Fall seven times, stand up eight
For Joel Gladfelter, the 13th time was the charm at the Irv Zablocky Memorial Run. For the past 12 years he's tried to achieve the one thing he desires most - to win "Z's" Race. It's a 3.55 mile run in Joel's hometown, named in honor of a great leader, motivator, and man. Joel will give credit to Z for making him the runner he is today. 12 times Joel has not finished first. 12 times his friend K.C. has beaten him. Sometimes it's been close, others not so close. But every year Joel goes to this race he believes he can win.
On Saturday, Joel's 13th time toeing the line, opportunity met preparedness. Joel has had a fantastic spring, recording PRs at every distance he's raced, in particular the 5k. He had a solid game plan going into the race and knew exactly how he had to run in order to win. He executed that plan to perfection, and was rewarded with a clear (24 second) victory.
Getting the win in the fastest time you've ever run on a course, AND beating your longtime rival, it doesn't get much better than that. The effort was good enough to earn Joel the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week.
I won't bore you too much with results from Baltimore Ten Miler. The highlight was Sara Breedlove notching a big victory there with a PR of 1:05:12. That's 6:30/mile on a tough course! Sara B of course diligently does her work each day and earned every bit of that win. Way to go Sara!
Shout to our ultra runners: PJ Anderer tackled his first ever 50 miler out in Wyoming. The Bighorn 50 it was called, and he finished in just under 13 hours. That's a long time on your feet! And Dave Ploskonka did the TARC 100 miler somewhere, and finished in just over 29 hours. To quote every person up near Clifton Park as we run by, "y'all crazy!"
Action continues locally this weekend with the Baltimore's best summer event - Dreaded Druid Hills! The race is Saturday, starts at 7:30am. It looks like it's heating up this week and so we'll probably see a return of some heat and humidity for this one. If you're able to volunteer please let me know soon so I can get you set up with a job to perform!
And of course the Baltimore Women's Classic 5k is on Sunday. Competitive up front, it's a good one to do if you're looking to race short and flat. And also if you're a girl.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Clarity
One of my favorite weekends of the year, Eagleman/Bay Swim/Survivor 7 has proved to be one of the hardest to race on over the past 5 or 6 seasons. An exponential bump in heat and humidity would give those racing very little time to adapt, and the effort would cause many (usually me) to stagger around like a zombie.
Well, 2013 brought some changes. For one, Survivor 7 is gone. The cost to put on the event became just too great and it's unlikely to return thanks to an increase in gimmick runs. Then, the cast of regulars at Eagleman all decided to take a break, leaving just Mike Mashner as the lone competitor this year. Finally, the weather...was perfect. Whodathunk?!
Indeed, competitors arrived at the race site on Sunday morning to the guarantee of a wetsuit swim (73 degree water), overcast skies, temps in the low 70s and no wind. A better day has ne'er before been seen in Cambridge, at least not by these eyes! Zero was certainly in for a treat at his first Eagleman. He came out of the water strong, and held a great position throughout the bike course. Riding 56 miles around Baltimore usually means you're riding uphill and downhill, with a few flat sections along the way. Out there, it's pedal pedal pedal the entire time, often without so much as changing gears. It is draining, and Mike found that out. With an 8:15 start time, it meant he was getting out onto the run after 11am. No matter the conditions, nobody wants to do an exposed half marathon on the roads at that point. Mike's 1:30 run, relative to the field, was a solid effort and propelled him to a 4:26:57 half iron PR, 40th overall and 13th in M30-34. It's an age group full of sharks!
Kansas also hosted a 70.3 event on Sunday, and Ben Ingram has been quietly preparing for the race. Now that he's a seasoned triathlon veteran, racing halves is apparently "old hat" - Ben cruised to a 32:27 swim and a 2:27 bike split, before putting down a 1:18 half marathon. He finished 27th overall and 3rd in his age group (4:23:48) which qualified him for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas this September!
At the 4.4 mile Chesapeake Bay Swim, Brian Benda, who has won this event many times before, was crossing the Bay for the 10th time. Now into his 40s, he was beat by just one person - a swimmer 17 years his junior. What an incredible accomplishment, 1:35:10 for 4.4 miles of swimming, and finishing 2nd to a college swimmer. Crazy! David Lee also got out there, finishing in 2:23:59 which all things considered wasn't too shabby!
