Tom
Derderian was the man who single-handedly
managed to ruin the 1981 Portsmouth
(NH) Marketplace 10K by sending thousands
of hapless runners into total chaos
and confusion. (This story is a Running
Times exclusive, as Tom has kept his
dark and horrible sin a secret for 18
years and is only now revealing the
truth to clear his conscience once and
for all.)
It
all began innocently enough as the gun
went off and several thousand runners
headed through the winding streets of
the old seaport town. They were led
by two sub-30-minute guys who, along
with the lead vehicle, promptly disappeared
out of sight of the chase pack. Tom
was happily in third place, leading
a pack of several dozen men running
about 31- to 32-minute pace, with several
hundred more runners strung out behind.
Well
into the race, the chase group came
to a confusing intersection with no
course markers. The lead runners were
nowhere to be seen, so Tom—knowing
the town quite well—led the huge
pack in the direction of what he thought
was the finish line. Unfortunately,
he took a detour, adding about two minutes
to their time. Far worse, however, he
and the several hundred runners who
followed him now were heading toward
the finish line from the wrong direction.
And—you guessed it—the next
contingent of runners, plus everyone
else behind them, had gone the correct
way and was now heading toward the finish
from the right direction, but about
to run into those errant souls who’d
made the mistake of following Tom.
The
top two guys finished the race. After
a minute or so, the race officials began
to wonder why no one else was showing
up. Then, to their horror, they saw
the second pack, led by Tom, approaching
the finish from the wrong direction!
Thinking quickly, they turned the finish-line
banner around. No sooner had they done
so, though, when the next pack of runners
came into view running top speed in
the other direction.
Imagine,
if you will, several hundred runners
all sprinting at once toward the finish
line from opposite directions. It was,
in Tom’s words, "like knights
at a jousting match, crashing into each
other and bodies being tossed in every
direction." Without a word, Tom
escaped to sit on a nearby hillside
and witness the ensuing carnage.
We
thank Tom for his story and congratulate
him on his award, which comes with an
all-expenses paid trip to the Bermuda
Triangle 10K.
