Friday, July 5, 2013

Proud to be an American

The 10k is a seemingly forgotten distance, but it's also the "classic" distance. With few opportunities to race it, many of us have relatively soft PRs for the 6.2 mile race. But on the 4th of July, freedom rings true and there are apparently a number of classic distance races.

Locally, it was another fine example of our amazing ladies crushing at the Arbutus 10k. Megan DiGregorio took an easy win in a fantastic time of 38:51, with Allison Letourneau at 40:22 for 2nd. Meg McNew rounded out the podium with a 41:25. Denise Knickman ran well, finishing 4th and 1st Masters in 42:50, and newcomer Julie Wolfe got her first Baltimore race in her, taking 6th in 44:13. Lisa Ievers, up in MD for a bit, was 8th in 44:31.

Down south, where every street is named Peachtree, Alyssa Godesky once again toed the line for the Peachtree 10k in Atlanta. With 55,700 finishers it is one of the biggest races on the planet, and it's also generally one of the hottest, most humid, and deceptively challenging ones too. She ran 2 minutes faster than she did in 2011, finishing in 42:13.

Out West, Nate and Emily Brigham are on vacation and got in a race - the Scripps Ranch Old Pros 10k. Nate finished 2nd in a season best (of the two 10k's he's done) 31:54. This is great news for Nate, who has struggled to find his legs since Boston. I sense the start of something good! Emily ran as well, finishing in 46:29.

Then there were some 5 milers. Dustin Meeker got the win at the Freedom Run 5 somewhere in the Ohio Valley. Maybe it's Ohio, maybe it's West Virginia, who knows. He ran 25:49, a great time for him. And up in Massachusetts, Sara Damiano ran the Minuteman Classic 5. It's awesome to see her climbing her way back to running, great job Sara! She finished the race in 41:18.

Then it was down to the 5k distance, and Conrad Laskowski is getting back into shape. On a tough course in Potomac he finished 4th at the Autism Speaks 5k in 15:54, behind a trio of foreign talent. Andy Sovonick re-ignited his racing campaign with an 8th place 16:57.

2 comments:

dcobb said...

Solid performances! Ryan, how do you keep up with everyone's activites? and how can I join in with team TWSS? -David Cobb

RM said...

Thanks David! I often ask myself the same thing. We have a couple of organized runs during the week and I also send out an email on Mondays with what's going on that week. If you shoot me an email at rmcgrath732@gmail.com I'll add you to it.

Mondays many of us run in Federal Hill with the Fed Hill Runners (6:30pm from Fed Hill Fitness). Then Tuesdays are a big night at the track, we meet at Gilman School in Roland Park at 6:30pm.