Monday, February 9, 2009

USATF XC Results

We were bruised, battered, broken and muddy - but what a fun event. From what I've learned, it's been 30 years since a championship XC event has been staged in our area, so not doing this race was never an option. Even if the 6 trips around the uneven, rolling 2k loops would prove more than a few of us could handle.

In the Women's Masters 8k, Denise Knickman got things off to a good start, finishing in 33:25 for 11th place overall, and helping her team pick up 2nd place.

In the Men's Masters 8k, I noticed the near-44 year old shape of Rodney Timpson, who looked to be running very strong. I didn't see results for him, but I think he was in the 28 range, and is registered for Club Challenge (are you??). Dave Berardi, meanwhile, somehow escaped my radar, but in the results he finished 25th overall at 28:38. Thomas Stewart, back to racing, ran a strong 31:52.

The Junior's races were pretty exciting. The girls, for obvious reasons, and the boys because basically the top 3 collegiate freshmen in the country were competing head to head. To head. One, German Fernandez, was in possession of the fastest indoor mile time in the world this year (3:56.50, until Nick Willis from NZ outdid it Saturday night in Boston). German used that speed to blow everyone up in the last 2k to finish in 23:20. Yeah, you read that right. 23:20.

Then it was primetime. The Open Women's race was lacking real stiff competition, so it was anyone's game. My cousin, Emily Brown, wound up winning by quite a bit. Just kidding, not my cousin, but the girl's name is Emily Brown. Then quasi-local athlete Julie Culley (used to coach at Loyola) picked up 2nd. Our only representative was Julia Rudd, who finished in 26th at 30:12. And that included a few seconds where she walked through a water stop - ha!

Open Men's wasn't quite as stacked as last year, but with some Olympians and a silver medal owner (Meb) it was still a great race. Meb flew past me around 9k (7k for me) and had a strong lead. This lead must have dilapidated because he won in a photo-finish at the end. Either way those dudes were cruising. Our own efforts were laudable, but not as strong. Kyle, running for Georgetown, was the first to cross the line, followed by Ben, then Brennan. Dave Berdan and Arjun were forced to withdraw due to some injuries and other maladies. A newcomer to our team, Luke Holman rolled the race with pretty even splits and wound up passing Justin right by the finish. Terence and Jeff were next up, followed by me and then Tom. Tom managed to pass the last place finisher so as not to finish DFL and for this effort he is awarded the KC Masterpiece Award.

The Purple Drink Athlete of the Week athlete is quite deserving, overcoming some recent hamstring injuries and having a great race despite the conditions: Dave Berardi.

It was a really sweet event, even if I think my ankle is broken, and I'll look forward to traveling to wherever they set it next year. Muchas Gracias to the folks at Saucony (Mark Johnson, Julia and my friend Brian Mahoney) and Jim Adams for helping get us hooked up for the race. And of course thanks to the fan club of Kris, , Chris Nowakowski, Alex (who rode his bike there), Jen, Claire, Melissa, Karen, Beez Nuts (my little sister) and Jim for making the race more bearable.

1 comment:

a said...

I have to say I was very impressed. You guys were all looked like you were running very very hard. I was glad I was not out there with you but proud of all of you for taking on the best in the country. I know some of you might be somewhat disjointed but I would encourage you to channel that anger into Club Challange and against the other evil teams we'll have to race there.