It's true, after a miserably cold winter and spring, anything over 70 degrees feels warm, but Saturday was legitimately hot, with the mercury already cracking 80 by the early morning. The good news was that Sunday morning seemed a little more tame, but once that sun came out, there was nothing you could do!
It was a very triathlon-heavy weekend, too. Rock Hall International Triathlon was on Saturday and Chris Scott kicked off his season with a 69th place 2:31:18. He commented that despite the course's flat profile, the heat and wind were really tough. Tom Stack found that out in Sunday's sprint distance race, where he finished 2nd in 1:10:08 behind an elite area competitor. Tom was unable to close the gap on the run, but we noted that he lost a lot of time in transition. Transitions: the 4th discipline! Christa Wagner also competed, and it was her first ever triathlon. Water temps over 80 degrees meant no wetsuits, but she didn't need it as she swam a great 750 meters. Her bike is strong, and she ran the 4th fastest bike split to finish in 11th at 1:28:15.
Down in Raleigh, NC, Brian Benda and David Lee were taking on the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Raleigh. Athletes were told the water was too warm for wetsuits, but by Sunday morning they remeasured the water and allowed them - of course most had just left them at home! It didn't bother Benda, who prefers no wetsuits. He had the 5th fastest swim of the day and was the top amateur out of the water. He then burned up the bike course, splitting 2:23:55, and ran a 1:46 half marathon to finish 40th at 4:40:16. David is pulling himself back into shape after some extensive global travel for work, and while he would definitely prefer a wetsuit swim, he had a solid day all-around and finished at 5:04:58.
At the ridiculously challenging REV3 Quassy race, Alyssa Godesky took 6 minutes out of her 2012 time to once again finish 7th. This is one of the REV3 organization's premier events, with a $100,000 prize purse for professionals. Alyssa swam 30:52, which is a distance swim PR, and then chopped 8.5 minutes off her bike split from a year ago. That put her in a great position, and she held on with a strong 1:42 half marathon to finish at 5:02:51.
Out in Omaha, Nebraska, Kendra Ingram was doing her first ever tri - the Omaha Women's Triathlon. Kendra has really impressed these past few months as she's put herself in situations that challenged her to conquer some apprehensions (namely open water swimming!). And in the spirit of a true triathlete, rather than be totally pumped with her performance, she's not resting on her laurels - she's already figuring out where she can improve, and has signed up for 3 more triathlons this summer, including 2 Olympic distance ones! Ben is a dangerous influence.
Back to running...
Dave Berardi raced the USATF Master's 8km Championships in Williamsburg, finishing 18th in 29:45. He always sends me his results after I send the email out. I can't keep tabs on every race!
The North Face Endurance Challenge features a bunch of different distance races over the weekend, including a 50 mile and 50k on Saturday, and a half marathon on Sunday. Keith Rice ran the 50k, finishing in 6:33:47. Then on Sunday, Mike Mashner went down and ran the half, finishing 6th in 1:53:09. Tom Stott did this race one year and confirmed: it is not easy!
On Friday night, participants registered in Sunday's inaugural Dot Dash 8k were notified that due to unforeseen circumstances, the course would now be on sidewalks. Yikes! The race started and finished at Riverside Park and went out to Fort McHenry. Carly Page decided to soldier on and race anyway, and won the race (3rd overall) in 34:53. Cory Donovan was just some steps behind, finishing 4th in 35:06.
Finally, the Bel Air Town Run was the weekend's big event. With money on the line you knew it was a fight for 2nd as Dave Berdan was once again going to devastate the field. He did, by the way, winning by 90 seconds in 14:38 - the 2nd fastest time he's ever run on the roads for 5k! Dave should probably slow down though when he's just running for money, as he definitely could have taken a nap with a 90 second gap. 3rd place went to Jesse Jaeger, and Tim Burns was first loser in 16:32. No wompum for you, kemosabe. Joel Gladfelter was disappointed with his race as he finished 10th in 17:36, but to think of where he's come in a few years, that kind of time would have been huge for him back then. Now it's a "bad day." He has set his own bar too high! Joel Brusewitz finished just behind him in 11th at 17:38. That's a trend lately, the two Joels finishing near each other. PJ Anderer was psyched with his 18:06, it validates his Shamrock race result. And Dave Ploskonka kept his very, very long streak at this race alive.
In the ladies race, it was Megan DiGregorio once again retaining her title in 18:12, but it was Sara Breedlove who stole the show, finishing 2nd in 18:25 - a huge new PR and moving herself pretty far up the Top 10 All-Time list! Interestingly, Carly had a big race there last year, and ran 18:26. Meg McNew is just getting back into it and was surprised she took 3rd, but definitely not complaining! And Denise Knickman was 4th, and top masters in 20:33.
Check out this article from the Baltimore Sun about the race, and here's your top 3 women:
And of course can't forget our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week - Christa! First triathlon and goes out and kills it. Add another to the tri club!
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