I heard reports of PJ Anderer running a track mile at the PVTC meet on Saturday, running 5:08 or 5:09, and Meg McNew ran the Lawyers Have Heart 10k in DC, finishing 15th in 41:05.
Steve Febish ran the Woodcliff Lake 5k, and with a purpose. Steve lost a friend last week, and he wanted to win this one for him. The course record was 16:29 - a pedestrian time by Steve's standards - but you never know who will show up to a race. But Steve is a champ, and showed his resolve by winning the race in 16:23, and by a fantastic margin. Steve's effort earned him the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week.
Well, 2013 brought some changes. For one, Survivor 7 is gone. The cost to put on the event became just too great and it's unlikely to return thanks to an increase in gimmick runs. Then, the cast of regulars at Eagleman all decided to take a break, leaving just Mike Mashner as the lone competitor this year. Finally, the weather...was perfect. Whodathunk?!
Indeed, competitors arrived at the race site on Sunday morning to the guarantee of a wetsuit swim (73 degree water), overcast skies, temps in the low 70s and no wind. A better day has ne'er before been seen in Cambridge, at least not by these eyes! Zero was certainly in for a treat at his first Eagleman. He came out of the water strong, and held a great position throughout the bike course. Riding 56 miles around Baltimore usually means you're riding uphill and downhill, with a few flat sections along the way. Out there, it's pedal pedal pedal the entire time, often without so much as changing gears. It is draining, and Mike found that out. With an 8:15 start time, it meant he was getting out onto the run after 11am. No matter the conditions, nobody wants to do an exposed half marathon on the roads at that point. Mike's 1:30 run, relative to the field, was a solid effort and propelled him to a 4:26:57 half iron PR, 40th overall and 13th in M30-34. It's an age group full of sharks!
Kansas also hosted a 70.3 event on Sunday, and Ben Ingram has been quietly preparing for the race. Now that he's a seasoned triathlon veteran, racing halves is apparently "old hat" - Ben cruised to a 32:27 swim and a 2:27 bike split, before putting down a 1:18 half marathon. He finished 27th overall and 3rd in his age group (4:23:48) which qualified him for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas this September!
At the 4.4 mile Chesapeake Bay Swim, Brian Benda, who has won this event many times before, was crossing the Bay for the 10th time. Now into his 40s, he was beat by just one person - a swimmer 17 years his junior. What an incredible accomplishment, 1:35:10 for 4.4 miles of swimming, and finishing 2nd to a college swimmer. Crazy! David Lee also got out there, finishing in 2:23:59 which all things considered wasn't too shabby!
I heard reports of PJ Anderer running a track mile at the PVTC meet on Saturday, running 5:08 or 5:09, and Meg McNew ran the Lawyers Have Heart 10k in DC, finishing 15th in 41:05.
Steve Febish ran the Woodcliff Lake 5k, and with a purpose. Steve lost a friend last week, and he wanted to win this one for him. The course record was 16:29 - a pedestrian time by Steve's standards - but you never know who will show up to a race. But Steve is a champ, and showed his resolve by winning the race in 16:23, and by a fantastic margin. Steve's effort earned him the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
We Still in This
I think Buster Poindexter said it best: this weekend was HOT HOT HOT!
It's true, after a miserably cold winter and spring, anything over 70 degrees feels warm, but Saturday was legitimately hot, with the mercury already cracking 80 by the early morning. The good news was that Sunday morning seemed a little more tame, but once that sun came out, there was nothing you could do!
It was a very triathlon-heavy weekend, too. Rock Hall International Triathlon was on Saturday and Chris Scott kicked off his season with a 69th place 2:31:18. He commented that despite the course's flat profile, the heat and wind were really tough. Tom Stack found that out in Sunday's sprint distance race, where he finished 2nd in 1:10:08 behind an elite area competitor. Tom was unable to close the gap on the run, but we noted that he lost a lot of time in transition. Transitions: the 4th discipline! Christa Wagner also competed, and it was her first ever triathlon. Water temps over 80 degrees meant no wetsuits, but she didn't need it as she swam a great 750 meters. Her bike is strong, and she ran the 4th fastest bike split to finish in 11th at 1:28:15.
