RM Memorial 5k

In full disclosure I'm typing this while watching Michael Jordan's greatest piece of work: Space Jam...

There were tons of results this weekend but rather than type up each one I will let you read the email and the results on the right hand side. This post will largely be about the RM Memorial 5k which was held on Saturday between rains, on the track at Goucher College. We had 20 runners or so, split into two heats and it was very competitive.

Heat #1: Barf took off at the gun, but after about 200m Mellow, Kristen Till and Eileen had worked back up to him. They ran together for the first mile (5:43) and then Eileen went to work. She had a small advantage over Kristen at 2 miles (11:33), and powered to the finish in 18:08. It was as impressive a race as I've ever seen her run. Kristen was 10 seconds back at 18:18. Mellow came through in 18:51, and not much after that Diane finished strong in 19:12 - her fastest time since college. At 19:39 and 19:55, Alex and Barf finished, respectively, and shortly after that Lisa and Lauren came through at 20:15 and 20:34. Both ran great considering they were thinking they'd run slower than that. Chrissie was just jogging in preparation of her race the next day, which she killed. So she ran 22:02 and Little Claire, in advance celebration of her birthday, ran 22:09. Alix Ruth was running a solo effort for 3.1 miles and managed a 30 second PR! Her time of 23:49 was pretty awesome.

Heat #2: This was the baller heat, with a couple 2:20 something marathoners (including one who ran at US Olympic Trials). I was pretty excited that the stars aligned and we were fortunate to have Karl Dusen, Kyle Smits, Jeff Gaudette, Mike Smith and our very own Ben Ingram out there racing. The pace seemed pedestrian at the 400m (74-75) but then it dropped from there. Karl, Kyle and Jeff came through the 1600 in 4:48-4:50 with Ben and Mike a few seconds back. Jeff's calf had been giving him trouble since the previous weekend's Knights of Columbus 10k, so he wisely dropped after the mile. Kyle and Karl continued, trading the lead for the majority of the race, before Karl opened a small gap with 600m to go. He held Kyle off, sprinting across the line in 15:06 to Kyle's 15:14. Mike Smith had a real strong last mile and ran 15:35, and Ben faded but stayed tough, running 15:52. Jake Marren had the unenviable task of running a solo 16:41 effort, and Brusewitz had to get real tough to squeak under 17 (16:57). Jeff Rumbaugh ran 17:48 and John Blatz came through in 18:14. Dave Berardi ran the whole thing, which I didn't realize he was doing so I didn't time him, and Tank ran a 21:5x.

It was really a great event and worth the suffering sitting in the car to come down for it. So much thanks to my dad for driving me down and back in the course of 12 hours. Thanks to the folks that showed up to help out or spectate: Arjun, Melissa, Ella, Mr. and Mrs. Marren, Kristen Till's husband and kids, Marty (Lisa's boyfriend), OJ, Anna, Justin, Beth, and anyone else I may have missed. We'll come back in 2010 with the RM Classic 5k.

Here's a little note from my dad:

It was so great to see everyone whom I had met before and to meet those for the first time...although I feel like I know all of you as Ryan speaks of you all the time. Do I have everyone memorized? Of course not, but will work on it. For some reason however, "Mellow Mike" is an easy one to recall. I am glad we got down to the Baltimore area. You are all so fortunate to have this remarkable friendship. Never forget its importance.

So there were a bunch of other races, as I mentioned, including Chrissie's great half marathon, and a few triathlons as well.

But there can only be one Purple Drink Athlete of the Week and, while we could just give it to Chrissie everytime she toes the line, this week we're going to honor Alix Ruth for her 30 second improvement over 5k. That's really impressive considering she's just started really running this year. Hope to see great things from her this weekend at PDR!

TNT this week: we'll have two workouts. One is longer in nature for those of you doing longer races, and one will be shorter but will be based on the same amount of time so everyone can run together. Workout #1 - 5x1600m with 2:30 recovery. Run them quick. Workout #2 - 5x(800-400). Start the 800 with those doing the miles, and then take a lap off. When they go past for their last lap wait a few seconds and then go, run your 400. Then you'll have 2:30 off before your next set.