Yerington Monday: The Great Yerington Sack Race Part II- Race of the Century
They killed the snake with a shovel, cut off the rattles and presented them to the Pennsylvania team the day after the race when gathering in the old Silver Palace.
Lommori, who was nicknamed "Hoss" by the Edinboro coach, also practiced with a heavier 140-pound sack and sat around his home in the evenings watching TV with the sack on his shoulders and head just to get used to it. "It really helped me when I learned to pack the sack on my head and relieve the pain in my shoulders," he added. "I learned to balance it on my head, walk and never drop the sack."
"Mike was strong enough to lift it off his shoulders and put it on his head," said Andreasen, who tipped the scale at just 130 pounds at race time and earned the Pennsylvania nickname of "Little Joe." "I had to carry mine on my shoulders because I was not strong enough to do that. If I took my sack off my shoulders, I couldn't get it back up, ever."
Erb commented that he recalls "almost causing us to lose" the race when he stumbled as he decided to run a little bit because "a Pennsylvanian racer was messin' with me. I took off on a run and my knee kind of gave out. I was lucky, I got control of my sack. My knee went down but I never dropped it... that would have been disastrous."
Both Lommori and Erb still tease Andreasen to this day about squeezing the bottom hand-holds on his sack so hard that some of his grain fell out as he rounded the track, making his sack lighter.
"I followed this little trail of grain around the track," Lommori said with a laugh.
"It had to have been coming from Fred's sack because he was grabbing his sack so tightly," Erb responded, laughing and pointing at his friend.
"They've been telling me that for years," Andreasen said. "When we were running the race out in Yerington, there was a little bit of a drip coming out of the sack corner, and I kept going like this trying to get more out of it."
"My favorite memory of the race was when I looked across the track and realized I was within reach of Fred," said Lommori, who was 27 at the time. "We had staggered starts and I knew I had to be within a certain distance of Fred."
Andreasen, 25 years old in 1964, added, "I remember after 6 miles, Mike and I were side-by-side and the announcer Willie Capucci saying, "Four miles to go and it's turning into a foot race."
"I wasn't listening to anything. I was in too much pain," Erb said, then 25, who suffered severe blisters in the earlier trials and feared he would not be able to compete in the finals.
Lommori recalled the most difficult part of the race for him came in the first 5 to 6 miles because "I used to get terrible shin splints but got numb for the last 3-4 miles."
Mike Lommeri, 1964 sac race winner
Fred Andreasen, a 1964 sack race runner-up
Yerington 1964, Fred Andreasen collapses after crossing the finish line of the Race of the Century in Yerington.
Steven Erg, a 1964 sack race runner
Bill Jones, a 1964 sack race alternate
Chub Quilici, a 1964 sack race runner
Richard Burnet, a 1964 sack race runner.
Race of the Century: Friendships Forged in Competition
(by Jim Sanford, Special to the Mason Valley News August 13, 2014)
(by Jim Sanford, Special to the Mason Valley News August 13, 2014)
That's the case for three of the men who competed in the "1964 Race of the Century" and captured the title of "World Champion Sack Toters."
Even after 50 years, the memories come flooding back when three of the Nevada team competitors — who defeated a team from Edinboro, Pa. in the Race of the Century on July 4, 1964 — get together.
"We get together a few times a year and the stories really fly around," said Mike Lommori as the Yerington resident met with Fred Andreasen of Carson City and Steve Erb of Gardnerville in the J-T Restaurant in Gardnerville last month.
"Our friendship has just gotten stronger through the years," said Lommori, who claimed first place back in '64. "I really look forward to meeting with these guys and talking. They're great guys!"
Even after 50 years, the memories come flooding back when three of the Nevada team competitors — who defeated a team from Edinboro, Pa. in the Race of the Century on July 4, 1964 — get together.
"We get together a few times a year and the stories really fly around," said Mike Lommori as the Yerington resident met with Fred Andreasen of Carson City and Steve Erb of Gardnerville in the J-T Restaurant in Gardnerville last month.