Down in Raleigh, NC, Brian Benda and David Lee were taking on the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Raleigh. Athletes were told the water was too warm for wetsuits, but by Sunday morning they remeasured the water and allowed them - of course most had just left them at home! It didn't bother Benda, who prefers no wetsuits. He had the 5th fastest swim of the day and was the top amateur out of the water. He then burned up the bike course, splitting 2:23:55, and ran a 1:46 half marathon to finish 40th at 4:40:16. David is pulling himself back into shape after some extensive global travel for work, and while he would definitely prefer a wetsuit swim, he had a solid day all-around and finished at 5:04:58.
At the ridiculously challenging REV3 Quassy race, Alyssa Godesky took 6 minutes out of her 2012 time to once again finish 7th. This is one of the REV3 organization's premier events, with a $100,000 prize purse for professionals. Alyssa swam 30:52, which is a distance swim PR, and then chopped 8.5 minutes off her bike split from a year ago. That put her in a great position, and she held on with a strong 1:42 half marathon to finish at 5:02:51.
Out in Omaha, Nebraska, Kendra Ingram was doing her first ever tri - the Omaha Women's Triathlon. Kendra has really impressed these past few months as she's put herself in situations that challenged her to conquer some apprehensions (namely open water swimming!). And in the spirit of a true triathlete, rather than be totally pumped with her performance, she's not resting on her laurels - she's already figuring out where she can improve, and has signed up for 3 more triathlons this summer, including 2 Olympic distance ones! Ben is a dangerous influence.
Back to running...
Dave Berardi raced the USATF Master's 8km Championships in Williamsburg, finishing 18th in 29:45. He always sends me his results after I send the email out. I can't keep tabs on every race!
The North Face Endurance Challenge features a bunch of different distance races over the weekend, including a 50 mile and 50k on Saturday, and a half marathon on Sunday. Keith Rice ran the 50k, finishing in 6:33:47. Then on Sunday, Mike Mashner went down and ran the half, finishing 6th in 1:53:09. Tom Stott did this race one year and confirmed: it is not easy!
On Friday night, participants registered in Sunday's inaugural Dot Dash 8k were notified that due to unforeseen circumstances, the course would now be on sidewalks. Yikes! The race started and finished at Riverside Park and went out to Fort McHenry. Carly Page decided to soldier on and race anyway, and won the race (3rd overall) in 34:53. Cory Donovan was just some steps behind, finishing 4th in 35:06.
Finally, the Bel Air Town Run was the weekend's big event. With money on the line you knew it was a fight for 2nd as Dave Berdan was once again going to devastate the field. He did, by the way, winning by 90 seconds in 14:38 - the 2nd fastest time he's ever run on the roads for 5k! Dave should probably slow down though when he's just running for money, as he definitely could have taken a nap with a 90 second gap. 3rd place went to Jesse Jaeger, and Tim Burns was first loser in 16:32. No wompum for you, kemosabe. Joel Gladfelter was disappointed with his race as he finished 10th in 17:36, but to think of where he's come in a few years, that kind of time would have been huge for him back then. Now it's a "bad day." He has set his own bar too high! Joel Brusewitz finished just behind him in 11th at 17:38. That's a trend lately, the two Joels finishing near each other. PJ Anderer was psyched with his 18:06, it validates his Shamrock race result. And Dave Ploskonka kept his very, very long streak at this race alive.
In the ladies race, it was Megan DiGregorio once again retaining her title in 18:12, but it was Sara Breedlove who stole the show, finishing 2nd in 18:25 - a huge new PR and moving herself pretty far up the Top 10 All-Time list! Interestingly, Carly had a big race there last year, and ran 18:26. Meg McNew is just getting back into it and was surprised she took 3rd, but definitely not complaining! And Denise Knickman was 4th, and top masters in 20:33.
Check out this article from the Baltimore Sun about the race, and here's your top 3 women:
And of course can't forget our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week - Christa! First triathlon and goes out and kills it. Add another to the tri club!
It's true, after a miserably cold winter and spring, anything over 70 degrees feels warm, but Saturday was legitimately hot, with the mercury already cracking 80 by the early morning. The good news was that Sunday morning seemed a little more tame, but once that sun came out, there was nothing you could do!
It was a very triathlon-heavy weekend, too. Rock Hall International Triathlon was on Saturday and Chris Scott kicked off his season with a 69th place 2:31:18. He commented that despite the course's flat profile, the heat and wind were really tough. Tom Stack found that out in Sunday's sprint distance race, where he finished 2nd in 1:10:08 behind an elite area competitor. Tom was unable to close the gap on the run, but we noted that he lost a lot of time in transition. Transitions: the 4th discipline! Christa Wagner also competed, and it was her first ever triathlon. Water temps over 80 degrees meant no wetsuits, but she didn't need it as she swam a great 750 meters. Her bike is strong, and she ran the 4th fastest bike split to finish in 11th at 1:28:15.
