Ron Addison's Remembrances of His Athletic Days at Rhodes High School

My friends and I spent all fall playing football, all winter playing basketball outside, and all spring and summer playing baseball. However, I was naturally drawn to running. I just always loved it. My Mom would give me a quarter and tell me to run down to the corner store to purchase a loaf of bread, and I would literally run there and back. Sometimes I would ask her to time me.

In 1969, as I was preparing to enter 10 th grade at Rhodes High School I planned to try out for football, as skinny and scrawny as I was. However, I missed the first day of tryouts due to a needed medical procedure, and if you missed the first day you were out. During an orientation event just before school started I attended an event where all of the coaches of the various sports gave a short talk. A coach by the name of Jim Zickes started talking about Cross Country. When I realized that Cross Country was RUNNING I started to pay attention. I had never imagined that running could be a real sport. Right then and there I decided I would give Cross Country a try.

I attended the first practice, which was held at Brooklyn Park, on a Saturday morning. Brooklyn Park was several miles away so I rode my bike there. Even though I had run a lot as a kid I had never been on an extended training run. On this first day of practice the coach sent us on a five mile easy run. I did not know anyone at the practice, but was smart enough to realize that winning the workout would not make me any new friends. Therefore, I just positioned myself in the middle of the group and started running. No one was pushing the pace, but people did start to drop pretty quickly. I just kept at the back of the lead group, doing whatever they did. Pretty soon there were only a handful of us and I could see guys, juniors and seniors, looking at me funny. Soon enough we had finished the five mile run and I biked home.

Over the next week or so we started light intervals, hills, etc., and all I did was stay with the leaders never pushing anything.

Soon enough we had our first dual meet against Lincoln. I was pleased that now I could actually run as hard as I wanted; I placed seventh, and was fourth on our team. After the race the assistant coach, Steve Korinchak, told me “not bad for a junior with no background in running. And by the way, you should buy some spikes and not race in those Keds.” I responded that “I am only a sophomore and, yeah, I will get some spikes.” I enjoyed getting to know the guys on the team and learning the running history of Rhodes. Volunteer assistant coaches Steve Korinchak and Jim Emory had graduated from Rhodes four years earlier and both had gone on to run cross country and track at Miami (Ohio) University. Recent Rhodes graduate Kent Newman was now a freshman cross country runner at Ohio State. Head coach Jim Zickes had been a pole vaulter at Bowling Green, coached track and football, but had never coached cross country before. He and I would learn a lot from each other over the next few years.

I don't remember any details about the next meet except to know that at that meet I was the team's second man behind Terry Davidson, and I maintained that positon until the Senate meet, when I moved up to number 1.

Our team ran the sectionals and qualified for districts. At districts neither I nor the team qualified for the state meet. But, there was one more race to run, the Cleveland Senate meet, which was a big deal to us. I wanted to do well as an individual after learning that the top 10 individual finishers would receive a trophy. I had never received a trophy for anything before and my goal was to win one.

The Rhodes team took second place at that Senate meet and I placed third as an individual, beating Terry Davidson for the first time. I remember being so excited about placing third and winning that trophy. I have disposed of most of my running awards over the years, keeping only those that were special to me. I still have that first trophy.

The indoor track season started in January, 1970, and fortunately Rhodes had an indoor track – sort of. The Rhodes indoor track was infamous and located in the basement of the school, and if you have never had the opportunity to see it I am not sure you will appreciate this description. It was dug out by students in the 1930's, literally with picks and shovels. Of course, the track was dirt. Somehow these enterprising builders even managed to put in a small set of bleachers for spectators.

The track was quite short, only 1/10 of a mile. The sprints and hurdles were run on the straight. The stairs up to the school were placed such that taller sprinters and hurdlers had to run the inside lanes to keep from hitting their heads on the ceiling, which was actually the first floor of the school. The space was small, with tight turns, a low ceiling and posts all around supporting the school. For the longer races there was a first tight hairpin turn, then a short straight, a quick turn to the right and then you circled back to the left and ended up at the top of the straight. But, we had some exciting meets there and the atmosphere was electric. And most importantly, it was a place to train in the winter.