"Our friendship has just gotten stronger through the years," said Lommori, who claimed first place back in '64. "I really look forward to meeting with these guys and talking. They're great guys!"
"Same for me," chimed race runner-up Andreasen
Erb added, "I never knew these guys before the race. I lived at Weed Heights and I'd heard of Mike Lommori but hadn't met him or Fred.
The conversation quickly turned to how the three trained for and then completed the challenge to carry a 120-pound sack of grain a full 10 miles around the YHS track and defeat the Pennsylvania team. The event rules stated that if any competitor allowed his sack to touch the ground, the entire team was disqualified; and all six men had to complete the race or disqualification awaited the team. Other Nevada team members included Richard Burnet of Washoe Valley, who could not make this particular meeting; and Chub Quilici of Yerington and Marvin McCalla of Sparks, both of whom have died.
Lommori said he often trained on the East Walker and Minister Roads because there was a 3- to 4-mile long uphill grade. "After seven or eight miles of walking, I could really drink that beer good," he laughed.
Andreasen took advantage of the climb in Six Mile Canyon "a few times" but mostly used the high school track in Carson City.
"I carried it 10 miles every time in training," he said
Erb, who finished fifth, was seen toting the practice sack by Valley Dairy and up to the local cemetery and later on joined Lommori, Burnet and Quilici out in the East Walker.
"I never did pack it 10 miles until the race," he added
They recall Lommori almost stepping on a rattlesnake during one training run.
Erb added, "I never knew these guys before the race. I lived at Weed Heights and I'd heard of Mike Lommori but hadn't met him or Fred.
The conversation quickly turned to how the three trained for and then completed the challenge to carry a 120-pound sack of grain a full 10 miles around the YHS track and defeat the Pennsylvania team. The event rules stated that if any competitor allowed his sack to touch the ground, the entire team was disqualified; and all six men had to complete the race or disqualification awaited the team. Other Nevada team members included Richard Burnet of Washoe Valley, who could not make this particular meeting; and Chub Quilici of Yerington and Marvin McCalla of Sparks, both of whom have died.
Lommori said he often trained on the East Walker and Minister Roads because there was a 3- to 4-mile long uphill grade. "After seven or eight miles of walking, I could really drink that beer good," he laughed.
Andreasen took advantage of the climb in Six Mile Canyon "a few times" but mostly used the high school track in Carson City.
"I carried it 10 miles every time in training," he said
Erb, who finished fifth, was seen toting the practice sack by Valley Dairy and up to the local cemetery and later on joined Lommori, Burnet and Quilici out in the East Walker.
"I never did pack it 10 miles until the race," he added
They recall Lommori almost stepping on a rattlesnake during one training run.
They killed the snake with a shovel, cut off the rattles and presented them to the Pennsylvania team the day after the race when gathering in the old Silver Palace.
Lommori, who was nicknamed "Hoss" by the Edinboro coach, also practiced with a heavier 140-pound sack and sat around his home in the evenings watching TV with the sack on his shoulders and head just to get used to it. "It really helped me when I learned to pack the sack on my head and relieve the pain in my shoulders," he added. "I learned to balance it on my head, walk and never drop the sack."
"Mike was strong enough to lift it off his shoulders and put it on his head," said Andreasen, who tipped the scale at just 130 pounds at race time and earned the Pennsylvania nickname of "Little Joe." "I had to carry mine on my shoulders because I was not strong enough to do that. If I took my sack off my shoulders, I couldn't get it back up, ever."
Erb commented that he recalls "almost causing us to lose" the race when he stumbled as he decided to run a little bit because "a Pennsylvanian racer was messin' with me. I took off on a run and my knee kind of gave out. I was lucky, I got control of my sack. My knee went down but I never dropped it... that would have been disastrous."
Both Lommori and Erb still tease Andreasen to this day about squeezing the bottom hand-holds on his sack so hard that some of his grain fell out as he rounded the track, making his sack lighter.
"I followed this little trail of grain around the track," Lommori said with a laugh.
