Strider of the Month: Joerg Herbrechtsmeier
By John Trent
The name looks a lot more complicated than the person.
That’s one of the thoughts you take away from a conversation with Joerg Herbrechtsmeier.
Certainly, his is a name that looks like a mouthful.
But Joerg (pronounced “Yerk”) is actually one of the most down-to-earth,
easy-to-talk-to individuals in the local running community. His contributions to
Reno’s running scene are many, and often overlooked.
For the better part of a decade, Joerg has served as race director of one of the
more enduring and successful events on the northern Nevada running calendar.
The “You’ve Gotta Be Crazy” run is held each February in Verdi.
As the name suggests, sometimes you do have to be crazy to even drive out to Verdi
Elementary School for the 5- and 10-kilometer event.
The event’s late morning start time – 10:30 a.m. – is testament
to the fact that sometimes it’s best to wait a few hours for icy roads to
melt, or for biting winds or blinding snow to subside.
This year’s crazy run – held on Feb. 17 – was held on a relatively
pleasant day, with more than 250 finishers. It’s interesting to note that
while races have come and gone over the years in Reno, the “Crazy Run,”
in its 22 nd year, trails only a handful of local races for longevity.
Although Joerg would never admit this – and during a recent interview he took
great pains to single out the race’s volunteer base, including minister of
timing Lynn Mentzer and minister of post-race picnic Lon Monroe – the “Crazy
Run” has prospered due its diligent, detail-oriented and not-afraid-to-delegate-and-then-trust
race director.
In addition to serving as race director for the “Crazy Run,” Joerg can
be seen at many other local events, helping set up and break down finish areas,
among other things. It is hard to imagine a more accomplished runner – Joerg,
51, has personal bests that stretch from 1:50.2 at 880 yards in college at UNLV
to a 2:45 marathon – who gives more time as a behind-the-scenes volunteer
than this tall, smooth-striding and soft-spoken man.
For these reasons, Joerg is March’s Strider of the Month. Here is a recent
conversation with him.
Question: When did you take over as race director of the “Crazy Run?”
Joerg: My friend, Ray Cook, had been the race director. My involvement began when
I started helping Ray. I remember when we did the Cal Neva Mile (a road mile in
the late 1990s from the University of Nevada, Reno that finished under the Reno
arch in downtown Reno). Ray decided to (be the race director) for the Cal Neva,
and then I said, “I’ll do the Crazy Run.”
Question: Why did you take over for Ray?
Joerg: Because I’m crazy (laughs). There has always been a really good group
of people involved with the race, and that continues today. It makes it easy when
you’re working with good people. In those early days, we used to have less
than 100 runners, and on a bad weather day it might only 50 or 60. People would
look out their window the morning of the race and decide only then if they were
running. When we started to do things like creating T-shirts, offering early registration,
participation picked up.
This year we had about 250 finishers. Our biggest race was four or five years ago
when we had 397. It really helps our numbers when we have big groups of people come
out. When (former Silver State Marathon race director) Ski (Pisarski) was doing
Team in Training, sometimes his group would do our race as one of their training
runs. One year, we had almost 80 Team in Training people. That really helps.
Question: It seems that people like the course, and the fact that it’s held
in a unique location. There aren’t many races held in Verdi.
Joerg: That’s part of it. It is a challenging course. What’s interesting
is that we’ve always had more women than men. There are always 10 to 15 percent
more women. I think it shows that women are tougher; they’re willing to endure
more. Our race isn’t geared toward women, but they seem to really enjoy running
it.
The weather is always one of the variables we have with this race. Some years, the
weather has been really bad. We’re talking having ice hitting your face, the
roads completely iced over, the wind howling. This year (laughs) … the weather
was nice. We’ve always had a late start at 10:30 because of this. Even in
bad weather, the late start gives the roads a chance to warm up a bit.
Question: The course (which is two 5K loops) is definitely unique. It’s not
easy, by any means.
Joerg: When Ray was the race director, it was a 3- and 7-mile. The course then was
significantly different. It crossed Highway 40 a couple of different times and went
across the railroad tracks. But as the race grew, we had to look at (changing) the
course. We used to have a lot of people at intersections directing traffic. We went
out and drove around and decided on the loop that we use today (the race starts
at Verdi Elementary School before crossing two bridges and then winding its way
on rolling terrain back to Verdi Elementary School).
