Kirk
Swenson and Owen Morse led a pack of 12 IJA jogglers by setting
three records at the San Jose State University Bud Winter Track
on July 24.
Swenson,
the reigning mile joggling champion and recent graduate of
Swarthmore College, set a new IJA mile record of 4:43.8. Marty
Gardella at 5:44 and Mickey Campaniello at 5:48 were far behind
in second and third.
A
drop on his last lap as he prepared to pass another runner may
have caused Swenson to not break the Guinness Book's unofficial
mile joggling record of 4:38. In the 5-kilometer event Swenson
also had a drop, but he again set an IJA record with a time of
16:55.8.
Swenson
said it was his first time at the distance and he wasn't sure
how he would feel after racing in the mile. However, "It
felt good," he said heading for the Gatoraid.
Mickey
Campaniello, an ultramarathoner who usually races 50 miles or
more, took second with 19:20.8, followed by Owen Morse at
20:27.4.
Morse,
a track man at the University of California-Irvine, took the IJA
record and Guinness records away from Albert Lucas in the
100-meter joggle, reaching the finish line in 12.3 seconds. Just
behind him was Jerome Ellis at 13.0 seconds, with Bill Giduz
(last year's winner) finishing third in 16.1.
Although
Morse practiced the sprint joggle for a few days before the
race, he said he spent weeks preparing through regular running
and combat juggling. He also felt
he cut his time by clawing the bags as he crossed the finish
line.
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