At the conclusion of the indoor season the Cleveland city championships were held downtown on a 10 lap to the mile banked board track. I was entered in the mile and the 880 races and, of course, had never run on boards before. In the mile race no one had given me any tactical advice and I was unsure as to what do, but I found myself in the early lead. Then I started sprinting the straights and slowing down on the turns. This frustrated the other entrants, but seemed to work for me as I won the city meet mile as a sophomore. I figured that since my “strategy” had worked in the mile race I would try it in the 880. It worked again, and I won that race as well.

Our first outdoor event of the 1970 track season was the Mansfield Relays, which is a very large event with participants coming from several states and Canada. The first day Rhodes was entered in the Distance Medley relay. I don't remember anything about that race at all except that we won, which I guess is the most important part. Willy Kaulfersch, Marc Kolanz, and Kirk Muir were my teammates.

The next day I was entered in the open mile, and I must admit that my coach fudged my time to get me into the fast section. I remember being in the middle of the pack next to a very tall guy with a green singlet. A short time later, he and another runner were pulling away from the pack and making it a two man race. I was still racing, but also watching these two. They finished in a photo finish and I could not tell who had won. I finished seventh in 4:30, my first ever outdoor mile race.

I later saw the runner with the green singlet and asked him who won; he told me that the other runner had. That other runner was future Ohio legend OATCCC Hall of Famer Les Nagy. The runner in the green singlet was named Doug Brown and he was from Notre Dame High School in Harper Woods, Michigan. I would not see Doug again until the fall of 1972 when I arrived at the University of Tennessee for cross country camp. Doug, who was the Tennessee cross country team captain, was late for camp – being busy participating in the 1972 Munich Olympics.

That 1970 outdoor season progressed with me getting my mile time down to 4:22 and running 9:43 for the two mile. At the end of the season came the sectional championships, the first step toward qualifying for the state championships, which were held at my home track at Rhodes. Running in the mile, I remember taking the lead down the back stretch and into the final turn. Then, for some inexplicable reason I slowed in the turn – and got passed. Since the finish was in the middle of the straight I did not have enough time to recover. To this day that may be the stupidest thing I have ever done in a race. I have no idea what I was thinking and it was a hard lesson, but one I learned from.

My sophomore year was now over. I had some success and a lot of fun. I did everything my coach told me to do, no less and no more, and I was very happy I had missed the football try outs. Time now for summer vacation, and vacation I did, running very little.

My junior year of cross country came in 1970 and I won most events, both dual meets and the Senate championships. But my real objective was to do well at the state meet. I won the sectionals and districts; I remember being very happy at winning the district race and qualifying for the state meet held at the Ohio State University Golf Course. I had qualified as an individual, but my coach told me that I could invite a teammate to travel with us and share my hotel room. I chose Alan Kofsky, a senior who had very early recognized my abilities and really wanted to see me be successful.

Another reason why I liked and respected Alan was that when I was a sophomore cross country runner he had given me some very specific and direct advice on how to manage my early success on a personal level. One of his better pieces of advice was “don't be a jerk”. The state meet in 1970 came on a bright and sunny Saturday morning. The field was very large and since the race was only two miles long I knew I had to get out quickly. That I did, probably being in the top five at the half mile mark. But it was all downhill from there, not the race course, but my performance. I felt horrible and kept getting passed until the finish finally arrived. I had placed a very disappointing 16 th . I had never participated in such a large and prestigious event as the state meet before and I felt that I had not prepared myself properly. I had not run during the previous summer. My workouts had been the same as everyone else on my team and not excessively strenuous. Placing 16 th brought into focus for me the fact that there are lots of talented people in the world and true success comes from hard physical work and mental focus. I took this as a learning experience and vowed to do better.

The rest of that fall and winter I ran every day, usually 10 miles. Even when indoor season started and we had regular meets I made sure that I ran 10 miles on my distance and weekend days. I was building a base, even though at that time I had never heard or used that phrase. It was during those lonely long runs in the winter snows that I made myself a contender. And my coach, Jim Zickes, who had never coached a distance runner until my sophomore year, started to come into his own as a distance coach.

I was very fortunate that I had a great high school coach in Jim Zickes. He was a military veteran, had played and coached football, and had participated in Division I Track and Field as a pole vaulter at Bowling Green State University. First of all, he was just a great guy who was sincerely interested in the betterment of his students and athletes. He studied and learned how to coach distance runners and he became very good at it. On a personal level, Coach Zickes wanted to nurture my talent for the long term and not abuse it for a short term gain.

