About a Week Ago

Well, way more than a week ago at this point, but catching up on December!

Most years, marathon season has been wrapped up by Thanksgiving. People begin to hibernate, or start to look ahead to the spring. Three brave souls pushed their fall marathon season to the first weekend of December, and it was like hitting Triple 7s at the slot machine - money came pouring out!

First up was Erik T. Orberg at the Memphis Marathon. Erik came into the race with a 2:35 personal best from earlier this year at the Vienna Marathon. Prior to that, his 2:39 at Philly last fall had also been a personal best. Erik's been rolling for a couple cycles straight, but this time he took a vastly different approach. His run mileage decreased in favor of riding his bike more, and as a result I think the quality of his run workouts improved. Not that he wasn't putting forth his best effort before, but he seemed to have a level of focus I hadn't seen before. ETO went Walking in Memphis and absolutely owned the day, grabbing the win in addition to another new personal best of 2:33:40. Afterwards he must have been 10 feet off of Beale, because who wouldn't be after winning a marathon?! Here's a great Twitter conversation he had with hilarious Twitter entity @BMoreRunning:

@BMoreRunning 1. - check. Working on 2-4. 4 might be tricky, may have to pull the winner card
— Erik Ør (@matrixat) December 6, 2014

On Sunday, December 7th, a date which will live in infamy, it was Dustin Meeker and Melissa Tanner's turn. They were taking on the fastest race in the west: California International Marathon. But just because it's a net downhill doesn't mean there aren't any hills to run up! The pair had both run big races in July at the Eugene Marathon; Dusty narrowly missed breaking 2:30 and Melissa dropped a 2:55. But at CIM, they were looking for more. Much more.

Dusty is one of the diligent workers we've ever seen. He has this amazing ability to go lap after lap at the same fast pace, and when it's time to work out, he is all in. His first marathon was just last fall at Philly, and when you start off with a great result, it can often be hard in your second and third tries to "just get faster." When you're fighting for seconds, so much is how you feel on that day. Dusty must have felt pretty good as he dropped a steady tempo, holding 5:34/mi for 20 miles. How would he respond in the final 10k? He was almost identical through 20 at CIM as he was at Eugene, but this time he demolished the final 6 miles and ran a 2:27:53 - good enough for a 2.5 minute PR and he became our 3rd runner under 2:30 for the year (first time that's happened!)

Melissa came into the race with a 2:51 lifetime best, but that was a few years ago, and has had mixed results over the past 2 years. Melissa is nothing if not patient, and her metronomic style allowed her to negative split her way to an insane new personal best of 2:47:24 - a 4 minute PR and the 2nd fastest in team history!

A 5k is on the opposite spectrum of a marathon, but it doesn't mean that performances are diminished. Lillian Pinault has been on fire all fall, and continued it with her 2nd win in a 5k at Charlie's Run 5k. Most notably, she ran 19:51, which is the first time since she's lived here (almost 7 years) that she's broken 20 minutes for the distance, and it's the first time she's done it on the road. That's awesome!

So it was a pretty incredible and amazing weekend thanks to these 4, but naturally it was a very difficult choice for the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week. In the end, I gave it to Melissa.

But, I awarded Dustin the AutoZone In the Zone Award and Erik earned the KC Masterpiece Award. Naturally, Lillian won the NOS Award. They were just too good to leave out!

Just One of the Guys

As it's been pointed out, the blog has been quiet recently. Not because people haven't been racing, but honestly because I haven't had time. SO GET OFF MY BACK.

Just kidding. But seriously, I just haven't had the time. And then you know how it goes when you miss one week, it's easier to just miss a bunch of weeks. What I'm going to do is a series of hopefully reasonably short posts with just the highlights, let them hang out up top for a day and then push them down.

This is going to be all about Rockville Twilight 8k. A longstanding tradition among our group in particular, it really is one of the best summertime races out there. With the exception of one year when a tri I was doing conflicted, I've been out there since 2005 - but have only run it 3 times. The race is generally associated with oppressive heat and humidity, and last year's event was canceled after a lightning storm wouldn't move out of the way.

Like the rest of this summer has been, race day came and the forecast was for temps in the low 80s, and by race time it was maybe the 2nd nicest day I've seen in the last decade (behind 2009). This meant fast times were on tap!

Up front, Conrad Laskowski looked determined to race hard from the gun. With a handful guys faster than him, he gritted out a 25:25 8th place finish. Graham Peck, who seemingly never runs this fast in training, blasted a near-PR 25:44 for lucky #13. Our third finisher was Nick Gehlsen, who ran a solid 26:33. Now that should have been our scoring three but apparently in the team results C-Rad was conveniently left off...get to that later.

Next 3 were Andy Sovonick, who ran an absolutely great race to run his fastest time on the course (26:59) followed closely by the Prime Minister of Swag himself, Sean Caskey, in 27:05. That's a great first crack at Rockville, and a fine Falls Road debut. There were a few other notable male performances: Erik T. Orberg, in off-season form, ran a solid 27:37; the wolfpack of Ed Aramayo, Terence Baptiste and Brennan Feldhausen all...finished; and to toot my own horn, I ran 30:11. Not that this is spectacular, but my times here have been: 30:24 (2005), 30:03 (2007), 30:03 (2008). So, at least I'm pretty consistent, and technically I ran faster at 32 and broken than I did at 23 and slightly less broken.

Once upon a time, I actually used to beat Chrissie Ramsey...

Now she wipes the floor with me. Fortunately, I'm not the only one. In 2009 Chrissie won Rockville in a PR of 27:15. It was easily one of the best performances I've ever seen, maybe for her only topped by a 1:14:57 half marathon and 2:44 NYC Marathon. Earlier this year she won the other Rockville-based race, Pike's Peek 10k, and despite moving out of Baltimore we'd hoped she would come race again to cement her status as Queen of Rockville Pike. Just a day before the race I finally found out that she was racing (don't get me started on this!) so I couldn't make sure she was added to the team roster, but she looked ready to go on the start line. She also started campaigning for the Brita Grothe B.A. Award, wearing the tiniest Brooks bottoms we've ever seen.

Chrissie ripped along the course, ultimately finishing 3rd but in a very good time - 27:25, just 10 seconds off her fastest 8k time. For team purposes, Kiera Harrison was our first finisher, 8th in 30:16, and then we had what I thought was the surprise performance of the day come from Kaylyn Peck. Kay ran 31:32 for 11th, which was about a minute faster than I realistically thought she might run. With teams scoring 5 (3M/2F), Kaylyn helped seal our team victory!

As always, it was a fun night down in Rockville, and many thanks to our hosts Montgomery County Road Runners. This race is one of my favorites and is one I always look forward to each summer. Post-race was much less congested this year, and a bunch of us went to Ted's Big City Diner afterwards for late night breakfast food. It ends up being a pretty late night by the time we get back to Baltimore, but it's worth it for a race that brings the team together!

Earning the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week was Chrissie, and Kaylyn won the KC Masterpiece Award this week.

Pumpin' Blood

The manic nature of the days lately is getting to be a little much! As I said in the email, Sunday's race day weather ranks among the worst days I've ever experienced, with temperatures in the low 40s (and dropping), torrential (cold) rain, and flash flooding on every road.

Perhaps the Biblical rain we experienced was all part of guerilla marketing efforts to promote the new movie "Noah" - but either way it made the performances all the more impressive.

Carly Page last ran the B&A Trail Half in 2012, when the day was much kinder to runners. This year she came into the race a little worn down, having cracked some ribs following a long coughing fit a few weeks back. Given the circumstances, nobody would have faulted her for not running. But she put on the SICKEST OUTFIT OF ALL TIME (no pics because it was raining) and a happy face, and just got after it. The race was all but decided from the gun; Katie Ogden, formerly of Towson, blitzed the start and amassed a large lead, which she nursed all 13.1 miles. After settling into a rhythm, Carly rolled some great splits out (with the wind) and back into the wind as the rain pelted. For her efforts she was rewarded with a 2nd place and a solid March 30th time of 1:27:58.

Sara Damiano had "the look" - like you knew she was ready to go. Nothing was going to get in her way. Unfazed by the conditions, she marched down the trail, ticking off a relentless tempo and getting to the line in a new personal best of 1:35:49. Sara D has had an amazing string of results over the past 6 months or so, and it's been fun to watch.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Ironman Los Cabos (MEX) was bright and sunny. And hot. Kona-like conditions are something that Alyssa Godesky has become quite accustomed to over the past few years, but this race was a little different. It was her first triathlon as a professional! No longer "just" racing for age group wins or Kona slots, Alyssa was going up against the big shots, competing for money (and awareness). Following the splits throughout the day, they were incredibly even, and her method of steady racing was able to propel her to a 13th place finish in the pro field in a time of 10:22 - 30 minutes faster than her race there last year! Her marathon split of 3:39 was only a minute off her best IM run.

