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The 19th Annual West Indies Lab/V.I.Pace Runners 5 Mile Road Race... Saturday October 18, 6am A Tribute to Betsy & Bill Gladfelter... September 24, 2003 A Tribute to Bill and Betsy Gladfelter...Endurance Athletes, Scientists Elizabeth Gladfelter, PhD (Betsy) and William Gladfelter, PhD (Bill) are known all over the world as scientists and throughout this region and in New England as endurance athletes. For many years they were tenured professors at Farleigh Dickinson University’s West Indies Lab on the east end of St.Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. It is here that they made an impact on the lives of hundreds of students in the sciences, particularly marine science, as well as in running, cycling and multi-sports events. They have become authorities on the natural environment of St.Croix and the surrounding islands, studying the animal, and plant life both on the land and in the sea over the last 30 years. They have lectured and published extensively and served as experts to many who have seen the impact of change affect life in the islands. In the early 1980’s Betsy and Bill were parts of the effort to put together multi-endurance events including: cycling, kayaking and running for the students at the lab in what became the first form of triathlon in the Territory. Since then they have developed into endurance athletes supreme with Bill becoming a record-setting cyclist; a winning triathlete and a top masters marathon runner. He has represented the Virgin Islands in events internationally including some of the top marathons including: Boston, Los Angles, Cape Cod and DC to name a few. Betsy remain as the first and only woman to run in two World Cross-Country Championships for the Virgin Islands., She ran at the Meadowlands, USA in 1984 and at Neufchatel, Switzerland in 1986. She too has run Boston, Cape Cod, DC and Los Angeles marathons. She holds records for the number of wins in the Virgin Islands Half-Marathon and performances in other road races in the territory. Betsy and Bill truly exemplify the essence of Virgin Islands Pace Runners. Several years ago V.I.Pace Runners in cooperation the West Indies Lab started the West Indies Lab 5 Mile Road Race. Up until 1989 when Hurricane Hugo devastated the campus which led to the decision by the University to forgo rebuilding and reopening the Lab, students thrived on their performance in this scenic but rugged point-to-point race which started near the entrance of the campus and finished near Southgate Pond. The WIL 5Miler continues. This year it is special as it pays tribute to Betsy and Bill and their contributions to the island of St.Croix as scientists and endurance athletes. Request: we are requesting of anyone who knows Bill and Betsy to share their thoughts about them on this occasion by emailing the details to us to be posted on a special web page. The email address is: isv@mf.iaaf.org. the inclusion of photographs is encouraged. Race Day 2003: This year the race is scheduled for Saturday, October 18 at 6am and will start at the Lab and finish at Southgate Pond (Cheeseburgers In Paradise). Run the race... Get-together: Depending on when Bill and Betsy are on the island again, a special Get-together will be held to share with them the stuff of runners, cyclist, triathletes, endurance athletes and scientists, the stuff from days gone by including: clippings, certificates, photo displays, food and drink, good chat, love and friendship. Your ideas on how to make this tribute a big success for Bill and Betsy would be most appreciated... Contact: John Harper and Theresa Harper 773-0069; Wallace Williams 773-5715 or 643-2557 ww