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Carr walks 5-kilometer race

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3
Month
June
Year
2002
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Carr walks 5-kilometer race

Michigan football coach prefers a leisurely pace with his wife, Laurie, the entire way

University of Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr and his wife, Laurie, after they finished walking the Dexter-Ann Arbor 5k Sunday. Run organizers tapped Carr's cancer charity, the Coach Carr Fund, as the beneficiary of the race's proceeds.

RUN NOTES

by ROB HOFFMAN

News Sports Reporter

Shhh.

Don’t tell anybody on the University of Michigan football team. Especially some time in August, after they’ve run laps (and sprints in the roasting sun.

Coach Lloyd Carr entered the 5-kilometer Dexter-Ann Arbor Run Sunday. And he never broke out into a jog once, preferring to walk the entire course with his wife, Laurie.

Actually, Carr has been in the race four times before. And yes, he has run it.

“The first year it was 15 miles,” he said. “And it almost killed me.”

Carr’s involvement in Sunday’s activities stemmed from organizers of the run tapping his cancer charity, the Coach Carr Fund, as the beneficiary of the race’s proceeds.

As for his little secret, Carr said it should stay under wraps.

“I didn’t see any of my players but there, so they won’t know,” be said.

Writer's cramp

Runners who completed the race had plenty of options to ease their aches and pains before heading home.

Seven massage tables were set up in a nearby parking lot for free postrace massages. Tables practically overflowed with fruit, bread and energy bars. Two Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation Department canoes were filled with ice and plastic water bottles that volunteers handed out at the finish line. And, for those in serious need of help, there was also a first-aid tent where exhausted participants could plop down on a cot.

But what about someone with a different kind of ill?

Unfortunately, Laura Strowe was pretty much on her own.

The Ann Arbor pastel artist painted the design on the T-shirt that competitors were given after they completed the race. In a nearby tent, Strowe sat at a table autographing the shirts with a felt-tipped pen. At certain points, as many as 30-40 people stood on line to get Strowe’s John Hancock, which she was issuing slowly but steadily.

“Writing on a T-shirt is not exactly a perfect medium,” said Strowe, who was taking frequent breaks to prevent cramping.

Busy runner

How does Jerry Johncock do it?

The 74-year-old Grand Rapids resident, a nationally ranked distance runner in his age group, competed in the half marathon Sunday. This came one week after a half marathon in Elkhart, Ind. Next weekend, he’ll be in Jackson to run in a 10-kilometer event.

“I like to run a race every week,” he said. “Unless it’s a marathon. Then I don’t race for a few weeks after that.”

Rob Hoffman can be reached at (734) 994-6814 or rhoffman@annarbornews.com