Coming back locally, Graham Peck and Megan DiGregorio were dual winners at the Dundalk Challenge 5k, and Joel Brusewitz raced as well. On the rubber oval, Ed Aramayo started, and finished, his outdoor racing campaign in the 1500m at the Widener Invite.

Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week selection went to Carly!

And two KC Masterpiece Awards went to Emily Hurley, who ran her long run and significant portion of Carly's race with her; and Dan Miranda, who braved the elements to cheer on runners in a number of spots along the way, with a BOOT on.

Callin' Baton Rouge

As Brennan Feldhausen toed the start line for his 2nd marathon (or longer) distance race in the past three weeks, I couldn't help but think:

Man, it was so much warmer and nicer in Louisiana!

The Mid Maryland 50k was held this past Saturday at Howard County's Rockburn Branch Park. The race was made up of five 10k "loops" and I can say that race director Phil Lang used every inch of available space at this park to create this course. We arrived just after 7 in the morning and found Alyssa Godesky, who had come up from her new home in Charlottesville to test her legs with an early season race before IM Los Cabos next month.

It was cold, the grass was frozen, there was mud and ice in parts, the course was silly, and it was five loops - but that didn't put a damper on the fun! Brennan quickly found 2:22 marathoner Kyle Stanton and the pair ran side by side the entire run. And I mean the entire run. 3 hours, 44 minutes and some change later, the duo crossed the line simultaneously to tie for the win. Most impressively, their lap splits were 45 minutes almost on the nose for all five laps.

Alyssa's race was fairly similar, although she had no competitors near her. Melissa Majumdar joined her for the first lap, and then I ran some of the back half with her. The way she was attacking this race though, Ironman pros better watch out! Her laps were also extremely consistent, starting right around 50 minutes and finishing with a split just over 52 minutes by the end, for a 4:16:16. That's a 40 minute distance best from her Holiday Lake 2009 time, and an hour faster than her last 50k (Rosaryville, 2010).

Steve Wancowicz was also out there, finishing at 6h23m.

I'll tell you though, that was a tough little race. It would have been cool as a 10k cross country course, but to do it five times, it really beat you up! As I mentioned in the email, Alyssa earned this week's Purple Drink Athlete of the Week, and rightfully so as a few hours after the race she was in the pool!

I also awarded KC Masterpiece Awards to Melissa and Terence for pacing and Christa for coming to spectate then leading a few girls on a second Club Challenge preview.

Brennan earned the first AutoZone In the Zone award as he rolled his 3rd race of 2014, and after watching the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix I decided to award the NOS Button award to Eric Sowinski, who anchored Team USA All-Stars to a new World Record in the 4x800m.

From the previous week, which I didn't write up on here, the PDAW went to Nate Brigham for his excellent 15:20 2nd place performance at the Pacers' First Down 5k in DC. As I mentioned, that's the fastest Nate's run with us, and it's one of the fastest early season performances we've ever seen. Great job Nate! Shout to Dustin Meeker (3rd, 15:40, while sick) and Melissa Tanner (2nd, 18:04) on terrific performances as well.

And of course last Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday, but it was also Graham's inaugural Tavern Run. We were blessed with good weather for it, and had a great turnout. Over a dozen people met at Mt. Washington Tavern, drinking and running their way back downtown with some incredible stops along the way at various Taverns.

House of the Rising Sun

It's been almost two weeks since a few of us headed to the capital of Louisiana, Baton Rouge (aka the Big Raggedy, according to some people in New Orleans, aka the Big Easy). Highlights from the trip included fried food, way too many trips across Lake Pontchartrain on the I-10, a visit to LSU (and a basketball game!), beautiful weather and 2 of us even ran a marathon while we were there.

The Louisiana Marathon started at 7am on a Sunday, with temperatures just below 50 degrees. It was comfortably cool then, but the mercury quickly began to work its way up as the sun rose. Brennan Feldhausen had been planning on running the marathon all along; I, on the other hand, signed up the day before the race, and actually just had them switch Conrad's name to my name since he couldn't run. The goal was to run 3:15 pace until 18, at which point Brennan was going to pick it up. We enjoyed the first 10 miles of the race as it wound through campus and around their beautiful lake(s), and then the half marathoners headed home while we went to perform a squiggly out-and-back through some neighborhoods. We were running steady miles but as we hit mile 14 - which happens to be the farthest I'd run in 3 months. All along I knew the pace wouldn't bother me, but at some point, my weak little legs would kick out. That happened almost precisely at mile 19. Brennan gave me a fist pound and took off, and as soon as he did, I may as well just have stopped! I shuffled in the final 7 miles, running slower each one. I finally crossed the line at 3:24 something and Brennan had put nearly 20 minutes into me!

After the race it was warm and sunny, we ate some alligator gumbo and jambalaya and stuff, and headed back to New Orleans. It was a nice weekend, and many thanks to Conrad, Amy, and Andy for being a fantastic support crew, who, due to various hitches, were unable to run.

Also that weekend, Ed Aramayo ran a 4:25.34 in the mile at the Terrapin Invite. He finished 5th in a competitive field. A week later, Mary Cain would run slightly faster, but as it's been pointed out, hers was on a banked track.

Pete Mulligan ran a 50k somewhere, just a no-frills event. Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Brennan. And our KC Masterpiece Award went to Amy Flashenberg, who killed it in both navigating us in the car and finding restaurants, and making sure we didn't have to wait in line to get in!

This past week was also pretty quiet, following the return of the Polar Vortex. Inhospitable conditions are making everyone curse winter, with folks feeling the freeze, resorting to treadmills, or even - gasp - riding bikes inside or taking up swimming!

But a few people did race, including Kevin McGrath, who ran a very chilly Fred Lebow Half Marathon in Central Park on Sunday, or Collin Anderson who ran 17:02 for a 5k in Salt Lake City. At the BRRC GPS 8 Miler in Loch Raven, Johnny Lyons took 10th with Denise Knickman a place behind. Denise took the women's win, but probably only because Megan DiGregorio was 10 minutes late and had to catch up! Meg D still managed to finish 7th. Mr. Peck also ran, good to see him back in some results.

Ed continued his indoor season, and also likely wrapped it up, with a 3000m in Boston at the BU Terrier Invite. He was disappointed with how he raced, but still ran a PR of 8:48.58 and will take it.

Another snowbird race this weekend allowed Pete Mulligan to pace the 4:40 group at the inaugural Town of Celebration (Florida) Marathon. Nobody was feeling that bad for him when they saw the weather!

Our PDAW this week went to Denise, because hey, she won.

TWSS Christmas 2k13

No races to report. We awarded the last Purple Drink Athlete of the Week of 2013 to A-Aron Rodgers because, well, he deserved it. He also won the KC Masterpiece Award for coming through in the clutch.

Here is a link to the #TWSSChristmas photo album! I think you need to have a Google Plus profile in order to +1 the photos (which is how I'll count votes) but if you don't have one just comment on this blog post with your favorites.

TWSS Christmas

Highway Don't Care

It was a good thing most of the racing this weekend was either:

A) On Saturday or
B) In California

Because that snow on Sunday, man, who saw THAT coming?? Well, actually, everyone saw it coming, but for once the weather report held true (and if anything was underestimated). As a result of the weather we were forced to postpone Awards Night 2k13 [sad trombone] to this Sunday at 4pm at the running store. I apologize for those who were previously able to make it but now will not be able to.

In any event, shout to the folks in action over the weekend. On Saturday we sent 4 people up to Chambersburg PA for the 2nd Annual Christmas Cash Dash 10k. With $8000 on the line across a variety of categories, it was surely not going to be a cakewalk.

I'm going to tell a quick (true) story about racing for money. Many years ago there was a "race" in Harbor East (before it was even called that). James Joyce and the Baltimore Gaelic Athletic Association were hosting it. The entry per team was $100 but there was a $1000 first - and only - prize. The race was a short obstacle/relay race where you carried a tray of mugs containing water around a course, and handed off to a teammate. For every ounce of water you spilled you were docked 10 or 20 seconds. The course wasn't long enough to just knock all your mugs down and sprint around, because of the time penalty that you'd incur you would still have lost if the other team walked. We thought it was going to be a cinch, and started counting our money before we even had it. Well you know the rest. We lost. And while we weren't really out anything, other than $100 (which Jim Adams kindly put up for us) and an entire day (seriously it took all day), it was a pretty huge bummer and made me realize that no money is easy money when it comes to competing.

