Spence Prefers Peace and Quiet but Likes San Clemente Payday

Nine months out of the year, Steve Spence lives and trains among the rolling, farm-studded hills of southern Pennsylvania. While running, Spence often shares the road with the Amish, who occasionally ride alongside him in their buggies, playfully challenging Spence to a race.

During the summers, Spence relocates to Boulder, Colo., where the Rocky Mountains and the clear skies provide inspiration.

Spence, who was named Distance Runner of the Year by the Road Runners Club of America in 1989, says a peaceful environment is essential to his running success.

“I’m really just a country boy,” said Spence, who grew up a few miles outside of Elizabethtown, Pa. “Boulder is the first city I’ve really lived in.”

Actually, a few years ago, Spence spent 18 months working as an insurance claims adjuster in Fairfax, Va. But life in the big city--Fairfax has a population of 20,000--was too much for him.

“I was trying to train, but living in suburbia, with highways everywhere and developments . . . It’s just not a great type of place to run,” he said.

This weekend, Spence, who is ranked second among U.S. road racers, will make a rare Southern California appearance when he comes to Orange County for Sunday’s Fiesta 5,000 at San Clemente.

The race, which begins at 8 a.m. for the open 5K and 9:30 a.m. for the invitational 5K, will give Spence another glimpse of suburbia--this time, South County-style. The congestion might not be to Spence’s liking, the race--with its $15,000 in prize money--is.

The winners of the men’s and women’s invitational races will receive $3,000. Second place is worth $2,000, third-place finishers receive $1,000, fourth $500, and fifth $250. In addition, an elite masters division (40-and-over) will award $500 to the winner, $250 to the runner-up.

“Three thousand for the winner--that’s a little more than pocket change,” said Spence, who estimates he earned at least $30,000 to $40,000 in race earnings alone last year. Contracts with a shoe company, a sunglasses manufacturer and a nutritional snack bar have allowed him to make running his profession for the last several years.

Like most elite runners, Spence retains his amateur status by putting his race earnings into a trust fund set up by The Athletics Congress, the governing body for track and field in the United States. TAC allows athletes to withdraw money from their trusts, as long as the money is used for living and training expenses. The $70,000 house Spence bought last year was purchased with money from his trust.

Because of his earnings, and his fairly rapid rise to the top--in 1987, Spence was 80th on U.S. road race rankings, but after a major breakthrough he was third-ranked in 1988--Spence is somewhat representative of the new American distance runner, one that sticks to the often lucrative road racing circuit.

But Spence, who set the American record for 15K (42:40) last year at the Cascade Run-Off, is also among those who are routinely criticized and even blamed for what has been called the demise of U.S. distance running in international competition during the ‘80s. Some say that the lure of financial rewards has driven many of the nation’s best runners to the roads and off the track.

Spence refers to comments routinely made by two former marathoning greats: Alberto Salazar and Frank Shorter. Both have said that many of today’s runners are to blame for the lack of top U.S. distance competitors on the international level.

In the March issue of Track & Field News, for instance, Shorter is quoted as saying that American distance runners have “the attitude of, ‘I acknowledge I’m not the best and never can be. So my goal is to be average and make as much money as I can (on the roads). I’ll abdicate and accept mediocrity . . .’ ”

To this, the normally mild-mannered Spence takes offense. He says Shorter, who also lives and trains for run-and-bicycle events in Boulder, and Salazar, who after many years of injury is trying to make a comeback in Eugene, Ore., spend too much time criticizing, too little time helping the situation.

“They don’t lend any support,” Spence said. “They just compare us to what they did. They point out all the problems without offering any positive reinforcements or solutions.

“Frank is always bashing American road racing,” Spence said. “He’s done nothing to help other runners. All he does is bash other runners for not running 2:08 marathons. I say hey, wouldn’t you rather have us get to that point slowly than do it and not be able to ever run well again?

“I think there are a lot of American runners right on the edge. We’re going to dominate in the future. There are a lot (of runners who) are about to make that big breakthrough.

“Hopefully,” Spence added with a chuckle, “It’ll be me.”

Among the other top entrants for Sunday’s Fiesta 5,000 are Matt Giusto of Foster City, Calif., and William Musyoki of Van Nuys.

Giusto was a four-time All-American at the University of Arizona, winning the NCAA 5,000 meter title in 1988. After tearing ligaments in his right knee in April, Giusto says he is back in prime shape.

“I’m in top form,” said Giusto, 23, who last met--and beat--Spence at the national cross-country championships in San Francisco last fall. “Steve is a very good runner, but a 5K is a little short for him. My specialty is the 1,500 (meters) and the 5,000. I’m fit and very confident. Anything less than winning would be a disappointment.”

Musyoki, a Kenyan, won Sunday’s Bastille Day 8K, but was disappointed with his performance nonetheless. After San Clemente, Musyoki will have raced four weekends in a row, so he may not be as fresh as the others.

Competing in the women’s field will be Bastille 8K winner Sylvia Mosqueda, Olympic marathoner Margaret Groos, former American 8K record-holder Brenda Webb, Olympic Festival 10,000-meter champion Shelly Steeley and local standout Kathy Smith.

Also running, in the elite masters division, will be 42-year-old Laurie Binder of Oakland. Binder, the American master’s record-holder at 5K (16:56), says when she heard about the San Clemente race, she was thrilled.

“For some reason, there just aren’t that many big races in Southern California,” said Binder, who grew up in San Diego.

Running Notes

Tonight at 7, Los Alamitos runner Steve Bishop will try for his eighth consecutive title at the Manufacturers Hanover Corporate Challenge at Griffith Park. Bishop, a 30-year-old mechanical engineer for Rockwell International in Fullerton, has won all seven regional championships since the series began in 1983. The top two individuals at the regionals--it is a 3.5-mile road course--advance to the international corporate challenge championships in New York. Bishop has advanced to the nationals all seven years, placing no worse than seventh each year. Bishop also teamed with four other Rockwell runners to win the international corporate team championship in 1983 and 1985.