Down in Raleigh, NC, Brian Benda and David Lee were taking on the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Raleigh. Athletes were told the water was too warm for wetsuits, but by Sunday morning they remeasured the water and allowed them - of course most had just left them at home! It didn't bother Benda, who prefers no wetsuits. He had the 5th fastest swim of the day and was the top amateur out of the water. He then burned up the bike course, splitting 2:23:55, and ran a 1:46 half marathon to finish 40th at 4:40:16. David is pulling himself back into shape after some extensive global travel for work, and while he would definitely prefer a wetsuit swim, he had a solid day all-around and finished at 5:04:58.
At the ridiculously challenging REV3 Quassy race, Alyssa Godesky took 6 minutes out of her 2012 time to once again finish 7th. This is one of the REV3 organization's premier events, with a $100,000 prize purse for professionals. Alyssa swam 30:52, which is a distance swim PR, and then chopped 8.5 minutes off her bike split from a year ago. That put her in a great position, and she held on with a strong 1:42 half marathon to finish at 5:02:51.
Out in Omaha, Nebraska, Kendra Ingram was doing her first ever tri - the Omaha Women's Triathlon. Kendra has really impressed these past few months as she's put herself in situations that challenged her to conquer some apprehensions (namely open water swimming!). And in the spirit of a true triathlete, rather than be totally pumped with her performance, she's not resting on her laurels - she's already figuring out where she can improve, and has signed up for 3 more triathlons this summer, including 2 Olympic distance ones! Ben is a dangerous influence.
Back to running...
Dave Berardi raced the USATF Master's 8km Championships in Williamsburg, finishing 18th in 29:45. He always sends me his results after I send the email out. I can't keep tabs on every race!
The North Face Endurance Challenge features a bunch of different distance races over the weekend, including a 50 mile and 50k on Saturday, and a half marathon on Sunday. Keith Rice ran the 50k, finishing in 6:33:47. Then on Sunday, Mike Mashner went down and ran the half, finishing 6th in 1:53:09. Tom Stott did this race one year and confirmed: it is not easy!
On Friday night, participants registered in Sunday's inaugural Dot Dash 8k were notified that due to unforeseen circumstances, the course would now be on sidewalks. Yikes! The race started and finished at Riverside Park and went out to Fort McHenry. Carly Page decided to soldier on and race anyway, and won the race (3rd overall) in 34:53. Cory Donovan was just some steps behind, finishing 4th in 35:06.
Finally, the Bel Air Town Run was the weekend's big event. With money on the line you knew it was a fight for 2nd as Dave Berdan was once again going to devastate the field. He did, by the way, winning by 90 seconds in 14:38 - the 2nd fastest time he's ever run on the roads for 5k! Dave should probably slow down though when he's just running for money, as he definitely could have taken a nap with a 90 second gap. 3rd place went to Jesse Jaeger, and Tim Burns was first loser in 16:32. No wompum for you, kemosabe. Joel Gladfelter was disappointed with his race as he finished 10th in 17:36, but to think of where he's come in a few years, that kind of time would have been huge for him back then. Now it's a "bad day." He has set his own bar too high! Joel Brusewitz finished just behind him in 11th at 17:38. That's a trend lately, the two Joels finishing near each other. PJ Anderer was psyched with his 18:06, it validates his Shamrock race result. And Dave Ploskonka kept his very, very long streak at this race alive.
In the ladies race, it was Megan DiGregorio once again retaining her title in 18:12, but it was Sara Breedlove who stole the show, finishing 2nd in 18:25 - a huge new PR and moving herself pretty far up the Top 10 All-Time list! Interestingly, Carly had a big race there last year, and ran 18:26. Meg McNew is just getting back into it and was surprised she took 3rd, but definitely not complaining! And Denise Knickman was 4th, and top masters in 20:33.
Check out this article from the Baltimore Sun about the race, and here's your top 3 women:
And of course can't forget our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week - Christa! First triathlon and goes out and kills it. Add another to the tri club!
Friday, May 31, 2013
I Woke Up in a New Bugatti
Unlike the weather, our Memorial Day Weekend of racing did not disappoint!