Graham Peck found out about this race and based on last year's winning times it looked like something we could do well in. There was money for top 3 teams (2M/2F) and then individual money, but no double dipping. With that much money, others sniffed it out and showed up ready to compete. Conrad Laskowski ran a valiant race, finishing 4th in 31:35, and Graham took 5th in 32:29. With scoring on aggregate time, they were holding a lead on the other teams after 2 guys through. Megan DiGregorio ran a swift 38:21 for 6th, and Kaylyn Peck, subbed in at the last minute, ran 42:51 for 13th. Despite these terrific performances on a cold day on a hilly course, that was good enough for just the 3rd place team! At least they went home with some dollars. And the pressure the winning teams' girls put on the race, well let's just say it would have been tough to beat them regardless of who we sent.

PJ Anderer looked to be the only one racing locally before the snow hit on Sunday. He was 14th in 1:01:25 at the Annapolis Striders' Anniversary Run 15k.

Becky Parks won the Sandbagger 10k or whatever it was called at Golden Gate Park in SF. A solid result though, 39:19 or something like that, coming off of a tiresome XC season.

And the big performance of the weekend - and our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week - was Alex Battaglino. AgBat was 13th at the California International Marathon, running a near 5 minute PR of 2:24:38. Great splits (1:11 at the half) on a cold (27 at the start) day. Awesome work Alex, especially since this year has been a pretty low key year for him as he's tried to return from injury and the move to California in the summer.

KC Masterpiece Award went to Cory Donovan for his helpful actions this weekend!

T.K.O.

16. A number we associate with "candles" and "bars," but also with one word that could sum up the weekend of racing in Philadelphia:

SWEET

In March Madness, the Sweet 16 is the barometer, the measuring stick for success. To be among the final 16 teams playing at the end of the season means you've done something right: performed when it mattered, and executed a solid game plan.

In birthdays, the Sweet 16 is a coming-of-age recognition, a graduation to adulthood. No training goes into turning 16 per se, but the resulting celebration rewards the trials of growing up.

The reason for all the symbolism is that in Sunday's Philadelphia Marathon, we had 16 runners from our group out there competing. 16 people who have committed every day of the past few months to this one day. Outside of Boston, there's never been a weekend with so many people in marathon action. With that lengthy intro out of the way, I bring you Philthy Rich Race Weekend Recap Part 2.

As training partners, and Dragons, Dustin Meeker and Nate Brigham are seemingly inseparable in training and racing. They're also great leaders among the group, and have done an amazing job in setting up the fall for many of the folks racing this weekend. This marathon wasn't Nate's first rodeo, but for Dustin, as long as he crossed the finish he'd establish a best time. His previous marathon ended in a DNF, and after a tough fall last year he ended up not racing a marathon. Fueled by confidence in his fitness, Dusty went out fast on Sunday, leading the Falls Road train through the streets of Philadelphia. Admittedly his last 4 miles were pretty rough, but he crossed the line in 2:33:27, good enough for 18th place overall. Nate ran a little more conservatively. He discovered early on that his legs weren't responding the way he wanted, and as a veteran marathoner and patient runner, he maintained an effort that would leave him with enough in the tank to power through the end. It worked out, and while it wasn't his best time, it was a little faster than he ran at Boston back in April. 2:34:34 for 27th was Nate's result.

Phil Turner has run a few marathons before also, running mid 2:40s, before breaking out with a 2:40 earlier this year. Phil's 1:13 win at the NCR Half suggested that he was capable of running well under 2:40, and on Sunday he went out and executed. His slowest mile was a 6:06 mile 8 (which is not an easy mile). Everything else he kept in a 7 second range between 5:55 and 6:02 or so. Impressive. He ended up at 34th at 2:36:35 - averaging under 6 minute pace for the race. He's already plotting for Boston in the spring. Steve Febish has spent most of the fall running with Dusty and Nate, and on Sunday committed to going big. Steve's previous marathon was Eugene last spring, where he ran a little over 2:50. After winning the Baltimore Half a few weeks ago, he believed he could run a low 2:30. He went out on the pace, and paid for it a little in the back half - but finished up in 2:37:06 for 39th. Our 5th guy under 2:40 was Erik Orberg. Erik has the least running "pedigree," having only picked up running in the past couple of years, but has exceptional talent and drive, and above all an extraordinary work ethic. His 2:49 at Boston earlier this year motivated him to set his sights much higher, and the training he's put in this fall has been unbelievable. On Sunday, he executed one of the best plans I've ever seen, even-splitting his way to a 2:39:25 for 53rd.

David Cobb took a big chunk out of his previous marathon best - 6.5 minutes, to be exact - as he ran 2:51:16. He's had a great fall since he met up with us in early September, and is looking forward to 2014. Curt Forst, who I missed out on course, ran 2:52:20, which I'm pretty sure is a best time for him. I haven't seen Britt Kern in at least a few months, but I spotted him as he crossed the line. He looked pretty cooked, but he managed another sub 3 hour finish (2:58:59). On chip time he finished ahead of Megan DiGregorio, but technically finished just behind her, as she crossed in 2:59:09. Meg was far from pleased with the result, but it's important to have a little perspective. If blowing up and having a bad day results in a sub 3 hour finish (3 for 4 now since May 2012, with the one outside of 3 hours being just over 3), it's really not that bad of a day.

Nicole Wilson improved her Baltimore time by a couple of minutes, running 3:12:11, and Jeremy Gworek, who has had a tough fall, came through at 3:17:23. In his first ever marathon, Jon Miller found out that going out fast has its consequences as he crossed in 3:22:29. Aaron Thomas ran 3:41:42, and I mistakenly called this Lillian Pinault's first marathon but she corrected me that it's actually her second (but first in 5 years). She had a rough go out there, but got through it in 3:49:49. Sneaky Pete Mulligan ran, I didn't know that he was planning on it, and actually did it for him rather than his usual pacing gig. He finished at 3:54:57. And I'm guessing Jan Cook, who ran 5:23:03, had more than a few Guinnesses out there.

16 people. 9 under 3 hours. 5 under 2:40. 1 marathon. Wow. In all my years of watching races, I don't know if I've ever seen a more comprehensive performance from one team. And honestly, what's most impressive isn't that you finished, or ran well, but that you had the courage to try in the first place. A lot of runners don't even get that far.

In addition to the marathon, there was also the half on Sunday. Conrad Laskowski, aka Conrad the Barbarian aka Conrad the Destroyer, went out and did what Conrad does: run fast. A 4:50 first mile was a little ambitious, and most people would pay the piper soon after. But Conrad's not just anybody, and if anyone can endure a fast first mile and have the strength to keep going, it's him. He ran a lot of the race by himself, but in the end managed to hold off another runner in an epic battle for the line. They were awarded the same time (1:07:58) but Conrad took 12th to the other guy's 13th. The time was an 80 second PR, and 6 minutes faster than he ran at PDR in September. It's puts him at #2 now on our Top Ten list!

It seems like just last week that Nick Klastava ran his marathon, but it was over 8 weeks ago! Plenty of time to recover and build back up for a second fall race. A smart choice was a half rather than another marathon. On Sunday he wasn't able to get the result he'd expected, but a 1:22:06 is far from a bad time. Plus, he had great perspective about the year as a whole, which has been incredible. He's taken his fitness to a level he's never seen before, and had fun while doing it.

Some of our superstar ladies, Alley Firey and Grace Rochfort, both ran great races just a few weeks after running their first marathon at Baltimore. Alley went 1:49:14 and Grace narrowly missed breaking 2 hours, finishing at 2:00:11.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the terrific races at the "Who Knew Philly Had an 8k, Because Certainly None of Us Did" 8k on Saturday. Tim Burns and Andy Sovonick duked it out on the course, with both fellows running personal bests en route to 36th and 37th places, respectively. Tim ran 26:37 to Andy's 26:41.

As I mentioned in the email, it's not often that I award dual Purple Drink Athlete of the Week awards, but this week was too epic not to. 21 people ran a marathon, another 10 ran halves, and there were so many unreal races that I had to do it. So congrats to Carly and Erik, you guys definitely earned it!

We gave a KC Masterpiece Award to Christa for her efforts this weekend. A big half marathon PR followed by actively spectating the Richmond Marathon, then driving straight to Philly and watching everyone run on Sunday. Wow.

Conrad earned our NOS Button Award, and Sara D took home the AutoZone In the Zone award.

