12/10/07

RUNNING

For many past results of races and other information Google "Wally Herrala"

Wally Herrala is mostly known as a masters runner. He has competed locally and nationally for the past twenty years. He has participated in two World championships- Rome IT and Buffalo NY- as well as numerous indoor and outdoor track and field championships. He won a team silver medal for cross country at the World Masters track and Field Championships in Buffalo, NY. He has also competed in the masters mile relay at the Milrose Games in New York City three times and placed 5th in the Fifth Avenue Mile. Perhaps his best national masters masters efforts have been in 5K and 8K XC, with numerous individual wins and team championships. He set a world record for the indoor mile (4:39) when he was fifty. He has won 15 masters titles in the marathon, including Chicago, Detroit, and Columbus.

Wally has mostly competed for the Ann Arbor Track Club but has also competed for the Michigan Grandmasters and the Motor City Striders.

He has been named Michigan Runner of the Year and Michigan Senior Runner of the Year by The Michigan Runner.

Here are some of his achievements:

At the Races

December 8, 2007

USATF National Masters 10K Club Cross Country Championships held in West Chester, Ohio

Written by Fred Vanhala, Frontline Racing Captain

Gerard Malacynski, Wally Herrala, and Doug Goodhue were 2007 Masters 10K Club Cross Country Champions. The race was held on December 8, in West Chester, OH

September30, 2007

I ran in the inaugural Big House Big Heat 5k race in Ann Arbor, MI and despite not feeling well and  legs beat up from wading while salmon fishing, I posted a 19:43. it was a fun run with, they say, thousands of runners. It was fast course that finished on the fifty yard line of University of Michigan football field.

For results:

September 10, 2006

Salmon fishing from Tuesday until late Thursday did not give me the best preparation for the longish Frenchtown Duathlon in Monroe, MI. With the season rapidly closing I wanted to get a good time on the bike but the hot humid weather did not cooperate. I was surprised at the beauty of Sterling State Park. The park stretches out for at least a mile on Lake Erie. The runs were 3.7 and 6.7 mile, going around a pond and the race was on roads nearby. The times for the bike in the results are wrong. I put all I had into the race and was pleased with my efforts. I had a good time after the race eating hot dogs although my buddy, Dave Furey who won the du, and I were a little wacky afterwards from the heat. Now it's back to salmon fishing.

Complete results:

http://www.3disciplines.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=275&Itemid=36

July 10, 2006

Another hot humid day greeted duathletes at the Waterloo duathlon near Jackson, MI. The format was 2 Mile Run, 16 Mile Bike, and 5 Mile Run. I got off OK on the run and did 20 mph on the bike without ever feeling strong on the rolling course. I rigged in the 5 mile trail and gravel road leg. I won my age group. I wanted to do 21 MPH on the bike but need to work a little harder and get some aero bars to make me more streamlined.

Complete results:

http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/12339_31681_2006.txt

July 4, 2006

After many months of fishing and camping I finally entered the local Ann Arbor Tortoise and Hare 5K Race and posted a twenty year slow record of 20:09. I was second to Jim Carlton, a good runner, by about twenty seconds. It was fun to be racing again although the hot, humid, conditions in combination with a lack of fitness had me on the ropes in the last mile.

I went down to the Tortoise and Hare to get my award and they gave me a first place award for second place. They said it was because I "ran well." They graciously did not say what they were obviously thinking "for an old guy."

Complete results:

http://www.runmichigan.com/results/06/tortoise_070406.shtml