Dave Berdan, just a week off his Poconos Marathon win, scored double victories at the MCVETs 5k and 10k, in ridiculously fast times: 14:55 and 32:22. He was sitting a few seconds back of the two leaders at mile 2 in the 5k before unloading on them, burning them to a 15 second win. He was pretty tired heading into the 10k, and didn't want to have to run any faster than necessary. I thought 32:30 would be good enough to get the win, and I was right!
Steve Febish also doubled, finishing 6th in the 5k at 15:55 and 4th in the 10k at 33:18. In any given year, those times could win the race! Joel Gladfelter ran a 2 second PR in the 5k (17:08). He really had to dig for it. I see a sub 17 in his near future. Megan DiGregorio couldn't beat the Cali swag of Heather Tanner, but she was able to take the easy win in the 10k. Becky Parks also doubled, finishing 3rd (18:59) and 2nd (40:36). And of course Big D, Denise Knickman, doubled, finishing 4th and 3rd.
In Memorial Day racing action, Terry Decker finished 4th in 18:01 at the Special Ops 5k. This first year race was put on by Boston Street Running Company and got a solid showing! Terry broke 18 on the Shamrock course in March but was psyched about this "real course" PR. The day before he ran the BRRC Patapsco race, getting lost and running about twice as long as the actual race! Scott Boylan (15th) and Aaron Tripp (22nd) also raced Special Ops.
Andy "Drew" Thivierge and his wife recently moved to New Freedom, PA, which means we don't get to see him as much, but he at least let me know that he raced! Drew finished 3rd in 17:50 at the York Gold Star 5k.
Out in Colorado, Brennan Feldhausen was running the famed Bolder Boulder 10k. This is a super competitive event, but it's also a big one (like Peachtree) that attracts runners of all shapes and sizes. Brennan ran 38:35, but we figure that if it had been flat, and at sea level, he probably would have run 10 minutes faster and maybe been in competition for the win.
Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week award this week went to Tom Stott, who ran his first race back since fracturing his foot earlier this year. Tom suffered a bad break (pun intended) in the trails at Patapsco on the FIRST weekend of the year. He was slated to run the Charlottesville Marathon in April, but that was out. So Tom's been working to come back and ran the Memorial Day 4 Miler in MoCo, running an awesome negative split race (5:40 last mile!).
It only seems right to honor the 6th installment of the Fast and Furious franchise that opened to huge box office numbers over the weekend with a NOS Button winner - and that's Dave Berdan. Dave sat comfortably in 3rd at mile 2 and pushed his NOS button at the right time to go flying by and take a huge win at MCVETs 5k!
Dave Berdan, just a week off his Poconos Marathon win, scored double victories at the MCVETs 5k and 10k, in ridiculously fast times: 14:55 and 32:22. He was sitting a few seconds back of the two leaders at mile 2 in the 5k before unloading on them, burning them to a 15 second win. He was pretty tired heading into the 10k, and didn't want to have to run any faster than necessary. I thought 32:30 would be good enough to get the win, and I was right!
Steve Febish also doubled, finishing 6th in the 5k at 15:55 and 4th in the 10k at 33:18. In any given year, those times could win the race! Joel Gladfelter ran a 2 second PR in the 5k (17:08). He really had to dig for it. I see a sub 17 in his near future. Megan DiGregorio couldn't beat the Cali swag of Heather Tanner, but she was able to take the easy win in the 10k. Becky Parks also doubled, finishing 3rd (18:59) and 2nd (40:36). And of course Big D, Denise Knickman, doubled, finishing 4th and 3rd.
In Memorial Day racing action, Terry Decker finished 4th in 18:01 at the Special Ops 5k. This first year race was put on by Boston Street Running Company and got a solid showing! Terry broke 18 on the Shamrock course in March but was psyched about this "real course" PR. The day before he ran the BRRC Patapsco race, getting lost and running about twice as long as the actual race! Scott Boylan (15th) and Aaron Tripp (22nd) also raced Special Ops.
Andy "Drew" Thivierge and his wife recently moved to New Freedom, PA, which means we don't get to see him as much, but he at least let me know that he raced! Drew finished 3rd in 17:50 at the York Gold Star 5k.
Out in Colorado, Brennan Feldhausen was running the famed Bolder Boulder 10k. This is a super competitive event, but it's also a big one (like Peachtree) that attracts runners of all shapes and sizes. Brennan ran 38:35, but we figure that if it had been flat, and at sea level, he probably would have run 10 minutes faster and maybe been in competition for the win.
Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week award this week went to Tom Stott, who ran his first race back since fracturing his foot earlier this year. Tom suffered a bad break (pun intended) in the trails at Patapsco on the FIRST weekend of the year. He was slated to run the Charlottesville Marathon in April, but that was out. So Tom's been working to come back and ran the Memorial Day 4 Miler in MoCo, running an awesome negative split race (5:40 last mile!).
It only seems right to honor the 6th installment of the Fast and Furious franchise that opened to huge box office numbers over the weekend with a NOS Button winner - and that's Dave Berdan. Dave sat comfortably in 3rd at mile 2 and pushed his NOS button at the right time to go flying by and take a huge win at MCVETs 5k!
Friday, May 24, 2013
Memorial Day 2k13 Races
The weather is being uncooperative, doesn't it know it's Memorial Day Weekend??
Anyway, tomorrow and Sunday look to be actually quite choice for racing. Overnight lows in the upper 40s/low 50s could produce atypically fast times at some of our traditionally hot/humid MDW races. Here's a couple that are going on if you're looking for one!
MCVETs 5k/10k
When: Sunday May 26th, 7:00 am
A Baltimore fave and one of the last remaining downtown events, the 5k is first at 7:00 and the 10k is at 8:00, giving racers the opportunity to double down if they're feeling frisky.
Here's a link to the info
Special Operations Memorial Day 5k
When: Monday May 27th, 8:00 am
A new race this year, put on by Migs at Boston Street Running Company. The first part of the course will be familiar to anyone who raced the old Bay Cafe 5k on Labor Day, as it rips along the flat Boston Street corridor to Clinton. At Clinton you'll turn right and go to the turnaround. Out and back race, should be fast!
Here's more information.
Remembrance Run 5k
When: Monday May 27th, 8:00 am
This Howard County Memorial Day race has been around for a while, and does have $$ on the line! It's down at the Columbia Gateway Business Park.
Link to the registration flier.
Stoneleigh Stampede 5k
When: Saturday May 25th, 8:00 am
Stoneleigh is a little neighborhood off of York Rd, just south of Towson.
Anyway, tomorrow and Sunday look to be actually quite choice for racing. Overnight lows in the upper 40s/low 50s could produce atypically fast times at some of our traditionally hot/humid MDW races. Here's a couple that are going on if you're looking for one!
MCVETs 5k/10k
When: Sunday May 26th, 7:00 am
A Baltimore fave and one of the last remaining downtown events, the 5k is first at 7:00 and the 10k is at 8:00, giving racers the opportunity to double down if they're feeling frisky.
Here's a link to the info
Special Operations Memorial Day 5k
When: Monday May 27th, 8:00 am
A new race this year, put on by Migs at Boston Street Running Company. The first part of the course will be familiar to anyone who raced the old Bay Cafe 5k on Labor Day, as it rips along the flat Boston Street corridor to Clinton. At Clinton you'll turn right and go to the turnaround. Out and back race, should be fast!
Here's more information.
Remembrance Run 5k
When: Monday May 27th, 8:00 am
This Howard County Memorial Day race has been around for a while, and does have $$ on the line! It's down at the Columbia Gateway Business Park.
Link to the registration flier.
Stoneleigh Stampede 5k
When: Saturday May 25th, 8:00 am
Stoneleigh is a little neighborhood off of York Rd, just south of Towson.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Cruise
This past weekend saw the return of Baltimore's primary export: humidity!
As the air heats up, so did the racing - a couple of wins and some other fine performances highlighted the weekend. First, since I forgot to mention them in the email, shout to our Columbia MBAers, Sam Wollner and Sara Spears, who both ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon. Sam broke 90 minutes (1:29:14), which is pretty awesome, and Sara, who as usual claimed she was in "terrible shape" ran what I believe is a PR, breaking 1:50 (1:49:03).
Dave Berdan threw down at the Poconos Marathon - his 2nd marathon in just about 65 days. Dave's been on a roll, running that terrific VA Beach Marathon, followed by the win and a PR at the Frederick Half. We just need to talk him out of doing small, challenging course races now, because he ran 2:22:19 on his own on Sunday for his first ever marathon win. Of course, this one was all about the Benjamins, of which Dave brought home quite a few! Pete Mulligan ran, pacing the 4:20 group to perfection, which given the course's undulations was not an easy task!
