Reprinted from: Strider, December 1980, pg. 4

Bandit Almost Steals Pequot Glory

by Jim Gerweck

A touch of the Boston Marathon was added to the local racing scene this fall when the Pequot Thanksgiving Day Race became the first limited entry event in Fairfield County.

The cause for this restriction was the Boston like snafu that backed up the finish lines last year, depriving most slower runners of any sort of accurate time and taxing the overworked scorers beyond the breaking point. So in 1980, area runners had to first win the race to the post office in order to be among the select 700 entrants before they could even have the chance to work up an appetite along the shores of Southport.

But if closing the entries early (almost three weeks before Thanksgiving) solved the stacked up finish line trouble, it simultaneously created another problem that Boston is known for – Bandits, i.e. unregistered runners competing illegally. And although the organizers anticipated this by having a separate finish line for unofficial entrants, they couldn't be prepared for the possibility that one of them might actually win the race.

That eventually very nearly came to pass when Pete Weith, a former Darien High half miler, drove down from New Hampshire Thanksgiving morning and stepped to the front of the starting line. The night before, Weith, runner up in Greenwich on Memorial Day, had called to try to get a number, but failing that, decided to hop in the race anyway.

Before the field had gone half a mile, it became clear the the race had boiled down to a two man contest between Weith and Fairfield's Dave Peterson, an senior at Virginia Tech. Peterson, fourth in the Virginia state college meet, bolted out to a lead of nearly 50 yards before the first mile, with only Weith electing to give chase. The two pulled further away over the second mile, which the leader passed in 9:20. "My plan was to go out fast, fun the first two miles hard, and then try to hang on for the last three," said Peterson.

His strategy worked to perfection, as just past the halfway point along the "Gold Coast" Weith began to falter and grudgingly gave up ground to Peterson. By the fourth mile his lead had increased to nearly 20 yards, and a sub-20 split convinced him that Mike Cotton's course record of 24:04 was not out of reach.

For the last mile, Peterson began to lift and lengthen his stride, and with less than half to go, yelled out "What's the time?" Informed that Cotton's mark was within reach, he launched a strong finishing drive that brought him the record by a single second.

According to the results, Peterson's margin of victory was 40 seconds over Joel Carpenter, as the final hundred yards by virtue of a stronger finishing kick.

John Dugdale was the first master in 27:16, while Ken Reilly ran a strong 26:05 to take the junior crown in 11th place overall. The race directors stuck to their guns and denied Weith an official place and time, although he was probably within 20 seconds of the winner at the end.

In 32nd place, Kiki Sweigart made her first run at Southport a memorable one, smashing the one year old course record with a stunning 27:35. Forty places back, Jane DeMarco and Carey Hill waged a neck and neck battle for female runner up honors, DeMarco finally prevailing over the Danbury Athletic Attic placed five runners in the top ten to take the team title from the host Pequot Runners.

Two wheelchair contestants, Amy Boda and John Huminsky, joined the 592 other finishers in the third edition of the race, which this year went almost flawlessly, with no back up at the finish to foul up the works. Next year, the organizers hope to increase the entry field, based on the experience they gained this time. And perhaps with a larger field of entrants, there will be no chance and no need for a "bandit" to come in and almost "steal" the race.