Feature |
Going the DistanceLegal team raises funds for medical research, one mile at a time |
By Cliff Collins |
You
could blame the marathon on the ancient Greeks. It was our choice, though,
to maintain the absurdly long distance of 26 miles and 385 yards. That
was how far legend says the Greek runner ran in 490 B.C. - from Marathon
to Athens - to tell of the victory over the Persians. Marathons
are one thing. Nearly a year from now, 28 individuals - 23 of whom possess
or are pursuing law degrees, and thus should have better sense - will
attempt to do something that, as far as the sponsors can determine, has
never before been attempted: running across America - the whole way -
in a relay. This one will be run for a charitable cause, but spearheader
Craig N. Johnston says he has not been able to uncover any previous event
of this type, 'charitable or otherwise.' Johnston,
a professor of law at Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark
College in Portland, is the Pied Piper of Run America 2002. That's the
name of the event, and the nonprofit organization behind It's
'a serious undertaking' for folks who, 'as a group, are
far from world-class runners,' Johnston says, though many on the
team have run in road races and marathons. Johnston himself has run nine
marathons and numerous long-distance races. And the team will be running,
not jogging, averaging 7½-minute miles. They will be running for
a cause: to raise money for research into myotonic dystrophy, a form of
muscular dystrophy. Their overall goal is to raise at least $250,000 in
pledges. Each participant who agreed to run made three commitments, says
Johnston: to raise at least $1 a mile, or $3,300 minimum, but between
$3,300 and $10,000; to cover all personal expenses; and to be prepared
physically and mentally to carry out his or her part in running, for a
team covering about 120 miles a day. None
of the course will take place on interstate highways. The entire route
is set for secondary roads, and much scenery. On May 26, the team begins
running from Cape Meares to Jackson Hole; next stop is Omaha, Neb., then
New London, Ohio; and the final segment ends in Boston on June 22. Along
the way, and before departing, members want to inspire personal and corporate
contributions. 'We're hoping to raise a significant amount from people
who have never heard of us,' but who learn of the effort through
the media generated along the course, Johnston says. The
race is dedicated to Barry M. Wald, a close friend of Johnston's since
high school in Wellesley, Mass., and a veteran runner himself. Wald, an
employee of Intel who ran on Johnston's team in seven Hood to Coast relays,
is no longer able to run. Wald has the particular form of muscular dystrophy
that Johnston describes as 'the poor stepchild in terms of research.'
All money raised from the relay will be funneled to researchers who concentrate
on myotonic dystrophy. Wald,
a hockey goalie during his college years at Harvard University, still
plays hockey. He also rides his bicycle to work and hopes to cycle part
of the way in Run America. But he had to stop running because of muscle
deterioration in his legs, he says. Wald adds that although he does not
know all of the participants in the relay, he is touched that the team
wants to undertake such an effort in his behalf. Relay
team members bring widely varied running backgrounds. Many have run once
or several times as members of the Endangered Species, Johnston's 12-person
team in the annual Hood to Coast relay. Ten are members of the Oregon
State Bar; six are licensed with bars from other states; five are current
law students or graduates who have not yet passed the bar; and two runners
hold J.D. degrees but aren't practicing law. As
an example of contrasts, team member Nick Burns, who serves as the U.S.
ambassador to Greece, is a tennis player who, Johnston says, has not run
long distances. At the other end of the spectrum: Johnston describes Matt
Cato as the most talented runner on the team. Cato, who works in shoe
design at Nike, ran track and cross country at the University of Notre
Dame. Cato has run seven marathons and numerous relays. Among
other OSB members running: Oregon City attorney William Barber is the
only other former college runner on the team. The University of Georgia
graduate has run four marathons. John Kroger, a professor of law at Lewis
& Clark, already has gone across the United States - by bicycle, in
a solo trip last year. Two attorneys at Lewis & Clark's Pacific Environmental
Advocacy Center who have run the Hood to Coast on Johnston's team are
Aaron Courtney and Daniel J. Rohlf, director of the center. Nancy
E. 'Ned' Duhnkrack, a lawyer who works half time with the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals in Portland, is a mother and will be one of only
two women participating. She has run five marathons and will run one week
of Run America. Duhnkrack, who also is an adjunct professor of law at
Lewis & Clark, considers being asked an honor, and says, 'This
is really an exciting opportunity for me to turn my running into something
that is not just for me.' Duhnkrack
gained greater interest in running during law school at Lewis & Clark,
where she graduated first in her class and was a classmate of Craig Johnston's.