My goal for my junior year track season in the spring of 1971 was to win the state meet mile run. I won race after race during the season, preparing for the final three races. First, I won the sectional meet; a senior from Berea named Mike Burley was a distant second. I then won the district meet, and this time Burley was a close second.

I started to check out Mike Burley and discovered that he had won the Cross Country State Meet, the same race in which I had finished 16 th . During the winter he was a swimmer, not a runner. In this way, when the outdoor season started he was fit, but not sharp. But each week he was getting sharper. Burley was smart and experienced and I was still relatively inexperienced. I usually won by a lot, but was not yet really good at tactical racing.

At the state meet in ‘71 I took the lead as usual. However, when Burley came even with my shoulder with one lap to go I did not show any patience or smarts. I just reacted and started sprinting, which was a big mistake. Burley followed me all the way around the track, drafting off of me and waiting his chance. He timed his kick perfectly and beat me by two-tenths of a second, 4:14.7 to 4:14.9, to claim the state championship. Mike went on to participate in some college track events, so in college I would see him on occasion. He was using those meets for training as he parleyed his abilities at running and swimming into a spot on the US Olympic Team, participating in the Modern Pentathlon.

Defeated at the state meet, but not discouraged, I ran a lot throughout that summer. My new goal was to win the state Cross Country meet during the coming fall.

The previous spring during a dual meet with Padua at the Rhodes cinder track I was racing Peter Hadtisch in a driving rainstorm. During the two mile race Pete said something to me about the weather and I replied. He then went on to say he spoke to competitors frequently during competition, but on one had ever replied before. After the race we cooled down together and became friends. From that time on we ran and socialized a lot together.

Actually there was a whole group of us who were friends. Pete, Joe Hurd, Don Jerningan, Larry Coy, and others. I have fond memories of all of those competitors, and even though we were fierce competitors we truly were friends.

During the fall of 1971 there was a cross country meet held at Bowling Green called the Bowling Green Cross Country Relay. It really was a relay of sorts, with seven races run in flights as follows: Each team's seventh man ran a race, then the sixth man, etc., until all seven races had been completed. The scoring was on the total team time. By running the race in this way it gave many deserving athletes an opportunity to cross the finish line first. That was a really fun event.

At the cross country sectional meet in that fall, Larry Coy of John Marshall and I qualified to move on to the district meet as individuals. Larry's coach, Dick Emory, and Coach Zickes were really good friends, so the four of us got together for some training sessions in anticipation of the state meet. As a result of these sessions Larry, who was a junior, and I became friends. The four of us even traveled together to the state meet, where Larry and I shared a room.

I had been training and racing hard the entire summer and cross country season. Just before the state meet Coach Zickes tapered me, i.e., let me ease up on my training; it was something I had never done before. On the Friday before the meet I ran two easy miles on the course and then sprinted a few strides. My energy level and excitement were off the charts and I felt great.

Race day arrived and I still felt excited and energetic. There were 200 of us on the line ready to go. In my excitement I false started, but fortunately that was before the rule of one false start and you are out. I went out hard, but controlled, and at the one-half mile I was in the top ten, but probably 20 yards off of the leaders. At the mile mark I was in fourth place and just 10 yards behind the leader. With one-half mile to go, Don Jerningan and I shared the lead, with Joe Hurd behind us and solidly in third place. I started to push really hard with just a quarter-mile to go, but Don was hanging with me and I was starting to worry. Finally, to my great relief Don fell back and I crossed the finish line as the Ohio State Cross Country Champion in a new state record time of 9:29.6. Joe Hurd passed Don for second and Don ended up third. My friend and roommate Larry Coy finished 17 th in that race, but he would come back to win it the following year.

My next goal was to win the mile race at the state meet in the spring of 1972, and in the process to break the Ohio high school mile record which was held by Reggie McAfee at 4:08.5. Reggie went on to become the first African-American to break 4:00 minutes in the mile.

An outstanding example of sportsmanship took place in the spring of 1972 at a meet that I did not attend, but the story circulated quickly. Pete Hadtisch and Don Jerningan were the principals of the story. Ohio had a very sensible rule that if you ran the 2 mile you could not run another race. Everyone knew the rule, but for some reason Peter ran the 880, the mile, and the two mile – and won all three races. Don was second in two of the races. At the end of the meet, after the awards had been handed out, the meet management realized what had happened. They took the first place medals from Pete and gave two of them to Don. Don promptly found Pete and returned the first place medals to him saying, “Well you did beat me”.