"It had to have been coming from Fred's sack because he was grabbing his sack so tightly," Erb responded, laughing and pointing at his friend.
"They've been telling me that for years," Andreasen said. "When we were running the race out in Yerington, there was a little bit of a drip coming out of the sack corner, and I kept going like this trying to get more out of it."
"My favorite memory of the race was when I looked across the track and realized I was within reach of Fred," said Lommori, who was 27 at the time. "We had staggered starts and I knew I had to be within a certain distance of Fred."
Andreasen, 25 years old in 1964, added, "I remember after 6 miles, Mike and I were side-by-side and the announcer Willie Capucci saying, "Four miles to go and it's turning into a foot race."
"I wasn't listening to anything. I was in too much pain," Erb said, then 25, who suffered severe blisters in the earlier trials and feared he would not be able to compete in the finals.
Lommori recalled the most difficult part of the race for him came in the first 5 to 6 miles because "I used to get terrible shin splints but got numb for the last 3-4 miles."
While Erb pointed to foot blisters from the trials, he said he was in "pretty good shape" at race time.
"The hardest part for me came at the end when I knew Mike was ahead of me," Andreasen said. "I almost killed myself trying to catch him."
"I don't think anybody has beaten Mike at anything," he said. "I came as close as anybody."
All three men referred to verbal exchanges between the competitors and the crowd during the race, sometimes supportive and sometimes not.
"I've got such respect for every one of the men who participated in the race. Those Pennsylvania guys came all the way out here. They didn't know what they were up against," interjected Lommori
Andreasen pointed to the local altitude as a possible problem for the visiting racers.
"They were a bunch of good guys," he said.
"They were here training for about a week," added Erb. "We got to meet them and socialize with them in the bars."
Each of the three competitors took turns praising the other, while laughing and tossing back a couple of pican punches as they now enjoy retirement.
Lommori retired after 30 years as a local teacher and coach;,led his football and wrestling teams to several state titles and then operated his own harrowbed business for 10 years.
Andreasen, who claimed 14 state hard rock driller championships in a row, was a seven-time world champ, and now officiates world events, retired from the highway department in Carson City after 30 years.
Erb first worked at the old Anaconda mine before joining California Interstate Telephone Co., where he was employed for 28 years. He also has spent considerable time handling equipment for leveling land.
The Yerington team members are being honored as grand marshals of the Lyon County Fair and Rodeo Parade this year, and city and county proclamations are planned. In addition, belated silver dollars, 50 years in the making, will be awarded by the Nevada Appeal in recognition of their achievement.
RACE OF THE CENTURY
"They were a bunch of good guys," he said.
"They were here training for about a week," added Erb. "We got to meet them and socialize with them in the bars."
Each of the three competitors took turns praising the other, while laughing and tossing back a couple of pican punches as they now enjoy retirement.
Lommori retired after 30 years as a local teacher and coach;,led his football and wrestling teams to several state titles and then operated his own harrowbed business for 10 years.
Andreasen, who claimed 14 state hard rock driller championships in a row, was a seven-time world champ, and now officiates world events, retired from the highway department in Carson City after 30 years.
Erb first worked at the old Anaconda mine before joining California Interstate Telephone Co., where he was employed for 28 years. He also has spent considerable time handling equipment for leveling land.
The Yerington team members are being honored as grand marshals of the Lyon County Fair and Rodeo Parade this year, and city and county proclamations are planned. In addition, belated silver dollars, 50 years in the making, will be awarded by the Nevada Appeal in recognition of their achievement.
RACE OF THE CENTURY
July 4, 1964 Yerington vs. Edinboro, Pa.
Six-man team carried 120-pound sacks of grain 10 miles.
Sack could never touch the ground; all racers must finish.
Yerington team claimed World Championship.
1st Place: Mike Lommori (Y)
2nd Place: Fred Andreasen (Y)
4th Place: Richard Burnett (Y)
5th Place: Steve Erb (Y)
10th Place: Chub Quilici (Y)
11th Place: Marvin McCalla (Y)
Winning Time: 2:27.59
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