Monday, October 27, 2008

Marine Corps Results

I will now set the stage for what was our awesome day in DC.

Friday and Saturday were both unbelievably busy days and very late nights. Saturday was so late, in fact, that I went to bed at the time I was supposed to wake up. As a result, I was over a half hour late to pick up Ben and Barf. We made it to College Park and boarded the Metro, arriving in Rosslyn (VA) just after 8:30. From there we headed into Georgetown and marched to about mile 9. We saw Kris go by, then Dave, then we started walking down towards the Mall. We spotted Alyssa (wearing some "baller" spandex shorts).

Arjun had somehow manned up and jumped in with Kris at mile 9. He ran with Kris until just after mile 16, where Brennan, Chrissie and I then jumped in. We were running well, picking off people, when Jeff came up to us and ran through. I was amazed at how terrible miles 20-25 were, particularly heading over the bridge into Crystal City. Obviously I've run this before (Army 10) but this was different. There are no fans, and very few runners. There are people stopping, stretching, dropping out. It's a miserably tough part of the race.

Kris held it together as best he could, and finished up with a 52 minute PR, running a 3:02:36. Dave, on his third marathon in 3 weekends, brought it home with Alyssa, who also PR'd by about a minute, going 3:32:01.

But the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week could go to none other than Jeff Rumbaugh, who was given the spot on the roster just about two or three weeks ago, and hasn't been preparing the way he normally would for a race. He responded by crushing it, running about 3.5 minutes faster than he did at Charlottesville this spring (2:56:52, and I couldn't understand why he wasn't showing up til I realized he ran as Phil Turner). After the race Jeff was really excited with the effort, and said he made it to 16 miles and thought "Wow, I only have 10 miles left!" I'm sure at that point most people were thinking "oh my God, I still have 10 miles left."

In other racing news, Denise picked up another W at the Seaside 10 Miler in Ocean City, running a great 1:06:24, and Eileen went down and stomped the UMBC Alumni 5k Dawg Chase on Saturday, running 17:30 or something. I haven't picked up the results yet but I feel like running that fast she must have won.

This week's schedule is business as usual: Monday Fed Hill, Tuesday Track, Wednesday Night Run. I personally will be doing FH really easy tonight, probably won't run tomorrow, and may adjust my run Wednesday so I don't run as much.

New York Marathon is Sunday, Jake and myself are running. If you are looking for a race, a good one on Sunday is the Run Through the Grapevine 8k in Mt. Airy. It's one of the most challenging xc races I've ever done, but pretty awesome and the awards are bottles of wine, and there is wine all around you (it's at a vineyard).

10 comments:

alyssa said...

1. Thanks to everyone who came out for MCM. Many people don't have friends willing to cheer/run for/with you, let alone take your sweaty arm warmers from you (thanks, ben)!

2. I will be doing a hill workout of sorts on Tuesday from the track. I'll prob skip the warmup and head out right at 6:30. Depending on how my legs feel will determine the length and difficulty of the workout, but anyone is welc.

THE KRIS said...

since we're doing lists...

1. as alys said, thanks to everyone who came out, it's great seeing friendly faces on the course.

2. thanks to everyone who ran with me, except brenan and ryan, who wouldn't let me stop when i so badly wanted to. seriously, i've never wanted to not be doing something as badly as i wanted to not be running miles 22-26. oddly, the last .2 wasn't so bad.

3. thanks to brenan and ryan for not letting me stop.

4. congrats to jeff, who stomped that race out. as someone who was there, hating the last 10 miles, i'm real impressed with the way jeff brought it home. pdaw well earned.

alyssa said...

63. If anyone wants to know the secret behind mine/kris's success, it was prob due to the brilliant pump up movie I had us watch on Saturday evening, "Run Fat Boy Run."

72. The second secret was Donna's wakeup announcement on Sunday.

89. The third secret was the mini. obvi.

RM said...

You all did awesome, it's really an amazing thing to get to be a part of something like that. I think Terence's quote on the right (power now baby!) is a great motivator. I would say for me, today, I am less nervous heading into this weekend than I was before Eagleman, even though I am considerably less prepared than I should be. I can only hope the positive vibes from all the great marathon performances in the recent weeks help me out!

THE KRIS said...

77. i'm sorry i won't be up there this weekend, i owe you and others a lot.

78. the movie taught me that there is no shame in running a 15 hour marathon... on the contrary, it will make you a celebrity.

79. the mini is the key to many, many things.

RM said...

79a. Like banging dudes

OH YEAH

gladfelter said...

Is it even possible to "run" that slow? A 15 hour marathon is a 34:21min/mi pace. I'm sure there was a lot of walking

I can only speculate what Donna's wakeup announcement was about since I didn't hear the scoop.

Great job everyone at MC! Aren't marathon's just swell! Happy healing today!

I wonder if that walking ghost from mile 26 ever staggered to the finish line? That guy was on deaths bed.

Ryan, don't worry bro - you are going to do great - just stay calm and don't think too much about the race this week. And it's okay to be a slacker during a taper week.

alyssa said...

ok so apparently no one banks when it's cold and rainy so I'm BORED. anyway, this is hilar. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=holla+for+a+dolla

THE KRIS said...

that's awes.

a said...

Alyssa's shorts are tricked out. Do they make cycling kits in that patterns?