veterans, first responders, wounded warriors, care givers and to individually named U.S. service members deployed overseas.

The family of the oldest brewery in America has long been vested in the running community.
It has been my privilege to know Dick Yuengling since he was my Little League baseball coach many years ago. Back in the ’90s, when I was running races in southeast Florida, he graciously offered for me to stay at his condo near Fort Lauderdale, and I gratefully accepted.

Dick’s daughter, Jennifer, the sixth generation of Yuengling brewers, serves as vice president of operations for the Yuengling Brewery.

An excellent softball player at Pottsville High and Bucknell University, Jennifer took up running a few years ago and has now become an avid runner. She has run race distances from 8 kilometers to the half marathon. Although a full marathon may be in her future, running now serves as a stress release from raising a family as well as running a Fortune 500 company.

Approximately 15 years ago, with the help of one of their beer distributors near Tidewater, Virginia, Yuengling teamed up with the very popular Virginia Beach Marathon.

Today, the race is known as the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon, an entire weekend of running events that features an 8K, half marathon and a full 26.2-mile marathon. The weekend attracts more than 27,000 runners.

This year, the participants became the first to try Yuengling’s new product, Golden Pilsner, a delicious new brew that Jennifer Yuengling describes as a “lifestyle beer.” When talking about the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon she notes, “We’re not the biggest brewery, and it’s not the biggest race.”

But if you drink the beer and run the race, you’ll agree that quality beats quantity in both brewing beer and hosting a race.

Yuengling beer and running doesn’t end there.

Monday, registration opened for the 5th annual Yuengling Oktoberfest 5K Run/Walk, which will accompany the Oktoberfest festivities at ArtsQuest Center on SteelStacks Campus in historic Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The city of Pottsville has benefitted immensely from the presence of the Yuengling Brewery, and with 3,500 runners and their families descending upon the city, hotels, restaurants and business will see an increase in traffic on race weekend. Roma Pizza will offer specials to the runners, and The Wheel restaurant will feature post-race live entertainment.

Yuengling has helped put Pottsville on the map for beer-lovers, and runners as well.

RUNNERS-SIMPLY THE BEST

The month of April has been a lot of fun for me.

In four appearances I have had the opportunity to interact with thousands of runners, men and women, of all ages and abilities.

By speaking with and to these fine folks, it has reaffirmed my opinion that runners are among the finest people anywhere.

In early April I traveled to Lancaster to the Movie Madness Half Marathon. US Road Running conducts this event, which features a Hollywood theme. The weather was blustery, but the runners loved the race.

The next week I ventured a mile down the road to meet with runners prior to the Yuengling Light Lager 5K in Pottsville, the home of America's Oldest Brewery, Yuengling. Over 3,000 runners participated in the third annual event.

The following Saturday I had the privilege of speaking at the Harrisburg Area Road Runners annual banquet. Running clubs are valuable to runners all over this nation, and HARRC has been in existence for over 40 years. Join a running club near you. You'll be happy you did.

Finally, last weekend, I spoke at the pre-race pasta party for the Gettysburg North-South Marathon. I met folks from as far away as Texas, and a gentleman who has run over 300 marathons.

April has made me appreciate running and runners even more.

At the events, of course, I was honored when people bought my books, and was humbled when some told me they had enjoyed Running Shorts, and now wanted to read Personal Best.

My first book, Running Shorts: A Collection of Stories and Advice for Anyone Who Has Ever Laced Up a Pair of Running Shoes, published in 2011, is a compilation of my experiences as competitive runner for 39 years, but many of these tales reflect experiences YOU have had during your years as a runner. As one of the Amazon reviewers stated, "It will make you laugh and it will make you cry." amazon.com/author/joemuldowney

Traveling the country, promoting my first book, prompted me to write, Personal Best, my second book, published in September 2014.

Runners told me what they wanted in a running book, and I tried to respond by writing a book that is instructive to runners of all ages and abilities.

Personal Best took a tragic turn in April 2013, soon after I crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon. I devoted my first chapter, entitled "Was That Thunder," to the events, and my experiences of that day. I guarantee you, it is worth the read, and it is my fervent hope that I was able to capture the emotions of that fateful day in a manner in which every runner can relate.