At first we thought it should just be a 5K, then we decided to make it a 5K and
a 10K by making it two loops … a lot of people change their minds after one
loop and end up only running the 5K.
The loop works well, though it makes the races a little long. I used to know this
off the top of my head, but I think the 5K is about 150 meters long. It ends at
a little metal horse head, at someone’s lawn ornament near the school. And
the 10K actually ends down by where you make the turn at Bridge Street. We moved
the start as far up the road as we could without ending up right in the middle of
the bend in the road (there is a sharp blind curve nearby). We didn’t want
to have someone flying through that blind turn and then plowing into 250 people
lined up in the middle of the road.
You have to give the runners room to be safe and for the residents to be able to
see what’s on the road if they are driving out of the neighborhood that morning.
So the loop is the loop. There’s no way to shorten it.
Question: How much longer do you see yourself being the race director?
Joerg: Every year I say, “This is going to be my last year.” But then
when it’s over and people tell you you’ve done a good job, you get that
little high from the race going well. Lon does a great job of putting on the picnic,
and Lynn does a great job of handling all of the timing, and we have a great group
of really wonderful volunteers. They’re all very professional and you don’t
have to worry about things going wrong, or not being handled. They tell me, “We’ve
got it handled” and they’re better at it than I could ever be; if it
wasn’t for all of the great work by these great people, we couldn’t
put on the race. Usually when I’m looking for the date in February for next
year’s race, my main question in determining it is asking them, “When
are you going to be in town in February?”
Question: You are a pretty successful runner in your own right. Do you have any
specific or general goals for your own running?
Joerg: I turn 52 in April. I’m healthy, but I haven’t been doing a lot
of training this winter. Last fall, my goal was to run 6-minute pace at the Sparks
( Marina) Turkey Trot (10K), and I ran 6:03, 6:04 pace, so that was close enough
for an old man. I won my age group that day.
The World Track and Field Master’s Championships are going to be held in Sacramento
in 2011, so that’s a goal in the back of my mind. If I do that, I’d
run the 800 – that was my race back in college. I’ve never been a big
distance runner.
Question: You had a pretty successful high school career. Tell me about it.
Joerg: Well, I only ran my senior year (at Rancho High School in North Las Vegas).
I won the 880 at our zone championships, in 1:57, then was second at state in 1:56.
I had also run cross country that year. I was third man on our cross country team.
There were two kids faster than me, and one was going to concentrate on the mile
in track and the other was a two-miler, and I wanted to be fast at something, too,
so I ran the half mile.
Question: I know you have aches and pains like all of us, but for the most part,
you’ve led a relatively injury-free career in running. Why is that?
Joerg: I’ve kept my mileage down. I’m not a high-mileage person. I was
an 800 meter runner in high school and college, and I guess that’s still part
of my makeup. Anytime I go out and run for more than an hour, I seem to get bored.
Maybe it’s genetics, or my mechanics. I’ve always felt that if your
bone structure all lines up, you can minimize the chance for injury. Running is
very stressful on your body, so if there is any flaw or abnormality, the repetitive
nature of the sport is like taking a hammer to your body. If you start limping or
your stride changes or you’re constantly in pain, that’s only going
to make things worse.
I do have issues with my calves. So I think stretching is real important. I see
so many people who get injured because they ignore the injury. They think it will
go away on its own. It becomes difficult to tell yourself that you need to rest
and heal.
Question: In addition to your 1:50.2 in college, what are some of your other best
marks?
Joerg: I did a mile in 4:09. My other marks, I’m not even sure about.
After the age of 40, I did a 5K in 16:08. I did the Silver State Marathon back in
the early 1980s … it was either 1981 or ’82. I ran 2:45.
Question: 2:45 is pretty impressive.
Joerg: It got me 11 th place that day. I think George Hernandez won. He was in a
different time zone. It’s funny, because of finishing 11 th, I decided I wasn’t
a very good marathoner. Back in those days, 2:45 wasn’t that great of a time;
a few years later, 2:45 might’ve even won that race. But on that day, it wasn’t
even top 10. Running has really changed over the years.
Question: How long do you think you’ll continue running?
Joerg: I’ve always told people I’m going to run until I can’t
anymore. As soon as it’s not fun anymore, I would stop doing it. It’s
still fun to me.