Put Your #2s In The Air

Remember how adamant teachers would be that you took your standardized tests with #2 pencils?  And then you would freak out and be like "mom, it HAS to be a #2 pencil"?  Have you ever seen a non-number 2 pencil, does anyone even bother making them?  Furthermore, would a number 1 or number 1.5 have been so light that the printer thing wouldn't read it?  I doubt it.

Spring is clearly here, as we now just have wind, and rain, and when the sun does come out (exception: yesterday) it's not even that warm.  But, those in racing action this past weekend did not let that affect them.

At the Sam Howell Invitational (Princeton University), Tristram Thomas and Ed Aramayo ROWTCO in the 1500m.  In separate heats, I think they each finished 2nd, with Tristram (4:03.25) finishing 7th overall and Ed (4:04.43) finishing 14th.  Ed came back a short while later, with a huge split in his shorts, for a 2:01.00 800m to finish 33rd.  Then he ate Varsity Pizza in Lawrenceville, NJ, which is a McGrath Family Favorite (try the buffalo chix pizza).

Two of the biggest races around happened to be adjacent to one another on the calendar, which I found weird, but Saturday was the Ukrops Monument Ave 10k in Richmond, where Riyaz Gayasaddin ran a 48:17, and big man Jordan Orr bandited.  He used great words to describe how awesome the event, city and weekend were. 

Sunday's big race was in DC - THE spring race - Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.  A new course record was set (not by any of us, ha) and a record number of booties were spotted along the course.  Mike Mashner, whose PR coming into the race was set just over a month ago at Club Challenge (59:02), shaved off over a minute from his CB10 time, running 58:09.  Tim Parker finished narrowly outside the hour mark (1:00:08) but was 5th out of 650 in the 45-49 age group.  Membership in the old man club has its advantages!  Big D, Denise Knickman, was next through in 20th F at 1:02:21.  This is her third 10 miler this season, and nearly a minute quicker than a month ago.  We'll have to find out her secret because this is also the fastest she's run in, like, a decade.  Jackie Truncellito's PR coming in was a 1:06:46, and her recent CC time of 1:07:04 indicated she was on good form.  She finished 37th F in 1:04:52 - a really amazing time!  And Chris(topher) Scott, who I had originally indicated in the email had run a 1:18:11, actually ran a 1:14:05.  Apparently there was another Chris Scott (Orlando, FL) who I mistakenly looked up.  Sorry Chris, and great job on the 2+ minute PR!

At the Family Y of Central Maryland Ellicott City Outback 5k, New Becky Parks won the event in a great time of 19:45, finishing 11th among all competitors. 

That brought us to the as usual tough decision for Purple Drink Athlete of the Week, but with the minute PR and the great time of 58:09, Mike Zero was this weeks' winner!

TRACK TONIGHT

So as you can probably tell, it's quite windy.  We won't let this stop us from holding the workout, but I know a few of you may opt to do it tomorrow as you prepare for track season.