Bit by the running bug

Sometimes the running bug just bites: a 5-kilometer race here, a marathon there. But for Phil Lechner, ’96, the itch to run has been ultra-hard to scratch, and has meant piling on the miles.

Lechner runs what are called ultra-marathons — distances of 50 kilometers, 50 miles and even 100 miles.

“I just caught the bug and I really, really enjoy it,” he said. “It’s a sport that is exploding now because, at one time, the marathon was a challenge. But when you have 30,000 or 40,000 people running New York and Boston, people want more than that.”

Softball, this time fast-pitch, returns to Flagler

This fall Flagler is adding a new sport to its roster, although it’s not quite “new.” While the college sported a women’s slow-pitch softball team in the ’70s and ’80s, it is being reincarnated this year as fast-pitch.

The decision to add softball has been on the agenda since Flagler made the move to NCAA Div. II. Most teams in the region have softball teams in place, and Flagler needed to make the
addition to its roster of sports.