AND of course I can NOT forget the tremendous effort by the support crew: Molly and Dan at Richmond on Saturday, and then Cory, Christa, Meg M, Melissa T, PJ, Dave P, Joel, Sara B, Andy, Amy, and probably a few others I'm forgetting at Philly on Sunday. YOU guys are the difference makers! When the race gets tough, it's seeing those familiar faces, getting shouts of encouragement, or a reminder to stay relaxed, that can help getting to the end!

Summertime Sadness

ICYMI, it's getting chilly. That's not to say we can't get some kind of Indian Summer effect in the weeks to come, but the trend is certainly going to be a decrease in the mercury. Which is GREAT for running fast and doing other things fast!

This past weekend a few of us went up to Philadelphia to run the race formerly known as Philly Distance Run. Once upon a time this was the greatest half marathon on the planet. Even when it began to transition from PDR into "Rock n Roll Philadelphia Half" it was still a great race. The bands were a little more annoying, it cost a lot more, and the increased participant level didn't up the competitiveness and just made it more crowded - but it's a fast course, the weather's good, and it's a fun weekend to spend in Philly. I've been at this race every year since 2006, and sadly, after Competitor Group International's decision to cater to fun and participation rather than keep the first word in their business name applicable, 2013 may have been my last time.

For now, let's focus on the great performances. Like Conrad Laskowski, who led our finishers with a 1:14:12. That was good enough for 84th place - which means the race was still very competitive. In fact, the winner, Stanley Biwott, ran 59:36 so obviously this is still the place to be. Chrissie Ramsey is whipping herself into shape, as she ran 1:16:35 for 13th. How's this for a stat? Chrissie has run in the 1:16:xx on 3 occasions - 2009, 2011, and now 2013. Looks like odd years, every two years, are good for her! Melissa Majumdar was next through in a new PR (by nearly 80 seconds!) of 1:20:58. This also puts her now 2nd on the all-time list. Melissa has had an amazing 2013 racing campaign and as this is her last individual race of the year, a great way to cap off a year that saw PRs at 5k, 10mi, Half Marathon, 4 wins and her first duathlon!

After Melissa came all the underachievers. Psyche, every put out their best effort, some of us are just slower right now. Brennan Feldhausen was next through at 1:22:11. He was at 6:15/mi through 5, then picked it up and started dropping a few low/sub 6's before deciding he'd had enough with 3 miles to go. Arjun Majumdar, who was quite sick all week and probably shouldn't have started the race ran with Melissa through 6 before sitting up. Andy Sovonick and I ran 1:26:26. It might have been a little faster but I didn't have it in me. PJ Anderer came through in 1:29:31.

For PJ, the race was just an afterthought as he ran a 5:04 mile at the not-so-downhill Frederick Market Street Mile the day before. Jon Miller also ran, finishing in 5:13.

And Chicken Tender had run the day before, too - except he ran another 1:27:36 half marathon down at the Air Force Half in DC. CTR is the consummate teammate. This time he was helping guide a visually impaired runner. A far cry from his Sunday run where he was "guiding a grumpy old man" (he was referring to me).

Erik Orberg took 3rd at the White Marsh Crossroads 4 Miler on Saturday, and Claire Bear Lears celebrated her birthday with a finish at the Flagstaff 50k!

At the inaugural Hokie Half Marathon in Blacksburg, Graham Peck was 3rd overall/1st "white guy" in 1:10:55, a strong showing, and Joel Brusewitz was 2nd at the Fort McHenry Tunnel Run 5k in 18:20.

In the world of triathlon, Tom Stack took 2nd at the Dewey Beach Tri, and he said he was pleased with where he's gotten his bike to, just needs to get better at swimming (although he's definitely not being hindered by it). Spider Sillery raced in both the Sprint and Olympic distance World Championships over in London.

And Terry Decker did something really cool (besides shave his head) - he did the Savageman 70.0 out in Deep Creek. This is one of the most challenging races out there and a must-do for triathletes. The main feature is the Westernport Wall, a super steep (31%) climb up huge cobblestones. I've never been out there, but every report I've seen is that this is obviously no joke. If you do it, you get a brick. Terry's main goal - get a brick - was achieved. He said it was the hardest thing he's ever done. He finished in 6:56:42 which featured a 1.2 mile swim, just shy of 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run. Way to go TD!

Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Melissa Majumdar, and a KC Masterpiece Award went to Andy Sovonick.

Shouts to Amy Flashenberg (happy birthday!) and Bob and Diane Laskowski for cheering in Philadelphia on Sunday, as well as Monica Majumdar for watching Tarala while Melissa and Arjun ran.

Sail Away with Me

It was a beautiful weekend to race and we had some familiar names racing in some familiar places. With just a week to go before Labor Day - and the unofficial close to Summer - I expect we'll start seeing a lot more results popping up.

First, a shout to some of the ladies that ran the Hood to Coast Relay out in Oregon. It makes it hard to parse results when I don't know the names of the teams, but I heard Melissa Tanner's Harvard team pulled off a 2nd place in the Women's Open division. That's quite a feat! Bryn Burkholder was out there racing and I feel bad because I saw her at the food store last night and was pretty out of it, it totally slipped my mind. Sorry Bryn!

Then there was the Annapolis Ten Miler. As I mentioned in the email, the race is still big, but it seems to have slipped a little in its reputation as the area's premier summer event. It's the summertime equivalent of Club Challenge: a tough course in often brutal conditions, and nobody ever wants to run it because of when it is. But it's also known for having great premiums, and a beautiful course through our state capital. We've seen Chrissie finish 2nd as Emily Lipman (I mistakenly said she was 3rd in the email), which was Emily Lipman's first and only race in the area; we saw Ben Ingram struggle to crack 60 minutes the morning after his wedding; we've seen the race canceled (2011) for a hurricane that never came. This year's conditions were absolutely perfect, the race may never be treated to the same day again! Carlos Renjifo won the day in what is sure to be his last race before becoming a dad, in a remarkable time of 53:53. There were something like 20 runners under an hour, which is about twice what it's been over the past bunch of years. Dave Berardi ran 1:01:50 in his first time there since the mid 80s!

I noticed that Max Hacker ran his first marathon down in North Carolina, the Last Chance for Beantown Marathon. The last time I saw Max was on the Club Challenge course workout we did way back in the winter. He made it out for a week's worth of early morning runs with us and then poof, got hurt. He moved to Annapolis (although I believe he's back in Fed Hill) and I assumed he probably wasn't running. Well, whether he's running or not, he ran an unbelievable debut, finishing 3rd in 2:52:11. SANDBAGGER!

Now for this week's Tri Corner:

At the North East Triathlon here in MD, Chris Scott took 3rd in his age group (28th overall) in 2:29:31. Chris has been crushing this year!

REV3 Old Orchard Beach in Maine, now in its second year, has fast become one of Alyssa Godesky's favorite races, and it's not hard to see why - besides being held in an idyllic setting, she races FAST there! In 2012 Alyssa finished 3rd there after a half iron two weeks earlier, and set her distance best. Just a month after an Ironman though, how would her legs respond? Apparently just fine, as she once again lowered her time over the distance, finishing 3rd in 4:46:19. A fast bike split set her up to run her fastest half marathon off the bike (1:34:09) and put her on the podium once more. Then it was time for the lobster bake, another perk of the REV3 race.

And the venue may have changed, but Ironman Canada is still David Lee's jam. Last year there was a changing of the guard and Ironman Canada, held in Penticton, BC, became Challenge Penticton. As a result, Ironman was left without a place to stage the oldest North American Ironman not named Kona. They quickly found a replacement and thus became Ironman Whistler. A beautiful and challenging course plus good weather led David to a great swim (1:04:50 - perhaps his fastest ever?) and a 5:30 bike split. Awesome start to the day, and while our spotter Angela was unable to make it around the course (apparently not spectator friendly) she gave updates when she could. David crossed the line in 10:48:22, which was just 2 minutes outside of his best, set at last year's Canada. David loves Ironman for the challenge, he's really committed it to being a lifestyle. This year has been a struggle for him as work obligations have had him traveling literally all around the world. As a result, hardly any training - certainly not the amount required to succeed at this endurance event. That makes this result even more impressive. Way to go David Bruce Lee!

It was quite obvious that David was going to win the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week after a performance like that!

Oh, and I almost forgot. Collin Anderson ran a short 15k at altitude that was really hard with lots of elevation gain and had a 15 minute mile all out at one point but then on a downhill mile went 5:11 but that's where this guy who is a 4:01 miler gapped him and then he lost by a minute but was still 7 minutes faster than the old course record. The end.

Special KC Masterpiece Award goes to Ed for picking me up on my bike when I was stranded 20 miles away from home on Saturday!

Drippin' With Swag

It was a fantastic weekend of racing with some amazing performances from around the world on Sunday.