If you would like read an electronic version of Personal Best, it is available for only $2.99 at Amazon, Lulu, iBooks, Nook, and Kobo.

You can visit my website: www,muldowneyrunning.com, and I will personally sign and send a book to you. You can go to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or to Lulu, www.lulu.com, to purchase running books that will positively influence your future running efforts.

And, it doesn't end there!

Read the books and stay in touch. email me here, look me up on Facebook at: Joe Muldowney Running, or on Twitter at: rdrunnr00. Tell me about your running, ask me questions, discuss training or injury issues.

I love this sport, and I love runners. Meeting so many of them this month has been inspiring to me.

Let's get to the finish line together and make each day our personal best.

HOMETOWN PROUD

On Saturday morning I watched a race.

And...I loved it.

All day Friday I signed books www.muldowneyrunning.com at the packet pickup for the 3rd Annual Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5K, http://www.lagerjogger.com/ held in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, home of Yuengling, America's Oldest Brewery.

I met hundreds of runners who were delighted to come to my modest hometown of about 15,000 residents, to climb numerous hills, on narrow, pothole-ridden streets, for the opportunity to run a race in order to sample fine beer which has been brewed in the same location, on the side of Sharp Mountain, fed with pure spring water, since 1829.

3,000 runners toed the starting line, or got fairly close to it. It took my daughter, Kelly, nearly three minutes to touch the start pad at the beginning of the race. Hoisted in the arm of a local fire engine's bucket, Yuengling owner, 5th generation Yuengling, Dick, started the field, promptly at 9:00 a.m..

The top three runners for both the men and the women were very fast, but this was a people's race.
There was a "Spartan," clad in Yuengling Lager garb, and one of the top finishers was "Lord Chesterfield," which happens to be a delicious brand of Yuengling beer.

The two-mile mark on the course is located on the final hill, one last nosebleed before runners complete a final downhill mile to the finish and oceans of Yuengling beer. It is also about 100 yards from my house. So, along with my wife and dog Dixie, a loving chocolate Labrador Retriever who loves runners, we took a short walk down the hill to cheer on the competitors. We assured the runners that there were no more hills ahead, that they had a tailwind behind them, and that plenty of beer was being brewed a mile down the road.

The runners, as runners are, were grateful for the support and encouragement. Some stopped to pet Dixie; others took pictures in front of the lager bottle that served as the mile marker.

In all, runners from 33 states participated in the race, by far the biggest event our city sees in any given year.

Runners and races have the ability to breathe vitality and bring an energy to a community.

Pottsville was a happening place thanks to a fantastic race over the weekend.

RACING AT AMERICA'S OLDEST AND BEST

We here in Pottsville, Pennsylvania have long been proud of the Yuengling Brewery. It is America's Oldest Brewery. The Yuengling family began brewing beer in Pottsville in 1829, and have been doing so ever since. Six generations of the Yuenglings have continued the family tradition of brewing beer.

Last week, it was announced that America's Oldest Brewery is now number one on the list of top craft breweries, based on sales volume. Yuengling moved more than 2.7 million barrels last year, taking over the top spot from Boston's Sam Adams Brewery.

The Yuengling family has always been very supportive of the running community. Virginia Beach's Yuengling Shamrock Marathon attracts over 30,000 runners to its annual race weekend.

Three years ago, Yuengling launched the Light Lager Jogger 5K. Yuengling Light Lager is a terrific beer. It is much more full-bodied than other light beers, yet it is low on calories.

Tomorrow, the third annual Yuengling Light Lager Jogger will be run through the streets of Pottsville, a small city of about 15,000 residents. A field (capped) of 3,000 runners will run the race and participate in the giant block party to be held at America's Oldest Brewery after the event.

The Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5K sells out within about two weeks when registration opens in December, so if you want to run this race, you'll have to wait until next year. Go to www.lagerjogger.com for details.

And if you want to take an interesting and historic tour, and sample some Yuengling products (my favorite is Lord Chesterfield Ale) come to Pottsville, Pennsylvania and tour the Yuengling Brewery, anytime throughout the year. www.yuengling.com

Good luck to all runners participating in the Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5K tomorrow.

www.muldowneyrunning.com