Fortunately, in the spring of 1972 Rhodes had some very talented distance runners. Willie Kaulfersch, Marc Kolanz, and Rick Furman were my teammates; their talent and Coach Zickes' growing skill as a distance coach allowed us to enjoy success running various relays during the outdoor season.

To open our season, Rhodes won the Distance Medley Relay at Mansfield for the third straight year. The next big relay meet was the Berea Relays and we were competing in the mile relay. One of the toughest competitors I continually faced was Glen Wilburn from Amherst Steele High School. (Amherst also had a very strong cross country team and was historically a great distance school.) On this particular day Glen and I were both running anchor on our relay teams. When I received the baton I was a little bummed out, as Glen was a full 110 yards ahead of me. I took off as hard as I have ever run in a one mile race. At the end of the first lap I was still a full 110 yards behind, and I was still 110 yards behind at the half way point. (I had not heard any split times and would not the entire race.)

At the start of the final lap I had closed the gap, but was still about 75 yards behind. As I came off the turn into the back straight I could tell the gap was closing quickly. Encouraged, I gave it everything I had. By the time I was half way down the back straight I could tell I was going to catch Glen. Into the final turn, off of the turn and down the home straight the gap was closing dramatically. It was going to be close, but again I knew Rhodes would win. I finally passed Glen just steps before the tape.

I later learned that Glen had gone out in 2:02, as had I. I had no idea we were going that fast. I never knew the three-quarter split. Glen had paid the price for trying the put the race away early; his time was in the mid 4:20's and I was clocked at 4:10. It was a very fun and exciting race.

The next big event on our schedule was the West Tech Relays. Our coach was planning to enter us in the distance medley relay and the mile relay, and we would be heavy favorites in both. But for a change of pace, literally, Willy, Marc, Rick and I asked our coach to instead enter us in the both the mile and the 880 relay races. Winning the 880 relay would be a challenge for us.

As expected we won the mile relay. A short time later we were lined up for the 880 relay. Rhodes and East Tech were fighting it out for the lead as the third leg ended. Chris Ayers of East Tech got the stick for the final lap one step ahead of me; I was pleased to get the stick one step behind rather than one step ahead. I dropped in right behind him and made no effort to pass. We were running hard and ran in single file for the first 660 yards. Going down the back stretch I happened to look down and saw his calves quivering like jell-o; I had never seen calves so loose. I had no idea if that was good or bad, but decided if he was that lose it was probably bad for me as he would have a lot of speed left. I still did not make an effort to pass him; the race was so close, I could not afford to run even an extra yard trying to pass him into or on the final turn. After we came out of the final turn and into the home stretch I moved slightly to the right, kept my head up, and continued pumping my arms.

At this point of my career I had gained a reputation for exciting relay finishes and as I came off of the last turn the Rhodes fans were chanting my name; ADDISON! ADDISON! ADDISON! (I was so focused on the race that I did not hear this, but was told about it later.) I was gaining on Ayers inch by inch, then I was right next to him, and then we hit the finish line in a photo finish. It took several minutes for the officials to review the pictures, but in the end Rhodes was declared the winner.

The next week we traveled to Toledo for the Toledo Blade Meet where I was going to run the open mile and open 880. However for some reason there was a mix up in the entries and I was not entered in the mile. My coach tried to get me in, but to no avail. So I ran the 880 fresh for the first time ever and won the race in a personal best of 1:55.00.

At the district meet I ran the mile and the 880. I won the mile in 4:11 flat and also qualified for state in the 880, running 1:56 flat. I had a habit of adding my mile and 880 times together at each competition to see what the total was. This total of 6:07 was my best combination time ever. I was ready for state.

The state meet was run at the Ohio State University track, which was inside the football stadium. The day of the meet was very hot and humid, and the artificial turf on the football field magnified the heat. I won the mile in 4:13 and came back to place fifth in the 880. I had accomplished my goal of winning the 1972 state meet, but had not broken Reggie McAfee's state high school record.

