By Larry Kelley
Special to the Times
There are certain entities that are readily identifiable by their acronyms.
IBM, NFL, AFL-CIO, AT&T, ESPN, EB among many.
In southeastern Connecticut, SNERRO, short and snappy for its original full title of Southern New England Road Race Officials, is the first name of local road racing. In the last 15 years, SNERRO’s scope has expanded to Rhode Island and all of Connecticut.
If SNERRO services a race, it offers validity much the same way if ESPN brings color man Dick Vitale to broadcast a college basketball game. SNERRO’s white U-Haul-type 40-foot truck, with the big black letters of SNERRO emblazoned on each side, carries timing equipment, three clocks of various size, and a musical sound system and speakers that entertain competitors and runners during races.
Most importantly, the SNERRO truck carries its two partners, Pete Volkmar of New London and Way Hedding of Niantic. Still avid runners in their 50s, Hedding and Volkmar have become the de facto co-commissioners of local road racing, officiating and orchestrating up to 60 races a year locally and as far away as Block Island, New Haven, Ridgefield, Columbia, and Chester.
“We ensure an accurate distance, an accurate placement, and an accurate time,” Volkmar said. “If those three provisions are guaranteed, I think it makes you run better. If we can’t guarantee this, after a while if nobody believed their time, all runners would ignore us and take their own time on their wrist watches. There is no excuse to have a horror show with the software we have.”
Volkmar and Hedding are ringleaders among SNERRO’s group of 15 or so volunteers, who handle various duties including mapping out the course, timing the race, announcing, gathering finishing order placing, and disseminating overall and divisional results in, what else, timely fashion.
“There is no more knowledgeable operating group in road racing,” said John Kelley of Mystic, the 1957 Boston Marathon winner and longtime local road racing contributor. “We live in a world where everyone is replaceable. But if SNERRO would disappear, I don’t know what would happen. I consider them irreplaceable. Sometimes we take them for granted because they’ve done such a good job for so many years.”
SNERRO began in 1963 as an organization to produce the Ocean Beach 11.6-mile run and a handful of other local races. Volkmar, Hedding, and his wife, Melinda, contributed about $1,300 apiece to buy SNERRO from its previous owners in 1986. The Ocean Beach race, named the John Kelley Ocean Beach 11.6-Mile Road Race, is the jewel of SNERRO’s events. Nearly 500 competitors annually enter the run, which is one of the few major national races that offers free registration. The 46th annual Ocean Beach Kelley race commenced Aug. 2. Mark Olivier, 25, a former Fitch High and Columbia University standout runner, won in a time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 16.2 seconds. Jon-Paul Mandelburg, a former Norwich Free Academy standout who ran with Olivier at Columbia, finished nearly side by side in 1:04.16.7. Branford’s Cheryl Anderson was the top women’s finisher (1:11.36.7) and ninth overall.
“Runner’s World has listed it among the top 80 road races nationally,” Hedding said. “Johnny Kelley starts the race, Amby Burfoot, the 1968 Boston Marathon winner, designed the course, and it remains one of the only free races in the entire country. For an event such as this, which includes free parking at one of the East Coast’s beautiful resorts, chowder, and refreshments, it could require a $40 entry fee. But we want to give back to the racing community and keep up the tradition of a free race.”
Volkmar and Hedding enjoy giving good-natured ribbing to runners and taking them back. They’re organized, but keep things loose. Volkmar recalls the strangest occurrence he’s encountered in his 22-plus years was when he asked for a starter’s gun at the Montville Masters (over 40) 10K run. “Instead, a runner handed me his teeth,” he said.
What was more important than money? Running a professional organization and having a good time doing it.
“It’s more of a hobby for us,”
Volkmar said. “We could be playing golf, but would we still be doing that after 22 years? We don’t make money out of this, but most of our volunteers are former runners or still runners and have a pulse of the road racing scene. We enjoy it.”
Hedding’s wife remains a loyal volunteer.
“We bought her out,” Way said with a laugh. “We never sought to make a profit. The money we receive from race fees goes into buying new toys like chronomix timing systems or microphones. We’ve really expanded SNERRO’s services over the years, and are booked every week, although we try not to do more than one race a day. It’s very rewarding to us, many of whom still race, to produce fast, accurate results. Plus, we have a lot of fun. We usually meet somewhere after the races for ‘one pint.’”
Tom McCoy, race director for Tom McCoy’s Family Fun Runs for the last 30 years at Misquamicut Beach in Westerly, believes SNERRO’s presence brings life to a race. His co-director of McCoy’s Fun Runs, Nick Bottone Jr., is SNERRO’s public address announcer and third major partner today.
“They bring enthusiasm and heart to their job,” McCoy said. “Nick does a great job with his commentary, announcing the names of finishers and giving background information. The music and Nick’s announcing add a lot of color. Plus, the big clock with the digital numbers is a nice dimension for spectators and runners. SNERRO ensures every race is a vibrant event.”
All three SNERRO major partners were or still are avid road runners. Bottone held Westerly High’s mile record in the ’70s and was a top local runner until hurting his back in the ’80s. Hedding, 57, still competes, specializing now in Clydesdale running events for 200-pound-plus competitors. But Hedding will be quick to add he barely tips over 200 pounds on a 6-foot-2 frame.
“Pete and Way are great leaders and have a lot of fun during a race,” Bottone said. “We have a nucleus of about 12 people volunteering. It’s a smooth-running operation.”
SNERRO’s services extend beyond races. Its yearly race schedule, listing more than 100 statewide races, even ones they don’t time, is considered the premier index for road runners.
“We starting to produce a schedule to keep track of our contracted races and soon found that it was the only local schedule of races available,” Volkmar said. “We only require written information from the race director each year.”
McCoy says the schedule, listed in The Day and on SNERRO’s Web site, www.snerro.com, is an invaluable
resource.
“Most runners plan their schedules according to the SNERRO list,” McCoy said. “I’m not sure everyone realizes what an important role SNERRO plays in a road runner’s life.”