In the world of triathlon, Mike Mashner kicked off his racing season by retaining his title at the Upper Dublin Sprint Triathlon. Mike won last year's inaugural race and by the code of winning had returned to defend. It's a serpentine (pool) swim, which means you swim down to the end of the pool, turn, and swim under the lane line and return via the other lane. It was a 350m swim, followed by ~11 mile bike on the roads, and then a 5k run. Mike's 5k was a little slower than last year but not much, which was promising as he noted he has about 600 fewer miles in his legs this period. Z won by quite a few minutes, too.
More triathlon! Sunday was my favorite race, the Columbia Triathlon, and this year they were celebrating their 30th year. Hard to believe that was my first triathlon way back in 2001. Competitors included former race-winner, OJ Keller, who was our leader in 2:11:39. OJ swam with Brian Benda, then the two recorded pretty similar bike splits, before OJ outran him. Benda finished at 2:13:23. Tom Stack went a little bit quicker than he did in 2012, and considering how wet the roads were and what appeared to be a very sluggish swim across all competitors, that's progress! Tom came in at 2:15:35. Alyssa Godesky last competed here in 2011, where she broke 2:30 for the first time. This year she tore into the course with a monster bike split, and ran a 44:04 10k (faster than her open 10k best) to finish at 2:21:51 - a near 8 minute improvement from 2011 and 5 minute distance PR. She was 23rd among the women, and 9th among amateurs. Of course, shout to Andy Sovonick for being out there and supporting everybody all morning in the mist.
From elsewhere, Lillian Pinault finished 3rd at one of her favorite races, the Ironton Rail Trail 10k, running 43:57. She is bummed because she said they're turning it into a 5.2 mile run next year. Who does that?! Becky Parks ran the Bay to Breakers 12k in San Francisco. Her time wasn't a PR, but it was still faster than her first year running it, and she was pleased. Apparently Andrew "Beef" Jaffe happened to be out there and was spectating - way to represent! Also in the B2B race was Heather Tanner, Melissa's sister, who finished 5th I think. Pretty awesome! And shout to Dave Ploskonka, who finished 7th at the Massanutten Mountain Trail 100 Miler. I can't even fathom running one of those things, let alone multiple in a year. Dave's persistence is admirable; a couple of tough marathon performances recently and comes out and crushes this one. Way to go Dave.
Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week, on account of his first ever marathon win (which seems inconceivable given how fast he is!) is Dave Berdan.
As the air heats up, so did the racing - a couple of wins and some other fine performances highlighted the weekend. First, since I forgot to mention them in the email, shout to our Columbia MBAers, Sam Wollner and Sara Spears, who both ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon. Sam broke 90 minutes (1:29:14), which is pretty awesome, and Sara, who as usual claimed she was in "terrible shape" ran what I believe is a PR, breaking 1:50 (1:49:03).
Dave Berdan threw down at the Poconos Marathon - his 2nd marathon in just about 65 days. Dave's been on a roll, running that terrific VA Beach Marathon, followed by the win and a PR at the Frederick Half. We just need to talk him out of doing small, challenging course races now, because he ran 2:22:19 on his own on Sunday for his first ever marathon win. Of course, this one was all about the Benjamins, of which Dave brought home quite a few! Pete Mulligan ran, pacing the 4:20 group to perfection, which given the course's undulations was not an easy task!
In the world of triathlon, Mike Mashner kicked off his racing season by retaining his title at the Upper Dublin Sprint Triathlon. Mike won last year's inaugural race and by the code of winning had returned to defend. It's a serpentine (pool) swim, which means you swim down to the end of the pool, turn, and swim under the lane line and return via the other lane. It was a 350m swim, followed by ~11 mile bike on the roads, and then a 5k run. Mike's 5k was a little slower than last year but not much, which was promising as he noted he has about 600 fewer miles in his legs this period. Z won by quite a few minutes, too.
More triathlon! Sunday was my favorite race, the Columbia Triathlon, and this year they were celebrating their 30th year. Hard to believe that was my first triathlon way back in 2001. Competitors included former race-winner, OJ Keller, who was our leader in 2:11:39. OJ swam with Brian Benda, then the two recorded pretty similar bike splits, before OJ outran him. Benda finished at 2:13:23. Tom Stack went a little bit quicker than he did in 2012, and considering how wet the roads were and what appeared to be a very sluggish swim across all competitors, that's progress! Tom came in at 2:15:35. Alyssa Godesky last competed here in 2011, where she broke 2:30 for the first time. This year she tore into the course with a monster bike split, and ran a 44:04 10k (faster than her open 10k best) to finish at 2:21:51 - a near 8 minute improvement from 2011 and 5 minute distance PR. She was 23rd among the women, and 9th among amateurs. Of course, shout to Andy Sovonick for being out there and supporting everybody all morning in the mist.