When I was in high school there was no internet, no e-mail, or cell phones. If someone wanted to call you they had to dial your number on a rotary phone that was connected by wires to the wall. The phone in my home hung on the wall in the kitchen. Our home phone was ringing quite often as college coaches were calling me about attending their school. By the end of my senior year of high school I had received letters or phone calls from over 200 colleges and universities wanting me to attend their school.

One day in October of 1971, I received a call from recruiting coordinator Mike Tomasello of the University of Tennessee. I did not know anything about UT at the time and had no particular interest in them. Mike told me they were hosting the NCAA Cross Country Championships that November and he suggested I visit the school that weekend. Not only could I check out UT, but I could see the meet; that got my attention, so I agreed to fly to Knoxville that weekend.

I was met at the airport by two UT track athletes, Dennis Flood and Danny Zoeller. Danny was from the Cincinnati area and had run his high school track in Ohio. At this time I was 5'9” tall, weighted 125 pounds, had no upper body strength, wore glasses, and had braces. When they asked me my goals for the upcoming 1972 track season I told them I wanted to break Reggie's state record of 4:08.5. After I started school at UT and they became my teammates they told me about the good laugh they had about that one.

Fortunately for me, I still had an opportunity to get that record I wanted so badly. I had been invited to the All American High School Championships held at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I was also invited to the Golden West meet in Sacramento, California, and Coach Zickes also entered me in the National Junior Championships to be held in Denver, Colorado. I will be forever grateful to the Rhodes senior class and my friends, Larry Coy and others, from John Marshall High School. Between them they raised the money needed to pay the expenses for me and Coach Zickes to attend these prestigious events. Raising this money for me was an amazing and generous act.

Coach Zickes and I arrived in Baton Rouge on a hot, humid afternoon in June. Stepping off of the plane was like stepping into an oven. LSU is a very nice college campus and we were staying in one of the dorms. We explored the campus and the city and just generally waited for race day. The race was in the evening, still hot and humid, but with no sun beating down on us. Before the race I met some of the competitors in the mile run and saw their personal records. Of the 12 athletes in the field I think my open best of 4:11 was about the eighth fastest time. I would have my work cut out for me.

When the gun went off I went out with the group and just tried not to get boxed in. We ran the first quarter mile in 62 seconds, and made it to the half-mile in 2:04. Sometime during the third-quarter I took the lead. We passed the three-quarter mark in 3:08; so far we had run each quarter mile as follows: 62 seconds, 62 seconds, and 64 seconds.

With exactly one lap to go a few runners passed me, but I was in control and let them. I did not panic like I had at the state meet my junior year. The pace started to pick up. I felt great and was in the lead group, but going into the final turn I allowed myself to get boxed in. I really wanted to start my kick, but was on the inside and completely boxed in. I had never been is this situation before. Looking back on it, and having the experience I now have, I should have been patient because things usually open up down the home stretch and I could have just pushed my way through. Instead, I slowed, let a few people pass me, and then moved to the outside.

Coming off the turn I was free but behind. Reed Fisher of Dallas, Texas, was a step or two ahead of the field in lane one. I was at the back of a group of six runners and in lane three. I took off and quickly passed the field except for Reed, who was pulling away. I kept sprinting and started to close quickly on Reed. I thought I was going to win, but the finish line came up too quickly and I finished second in a very close race. Reed ran 4:05.7 and I ran 4:05.9 - but I had broken the Ohio State record!

A week later I found myself in Sacramento, California, for the Golden West meet. I had run a solo 9:06 two mile earlier in the season and wanted to break nine minutes. I figured the Golden West would be a perfect opportunity for that. It was another hot day, but not very humid. The meet was run in the afternoon and the sun blazed down on the clay track. Again, most of the other runners in this race had better personal bests than I had, but I was just hoping to hang on and run under nine minutes.

I am not sure what happened that day as I had never before had a bad race. I had made my share of tactical mistakes or maybe not run as fast as I had wanted to, but I had never before just run poorly, which is what I did that day. I felt horrible, my legs were tired, and I finished well off the pace.

We left Sacramento and traveled directly to Denver for the National Junior Championships where I was entered in the mile and the 3000 meter steeplechase. The previous summer at a summer fun meet I had seen steeple barriers for the first time and asked about the race. After I understood what it was I decided to try it that day. I put a hurdle on the infield and did a stride over it. I did not fall down so went to the start line for the steeplechase. I ran very slowly, but I did not hurt myself and won the race that day.