She takes the challenge of next year's relay seriously, and says it will
be tougher than a marathon. 'I've been trying to figure out how to
run at a decent pace for seven days without getting injured or overdoing
it,' she says. 'I usually get warmed up after four or five miles,
so I said jokingly that maybe I could do both my five-mile runs at once.' To
prepare, she will 'focus more on cross training, so I'm physically
stronger all over, to compensate for the stress and strain. I'll put in
those miles, but not like training for a marathon.' For
remarkable profiles in running, none can top that of OSB member William
C. Hodge. Hodge will be 60 for Run America 2002. He will run the entire
course, all four weeks. He has run exactly 80 marathons as of this writing.
But, he says from his outpost for the past 30 years in New Zealand as
a professor of law at the University of Auckland Law School, to prepare
for the relay, 'I am running the occasional marathon, five so far
in 2001.' He says this, occasional, in mid-May, presumably
with a straight
face. 'While
I have lost some speed in the last few years, my endurance seems better,
if anything, than it was 30 years ago,' says the modest Hodge, who
describes his background as 'a slow middle-distance runner in high
school, too slow to run in college.… Once I started running marathons,
I found I had a bit of talent for it, and it kept me fit.' Hodge,
who retains his American citizenship, agreed to take part for several
reasons. It will allow his family 'a good excuse to visit Portland,
which is why my wife was keen for me to do it.' He also had run once
in the Hood to Coast 'with most of these same people, including the
person for whom the medical research is most relevant.' Third, he
posits, a road trip from coast to coast has 'an irresistible American
attraction.… A bit of Jack Kerouac, a bit of Huckleberry Finn, Route 66,
etc.' Hodge
will take four weeks off by combining some annual leave with the semester
breaks at school. He runs to and from work and long distances on weekends.
'I run with my colleagues and some practitioners, and after a two-hour
run, relevant facts and legal principles seem to fall naturally in place.
Decisions seem to write themselves while I run.' He once set a goal
of running 60 marathons by the time he was 60; but given that he passed
that mark long ago, now his 'only goal is to finish the next one
that I start.' OSB
member David J. Cummings, who serves as legal counsel to the Nez Perce
Tribe in Lapwai, Idaho, says he received an excited call from Craig Johnston.
'I thought that Craig had come up with some great new idea for a
case we were litigating together,' says Cummings. 'Instead,
he suggested I should consider running across the country!' Cummings
says he nearly fell out of his chair, but told Johnston he would think
about it. 'Amazingly, by the time I got back to him a week later,
nearly all the spaces were filled,' says Cummings. He runs during
the week, and saves weekends for 'exploring,' hiking and skiing.
The tribe, which experiences high rates of diabetes and heart disease,
encourages employees to exercise: Employees who do are allowed a full
hour for lunch break, so he takes advantage of the time for training. 'We've
got a great hill behind the office that should get me ready for the rigors
of the (Grand) Tetons, and I'm planning to run from home to work in the
morning and back in the evening; which, while flat, will get me used to
running twice a day. After running the Hood to Coast and Rainier to Coast,
I've found that the most challenging things are those you can't train
for - like being cramped into a van for days on end.' Kevin
Cassidy, who was a student in Johnston's environmental law class, will
graduate from law school the day before the run begins next May. A dedicated
athlete, he says he ran the Portland Marathon once but so far has concentrated
on soccer, basketball and other sports rather than competitive running.
