King Kong lives at
Preston wood club
Morrisville and Preston Progress, Thursday, Nov. 27,1997 - 5
BY MARY BETH PHILLIPS
“The cunning and wisdom of old
age” could only hold out so long
against youth and brute strength,
lamented Bill Alford, 63, who had
held the title for weeks of climbing
the most floors in 45 minutes, part
of the King Kong Climbing Club at
the Prestonwood Country Club
Fitness Center.
“I would time myself to figure out
what level to be at to be at the top,”
Alford explained. His record of 354
floors in 45 minutes stayed at the
top of the charts for weeks.
Then along came Doug Vestal, 16,
a Cary High School student who
usually does weight training, but
was attracted to the stairstepper
machine because of the contest.
“It was the second time I had ever
been on the thing,” he said. He
broke Alford’s record with a 361.
But the highest score ever is held
by Enzo Catullo, 31, with a 425.
Catullo, a financial analyst, comes
to the fitness center almost every
day to relieve stress after work. He
uses the stairstepper machine
“maybe once a week.”
Jenny Gomatos, 34, the highest
scoring woman, said the contest is
the only reason she scored so high.
“I looked at the chart, and said
nobody’s broken 300 yet. I’m going
to do that today,” Mrs. Gomatos
said. “It nearly killed me, too,” she
said with a laugh. She ended up with
a 308.
Unlike the men, she uses the
stairstepper almost exclusively on a
daily basis. Her normal time is about
250 stairsteps in 45 minutes.
George Varani of the fitness center
said the fitness staff tries to set up
challenges to change people's exer
cise habits. The event was a success
just judging from the stories of the
four top scorers.
Three of them probably never
would have gotten on the stairstep
per, and one created a habit of
climbing for 45 minutes each day,
a habit that has become very
important to her. “I get to watch
TV and listen to music,” she
added.
The King Kong Climbing Club
was organized about Labor Day.
“It was not meant to be competi
tive,” Varani said. “It was more like,
hey, join the club. But people started
noticing their scores, and saying,
‘What happened? I was on top and
I’m not any more.’”
Alford held the top spot for weeks.
“I kept saying to my wife, these
youngsters will come along and top
it,” he said. “Forty-five minutes is a
long time. A lot of people don’t
want to stay on that long.”
Including himself. Now that
Catullo has broken 400, he doesn’t
think he has a chance to be on top
again. “I could beat him in 10 min
utes,” he said. “But not in 45.”
But he has gained the admiration
of his co-champions.
“It’s our goal to be like him,” Mrs.
Gomatos said. “My husband doesn't
look as good as you, and he’s 40.”
Alford is a retired engineer who
spends about an hour and a half a
day in the fitness center.
Vestal’s goal is the same as most
high school boys. He works a great
deal on the upper body to improve
his looks an^ be attractive to—you
guessed it—girls.
He is also training to play soccer
in the spring. He likes the stairstep
per because it doesn’t cause shin
splints.
Gomatos was a runner. She likes
the stairstepper because “it forces
me to do 45 minutes at a certain
level. You can’t cheat like you can
running.” She also cites the release
of stress as a reason for her work
outs. She is a district sales manager
for a high tech computer magazine,
and she has two young children.
Catullo would rather be outside,
but now that the weather is getting
cold, he expects to be in the titncss
center almost daily.
“I need that release of stress,” he
said. “It makes me feel better, eat
better, and sleep better.”
The King Kong Climbing Club
had 45 members at the end of
November. High scores or not, just
staying on the machine for 45 min
utes is an achievement.
The stairstepper machines have a
pulse monitor to gauge how hard
your body is working.
“If you increase your own bar by
two or three floors, you can give
yourself a pat on the back,” WHAT
said.
“The real point is to be your own
personal best.”
Pholo by Mary Beth Phillips
KING CLIMBERS—Jenny Gomatos, Bill Alford, Enzo Catullo and Doug Vestal are working hard on the
stair machines at Prestonwood Country Club Fitness Center.
Thank you for reading
The Morrisville and
Preston Progress.
Crabtree Crossing extension
may cost town $3 million
BY MARY BETH PHILLIPS
Morrisville officials have long
anticipated that Crabtree Crossing
Parkway would be extended to con
nect with Aviation Parkway but they
didn’t anticipate that it would cost
more than $3 million to make the
connection.
The road has been on the town’s
thoroughfare plan for years, and the
Town Board of CommisaOiners had
to decide on Nov. 10, whether the
project was worth sticking to the
original plan.
A report from Rod Butler of the
town’s consulting engineering firm,
Bass, Nixon & Kennedy, cited cost
of construction of the 2,460-fool
road and a 150-foot-long bridge over
the main channel of Crabtree Creek
and spanning Indian Creek at more
than $4 million if the road were built
above the 100-year flood mark.
Butler’s report suggested a second,
more feasible design, to be built
below the 100-year flood mark, but
still within a range that would cause
an overtopping of about nine inches
of water during a 100-year flood.
The plan would cost more than $3
million, but would have less impact
on surrounding properties, especial
ly the Crabtree Crossing Apartment
complex.
The board decided that Crabtree
Crossing Parkway was a desirable
connector.
Building up the property to the
edges of the bridge will require
about 140,000 cubic yards of fill,
said Harry Mitchell, a project man
ager with the firm. The road will
have to be built up about 10 feet
above the current grade in some
places, and at least two feet along the
entire length of the road, Mitchell
said. The bridge would be about 150
feet long.
“Our objective is to minimize any
increases in flood elevations to
neighboring properties associated
with the street,” Mitchell said. They
will design the bridge in such a man
ner that there will be minimal
impact, especially on .the apartment
complex, he said. But the apartment
complex will still be required to
bring in large amounts of fill dirt to
make the project feasible.
The developer of the apartments
needed an answer as to how to pro
ceed with his construction.
The board studied a report from the
engineering firm about running a
water line along Davis Drive from
Morrisville Parkway to Morrisville
Carpenter Road. The water line
extending from the town hall cur
rently ends several thousand feet
short of Davis Drive.
The proposal from Butler was to
design a loop along Morrisville
Carpenter Road and Davis Drive, but
the board voted to ask the engineers
to also design a line west on
Morrisville Carpenter Road to the
city limits and also north on Davis
Drive to Holly Creek Drive and turn
ing left down Holly Creek Drive to
serve its residents. The engineers
will bring a proposal back with the
total cost of the project.
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