In beautiful Los Cabos, Mexico, Alyssa Godesky once again punched her ticket to the Ironman World Championship in Kona this October. After a couple of 2nd place age group performances the past couple of seasons, she finally got an age group win - and it was big. Her time of 10:53:30 was nearly an hour ahead of her nearest competitor. Splits: 1:07:46 swim, 5:43 bike, and a 3:55:05 marathon in the heat (90 degrees). And she was nipping at the heels of some of the female pros!

Closer to home, PJ Anderer ran the Caesar Rodney Half Marathon in Wilmington. Last week he demolished the Shamrock 5k (after dropping his keys in the first mile and going back to retrieve them, no less), so he was feeling confident heading into this one that he could break 1:30. And break it he did - 1:27:31! PJ is having an excellent 2013 so far. Keep it up!

Down in Sarasota, the Spring Training home of the Orioles, Lillian Pinault ran 1:38:12 at the Sarasota Half. There's no money and it's not very competitive, but Lillian said it's a beautiful course and gave the race high marks.

We had Dr. Rodney Taylor up at the NYC Half Marathon, running 1:29:55, and in Connecticut, Allison Letourneau ran - and won - the Max's O'Hartford 5k in 18:21.

At Virginia Beach's Shamrock Marathon, Dave Berdan finished 4th in 2:23:21. Not surprising, wind was a factor, and he commended the winner's remarkable 2:17 effort. Dave said that one minute he was running his pace just fine, and the next he turned into the wind and poof, 20 seconds slower. A tough day, but another great race under his belt.

So many awesome results, but our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Joel Gladfelter for his 3 minute PR in the half on Saturday. 

We did have an AutoZone In the Zone award this week, which went to Nate Brigham. Nate has been battling some hampering issues for the past month which have limited his hard training, and to an extent his swag. But his race Saturday validated his fitness, and with just a month to go til the big day, should have him feeling good.

And we also had a KC Masterpiece Award for coming through in the clutch - and that went to Justin Gerbereux for his amazing efforts on Saturday.

I Wanna Rock With You

Everybody's favorite summertime race, Rockville Twilight 8k, was held on Saturday night, and while it was about 20 degrees cooler than we've become accustomed to, the humidity was at Defcon 1. As always, Montgomery County Road Runners Club put on an exceptional event, with a tremendous field of competitors showing up to race 4.97 miles around the neighborhood. This year we rolled more than deep, with a crew of spectators that seemed as big as the number of racers we had!

So first, support shout outs: Pete, Denise, Amy's friend Tina, Christa, Conrad, Kevin.

It became clear that the field was not going to challenge the course record (23:39), but the race was exciting nonetheless as the top two came barreling down the street towards the finish. Eyob Alemu and Christopher Mills looked to be stride for stride, neither giving up an inch - but separated by about 15 feet, as one was to the left and the other to the right. They hit the tape at what looked to be the same exact time, and for a minute I thought we were going to have to entertain a run-off, but they awarded Alemu the win by 0.01 seconds!

The women's race went out very fast, and was actually on pace to challenge the record of 26:40 (set by Denise's Terp teammate Rosalind Taylor Sheppard). It was close, but no cigar, for the women's winner, Aziza Aliyu of New York, who ran 26:53.

But forget about them, what about us? Alex Battaglino ran a great race as our top finisher (15th, 25:48). He had just returned from a vacation across the pond and was unsure of his fitness, but was pleased with how it turned out. Dustin Meeker has been running strong this summer, and it showed as he ran 26:19 for 26th. Ed Aramayo was a little rusty, but he hasn't been running much and hasn't done a workout in months now. So his 26:54 wasn't too bad. Dan Miranda had an awesome race, and seemed surprised at the finish. He ran 26:56, which would probably put him on equal time to Celtic Solstice (5 miles). Tim Burns and Brennan Feldhausen flip-flopped throughout the race, with Tim using his kick to finish just ahead of Brennan, 27:55 to 28:00. Andy Sovonick was another who had just returned from vacation, and ran a proper 28:20, and Terence Baptiste finished up at 28:55. Terry Decker had a HUGE race as he broke 30 minutes for the first time (29:43). Tom Stack was 30:02, and Joel Gladfelter surprised himself a little bit, running 30:46. PJ Anderer looked good at 33:50, and Tom Stott ran with Patty as they ran 40:26.

On the ladies side, Chrissie Ramsey was a little off, having a tough 4th mile, but pulled it back and ran 29:20 for 11th. Meg DiGregorio was 13th, and ran the same thing she ran last year (30:23) but was pleased as she's been dealing with some problems since the marathon. Amy Horst ran well - and looked happy about it - running 31:53. Melissa Tanner was not far behind in 32:07. Sara Damiano was super pumped to be out there and ran 37:18. Molly Eagen ran 40:44 and Amy Flash Flashenberg finished up at 42:52.

It was a really great effort from everyone, and probably the biggest group we've ever had down there!

Elsewhere in the US, Claire Lears ran her first 100 mile trail run, the Angeles Crest 100, and finished 13th in 32:45:35. Claire's addiction continues to escalate, what an awesome accomplishment for her!

And in Chicago, Jen Koshy and Colin Brooks ran the Rock n Roll Half, finishing 1:49:24 and 2:00:41, respectively.

But like I said early in the week, it was going to be tough to usurp Dave Ploskonka as the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week following his monster performance at Badwater!

And of course a special KC Masterpiece Award goes to Mike Mashner, who crewed for Grace on her first 100 miler up in Vermont. Props to both!

And It's Not Even My Birthday

Well with no TRACK to watch tonight, I figured it was as good a time as any to get the weekend recap going.

Dreaded Druid Hills 10k was on Saturday morning, and you can click on a link to results on the right side. Jim and crew put on another great event, and special thanks to all the volunteers: Sara B, Fast Dan, Mike Zero, Dave P, my bro Kevin, Denise, Conrad, Amy, Cheese, Dan Goodman, Meg D, Pete, Karen, etc. This is a super tough race and the first thing I learned when I moved here in 2005 is that we don't run this one. Jim always used to think it was funny to have the faster folks out at the turnaround on top of the hardest hill handing out water. The conditions were pretty decent, but the times were not. Jack Flowers took 4th in 39:01. Jon Miller was 21st in 43:58, and Carla Williams finished 2nd among the women in 44:08. Madeline Tink Dulac was 5th in 46:21, and Sara Damiano was 12th in 49:04.

A result I missed in the email was the Spirit of Gettysburg 5k. Dave Berdan was 3rd in 15:18 and Tristram Thomas was 8th in 16:11. TT is certainly racking up the races before he heads out to Italy next week!

Sunday was the Baltimore Women's Classic 5k, and shout to our girls who all finished way up in the results, so I didn't have to look very far! Darcy McDonald finished 3rd to two foreigners, running 17:32. Megan DiGregorio, Liz Laseter, and Meg McNew went 5-6-7 in 18:35, 18:37, 18:42. For McNew it was her first run in the week since the marathon. Becky Parks was disappointed with her 19:33 result, but won't let it get her down, and Amy Horst is making some progress, as she went 19:45. Denise Knickman crossed in 19:56, and Lillian Pinault had a great race, running 20:11 - SO close to getting under 20! Marci Benda was just behind her in 20:14. Karen Menge had another consistent result, running 23:28.

Out in Columbia, another result I missed was the Celebrating Heroes Triathlon. Anthony van Lierop finished 2nd, Tom Stack was 5th, and Chris Scott was 41st. But the day's big story was the return to racing by Allison Gerbereux, who was 15th female and 2nd in her age group! She hasn't raced in years so it's cool to see her back. 3 small children will usually deplete your time and available energy.

Up in Philadelphia-town, a few of us were racing the PHLY Tri, part of the Toyota/Lifetime Fitness Series. Marc Malott overcame a slow swim with a monster bike, catapulting himself into a very high place in the amateur division, and finishing 31st overall. Mike Mashner had a very even race, and was just behind in 36th. Andy Sovonick fell ill just prior to the weekend, courtesy of Tom Stott, but managed to hold his own, finishing 46th I believe. Pro and former GRCer Lindsey Jerdonek finished 9th, but was then disqualified on account of a pack of women inadvertently cutting one of the buoys in the swim. A lot of weird rules things happened in triathlon this weekend, hopefully I'll have some time to address them this week.

