Tuesday, October 7, 2014

2014 RM Classic 5k


September 30 - The 6th Annual RM Classic 5k was held on the track on the last day of September. It was a great night for a race, and apparently a great night for a black-tie donor dinner on the grounds of the private school. The race start was delayed while I dealt with an *ahem* issue regarding our use of the facilities, but we were able to finally get started a little before 7pm. Despite a request to sing the National Anthem, I felt we were better not drawing any further attention to ourselves and just get the race going.

In a display of symbolic unity, we all wore bib #1 (thanks Pete for hooking up the bibs!). With 31 runners on the line it was by far our largest RM Classic event - or any manufactured race of any kind - in team history. With 10 women competing it was also the largest and most competitive women's field we've ever had. I felt there was a good shot we'd see meet records go down.

Up front, the trio of Dustin, Conrad and Graham rolled in unison, gobbling up the track with each stride. To keep the race honest, we put up a prime for first one to 1600m. From my vantage point on the opposite side of the track I saw Dusty speed ever-so-slightly to scoop it up. Smart racing. He and Conrad eventually separated themselves from Graham (who was racing a marathon a few days later!) and ultimately it was Conrad who successfully defended his 2013 title in 15:17, a little ahead of 3-time champ Dustin at a new track PR of 15:25. Graham came through at 15:36. Steve Febish ran a mostly solo race, finishing at 16:07, and then there was a group of guys between 16:27 and 16:41, including a great race by Dan Miranda.

Maybe the performance of the meet belonged to Jon Miller, who broke 18 minutes for the first time! (17:57)

The ladies' race was a little different than the men's, with newcomer Lisa Uible leading wire-to-wire and just narrowly missing the MR (18:08) as she crossed in 18:09. She's running Chicago Marathon this weekend so I can't imagine her marathon training lent itself to great 5k racing!

Megan DiGregorio, who was racing Wineglass Marathon on Sunday, was a distant 2nd at 18:43, and Emily Hurley even further back, finishing 3rd at 19:10. But from 19:27 we saw four more girls break 20 (Sara Gladfelter, Nicole Wilson, Suzanne Andrews and Meg McNew), and RM record holder Eileen Fleck (20:06), Sara Damiano (20:21) and Lillian Pinault (20:43) all had terrific races as well.

Thanks to Andy Sovonick (timing), Denise Knickman (splits), Bryn Burkholder (photography) and spectators that included Nate and Natalie Brigham and Becky!

Link to photos on Flickr

6th Annual RM Classic 5k
September 30, 2014

1. Conrad Laskowski 15:17.46
2. Dustin Meeker 15:25.06
3. Graham Peck 15:36.80
4. Steve Febish 16:07.53
5. Sean Caskey 16:26.39
6. Jason Farber 16:29.01
7. Dan Miranda 16:33.55
8. Ed Aramayo 16:41.47
9. Joel Gladfelter 17:18.40
10. Tom Stack 17:21.03
11. Jon Miller 17:57.67
1. Lisa Uible 18:09.82
13. Jeff Rumbaugh 18:17.00
14. Mike Mashner 18:25.86
15. Brennan Feldhausen 18:42.67
2. Megan DiGregorio 18:43.00
17. Terry Decker 19:07.37
3. Emily Hurley 19:10.04
19. PJ Anderer 19:15.37
20. Matt Franco 19:19.96
21. Ryan McGrath 19:26.03
22. Louis Foudos 19:26.92
4. Sara Gladfelter 19:27.79
5. Nicole Wilson 19:28.79
6. Suzanne Andrews 19:54.71
7. Meg McNew 19:56.27
8. Eileen Fleck 20:06.88
9. Lillian Pinault 20:21.07
10. Sara Damiano 20:43.24
30. Joshua Greenberg 21:48.56
31. Pete Mulligan 22:37.67

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