Going into 1994, running was a steppingstone for Joe Glass, (( but as the year draws to a close, it has become his foundation.
Glass, 54, stepped up his marathon running this spring as conditioning for skiing and a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak.
"The real reason behind all this running is I ski with a buddy named John Kenny and he always beats me in these races," says Glass, a lawyer in Towson. "This guy always beats me down the hills on the moguls. I used my running as sort of my physical buildup to a couple of these other endeavors."
And the venture up Kilimanjaro?
"I did the three spring marathons as a prelude to climb Kilimanjaro, which I did with my daughter, who was in the Peace Corps," he says. "I was able to adapt to the altitude up to something called Gillman's Point. You're only taking about a foot step at a time at that point."
But along the way, Glass discovered that he enjoyed marathon running more than he imagined, and he followed his Bermuda, Cleveland and Boston marathons in the spring with Marine Corps, Chicago and New York City marathons this fall.
And spurred by fellow Baltimore Road Runners Club member Dale Jordan -- who recently completed nine marathons in 11 weeks -- Glass also completed the JFK 50-Mile.
"It was easy up to about 42 miles," he says. "You hit a hill coming out of the C & O and it almost killed me."
And with Kenny and Kilimanjaro behind him, he remains intent on his goal of completing a hundred marathons.
"I've done approximately 30 right now," he says. "I started off doing two a year. And then I started doing maybe three. Overall, this was sort of my year of peaking. I thought if I didn't make it this year, I wasn't going to make it."
Briefly
Area finishers in Sunday's Delaware Marathon: Jim DiSciullo, 3:06:33; Mick Slonaker, 3:09; Al Hannigan, 3:21:30; Denise Hannigan, 3:30:11; Geriann Bell, 3:35:40; Eric Kocay, 3:40:58; Rob Betz, 3:52:09; Dave Bell, 4:44:48. . . . The area's top finishers:
SUNDAY
BRRC Hillside 5-Miler At Hillside & Stevenson Males: 1. Mike Woodman, 29, 26:29; 2. Paul Hannsen, 21, 26:45; Neville Anderson, 33, 28:30; 4. Anders Fristedt, 17, 29:11; 5. Jeff Sanborn, 40, 29:27.
Females: 1. Carole Rosasco, 35, 33:17; 2. Tracy Benny, 35, 35:52; 3. Fay Miller, 40, 38:46.
RASAC Fox 5K At Bel Air Males: 1. Eric Estrada, 15:59; 2. Mark Bogardy, 16:48; 3. Jeff Hinte, 17:52; 4. Greg Thompson, 18:20; 5. Rick Schmidt, 19:05; 6. Wilson Gorrell, 20:21; 7. Tim Dougherty, 20:24; 8. Phil Anderson, 20:35; 9.
Bernie Gemmill, 20:49; 10. Jared Bettac, 21:21.
Females: 1. Margaret Starnes, 19:54; 2. Kacie Remeto, 22:41; 3. Betty Lou Tucker, 24:21; 4. Ann Romagna, 37:27.
WRRC Dancer Dash 10K At Westminster Males: 1. Bob Hugg, 41, 36:38; 2. Kevin Kavanagh, 23, 38:32; 3. George League, 45, 38:46; 4. Roger Kilgore, 51, 40:07; 5. Bob McCubbin, 34, 42:07; 6. Skip Fennell, 50, 42:09; 7. Tim Morris, 24, 43:21; 8. Dave Herlocker, 54, 44:45; 9. Tim Gosnell, 36, 45:18; 10. Mark Mann, 33, 46:47. Masters: 1. Hugg.
Females: 1. Carolyn Stoll, 34, 44:00; 2. Janice Haug, 36, 45:05; 3. Katherine Kuzner, 12, 46:09; 4. Cristine Meadows, 24, 48:24; 5. Janice Chason, 40, 48:32. Masters: 1. Chason.
DEC. 4 Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis 8K At Marley Station Males: 1. Steve Egolf, 31, 25:57; 2. Scott Frampton, 24, 26:00; 3. Bobby Downs, 19, 27:43; 4. Blair Morse, 17, 27:52; 5. Jack Longley, 17, 28:02; 6. Tom Wassin, 19, 28:55; 7. Chris Long, 16, 29:14; 8. Bob Zeminsky, 36, 29:10; 9. John Downs, 17, 29:28; 10. Kevin Case, 17, 29:38. Masters: 1. Steve Vaughn, 40, 30:15; 2. Jim Buck, 52, 31:19; 3. J. Spalding Jr., 40, 33:50.
Females: 1. Regina Hoagland, 22, 31:36; 2. Maribeth Fischer, 29, 3. Jennifer Sullivan, 29, 32:08; 4. Gloria Ackerman, 33, 33:41; 5. Julie Bailey, 15, 33:43; 6. Maureen Becker, 26, 34:07; 7. Sandy Cross, 33, 34:46; 8. Lois Nichols, 45, 34:52; 9. Shauna Donahue, 17, 35:13; 10. Amy Easter, 18, 35:19. Masters: 1. Nichols; 2. Margaret Joseph, 42, 41:22; 3. Ginny Bell, 52, 42:09.
Coming events
Saturday, BRRC Santa's Sack 6M, Lake Montebello, 9 a.m., (410) 243-3153.
Saturday, Tri-State Track Club Indoor T & F Holiday Festival, Hagerston JC, 1 p.m., (301) 733-6076.
Sunday, RASAC Holiday Run 5K, Harford Mall, 9 a.m., (410) 879-0018.
Sunday, MCRRC Jingle Bell Jog 8K, Rockville, 9 a.m., (301) 353-0200.
Sunday, Annapolis Striders' Anniversary 15K, Annapolis, 10 a.m., 268-1165.
Sunday, Tri-Maryland Biathlon Series (2M run, 12M bike, 2M run), Columbia, 10 a.m., (410) 882-6103.
Sunday, YRRC Spring Valley 5K, Spring Valley, Pa., 1 p.m., (717) 845-2856.
Sunday, HCS 2M, 10K, 15K, Thunder Hill Elementary, 2 p.m., (410) 964-1998.
Dec. 31, First Night Wilmington's 5K, Wilmington, Del., 3:45 p.m., (302) 654-6400.
Jan. 1, RASAC St. Mary's 6-Miler, (410) 638-0235.
Jan. 1, HCS New Year's Resolution Run 10K, Jeffers Hill Neighborhood Center, (410) 964-1998.
Jan. 1, WRRC Winfield Mile, Winfield, noon, (410) 876-7127.