The day's big performer - and earner of our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week - was Alyssa Godesky. Alyssa qualified for Ironman World Championships in Kona at her last Ironman in Arizona, so Ironman Coeur d'Alene was just to get one under her legs before her trip to the Big Island. With water temps in the 55 degree range and rain/chop to contend with, she recorded an IM swim PR at 1:04, and then overcame a 4 minute penalty on the bike to go from 8th out of the water (AG) to 2nd off the bike. For a little bit we thought she'd catch the leader on the run, but she just ran out of real estate. She still had the fastest run of the day in her AG (3:45) and went 10:50:44 on a tough course. She was 22nd F overall and had she needed it, would have earned a spot to Hawaii. Instead, the 3rd place girl was made very happy at rolldown. David Lee also competed, and had a very even race, only showing signs of fatigue in the last 7 miles (understandable!). He went 11:37:46.

Some tremendous displays of ballerness and sportsmanship landed pro athletes in our other award spots. Notably, Galen Rupp earned the KC Masterpiece Award for helping keep the tempo high to get his friend and training partner, Dathan Ritzenhein, to the Olympics in the 10,000m. Ashton Eaton - what else can you say about his performance - earned Baller of the Year. The NOS Award goes to Duane Solomon, as he finished 3rd in the 800m to punch his ticket to London - but ONLY because he also ran under the A standard, which he hadn't yet achieved.

We're Not in Kansas Anymore

We're heating up...

In spite of unfavorably warm temperatures over the weekend, we had some terrific performances:

On Friday evening, Darcy McDonald was runner-up to GRC's Anna Holt-Gosselin at the PR Twilight 4 Miler, running 22:47. Up in PA, Drew Thivierge went head to head against Abiyot Endale, but it wasn't very close as Abiyot went onto win in an absurdly quick 19:09. Drew was 14th in 23:42. Side note: Endale THEN went onto win the Damien's Run 5k in a course record 14:23 or something on Sunday. If he were on our team, I'd probably have given him the PDAW...

Dave Ploskonka, just a week off his Old Dominion 2nd place, for some reason went out to the Maryville Marathon in Kansas or somewhere, and finished 9th in 3:32:32. Interestingly, elsewhere in Kansas or Missouri, Sara Breedlove ran the inaugural Pioneer 5k. Terence Baptiste posted up at Lawyers Have Heart 10k in DC, running 36:32 for 33rd place.

Sunday was a big day, one of my least favorites of June. At the 4.4 Mile Chesapeake Bay Swim, Brian Benda finished 4th in 1:32:18, which is obviously awesome. I wonder how long it would take Joel to swim 4.4 miles? Couple of days? Benda said the water was nice, no chop, but large swells. Going back inland, it was our men stealing the spotlight for once, going 1-2-3 at Survivor 7. Luke Belford and Elijah Kosgei ran side by side until 2k to go, when Luke was able to drop "the 40 Year Old" Elijah, winning in 39:09 to Elijah's 39:28. Jack Flowers was with them up to that point as well, when he must have gotten severely torched, as he finished in 40:54. Tom Stott ran a 7 mile PR at 42:58, and Bryn Burkholder finished 6th in 49:30.

The theme of the weekend was seriously Kansas, as Ben Ingram competed in his first official half ironman, the Kansas 70.3. A non-wetsuit swim, gusty winds, and high temperatures made for tough conditions, but Ben had a great race, finishing 43rd in 4:40:51, on the heels of a 1:19:28 run - one of the fastest of the day, including pros.

But out on the Eastern Shore it was the sufferfest known as Eagleman. Andy Sovonick, in his first long-distance race, had an awesome swim, a great ride, and then found out that running off the bike in 90+ temperatures can make you run slower. Andy finished 73rd in 4:31:37. OJ Keller had the 2nd fastest non-pro swim of the day, and rode just a minute off his fastest bike split there. He held on valiantly through 9 miles of the run before fading a little, and finished in 75th at 4:32:09. Marc Malott, another EM virgin, had a solid race all around, and finished safely in 4:35:32 for 92nd. Ashley Campbell made it through and lives to fight another day. She went 5:46:23.

The relay team of Alyssa Godesky and Carly Page (O Say Can You See Those Fast and Pretty Girls) won the female relay and was 2nd overall, nearly beating a team with 3 athletes, including two dudes. Alyssa swam and rode, and then poor Carly had to run a half marathon in the middle of the day after sitting in the heat all morning. She did it though, and now appreciates triathlon I think.

Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Andy Sovonick for his excellent first Eagleman, and our KC Masterpiece Award for coming through in the clutch went to Ed Aramayo. Ed was a great help on Sunday to not only us, but race winner and 3x Ironman Champ, Craig Alexander. Ed gave him time checks back to his competitors, which is pretty cool. The NOS Award went to Ben Ingram for his speedy run off the bike.

Work Hard, Play Hard

Preakness wasn't the only show this weekend, as a number of our stallions were out competing all over the country. And yes, I do realize that stallions do not race in the Preakness Stakes. Big shout to my boy, Wiz Khalifa, who performed at Preakness. Remember, he tells us that "the bigger the bill, the harder you ball."

First, a race result I missed from the weekend, Pete Mulligan is officially a Dirty German, as he ran the Dirty German 50 Miler at Pennypack Park in Pennsylvania. He finished in 9:58:55 - a 37 minute distance best - and finished 25th. Interestingly, this is the same race organization that put on the race where Brennan won the cuckoo clock last fall.

Half Marathons

4 people ran half marathons, and half of them won. Meg McNew was the overall winner at the MAC Half Marathon in a pedestrian 1:26:59, defeating a 15 year old boy. At the St. Michael's boring as $%^#  Half Marathon, PJ Anderer finished 26th in 1:37:23. In Papillion, Nebraska, Ben Ingram won the Papillion Half in 1:19:03. And up in Green Bay, Brennan Feldhausen finished 19th in 1:19:45. The big story out of Green Bay was that due to "excessive" heat (upper 80s) the race directors closed/stopped the race at 2 hours and 35 minutes. Just stopped it dead. More on this story later.

Other Races

Mike Mashner won the inaugural Upper Dublin Sprint Triathlon, using a lethal combination of SBR to roll to a win in 57 minutes. Elsewhere in PA, Lillian Pinault was 3rd F at the Ironton Rail Trail 10k in 43:53. Drew Thivierge won the DE-Feet Breast Cancer 5k in Rehoboth in 18:02, on trails. Lee DiPietro won the Red Hot Run 5k in 20:38. Lots of winning! Sara Damiano recorded a 3:50:01 in unseasonably warm Maine at the Sugarloaf Marathon. Tom, Patty, and Haleigh Stott ran the Making Tracks for Celiac 5k at UMBC. In Haleigh's first race, she set a personal best of 26:45, which included a 3+ minute milk-break on the course.

COLUMBIA TRIATHLON

The weekend's marquee event was the Columbia Triathlon. A stellar field of pros was assembled, including former DC resident/GRCer, pro Lindsey Jerdonek, the 2011 winner. It was the "nicest" day I've ever seen at Columbia - not a hint of rain, warm temps, warm water - very un-Columbia. But maybe we perform better in the worse conditions, because nobody performed particularly well. It was a lot of mediocre. GRCers Matias Palavecino and Andy Sovonick fared the best, with Andy recorded a fast swim and a bike PR en route to a 2:09:51 23rd place finish. Brian Benda (2:10:27), Marc Malott (2:10:58), Anthony van Lierop (2:11:07) were all pretty close, and I was closing on OJ Keller (2:12:46) but he was able to stay far enough away (in fairness, OJ did have to ride his road bike). David Lee went 2:18:23, and in his first triathlon ever, Aaron Tripp went 2:39:49! Ashley aka Smashley Campbell, M.D., in her first Columbia, went 2:42:49. Still a great event, and many thanks to the group of supporters that came out early on a Sunday morning: Alyssa, Ed, Arjun, Melissa, Pat, and Michelle Miller. They earned this week's KC Masterpiece Award.

Purple Drink Athlete of the Week

Our PDAW this week went to Becky Parks, who, on her birthday, ran a PR and TWSS record of 47:47 for 12k at the Bay to Breakers 12k in San Fran. She finished 19th among women over nearly 12,000 female finishers!

Our Sandbagger of the Week award went to Meg McNew.

TEAM

Sunday's Club Challenge 10 Miler was the most successful showing from our team in its history, as we kept hold of our RRCA-MD 10 Mile Team Challenge title in a strong, to quite strong, display of team running. 

I will never apologize for the pride I feel when our team is successful, both individually, and of course, as a team.  The recipe for success is no secret: set a goal, make a plan, prepare, execute.  You were out there on two of the coldest, windiest days of this winter running yourselves into the ground on the course.  You have been coming, in droves, to the track each week to hammer yourselves.  You talk about this race to others like you expect them to understand, or at least know, what the race means.  You demand greatness of yourselves, and expect it of your teammates.