More recently, he has undertaken demanding pursuits such as telemark skiing
and mountaineering, including climbing Mount Rainier and the Grand Tetons
in Wyoming, 'both of which will certainly test your endurance. But
I'll be preparing by running as much as possible during the course of
the next year.' When
Johnston told the class he was planning Run America and looking for volunteer
runners, it took Cassidy only about 24 hours to decide to go for it. 'I
think at first (Johnston) thought he was going to have to do some real
recruiting to find people as crazy as he was to actually run across the
country,' Cassidy allows. 'But as it turned out, he's had to
turn people away.' Cassidy thinks the reason is a combination of
Johnston's 'exuberance and enthusiasm, and the real potential we
have to raise some big money for a great cause. 'Initially
I was attracted to the adventure and challenge of the event. The more
I've learned since then about myotonic dystrophy, the more inspired I've
become by the cause of helping to find a cure. As a lifetime athlete,
I value my ability to lead a very active life, and that's exactly what
this disease can take away from you, and eventually more. If I can play
any small part in figuring out this disease, then I will feel that I will
have done something worthwhile, and hopefully, helped some people. 'The
way Craig has set up the run, each runner won't be running more than 10
miles per day. The ability to run long distances won't be as important
as the ability of your body to withstand the continuous day in, day out
pounding the pavement over the course of four weeks, in some unpredictable
conditions. So I'll be gearing my training towards that type of endurance.' Cassidy
adds that he will be studying for the bar exam during the run. 'But
our vans will be full of lawyers and law professors, so I figure if I
have any questions, I'll be able to get them answered.' Margi
Lifsey of Stoel Rives says her colleagues not only were supportive of
her participating in Run America, they also are largely responsible for
the fact she will run all four weeks. 'When
I first heard the idea (of the run), I was very hesitant,' she recalls.
'I said, 'Only one week,'' - not owing to the running itself
('I always knew I could do the miles.') - but because she was
concerned about taking that much time away from work. But she signed on
for the entire four weeks after colleagues told her, 'You can't run
(just) half of America!' Many also have pledged donations to her
for doing the relay. Lifsey
says she has always been a tomboy, but became a serious runner only about
four years ago. She credits Johnston, whom she met while she was in law
school. 'Lewis & Clark has a long history of good runners,'
Lifsey says. 'I think I was the first woman to break into that group.'
She says Johnston pushed her to raise her number of miles, and before
long she was running marathons: the Portland three times, and the Boston
Marathon (which she qualified for on her first try) twice. 'Boston
was amazing, and very rough. Hard on the legs. The first time I said I
would never do it again.' But she changed her mind, impressed by
the unique experience of running with people from all over the world.'
Of Run America, Lifsey says: 'The idea completely excites me. And
it's for a good cause.' Michael
A. Greenlick, of the Portland firm Borg, Strom & Greenlick, agreed
to run for one of the four weeks. A former road racer who had done some
marathons, he has not run seriously in the past five years after going
into private practice. A 12-year-old client helped persuade him to do
Run America. 'At
the time (Johnston asked him), I happened to be representing someone who
had muscular dystrophy.' Greenlick decided to do it based on that.
'Its a unique contribution and will be a lot of fun,' he says. Another
factor was that having a goal forces him to get back into shape, Greenlick
adds. Plus, he will see parts of the country he has never visited, and
meet new people. 'I think it's going to be great, and a model for
future fund raising. Runners are crazy and do things like this.' John
Bradley ran 100-mile races 'when I was younger - in my early 50s,'
he says. Bradley, first assistant to the district attorney of Multnomah
County, will be 57 when the run begins next year. He didn't take up running
until he was 37 but he has more than made up for lost time, with more
than 40 marathons under his belt and more than 15 ultramarathons (which
he defines as from 31 to 100 miles). Bradley
also opted to do the entire four weeks. He says he has run in a lot of
relays where he ran a section, but always regretted not being able to
do the entire thing. This way, he can. He also says he long has wanted
to drive across the country. Bradley adds that his family and employer
have been supportive about taking that much time off. To
prepare, Bradley will train by running in the 'high 40s to low 50s
each week,' and will tackle three or four marathons prior to the
event. He says he has been fortunate in avoiding serious injuries, but
that once runners train averaging 40 to 50 miles a week, they are at greater
risk of injury. The biggest factor, he acknowledges, is his age: He says
if he were 47 instead of 57 by then, Run America would not be a problem.
+ HOW
TO CONTACT RUN AMERICA |
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cliff Collins is a Portland-area free-lance writer and frequent contributor to the Bulletin.