Coach Zickes entered me in the steeplechase in Denver in case I did not make the final in the mile or I had another bad race. Entering the steeplechase was a back-up plan I was hoping I did not need. For the mile run there were preliminary races, a new concept for me. I went to the line knowing I had to finish in the top six to make the finals. A lot of the guys I had raced against in Baton Rouge were in the race, but this race was also open to college freshmen. These guys were older and more experienced than any of us high school guys. All I really remember about the preliminary round was coming off the final turn, slowing down as others did, and just making sure I finished in the top six. Several guys slowed down more than I did and I ended up “winning” the prelim. That was not my goal, it just happened, but none of the qualifiers were working too hard at the finish line.

The finals were held the next day. I don't remember much about the race except that I “fell asleep” on the final lap and let Chuck Forys of Syracuse University get away from me. I was in the pack on the final lap feeling good, making sure I did not get boxed in, and then I made my move. I again passed the field, but fell just short of winning, placing second to Chuck. I felt good that I did not have another bad race, that I beat all of the high school guys including Reed Fisher, and that I made the national junior team, but was disappointed to finish second when victory was so close.

The steeple chase was a couple of hours later and I decided to run in it. Not as a desperate Hail Mary due to a poor performance in the mile, but because I felt really good and figured why not. Denver is at altitude, literally a mile above sea level, thus earning the nickname of the Mile High City. Running at that altitude slowed us a bit in the mile, but altitude would really affect the steeplechasers. I did not think I had any chance to really do well, I was really running for training and fun. For that reason I went out slow, being careful not to extend myself or hurt myself over the barriers. This really worked to my benefit, as most of the field went out pretty hard. Due to their quick starts at this altitude, many of those runners went into oxygen debt much sooner than they would have at sea level. Because I went out slower I was running within myself and felt good. All of a sudden I started picking people off; I then began to run harder and continued to pass more runners. Before I knew it I was in third place as the race was nearing the finish line. Granted the first and second place runners were a long way ahead of me. Those runners were experienced steeple chase racers, both college freshmen who had been running this race the entire season; this was only the second time I had ever run a steeple chase. To the surprise of a lot of people, including myself, I crossed the finish line in third place.

My second place finish at the National Junior Championships in the mile run earned me a place on the United States National Junior Team. A couple of weeks later I found myself back in Sacramento for a dual meet, representing the USA against Russia. This was on the same track that had hosted the Golden West Relays earlier in the summer. I was so excited to receive a USA singlet and warmup suit; I could not believe I was actually going to represent the United States in an international competition. The US and Russian teams stayed in the same dorms that we had used during the Golden West meet. There were two of us entered in the 1500m race for the U.S. A. and the other runner on our team, Chuck, and I were roommates. It was fun and exciting to meet and interact with the Russian athletes. They were very friendly and excited to be in the United States. Unfortunately for Chuck, he came down with a bad cold the day before the competition. I felt bad for him, but also felt additional pressure to do well.

There were only four runners entered in the 1500m, and with Chuck being ill the field had been trimmed to just three. The Russians ran as a team; I kept trying to go around them, but each time I would make a move one of the Russians would block me. I tried this several times, with the same result each time. Later on I realized I should have just relaxed behind them and then made one big move when the opportunity presented itself; with such a small field there was no danger or getting truly boxed in. I finally made a big move down the back stretch that for the first time put me into second place. Off the final turn it was a mad dash to the finish line, with me between the two Russians. I ended up a disappointing third, but we were all within a half-second of each other.

Once again I had learned some lessons about tactics, and I had run 3:49.5 in my first 1500 ever, which was equivalent to a 4:06 mile.

My parents and three sisters had driven to California to watch the race. The day after the race we started driving south to Santa Barbara to visit an uncle. While en route we stopped at a pizza place for lunch. Just by chance the TV in the pizza restaurant was on, the track meet was being shown, and there I was running the 1500m on national TV. What really struck me was listening to the commentary. As I made move after move the announcers were saying I would never last doing that, I should instead just relax and stay behind until the time was right. They were correct, and I had learned another lesson for future reference. However I was more than pleased when I finished in the hunt; they gave me credit for running a gutsy race and almost winning.