And for those reasons, and a million more, our team won yesterday.  Many of you ran PRs.  You helped make this race the most competitive in its existence.  Even those who had "bad" races didn't make excuses, didn't stop working hard. 

For me to go through and write a post mentioning every person's performance would take up the entire length of the page, so I'll let you read my thoughts in the email, and of course you can see results any time.  Instead, I'm going to highlight just some of the plethora of great performances from the day.

We have a grand tradition of laying claim to the overall race winner, but interestingly, none has ever won twice.  Keeping the streak going (4th straight year) was Conrad Laskowski.  Conrad put everyone on notice that he's here to play, running 52:55 (3rd fastest in our history).  The only other time he ran here was 2 years ago, when he went 56:20.  He runs fearlessly, and with his heart.  He is not a follower; he doesn't know how. 

Conrad the Barbarian

Not to be outdone, it was a remarkable race for Nate Brigham, who finished 2nd in 53:04 (4th fastest all-time for us).  Nate has pedigree, and desire: two traits that will lead to greatness.  No stranger to setbacks, Nate has rediscovered his passion for the sport, and has been a motivating factor in the recent success of the team.  We love having him around, and if this race is any indication, he's put himself in a position to have a great year. 

Dustin Meeker is an historian, and as such, prefers order to chaos.  He prepares diligently for all of his goal races, and has established himself as a leader of this team.  He overcame a disappointing 5k last weekend to take 25 seconds out of his 2011 Club Challenge time (and, 10 mile PR) as he finished 4th in 53:37.  Dustin later reveled in the folly of anarchy at Kisling's.  And thanks to his lovely wife, Ellen, for once again sending down some delicious muffins.

Vince Collins and Jesse Jaeger were running CC for the first time, but these two long-time buddies and training partners were almost inseparable on the course.  The trio of Tristram Thomas, Alex Battaglino, and Ed Aramayo came through next, a little off what they did last year, but their focus hasn't been on the 10 mile distance, and with a strong kick by Ed, he ensured 8 of our team in the top 9 of the race.  Just our great rival, Carlos Renjifo, was able to break up the mix.  He, too, ran a PR, shaving 7 seconds off his time from last year in another 3rd place effort. 

Seth Tibbitts led a strong contingent in the 57th minute, as he ran a bit faster than last year.  Chris Snyder led 3 others across in just 4 seconds, as Dan Miranda, Brian Godsey, and Brennan Feldhausen rounded out our top 12 (scorers) in under 57:30.  That was good enough to solidify the men's team victory.  4 guys came through next, all running their first Club Challenge: friend of the program Andy Sovonick, Andrew Beef Jaffe, Tim Burns, and Steve Febish.  Kris Simms finally broke that hour barrier, running 59:37. 

On the women's side, there was going to be no challenge to superstar Chrissie Ramsey.  She cruised to a 1:01:36 victory.  But running super aggressively behind was Megan DiGregorio, who raced to a 1:02:53 2nd place.  This is a PR of 2:22, and some 5 or more minutes faster than she ran here last year.  Meg D looks super fit, and has been running great lately.  Emily Hurley completed the podium sweep as she ran 1:04:07.  All of our scoring 6 were under 1:06:40 and inside the top 10, as Denise Knickman, Becky Parks, and Meg McNew made up that group.  For Becky, it was an all-time PR, and for Double M, I'm pretty sure the fastest she's run at CC.  Carly Page took it to the streets in her first CC, and we had a surprise rockstar performance by Sara Breedlove.  Christa Wagner took a full 7 minutes out of her 2011 time, which is incredible, and Eileen Fleck wasn't even running a few weeks ago and came out to rock.  Alyssa Godesky, 19th a year ago, was 20th this year with a time 3 minutes faster than last year. 

When results were announced, we had earned the men's, women's, and overall team titles.  This is a testament to your hard work, and for another year we will get to claim the "Ugliest Trophy in the World." 

There were a number of other impressive PRs and first-time performances:  Louis Foudos (PR), Tom Stott (PR), Dave Ploskonka (PR), Terry Decker (1st time, great race!), Jon Miller (1st time), PJ Anderer (1st time); Lillian Pinault (1st time), Alyssa Doyle (1st race that long), Kelly Meier (BIG PR!), Jen Mitton (1st time), Sara Damiano (1st time), Fraley Coles (1st time), Emily Boss (1st time), Karen Menge (PR), and Steph Sudbrook ran her first race ever, and her first time over 8 miles.

We did on-the-spot Purple Drink Athlete of the Week award(s) at Kisling's after the race, and it went to the two runners-up, Nate Brigham and Meg D.  Joel Gladfelter earned the KC Masterpiece Award.  His race not going as he'd hoped, he realized he could help set a tempo and clear a path for Meg D.  Great teamwork!  And the NOS Award goes to Conrad, who sneakily didn't mention he ran a 4:29.26 Mile last weekend indoors at the Monmouth Invite.

And a special shout to the great support we had on course.  Of course Jim was out there, and Melissa was great, navigating the course on Chrissie's bike, and being in a number of spots to cheer.  It was awesome to see Justin out there with a half mile to go, and nice of him to run it in with me.  Patty Stott and baby Haleigh were out there, braving the cold.  Amy Flashenberg was there, and maybe next year we'll get her to run!  And another local stud, Michelle Miller, was out snapping some photos.  She said since there were just so many of us, and we stood out so splendidly in our new singlets, it was easy to get a lot of shots of us.  She conveniently put them into Flickr, so here they are for you to see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/77415518@N08/sets/72157629459890307/

How did we fare in our Project 2012 goal?  18 guys, 11 girls.  I think this is awesome!  A couple of outlier performances by some guys (myself included) and the late departure of a few girls made it a very challenging goal, and now it leaves us with something to strive for next year.  It will help us stay sharp and not become complacent!

In the intrasquad scrimmage between Team Edward and Team Jacob, it was incredibly close - almost unbelievably.  I tallied the scores and Team Jacob, captained by Dusty and Alyssa, had won by a scant 3 points!

It was a great effort by everyone, and the post race atmosphere at Kisling's was great.  I hope you enjoyed the rest of your day there! 

This is what winning looks like. Photo via Amy Flashenberg.

All We Do is Light it Up

We were all there, or hopefully all read this morning's email, so rather than go through every single result from Celtic Solstice, I'll focus on the highlights:

Dave Berdan won his 5th Celtic Solstice, but it wasn't easy.  Coming off the best fall racing season of his career, "The Teacher from Garrison Forest" was set to defend his title, but not if the rest of the deep field had their way.  From the gun, HCS' Carlos Renjifo charged to the front of the race, and, joined by our own Tristram Thomas, the pair forged a small gap on Berdan.  Dave admitted after the race that he was hurting, and contemplated just letting it go.  But this is Celtic Solstice.  This is Dave's race.  You knew he wasn't going to race for 2nd or 3rd, he was going to go for the win.  Coming off the Mansion Loop and into the Conservatory turnaround, Dave moved past Tristram and sat just a few strides back of Carlos.  The race was now on, as Dave surged by Carlos to assume the lead, and he wasn't going to give it up.  They hit the Reservoir Loop and Dave's confidence built with each stride, but neither Carlos, nor Tristram, was done just yet.  With a quarter mile to go, runners turn down Wyman Park Drive towards the finish, and anything can happen on this downhill dash to the line.  But Dave made sure he was going to keep his crown as he set a new Course Record (because it was a new, harder course) in 25:47, with Tristram moving past Carlos to finish 2nd in 26:00.

Dustin Meeker, third a year ago in 26:13, finished 4th this year in 26:14.  Nate Brigham made his return to competitive racing, finishing 5th in 26:23.  Running a big PR, with some encouragement from Conrad Laskowski, Dan Miranda finished in 9th at 27:01.  Another one making moves was Seth Tibbitts, who received some pacing help from Alex Battaglino, as they finished at 27:22.  That's over a minute faster than last year for Seth, so I expect some big things from him at CC this year!  Rounding his fine 2011 out with another great Celtic Solstice performance was Tom Stott, who ran 29:16.

On the women's side, the race was all but determined as soon as Chrissie Ramsey made known she was running.  This Olympic Trials Qualifier, and perennial contender for the Brita Grothe Best Ass Award, set not only the Course Record, but the Team 5 Mile Record, as she cruised to the win in 28:27.  Second place went to Julia Webb, who as we all know is pregnant, showed that even soon-to-be-moms can still compete, as she ran a stellar 29:35.  In non-Chrissie years, that kind of time is good enough to win.  Denise Knickman was 6th, and first master, in 32:35, and one of the best performances of the day came from 8th place Christa Wagner, who ran 33:05.  This is equivalent to her 2011 best 5k pace, for another two miles, on a very difficult course.  Great job CW!  Jackie Truncellito, Madeline "Tink" Dulac, and Melissa Tanner all finished within a few seconds of one another around 33:30, and then an off-season Meg McNew ran 35:03.  Lillian Pinault had a great race as she ran a 35:42, which was 50 seconds faster than her best 5 mile time for the year.  Another super performance came from Patty Sweeney-Stott, who learned on Saturday that in order to run fast, you should feel uncomfortable.  She ran a 42:46, which is a big, BIG PR, for the woman who gave birth 6 weeks ago.

