2016 Westminster Main Street Mile Results

Westminster, MD (April 13) - Once again Falls Road made the mid-week trip out to Westminster for the fastest road race around, the Main Street Mile. Featuring 144 feet of elevation drop from start to finish, racers are all but assured fast times, regardless of their current fitness.

Andy Weaver was racing his first MSM, and was taken aback by how fast the field darted down the opening hill. It took him a little while to reel back the leader, but he made his pass with less than a quarter mile to go and put daylight in between him and the runner-up. Andy's time of 4:02.27 ranks 4th now behind Greg Jubb (3:59) and Ed Aramayo (4:00; 4:01). Impressive run from the second place finisher at 4:04! 

We swept the women's podium, with Megan DiGregorio running her fastest race here (4:46.50) taking the title. Emily Gispert, in her first MSM, was 2nd at 4:55 and Amy Horst ran her best time here at 5:02 for 3rd. Following the race, Emily, Amy and Andy ran over to the McDaniel Track to finish their workouts on the track.

Other notable performances: Thom Ripley had arguably the race of the night, running a 4:43 in his first ever mile race. Thom runs downhill really well, apparently, and blew past Meg D with 200m to go. Jon Miller and PJ Anderer were consistent as ever, and Bryn Burkholder ran her first MSM with a 5:48. 

Graham won the race to the ice cream this year, finishing his ice cream sandwich as most were just running up to get them. This was the 6th year we've sent a team to the race, and conditions were mostly perfect. Wind was light, and not in runners' faces (like 2015) and the temperature was in the mid 50s at 7:00pm. 

Full Results

Downhill Mayhem!

Jubb, DiGregorio, earn wins at Westminster's Main Street Mile

Westminster, MD - Greg "Danger" Jubb became a member of the Sub-4 club, as he covered 5,280 feet in 3:59.14 at Wednesday's Main Street Mile. Of course, that doesn't take into account the 144 foot of net elevation drop from start to finish, but hey, who's counting? It was a great battle up front, with the top 3 (Jubb, Ed Aramayo, Chris Snyder) running faster than Ed's winning time (4:05) from a year ago. Initial reports suggested Jubb had indeed eclipsed the 4 minute barrier, but results at the awards indicated a 4:00. When the official, chip-timed results were published, times had been adjusted and Greg indeed had broken 4. For runner-up Ed Aramayo, his 4:01.26 was a full 3 seconds faster than last year, and Chris Snyder was right behind at 4:03.91.

The conditions could not have been more dangerous for a fast, downhill race. Showers throughout the day, including through the race, dampened the road, creating terribly slick conditions. The painted lines and manhole covers were going to be particularly dodgy. As the crew of 28 of us made our way to the top of the hill for the start, just minutes ahead of the gun, there was a realization that it could be a dicey run. In fact, as the started yelled GO, a guy in a red shirt lost contact with the ground, and laid himself out in front of myself, Brennan, and Jubb. From there, I was now supremely conscious of what could happen, and I took it a bit easier on the downhill. It didn't seem to affect the hordes of people screaming down the opening hill, however, who opened a massive gap on the field. I was 100m behind just 200m into the race.

As the leaders passed the quarter mile in 56/57, and then half mile in 1:55/56, the road tilts ever-so-slightly back up, just enough to take some of the momentum out of the legs. It then drops back from 3/4 to the finish. The top 3 guys finished and had enough time to look behind and greet 1st-loser, Brian Godsey (4:08). We put 9 in the top 10, and occupied half of the top 50 spots. Expectedly, man ran lifetime bests for the distance, which, given the slick road conditions, was very impressive. Arjun Majumdar (4:15) ran 7 seconds faster than last year, while Kris Simms, in his first race as a 40 year old, claimed top Masters, and an 8 second PR. Brennan Feldhausen was 14 seconds faster than 2011, and Mike Mashner ran an amazing 4:32. Seth Tibbitts, as Andy Sovonick, ran just a split second slower than Kris, at 4:27. Tim Burns came through at 4:20.