From elsewhere, Lillian Pinault finished 3rd at one of her favorite races, the Ironton Rail Trail 10k, running 43:57. She is bummed because she said they're turning it into a 5.2 mile run next year. Who does that?! Becky Parks ran the Bay to Breakers 12k in San Francisco. Her time wasn't a PR, but it was still faster than her first year running it, and she was pleased. Apparently Andrew "Beef" Jaffe happened to be out there and was spectating - way to represent! Also in the B2B race was Heather Tanner, Melissa's sister, who finished 5th I think. Pretty awesome! And shout to Dave Ploskonka, who finished 7th at the Massanutten Mountain Trail 100 Miler. I can't even fathom running one of those things, let alone multiple in a year. Dave's persistence is admirable; a couple of tough marathon performances recently and comes out and crushes this one. Way to go Dave.
Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week, on account of his first ever marathon win (which seems inconceivable given how fast he is!) is Dave Berdan.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Crazy Kids
Last weekend was fairly quiet. Despite a good number of events, there wasn't much racing going on.
Last Thursday, the Three Amigos (Graham Peck, Alex Battaglino and Tim Burns) headed up to York College (PA) to run their Last Chance Meet. The guys toed the line in the 5000m and quickly it was Graham with a commanding lead. He was going for broke; 14:59 or bust. He was on pace through 2400m but then the laps starting taking longer, and he wasn't able to get back into his rhythm. Still, Graham took the win in 15:28.47. Alex B hasn't raced in a while. Months, actually. He's been working back to form and ran a great race, finishing 3rd in 16:05.09. And Tim Burns showed improvement from his last couple of outings, running 16:34.04 for 7th.
On Saturday, Graham doubled down, winning the Preakness 5k in sloppy conditions (17:40). Jason Farber was 2nd in 17:51 and Joel Gladfelter rounded out the top 3 in 18:33. The other Joel (Brusewitz) ran, running 19:25, and Jon Miller was just behind in 19:34.
Everyone discovered that the Maryland Half Marathon was long by 0.4 of a mile or so. Curt Forst ran 1:23:56 for 5th place, which really would have been in the 1:21 range. Cory Donovan and his pacing partner took their 1:40 group into a 1:41:34 finish, which couldn't be helped when the race was long.
At the Hills of Milltown 5k, Dave Berardi finished 4th in 20:04.
Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Graham.
Plenty more race action this week (and for the next many weeks, now). Triathlon season kicks off in Columbia this Sunday, to all those racing - crush!
Last Thursday, the Three Amigos (Graham Peck, Alex Battaglino and Tim Burns) headed up to York College (PA) to run their Last Chance Meet. The guys toed the line in the 5000m and quickly it was Graham with a commanding lead. He was going for broke; 14:59 or bust. He was on pace through 2400m but then the laps starting taking longer, and he wasn't able to get back into his rhythm. Still, Graham took the win in 15:28.47. Alex B hasn't raced in a while. Months, actually. He's been working back to form and ran a great race, finishing 3rd in 16:05.09. And Tim Burns showed improvement from his last couple of outings, running 16:34.04 for 7th.
On Saturday, Graham doubled down, winning the Preakness 5k in sloppy conditions (17:40). Jason Farber was 2nd in 17:51 and Joel Gladfelter rounded out the top 3 in 18:33. The other Joel (Brusewitz) ran, running 19:25, and Jon Miller was just behind in 19:34.
Everyone discovered that the Maryland Half Marathon was long by 0.4 of a mile or so. Curt Forst ran 1:23:56 for 5th place, which really would have been in the 1:21 range. Cory Donovan and his pacing partner took their 1:40 group into a 1:41:34 finish, which couldn't be helped when the race was long.
At the Hills of Milltown 5k, Dave Berardi finished 4th in 20:04.
Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Graham.
Plenty more race action this week (and for the next many weeks, now). Triathlon season kicks off in Columbia this Sunday, to all those racing - crush!
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