Parsel breaks age-group record in 20K

Steve Virgen

Figuratively speaking, Dave Parsel stumbled upon the national

age-group record in the 20,000 meters. Yet after enduring a rigorous

week, Parsel, an Estancia High alum, came nowhere near stumbling when

he broke the 45-49 national age-group record, finishing in 1:11.9.20

at a Masters division track meet at Orange Coast College June 8.

The Masters division is for runners age 40 and older. The previous

record in the 45-49 age group was 1:13.46.

Parsel, 48, became aware of the record some four hours before the

meet started when he was listening to a phone message from his friend

Dave Fier, who is a cross country and track and field coach at OCC.

The day before the meet at OCC, Parsel ran in the Corona del Mar

Scenic 5K. By the time Parsel listened to the phone message, he had

put in roughly 85 miles throughout each of the previous three weeks,

as he is an avid runner.

“Running a 20K was the last thing I was thinking about,” Parsel

said. “My first thought was that was totally insane. It seemed out of

the question. I found out that I had to run back-to-back 36-minute

10Ks, and that’s all I had to do to break the record.”

Parsel, who played football at Estancia and OCC in the 1970s,

actually had to overcome more than finishing each half of the race in

36 minutes. He went the entire race, 50 laps around the track,

without water. In addition, the meet was at night and the only lights

provided were at the finish line.

“It was surrealistic,” Parsel said. “In some parts, it was pitch

dark. I could hear the voices cheering. It wasn’t really dizzying,

but after 25 laps, I did feel cramps. I didn’t know if I would be

able to do it. Dave Fier yelled out that there was 30 laps left. I

just said, 30 down, 20 to go. The people there laughed and that put

me at ease.”

Parsel has been rather comfortable with running long distance ever

since 1979 after he rehabilitated from a broken leg suffered while

playing football for OCC in 1978. He went back to OCC in 1987, when,

at age 32, he won the state championship in the 10,000 meters. He won

Orange Empire Conference titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 that year, as

well, and went undefeated in both races until finishing second in the

state in the 5,000.

He’s no stranger to unfolding being a bit of a novelty act.

In regard to age-group records, the Masters division meet on June

8 was actually supposed to solely feature Paul Cook, a 50-year-old

from Santa Ana. He had prepared for the process of setting up for the

record in his age group to be officially broken. The process included

making sure an official watched the race and that the track met legal

standards.

Cook broke the 50-55 age group record, finishing in 1:13.48.79,

breaking the record by more than 10 minutes.