The SHELBY AMERICAN
Spring 2016 60
Was this one of those “
It seemed like a good idea at the time
” thoughts?”
The “Anti-Football Run” has been
going on for the past twenty-seven
years in Northern California. The pur-
pose is to provide owners of interest-
ing 25+ year-old cars who refused to be
glued to their televisions watching
football on New Year’s Day with an op-
portunity to hit the road and roll up
some miles. This year it was the anti-
dote to the Rose Bowl, The Outback
Bowl and The Buffalo Wild Wings Cit-
rus Bowl.
It started about 8 a.m. at a coffee
stop in Corte Madiera and the first car
rolled out at 9 a.m. The drive lasted
about four and a half hours and more
than 100 cars participated. It covered
scenic roads around Marin County, the
hot tub capital of the world. After a
couple of coffee stops along the way it
ended in Sausalito.
“
Football is like life – it requires
perseverance, self-denial, hard work,
sacrifice, dedication and respect for
authority
.” – Vince Lombardi.
“
I’d rather go for a drive in a ‘57
Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce.
” –
Martin Swig, Anti-Football Run
founder.
SAAC members Gary Goeringer
and Marty Beaulieu planned to partic-
ipate in their Kirkham Cobras some-
time in November so when the first of
the year rolled around they were
ready. When the temperatures dipped
into the low thirties it would have the
time for most enthusiasts to recon-
sider their decision. Beaulieu’s big
block did not have a heater (unless you
consider the exhaust pipes running
near the footboxes) and Goeringer’s
small block had one in name only. Co-
bras were never known for their
heater/defrosters.
Their plan was to dress for the
weather. Wives Nancy and Dawn were
only slightly more realistic, deciding to
drive a normal vehicle (with a normal
heater) and meet up at the start, thus
limiting their time in the high speed
deep freeze as much as possible. An-
other one of those seemed-like-a-good-
idea-at-the-time decisions.
No matter how you dress, it was
cold. Standing around was bad enough
but once you’re cutting through the air
at 50 mph or more, any heat your body
may have generated is whisked away
by the airflow around the open cock-
pit. There are only so many times you
can ask yourself, “
Are we there yet?
”
You can see the enthusiasm in Dawn Goeringer’s face as her selfie shows her being buf-
feted in the Cobra cockpit’s slipstream.