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September 4, 2008

Massoglia: Royals log 500 miles

By Mark Massoglia
Daily Tribune staff

Before school let out last spring, Assumption cross country coach Dan Holewinski issued a challenge for his runners: To log 500 miles this summer.

He had two takers, senior Bill Lobner and junior Sam Veverka, and the duo completed their journey on Sunday.

"It's a great feeling to have accomplished this," said Veverka, after a short ceremony Wednesday afternoon to honor himself and Lobner. "I had a good cross country season last year and wanted to get better, so I thought this would help me get a head start on the season."

Added Lobner, "I've been a spectator at the state cross country meet the last three years and thought running 500 miles would give me a good base to try and get there as a competitor."

Holewinski, who has run in several marathons, uses 500 miles as his base for training over an 18-week period. Veverka and Lobner did it in 12.

"I've run 500 miles before and it's not easy," Holewinski said.

The coach mapped out a daily schedule for the boys to keep. Most of the runs were 51/2 miles long and they averaged 55 miles a week. The most mileage in one week was 64 miles. The trio did 10 runs over 10 miles and two over 14 miles.

It wasn't all easy as Veverka noted, "It was tough keeping up with it when I was on vacation. That was a difficult two-week stretch, but I kept up with the running."

Added Lobner, "Every day I got up and looked at what I had to do and went out and did it. I never looked ahead."

For their diligence, the coach made up T-shirts, a plaque and trophy to commemorate their accomplishment. The shirts read "Founding member, Team Assumption 500 Mile Club."

"This was a challenge to start to bring our program up to a high level because we have some good athletes here at Assumption," Holewinski said.

It was a long journey for those boys. Hopefully, they will have some company next summer.

Mark Massoglia writes for the Daily Tribune. He can be reached at 422-6730 or mark.massoglia@cwnews.net.