Dick Storch of Orono isn’t your typical 71-year-old. That is, of course, unless your notion of a typical 71-year-old straps on his running shoes and competes in 12 road races each year.
“Right now I’m so slow you wouldn’t believe it,” Storch says. (He obviously hasn’t seen this writer, 40 years his junior, struggle to run four miles on a treadmill at the gym.) A natural athlete, Storch didn’t start running until the mid-1980s. In his younger days he was into football, wrestling, rugby, softball, hunting, skiing, handball, and canoeing. “I’m obviously competitive,” Storch says. “I look at running as a means of keeping fit and active.” Where does Storch get his motivation? The Sub5 Track Club.
For the past 25 years, Sub5 has been an active club for runners in the greater Bangor area. It was started as a summer running club by Doug DeAngelis and Glendon “Buck” Rand when they were student athletes at Brewer High School. To be a member you had to run a mile in under five minutes—hence the name.
“In the very beginning it was a very competitive club for serious runners,” Rand says. Today the club averages between 130 and 150 members and is open to anyone regardless of their skill level. Family groups make up the majority of the memberships. With a yearly fee of $20 per family, regardless of how many family members live under that roof, it’s quite the deal. The group sponsors a variety of races throughout the year. For the 2008 season, Sub5 president Ryan King is focusing on the group’s team running competitions in order to generate new interest.
“It should encourage family or friends to get together and run as a team,” King says. “Many of us that belong to a running club run road races every weekend. Team competition makes it a bit more interesting.”
While the outdoor track season runs from April to November, Sub5 is a year-round club. Most of today’s members didn’t run competitively in high school or college. Rand says it’s a popular club to join for newcomers to the sport. “New runners who want to take their running to the next level often don’t know how to get there. Sub5 attracts these sorts of runners, too.”
One of those runners is Samantha Matoush, who started running six years ago. “Sub5 has introduced me to a wonderful community of hardworking, active people who are never short of encouraging words. I never expected the camaraderie that came with joining a track club,” Matoush says.
A petite 32-year-old, Matoush won an award at the end-of-the-year banquet in 2007 for her overall placement in her age group for the Sub5 race series. “It’s great to see my own progress. I’m hoping to compete in an Olympic distance race in June and a few other sprints throughout the summer.”
Most of the races in the Sub5 series are actually organized outside of the club. These groups have to apply to have their race in the Sub5 series. They do this for the prestige and to attract more runners. “We provide a series with well organized and safe races with good competition,” Rand says. Sub5 also has the timing technology, used by the Olympics and created by DeAngelis, to have an official race.
Buck Rand, who has been the Brewer High school track-and-field coach since 1983, leads track workouts and coaching sessions weekly during the running season for the club. Dick Storch, who runs four or five times a week, looks forward to Rand’s coaching. “I’ve had a hard time doing speed workouts without support from the group.”
Storch’s favorite race of the season is the Cabot Trail relay that he runs in May with a group of senior citizens called the Maine Running Fossils. It’s a 24-hour, 185-mile relay through the Cape Breton Highlands in Nova Scotia. “We’ve never been dead last,” Storch says with a laugh. “The idea is to have a fun time and do the best that we can.”
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, two-thirds of American adults are overweight and one-third of them obese. This statistic motivates Storch to stay in shape. Dirigo Health reports that Maine is the 10th-healthiest state in the union, but with long winters it’s not always easy to get outside and run.
“I run outside if there’s no ice. I’ve had back and knee surgery and I’m very wary of slipping,” Storch says. He likes to run on the indoor track in the UMaine field house.
The number of people who are joining Sub5 each year is growing. At the end of March the club had 30% more family memberships than this time last year. King is pleased that the word has been spreading. One of the ways it’s doing that is through the group’s website, which has information on all the races and also is home to statewide high school track meet scores. “I’d like to think it’s giving kids the motivation to perform at a higher level because you always know what your competition is doing,” Rand says. Sub5 also offers scholarships for area high school kids to attend summer running camps and graduating seniors who will run track and/or cross country in college.
For Rand, being able to help convert people of all ages to the sport is a runner’s high all its own. “Having a club that welcomes everyone is really important,” Rand says. “We make sure nobody feels intimidated.”