But as I mentioned in the email, the performance of the day, and the foregone conclusion for Purple Drink Athlete of the Week, went to Justin Gerbereux.  Big Pappa has not raced in 2.5 years (Rockville 09 was his last).  Fighting the back injury that nearly crippled him, and subsequent spine surgery, it was amazing and awesome to see him on the course on Saturday.  And, flanked by two great members of Falls Road Brown, Kris Simms and Terence M. Baptiste, Justin ran a 32:11.  That is insane.  For their efforts, Kris and T, who coincidentally also like BBQ sauce, earned this week's KC Masterpiece Award.  Christa Wagner earned a very well-deserved NOS Button Award.

It was the 12th year for Celtic Solstice, a race that Jim started with just over 100 people.  It has now grown to 35 times that size, with over 3500 registered for Saturday's race.  Most people do it for the premium.  Some like the course.  Some don't have anything else going on.  Whatever the reason, big shoutout to Jim, Karen, Pete, Dan, all the Falls Road staffers, and anyone else who lent a hand in the past week (or couple of weeks) to put this event on.  Now we just have to talk Jim out of trying to grow the race.  It's too big! (that's what I hope she said?)

This week we have our HEADLAMP night tonight at FHR, and tomorrow there will be people going to the track for various workouts.  Since this weekend is Christmas, after all, I don't necessarily expect anyone to be running around here, but if you DO stay in town, or are local, and want to get a run going, feel free to post on the blog.  We will be back in action over New Year's weekend with some runs. 

And a special tribute, to our GRC compatriot, and my friend, Jake "Red Fox" Klim, who announced over the weekend that he will be stepping down from his role as de facto captain of GRC's team... Jake was one of the first people I met when I arrived in 2005, in the faux parking lot at Patapsco following a run.  Jake, by his own admission, was a run-of-the-mill athlete in college, who took his passion and commitment to an incredible level, putting himself in the mix with athletes of "higher pedigree."  He has led by example, and with enthusiasm for the sport, and is largely responsible for the creation and cultivation of this amazing Georgetown Running team.  No leadership effort of a group is truly individual, and I'm sure Jake would be quick to credit some of the other folks who have played a part in developing and organizing the group, but he has always served as the point man for competitive DC running.  He knows everyone, is everywhere, and does it because he loves to run.  Jake will continue to train and race with the team, so it's not like we won't get to see him (or continue to read his fox-fetish of a blog), but I just wanted to take a minute to recognize this great asset of Mid-Atlantice running.  First Regis, now Klim...

And, in case you haven't read their 2011 Review blog, it's a good one!  Complete with pictures, a few jabs at Baltimore, some spelling errors...but I digress.  It is actually a good little read.  Even if they did all of a sudden start having awards night too...haha

36th Marine Corps Marathon

As the email I just sent detailed, our very own Emily Hurley ran one of the best races in our brief history, as she powered her way to a 10th place finish at yesterday's Marine Corps Marathon.  Her time of 2:56:53 is beyond impressive, and bettered her 3:01:43 from the Boston Marathon earlier this year. 

Emily was running inspired.  On each of her shoulders she paid tribute to two of the people who she was running to honor.  On one, her grandmother, who served in World War II as a Marine; the other, a high school friend who was killed in action earlier this year.  At mile 18, after being fairly quiet for a few miles, she let us know what the words were all about, and at that moment I knew she was going to have a strong finish.

1:27 at the half, she was clicking off 6:40-6:45 per mile all the way to mile 20, when the pace crept up towards 7:00.  And that's where the race gets really tough.  The final 10k are a grind, not so much in physical difficulty but mentally.  After crossing that terrible bridge into Virginia, you go out and back for a little while before the 2 mile shot into the finish along the highway, and, in the truest form of cruelty, a 200m straight shot uphill to the finish.

But Emily got it done, and we couldn't be more proud!  10th place at a race this big is a huge accomplishment.  To run a near 5 minute PR is even more impressive.  That now puts her 6th on our Top Ten Individual Marathon performance list for women.

This earned her the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week, no question!

A very special shout out to one of GRC's finest, Andy Chicken Tender Sovonick.  CTR was going to run with me for my long run, and ended up running 17 miles as we ran alongside Emily from Georgetown on.  Andy obviously had never met Emily, and what was even greater was when I dropped, at mile 20, he was going to just cross the bridge and call it a day - but instead he ran with Emily through mile 26.  A great display of sportsmanship earned him our KC Masterpiece Award for coming through in the clutch (easily). 

They Took Our Jobs!

Sent to me by Justin:

Week 5 Fantasy Football Awards

Take a look at Award #4.  Sports Illustrated has stolen our award name.  Is there a way we can pursue legal action?  Ha, that would be pretty funny, I can see the byline now... "Small town running club sues media giant over fictitious award."  Then, the next article would be "KC Masterpiece sues small town running club for using their name for fictitious award."

Start Your Engines

"What's the NOS button?!" - Coach Amy

This is the NOS button, Amy.

As I mentioned in the email, it was as if Coach Amy Horst hit her NOS button in Friday night's Grand Prix 5k, running a 17:25 for 2nd place.  Due to delays all day Friday, the course was not able to be certified and apparently it was too difficult to measure an accurate 3.1 miles on a 1.5 loop course on closed roads using Google Maps.  For Amy, this was just 6 seconds off of her PR for the distance, although she knows it was short.  Just how short, we'll never know.  Other finishers included:  Mike Rady (20:05), PJ Anderer (21:10) and Jan Cook (21:51).  The race was a lap and a half of the course they used for the Baltimore Grand Prix.  If you don't know what the Grand Prix is/was, it's that thing that caused all the traffic all summer.  "Ladies and gentleman, start your engines..."  (that's how they started the 5k, I heard).

Saturday was the Kentlands 5k, one of the faster 5k races of the fall.  GRC's Joe Wiggy Wiegner finished 3rd just under 15 minutes and HCS' Carlos Renjifo was 5th at 15:39.  Arjun Majumdar, in his first race since Rockville Twilight (I mistakenly said it was his first race since Peachtree in the email), ran a very good 16:51 for 11th place.

Megan DiGregorio hadn't won any money in a while, so she went on down to Ellicott City for the Knights of Columbus 10k and scooped up an easy win in 40:25.

At Sunday's Virginia Beach Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon, Ed Aramayo had set out to run a confidence-building time ahead of next month's Chicago Marathon.  After a quick first mile, he backed off and then struggled to find his rhythm.  He finished 43rd with a 1:16:38, well off any goal he could have set for himself, but also realizing that he's in the middle of his biggest training weeks, so after he starts bringing it down, he'll find his legs again.

Garrett Ash won the Larry Noel Greenbelt 15k, which was Sunday night and had a small showing of just 68 finishers. 

At the Charm City 20 Miler, Dan Miranda finished 2nd in 2:02:02, and Patrick O'Rourke, who we haven't seen in results in quite some time, was 4th in 2:07:44.  Denise Knickman finished 2nd among women in 2:19:27, and Jackie Truncellito was 4th in 2:29:19. 

Our final racer of the weekend was Julia Webb, who finished 4th in 1:21:48 at the Eugene Women's Half Marathon.

For the week, our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Jenny Barringer Simpson, who won the gold in the women's 1500m at the World Championships last week.  It was an amazing win, aided perhaps in part by an unlucky and untimely fall to race favorite Morgan Uceny, but nevertheless announced Simpson as a favorite heading into next year's Olympics. 

Earning a KC Masterpiece Award was American sprinter, Allyson Felix, whose 4 medals put her in rare air - she is just the 4th person to accomplish that a World Championships in history.  Her lifetime medal count is now at 10 (at WCs) and she is just 25 years old.  Hopefully she'll focus on the 200m for next year and get the gold finally!

Track tonight - weather looks iffy all day, but obviously we'll be there tonight.  The workout is going to be mile (1600) repeats, basically as much as you want.  If you don't feel like doing miles, you can do 800-400 with rest of about 90 seconds.  We will also discuss details for this Sunday's RM Classic 5k, and then I will post those to the blog.