Sometimes it Just Clicks

As mentioned in the previous post, Joel had a banner day down at the GEER 100k. It was the culmination (culmination) of months of hard work. He really has been going about things the right way, and had a great day when he needed it. 14 hours, 11 minutes and 57 seconds for 6th place. I know we've all gotten kind of used to folks in our group doing absurd things, so a 63 mile race may not seem as grandiose as it once would have - but this came from a guy who is better known for his 400m speed. Joel spent the entire summer in sweltering Charleston SC for work, and when you're away from home that long it really can mess with your routine. So it's more than impressive, and obviously he earned this week's Purple Drink Athlete of the Week.

Some other impressive performances this weekend, including a couple of wins and some PRs so big at Race For Our Kids 10k that it made me suspect on the course's accuracy.

Race For Our Kids: Former UVA runner Andy Bilodeau showed up to snag some prize money, running a super fast time and putting some daylight in between himself and Dave Berdan (2nd). Mike Zero finished 8th in 37:45, the day after a monster 21 mile run and on the heels of his longest mileage week ever. Berardi finished about a minute back in 9th. Then it was the Ladies of TNT show, sweeping the top 3 spots in PRs of 39:08 (Meg McNew, 1st), 39:27 (Megan DiGregorio, 2nd) and 40:33 (Suzanne Hurst, 3rd). Meg recorded 11 miles in the morning, then later in the day went out for another 12 at what seemed like breakneck speed. Denise Knickman was 7th in 41:24.

OJ Keller took home the victory at the Make-A-Wish Triathlon in Sea Colony, DE. He had the fastest swim (by a lot), 3rd fastest T1, 2nd fastest bike, and 2nd fastest 10k run. What he did not have the fastest was T2. I think he must have been having himself a Coke and a smile.

Dr. Rod Taylor went over to Berlin for the Marathon and ran a solid 3:12:11. He got after it, coming through the half in 1:30 - on target for his goal of running close to 3:00.

Claire Lears ran the Flagstaff Half Marathon in 2:06:49 - 11 minutes faster than she ran there last year (her first race upon moving out there).

Julia Rudd won her heat of the Fifth Avenue Mile in 4:59, but according to results she was 2nd F, so we can't quite figure that out. Either way, great job Julia soon-to-be Webb!

All of our events on Saturday went off without a hitch, much thanks to all the folks that helped out at the Patterson Park 5k and those that were at the Druid Hill 5k. This weekend if anyone is around and feels inclined to volunteering at the Falls Road 15k (Sunday, Dru Hill), let me or Jim know. See you all at track tonight!