Monday, September 22, 2008

Streets of Philadelphia

The city of brotherly love once again proved that is the fastest city on the East Coast with some scorching times at the ING Philadelphia Distance Run. I first ran PDR as a bandit in 2006, helping my friend Chima get through about 1:30. Team TWSS went to it as a group last year where some amazing performances were turned out. This year we had some real firepower heading up there (11 total) and it was a great success. The ladies were on FIRE, as you can tell by the times.

So a few other performances of note - and it's great when people are excited about race results - Alex and Claire up at Executive Stampede 5k. Alex raced "the race", which in a 5k is more important than going for time all the time. He put himself out there, tried to go for the W, and while he ended up 5th, it sounded like a great effort on his behalf. Claire ran well for 2nd. Bachman Valley Half Marathon - Mellow went to this last year and ran 1:27:17. This year he went 1:24:43. That's a great performance, and it was 4 seconds faster than his Baltimore Half time from last year. Collin rocked out a solid 1:23:23, which I would guess is an obvious PR, and Dave Ploskonka showed some good form going 1:25:42.

Philly Distance Run - Guys first. Ben is truly amazing. We've all witnessed him pull himself into serious shape over the last few weeks. I've actually never seen anyone do that. From Club Challenge to now, it's like a completely different person. I'd say watch out to the competitors at Baltimore Half in a few weeks (which, by the way, if you're not running I expect you'll be out supporting for!). Ben ran 1:11:42 last year when he was really getting ready for NYC, running tons of miles, long workouts, etc. This year his focus changed a little, and he still pulled a 1:12:21 yesterday. Amazing. Arjun gets the Mr. Consistent award, because he ran 1:16:50 this year, the same exact time he ran last year. Wow. Ryan Orner's time didn't register apparently, but I can say for sure he ran the whole course and finished just ahead of me. He said he was pleased with the effort for where he's at right now. I was pleased to a) not have to walk and b) run a PR. Mildly disappointed that it wasn't where I wanted to be, but I was happy. Kris had a solid race, coming through 10 in 1:01:38 and finishing at 1:20:53. Not to single out T, but that's only a little slower than T ran last year, and I think he came through 10 in just over an hour.

Onto the ladies, who rocked the shit out of PDR. Lee and Melissa finished within 10 seconds of each other, with Lee getting the edge in 1:24:14. Melissa has once again found her form, running a 1:24:25. Dr. J has never run 13.1 miles before. She is, however, arguably the best athlete among us. Therefore, it wasn't much of a surprise that she finished the run, but we were all wow'd when she finished in 1:30:07! A few short minutes later, Jen Koshy came across the line, rocking out an 8 minute PR. I'd say she's on target for a great marathon, and guess where it is? Philadelphia. Finally, Sara Spears, also running the farthest she's ever run, finished under the 2 hour mark. Way under, 1:56:40.

So this was probably the toughest week to decide the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week, but we like to reward major achievements when they occur, so Sara Spears is this week's PDAW. There are still about 13 weeks left in the year, so you can still be the PDAW.

Looking forward to the week ahead - the last week of Orioles Magic (7 home games this week) and Saturday is going to be Uh-Mazing. Be prepared for fun.

4 comments:

THE KRIS said...

some thoughts:

congrats to sara for a well deserved pdaw.

it's no joke that the ladies as a group had a phenomenal day, so congrats to lee, melissa, dr.j (who needs to stop saying she can't do things, 'cause she so clearly can) and jen.

it should also be noted that ryan ran a pr. while he may not see it this way, he's had his share of injuries over the past month, so to be able to pr is pretty big.

ben is a beast. period.

arjun and i need some tips on running what we are capable of, although i'll give arjun the nod on this one...he always gets closer than i do.

gladfelter said...

Great job everyone! They are some impressive times.

I stayed around town this weekend and did the 20-mile course loop that Jim and Falls Road hosted. A ton of people showed up, probably the likes of 300 or so. Great weather and course support got me through the 20.

T was out there manning up the water stops, thanks T!

Sara said...

Thanks for the props! I didn't think I could even run 13 miles, and now I'm looking forward to another one...preferably as flat as PDR :)

I had a great weekend and was awed by the ease with which you all went out there and kicked ass on the mean streets of Philly.

RM said...

Actually Sar, next step is the whole shabang...

How about ING Miami Marathon late January 2009?