Marathon stories: from whimsical to poignant
By MARK ALESIA
Daily Herald Sports Feature Writer


Riley McLincha called ahead, figuring he had better ask the organizers of Sunday's Chicago Marathon before trying to run the course while dribbling three basketballs.

"I thought I was going to get some static," MeLincha said. To the contrary, the marathon people were delighted 'So let there be "drubbling," the 45-year-old's term for his hobby when he's not repairing fork lifts or attending school at the University of Michigan at Flint.

It is heartening to report that among 16,000 conventional runners and wheelchair athletes, there is room in the marathon field for the whimsical and, in the case of Jamie and Lynn Parks of Tinley Park, the poignant.


For 26.2 miles, if all goes well, Jamie will be pushing his wife in a wheelchair. Judging from their 23 previous races together, none of which were marathons, the other runners will be supportive.

"Even when we're passing them," Lynn said ' "You would think they'd be disgruntled to be passed by a guy pushing a wheelchair. But they're more like, 'Way to go!'"

The Parks' story begins with Lynn's auto accident in 1987 that left her in a coma for 17 days. She also suffered a broken collarbone, broken clavicle and broken ribs. Jamie and Lynn were engaged at the time, but even after making progress with her rehabilitation, Lynn didn't want to get married until she could walk down the aisle, not roll in a wheelchair.

She did just that in 1994 on the arm of her father and brother.

After a successful 22-mile training run-and-roll last month, they decided to try the Chicago Marathon. In the Motorola Half Marathon on Sept. 29 in Schaumburg, they finished 122nd out of 3,000 competitors.

For the Chicago Marathon, Jamie and Lynn, both 34, are hoping to break 3 hours, 15 minutes. (Jamie's note: We did-we ran it in 2:57:07)

Lynn will provide the psychological help.

"He doesn't like talking too much during a race," Lvnn said. "If I see him start slowing down, I'll coax him on, or I'll say,'Come on, move it.'"

Jamie ran alone in the 1989 and 1990 Marathons. He started racing with his wife in 1991.

"Instead of constantly having to call somebody in our family and ask them to get up at 6 o'clock on Sunday morning to be with Lynn at the finish line, we decided to try it together," Jamie said.

MeLincha, married and the father of two grown daughters, got the idea for his act three years ago after seeing a bunch of basketballs on a gym floor.

He already was a "joggler," a runner.who juggles. That's an established art, complete with its own record times. MeLincha wanted to take it one step further. He describes drubbling as something that borrows from juggling concepts, with every ball going from his left to right hand.

More than 90 percent of the time Sunday, McLincha will dribble. The rest of the time, in crowds or near potholes he'll juggle.

"I do it because it sounds impossible, and I want to come to Chicago and showcase my invention," he said. "I'd like to see it catch on, but I don't think it will. It's very difficult."

A few weeks ago, he made a trip to Chicago to scout out the course for drubbling. Memo to the public works department: potholes make drubbling hazardous. Rain and cold would also hinder his act.

This a man disposed to odd pursuits. He is listed in the 1978 "Guiness Book of World Records" for memorizing pi to some ungodly number of digits.

He hopes to finish the Chicago Marathon in under five hours. His longest previous race while drubbling was 10 miles.

McLincha isn't doing it for the endorsements. At least not yet.

"I've written a couple of letters and haven't heard anything back," he said.