Big D

Happy Birthday Denise!

So today is Denise's birthday, and over the next few days a couple others celebrate as well.  I hope you have great weekends!

I forgot to do a little race recap post for last weekend, but since it's pretty late in the week, I'll keep it short.  I'll also start with a few performances I missed in the email, including Scott Boylan's 44th place finish at the inaugural Tri Rock Annapolis (sprint tri), and Coach Amy Horst's 3rd place finish at Preakness 5k (20:25).  Nick Gehlsen won the Preakness race and now has Terrace club tix and parking for this weekend's event (a $665 value).  Dave Ploskonka had a tough day out on the Massanutten Mountain Trail 100 miler, which you can read about on his blog.  Lauren Dennisuk ran a solid 1:11:46 10 miler out in Michigan, and at the Swarthmore Last Chance Meet, Ed Aramayo ran a really great 1491m race - unfortunately the distance was in fact supposed to be 1500m and he narrowly missed getting under 4:00.  Megan DiGregorio ran the steeple, after a year out of steepling, and ran a solid 11:33.

On Sunday there were a lot of people in action, including Nina Hartman at the Cleveland Marathon (3:22:41) and Terence Baptiste in the Pittsburgh Half Marathon (1:20:57).  Garrett Ash looked nifty in his maroon Falls Road singlet in his runner-up effort at Capitol Hill Classic 10k (33:29).  Meg McNew ran a 1:40 at the hilly Maryland Half Marathon, and we heard Pete Mulligan was asked to "pace" the 2:30 group, which consisted of one woman who ultimately Pete dropped with a mile to go as he finished just under 2:30.  In San Francisco, New Becky Parks ran a heck of a race at Bay to Breakers 12k.  Her time of 48:50 was just over 6:30/mile pace, and it landed her in 37th F and 298th overall (out of 23,000/43,000, respectively).  Kevin McGrath prepared for this weekend's Brooklyn Half Marathon by running the Hoboken Harrier's Classic 5 Mile, and despite living there, encountered a hill he had never seen and said it was just mean (he ran 36:26, narrowly a season best). 

Cascade Lake Triathlon was held Sunday with a number of our folks competing.  OJ Keller got off to a hot start, coming in 2nd out of the water behind a fresh-out-of-Harvard swimmer, but then tore into the bike.  Unfortunately for OJ, a severely battered ankle from a roll in Loch Raven relegated his run to a jog, and he finished in 4th.  Pat McLoughlin had a great swim, coming out shortly behind OJ, and then rode one of his best bike splits to date.  He then powered his way to one of the fastest runs of the day, and finished in 2nd overall.  Brian Benda had a great race but was unfortunately in the old man category (40+) which meant he started a few minutes back, and wasn't able to have the other guys to focus on directly ahead of him.  The margin between Pat, Benda and OJ was about 30 seconds.

David Lee finished 10th, Terry Decker was 17th and Chris Scott finished 35th.  A little ways back was Adam Zilberbaum, who is just getting back into the swing of things following a back injury, and he finished 62nd.

So that is our 60 second recap, and our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Pat McLoughlin.

We had our first week at the Hopkins/Loyola track this week, and will be there for at least two more weeks.  Thanks to Coach Amy for letting us in, and for hooking up the cool water thing and the sound.  Meg D was responsible for the jam list, so if you have any suggestions for her, or even want to bring your own portable music device made by Apple, you are welcome to do so.  Unless you are Barf, in which case your music is not allowed.  Top 40 only!

Look for some great results this weekend as a number of triathletes are in action at various races!