Bill Monnett, Andy Hass and I left Allen Park Saturday, Feb. 28, at 7:01 a.m. A minute late - but hey, we had 800 miles to make it up. After three years of trying to get a Distance Medley Relay team to the U.S. Indoor Championships, we were finally on our way to Boston for the 2004 version. I'd decided to go around Canada because I'd heard of horror stories at the border into New York. As we entered the Empire State, Bill wanted to take a picture of the "Welcome to New York" sign. He did that every time he entered a state he'd never been in before.

Our Cornerstone University connection had left Friday night after the WHAC Track Championships at Central Michigan. They consisted of Cornerstone assistant coach Nate VanHolten, senior Preston Grey and Paul Koutz, another assistant coach who was coming along for the ride. They would be driving to Buffalo, then on to Boston in the morning.

Andy had told me he'd been sick all week, but I didn't get the full impact until we were driving. Kleenex stock would be opening higher Monday. About the time we hit Pennsylvania, Andy got a call that his grandfather had been taken to the hospital. It didn't sound promising. I asked if we should drive him back, but he said keep going.

I told Andy that Sunday's race was being held on what would have been my grandfather's 100th birthday. Or his 25th birthday, since it fell on Leap Day.

Grandpa wouldn't have understood me going with a bunch of guys half my age to a track meet in Boston. He'd have thought it a better idea to buy some sheetrock and build a room in the basement on a weekend. He was a carpenter; sports never fit into his tough-as-nails life.

We joked about Andy, a marathoner, not having leg speed. He said he had just set a 200-meter PR of 29.5 in a workout a week ago; about 6.5 seconds slower than Steve Cuttitta, who he was replacing. I told him we'd petition the USATF to change the Distance Medley Relay from 1200/400/800/1600 to 1200/400/marathon/1600.

Andy knew he'd be taking it on the chin in running an 800 against national-class competition; but you've got to love that about the guy. He was Front Line Racing Team's quickest available runner who could make it to Boston for the race, so he agreed to go.

We pulled over near Syracuse so Bill and Andy could go for a run. I gassed up, bought myself a coffee, promptly spilled it in the back of my Rendezvous when I went to pull a book from my duffle bag, and spent most of the time they were running cleaning up.

On the road again, we heard from Nate they were at the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center in Boston, where they'd just watched Gail Devers win the 60-meter hurdles and 60 dash. We told them we were in Albany and still had 160 miles to go.

Those were the longest 160 miles I'd ever driven. The sun went down, we got into Boston and got lost. We circled a few times trying to find street signs and reading maps in the dark. Nate called again to say they were getting hungry. We said we were close, we just couldn't find the hotel.

We were looking for a Best Western. Everyone knows what a Best Western sign looks like, except for the managers of this one. We drove by it several times before spotting its logo in fine print.

We took the subway downtown and looked for Italian food, but settled on Tex-Mex. The ride was wilder than us Midwestern guys were used to, with lots of kids celebrating a friend turning 21. An interesting cultural experience nonetheless.

I stayed in a room with Bill and Andy, and slept on a cot. I had to get up at three in the morning and startled Bill doing so; he's not used to us middle-aged guys getting up in the middle of the night. If he'd had a gun, he'd have blown me away. Instead he just yelled till I said, calm down. It's good to know that your fastest track guys have quick reflexes.

Sunday was a beautiful day in Boston. Our guys were itching to run. Our order was going to be Bill Monnett in the 1200, Nate VanHolten in the 400, Andy Hass in the 800, and Preston Grey in the 1600.

All the teams in the race were exceptional. Though it could technically have been better to put Bill in the 1600, I thought with him in the 1200 and Nate in the 400 we could stay in contact with other teams longer.

Bill was ready to run the race of his life. This was the best competition he'd ever faced. Oakland University only had a track club, so he hadn't shown off his track talent much since high school. There, he'd been Class B state runnerup in both the 800 and 1600 his senior season. Plus at 5'7" he could high jump 6'2". There is power in his legs, for sure.

Bill planned to start conservatively, in last place after the first lap, then see what he had. He was last after the first 200, but in a quick 30.23. He passed the Greater Boston Track Club's guy on the backstretch of the second lap. On the second turn of that go-around, the GBTC guy clipped Bill's heel and they both tumbled, Bill doing a couple of summersaults.

It seemed like both guys were down for a couple seconds, but both got up and back in the race. When I caught the second 200 split, I was sure I had made a timing mistake: Bill had just run a 30.41, having fallen, picked himself up and built speed again. No way you'd know he'd been eating Mondo that second lap.

Bill gritted his teeth and looked pretty pained thereafter. Indoor track was rough on his hip, and I thought the fall may have done him in. He hung in there, running subsequent 200s in 30.47, 31.78, 32.85 and 33.43, for a 3:09.47 - the fastest 1200 split for any Front Line team in our four DMR's this year. Bill even nipped the GBTC guy at the very end of his leg.

The leaders; Reebok Boston and the New York Athletic Club, hit the 1200 in 2:58. Bill could have been about 3:03 or 3:04 without the fall.

Every hundreth of a second counts in the 400. Even though Bill had nipped Boston at the end, the officials had Boston's 400 guy on the inside to get the baton, causing Nate to run in the second lane on his first turn. Nate went out with a 24.72 first 200, and come back with a 27.38. His 52.10 was his best 400 split of the year by more than a second. We lost a little ground to GBTC, but not much.

Andy got the baton and promptly ran the fastest timed 200 of his life in 29.31. When running an 800 you have to run like an 800 guy. His next lap was 32.88 - still decent - then effects of being sick took their toll. Andy's last splits were 35.66 and 36.43. He was not able to get any oxygen in. Still, a gutsy run by a sick guy with more on his mind than just a race.

Preston also is a bit out of his element as a 1600 man. He's better in longer races. Still, he had set a 4:25.83 PR in the indoor mile one week earlier. He was about to better that in front of a national audience.

The Syracuse Chargers team was a lap ahead of us. Preston tailed their runner, hitting the 400 in 1:03 and the 800 in 2:09.5. He completed his leg in 4:23.31, which converts to sub-4:25 mile. A second PR in as many weekends: terrific job.

Final results of the USATF Distance Medley Relay were: Reebok Boston 9:51.57, New York Athletic Club 9:51.70, Syracuse Chargers 10:00.46, Greater Boston Track Club 10:16.88, Front Line Racing Team 10:39.05, Central Park Track Club dropped out on 800 leg.

Though our total time was our slowest of the year, it still featured fantastic efforts. Bill ran our fastest 1200 of the year with some acrobatics in between; Nate ran our best 400; Andy ran the fastest 800 by a sick marathoner; and Preston ran his best "almost" mile. Andy may be the only person running the Indoor U.S. Championships 800, then returning to Boston in April to run the marathon.

Just looking at our time, you might think "big deal." Now you know the rest of the story. MR