FRED JOSLYN EMERGES VICTORIOUS WITH NICK HILTON CLOSE BEHIND AT THE 102ND RUN FOR THE DIAMONDS. PHOTOS BY KAREN MITCHELL AND CLAY SHAW

One Tick Pony; History at Berwick
in the 102nd Running

BY MARK WILL-WEBER

As if to announce that the second century of racing at Berwick was going to be equally adventuresome when compared to the first 100 years, a little bit of history unfolded at the 102nd Run for the Diamonds.

No, it wasn’t Pete Pfitzinger’s still-crazy-after-all-these-years course record (43:21 in 1980) being broken. That mark is still out there--hovering like some strange distant planet that someone seems to have seen only once--waiting for a true Olympian to revisit that elusive frontier. (But don’t hold your breath…the Stanley Cup finals might be hosted in Hell before Pfitz’s course mark is eclipsed…)

But would you settle for the tightest finish ever in the history of Pennsylvania’s oldest footrace? When C. Fred Joslyn hammered down Market Street and nipped front-running Nick Hilton at the tape, the final results put the difference at one second--45:20 to 45:21--after 9-miles of racing (and a mile-plus uphill) on a splendidly sun-drenched Thanksgiving morning before large and festive crowds. In actuality, there was some rounding up involved and the difference was most probably a mere half-second. The space between the two runners was more than an elf’s eyelash perhaps, but less than a reindeer’s nose. Any closer and NFL “instant replay” or the verdict of Solomon might have been required to settle it.

In fact, it was so close that the hard-charging Joslyn felt compelled to advance an apology to Hilton. While still attempting to catch his breath, Joslyn muttered: “Sorry about the finish.” Hilton, the former Lock Haven University star, showed great sportsmanship, with his reply of: “No apologies. That was great!”