While the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games were the focus of enormous media attention this summer, they weren't the only games in town. Last month, thousands of police officers from around the world gathered in Salt Lake City, Utah, to compete in the Sixth International Law Enforcement Games.

Penn Police Officer John Washington, a member of Penn's bicycle patrol, was among the officers from some 26 countries who competed at the event. Washington, an experienced long-distance runner and cross trainer, won a silver medal in the 5-mile cross-country run.

Running through scenic fields and across a creek bed, Washington endured the effects of the unaccustomed high elevation of Salt Lake City, Utak to maintain his steady silver-medal pace.

"I was surprised I placed so high," he said, noting that the 5,000-foot elevation caused his nose to bleed throughout the race. "My real interest in attending was the camaraderie and the chance to meet officers from other countries. I didn't expect to win a medal."

Washington, who has been on Penn's bicycle patrol since its inception more than four years ago, also competed in the mountain bike race. Although he didn't place -- he came in fourth -- he was pleased nonetheless that he came through as well as he did.

"The course wasn't what I expected, " he said. "It was on Antelope Island in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. It was an 18-mile course (nine miles ridden twice), and in the first eight miles you ride up an 800-foot bluff. The last mile you go screaming straight down a crust, gravel and sand path."

"I was holding on for dear life," he added.

To prepare for the race, Washington tried to replicate hill training by riding his bicycle up and down the eight floors of ramps in Penn's parking garage at 38th and Walnut Streets.

His regular running regimen kept him in shape for the 5-mile run -- Washington belongs to a running group in Jenkintown, where he typically runs 35-40 miles per week.

"That's not really a lot," he said, noting that when he ran cross country while a student at Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, he ran up to 80 miles a week.

The silver medal wasn't Washington's only victory this summer -- in June, he won two gold medals in a state-wide police Olympic competition in Lancaster. The medals were for the 5-kilometer trail run, and for the mountain bike competition.

Washington, a life-long resident of Cheltenham, has been at Penn for eight years. In addition to his position at Penn and his running, he has served for the last 18 years as a volunteer firefighter in Cheltenham Township. His father and brothers are all career firefighters.

While this was Washington's first time competing in the international police event, he has participated locally in the Broad Street run and the Philadelphia marathon. He and his colleagues in the Penn bicycle unit have also competed as a team against other bicycle units, and placed third at a competition in Baltimore.

While the competition was fun, Washington said the best part of his experience in Salt Lake City came after the events, in the evenings when the officers from around the world spent time together socializing.

"The best part was the opportunity to relate to other officers from foreign countries," he said. "There were officers from every continent, except South America."

The next international competition will be held in 1998 in the United Arab Emirates , but Washington doesn't expect to attend.

"It's too hot there," he said.

Return to Compass Features for September 10, 1996