We Did It...For Jason!

Here we are, wearing our race day t-shirts (cotton) and the longest shorts we all own, on our way to Port to Fort on Sunday.  We are all also wearing some kind of hat, except Ed, whose hair is dark enough to look like Brennan's skully.  For results, read on...

Dave Ploskonka had a great race at Bull Run 50 Miler on Saturday, finishing 10th in a new PR of 7:28:50.  With his strength and his speed on the track as of late, I'm sure he's going to do quite well at Boston a week from today!  Jared Jaskot ran 18:59 on the undulating hills of Patterson Park at the College Bound Foundation Race for the Future 5k, earning 3rd place and marking the first time he's gotten under 19 minutes on a road 5k.  T. Baptiste ran what sounded like a terrible race at Kent State.  It was supposed to be 25k (15.5 miles) but was longer (16 miles) due to a change in start venue.  Terence came through in 3rd in 1:41, but after the 4th finisher, there was nobody for a real long time.  Apparently a volunteer left their post and runners got lost, some potentially running 22 miles!  At the Cary Long Course Duathlon, Chris Scott went 26th place.

On Sunday, at Port to Fort, we had our largest contingent ever for this race.  Garrett Ash led all runners from wire to wire, finishing in a new team record 19:02.5 (eclipsing Kyle Smits' 19:08 from 2007).  Dustin Meeker was hot on his heels, running in 2nd place through 3 miles, before getting passed by Luke Belford.  Dusty finished 3rd in 19:09.  Ed Aramayo, racing for the second day in a row, got out hot before feeling the effects of two great races on Saturday.  He finished 4th in 19:24.  Max Hacker, in his first race in Baltimore, was 5th in 20:04.  Then came the pack - Pat, Zero and myself, with Brennan (bandit) and Tristram (who jumped in at mile 2).  We fanned out across the road so that if anyone attempted to pass us, they "would not be able to" [Pat McLoughlin].  As Brennan and Tristram peeled off before the narrow finish line, the three of us remaining held hands above our heads, proclaiming that we "did it for Jason!" and that we, much like the sponsor of the race, in fact "Believe in Tomorrow."  Meg McNew was just behind us in 23:14 for 3rd F, and Steve Wancowicz was there but I suspect he was also banditing.

At the Women's 5k by the Bay, where there was some decent money on the line, Diane Heiser was back to defend her title.  She ran 18:10 - 2 seconds faster than last year - in a 2nd place effort.  This is a PCPR for Diane.  Denise Knickman ran great, going 18:38 for 5th.  Meg DiGregorio, living that college life, had a rough morning, running 18:54 for 7th.  The best story from this, however, is that Hirut Mandefro was back from Flagstaff for this race.  She left DC at 3am, taking 3 trains and walking 5 miles just to get to the start to earn a $500 payday.  Then, Diane had to drive her back to Baltimore and get her on a train.  Ha.

The GW Parkway Classic 10 Miler was on Sunday, and what would you know, Sara Spears ran a PR.  1:19:40 (sub 8s!).  Pretty amazing considering she was in Kreplachistan for 2 weeks, did no running, was jetlagged and they had lost her luggage on both ends of the trip.  This was a near 3 minute PR for her. 

And that was good enough for Sara to earn this week's Purple Drink Athlete of the Week! 

I also see that Julia Webb ran a 4:42.46 for 20th place at the Mason Spring Invite (1500m).

THIS WEEK is a really cool week, with Wednesday's Westminster Main Street Mile.  The event starts at 7pm, and Westminster is neither particularly close nor against traffic.  So plan accordingly as far as getting out there.  Following the race, we can decide on a place to chomp up some food.  Ice cream sandwiches are given out following the run.  This means, however, that TNT will be pretty light.  I'm going to go up still and do my run, and there will still be people doing a workout so don't let it deter you if you planned on going.  The workout will be a simple ladder, 800-1200-1600-1200-800 with 4x200 on the end.