St. Charles doctor never runs on empty

If there is a way to make today's "Half Madness" half-marathon in Batavia or the Fox Valley Marathon on Sept. 19 feel like a stroll in the park, Stephen Fernau of St. Charles has figured out how.

Fernau will run in both of these local events, and don't be surprised if this 41-year-old anesthesiologist at Sherman Hospital in Elgin doesn't even get winded.

How could he, after what he went through in late June in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains? That's when Fernau competed in the Western States Endurance 100-mile ultramarathon trail run, completing it in 29:38.36, or about 21 minutes below the required 30-hour limit. He placed 310th of 328 finishers.

"I barely made it, but the whole goal was to finish," Fernau said of the event, which is behind only the Hawaii Iron Man event as the most difficult endurance race in the world. "I went through all of the emotions in this race and battled a lot of things, like drinking too much water and not getting enough electrolytes."

Fernau, one of only about 400 to be chosen in a lottery of applicants with a qualifying time, made it clear that it took everything he had to finish the race.

"For my 40th birthday, I entered the Lake Placid Iron Man event, just to prove to my wife I could do it," Fernau said. "I ran 50 miles in 8:27 as part of that event, and that qualified me for the Western States event.

"I was really intrigued by that one because I had never run a trail race before," said Fernau, who admitted he wasn't much of a runner until after he returned from a stint in the Navy. "There are no mountains here, so I had to do different steep angles on my 45-mile treadmill sessions, with space heaters going to simulate the heat, and I had to run over a marathon every weekend."

In the California mountains, Fernau ran over trails that gold miners used hundreds of years ago in areas so remote that only helicopters could reach them.

He'll have no such obstacles when running through the Tri-Cities area in the upcoming local events. He wants to build up his speed, with his next target being the Chicago Marathon in October, which he'll run with his wife, Jane.

But his competitive nature is tugging him toward another Western States 100.

"I would do it again, but I don't think my wife would like me to," Fernau said. "But I want to do it in under 24 hours - but no time soon."

Waterlogged pump: Too much water has stopped the water from flowing at one of downtown Batavia's most eye-catching landmarks.

Sounds confusing, but you read that correctly. The water fountain on the city's Riverwalk has been bone dry for a few weeks now - and too much water of another sort was the culprit.

"That last 5-inch rain we got flooded the nearby pump house used for the fountain and damaged the main pump," said Gary Motycka, the facility and trades supervisor for the Batavia Park District, which maintains the fountain.

"It's an expensive pump and it suffered a hit," Motycka added. "So we're getting estimates on the repair and determining what we can do."

With the summer months leaving us, it sounds like Batavians may not have their fountain sparkling again until maybe next summer.

So, I'll pitch the same idea I tossed out last year. It would be a nice touch if the floodlights in the fountain were red and yellow to match the colors of the Batavia Bulldogs.

But getting the main pump up and running obviously is a first priority.

A change of scene: When you get used to a certain restaurant, it does take a little adjusting to walk into that same place after it has had an extreme makeover.

Those thoughts crossed my mind when dining recently at Gabby's Kitchen in St. Charles, at the East Main Street location that was Springview Restaurant for decades. OK, I'll go even further back in city history and mention that it also used to be a Lum's restaurant.

But all of that aside, Gabby's has an entirely different look and seating arrangement than Springview.

Like any other modern family restaurant, Gabby's has a few television sets in the dining areas. Someone in restaurant marketing must have decided a few years ago that sports events on TV were keeping people home. So, in order to make sure it wouldn't deter people from eating out, they suggested that restaurants should have TV sets.

The food is quite good at Gabby's, and that's what counts the most.

Inspiration for others: It came across in every story written last week about Paul Ruby's fundraising Concert for a Cure that raised more than $100,000. This guy is an inspiration to anyone who is suffering from Parkinson's disease, or has a loved one dealing with its debilitating effects.

Ruby, a 47-year-old general manager at Geneva's Herrington Inn, was diagnosed four years ago, and his attitude and energy to fight his disease and boost scientific research is incredible.

"There are frustrations, when you struggle to do things you used to be able to do, such as typing or verbalizing what you are thinking," Ruby said of his day-to-day experiences. "But I don't lose any sleep thinking about it. I don't dwell on things I can't control. I choose to dwell on those things I can control, and building awareness of the disease through fundraisers like Concert for a Cure is making a difference."

dheun@sbcglobal.net