In the women's race, it came as little surprise that Meg D got the win, running 4:50 - 15 seconds faster than last year. But, I was certainly caught off guard by just how fast the other girls ran. Carly Page, Meg McNew, and Christa Wagner went 2-4, and were all under 5:00! Alyssa Godesky, who ran 5:36 last year, cut 21 seconds out of that, as she ran 5:15 this year. Amy Horst, in her first race in quite some time after injury, ran a 5:26, and Lillian Pinault ran an amazing 5:34. Patty Stott smashed it, running 6:12, and then Amy "Flash" Flashenberg, who didn't think she'd run under 7:30 (even though I said she'd run 6:30), ran a 6:20. Truly awesome!

Terry Decker broke the 5 minute barrier as well (4:57), while Sam Wollner ran 5:11 and PJ Anderer ran 5:14. Aaron Tripp wasn't far back at 5:21. Everyone ran really, really well. In fact, only two ran slower than they did last year (me and Pat).

Our last finisher was Conrad Laskowski, who finished in exactly 100th position. This was the first, and I expect only, time that we'll see that happen. Conrad ran 6:21, citing that he was doing a slightly-slower-than-marathon effort. He did 76xMile, running up and down the hill at that same pace. Psyche, but seriously, thanks Conrad for taking up the lantern rouge.

Unlike last year, when perhaps only Alyssa got her post-race ice cream sandwich, many more of us beelined it to the fire house to collect our prizes. Despite temps in the upper 40s and rain, it still tasted good. Others continued their workouts on the McDaniel track, and then the lot of us went over to O'Lordan's Irish Pub for some dinner. A great tradition continues. Congrats to all on the fast times! Thanks to the Westminster Road Runners Club for once again putting on a great event.

*Just remember, these can't count as World Records because it's a point-to-point race with a net elevation decrease > 3%. I'm sure if the road had been dry, we could have seen a real attempt at the record.

The Time Has Come

WESTMINSTER MAIN STREET MILE 2012!

If you're registered, you should have all received the email containing the instructions. But, just in case you forgot them, here they are:

1. Packet pick-up is between 4:30 and 6:30pm. If you are NOT able to make it there by 6:30, please send me an email or text and we will grab it for you.

2. Race start is at 7:00pm. The start is a mile away from packet pick-up, and it's all uphill, so plan accordingly.

3. The race is chip-timed, so you must wear your chip on your shoe.

4. A few of us will be leaving from the Falls Road store at 5pm. Keep in mind the traffic on 83, and plan your route accordingly. If you are coming from anywhere south of the city, or even from the city, I would suggest taking the beltway around to 795. If you're coming up to the store, Light Rail to Mt. Wash may be your best bet.

WEATHER considerations: it looks like rain is in the forecast for the majority of the day. The temperature should be perfect, but this means potentially wet roads. Slick shoes + downhill mile = recipe for disaster, so plan your footwear appropriately.

Following the race, a few people are going over to McDaniel's track to continue their workout. Let's all make sure we get, and eat, our ice cream sandwiches first, and then cool down. After the cool down, it will be dinner time for those who wish to do so. Greg Jubb's suggestion was an Irish pub on Main St named McLoughlin McGrath Seamus O'Toole's or something. Whatever we can do to avoid The Greene Turtle is fine by me!

MSM 2011 winner, Ed Aramayo

Main St Mile - Register TODAY

I just registered for the Westminster Main Street Mile and noticed that today (3/26) is apparently the last day for online registration.  After today it's mail-in until 4/2, and after that I think it's just closed because I know there is no race day.  If you are planning on doing this race, GET ON IT!  $8.99 is the nominal fee and you get a sweet shirt and an ice cream sandwich, and basically a guaranteed PR (unless you did it last year and will likely run slower this year, like me).

Main St Mile

Main Street Mile

Westminster Road Runners has announced that registration is now open for the Main Street Mile, which will be held on Wednesday, 18 April 2012.

We are thrilled to announce that this year Heat 1 will be CHIP-timed and officially scored by Maryland Timing (sponsored by Flying Feet Running Program!).

You can register online via RaceIt.com. Or, you can register by mail until Monday, April 2 using a printed form (no race day registration). Online registration closes when the 700 runner cap is met. The best part is it's only $8.99!

More information on the race is here. Be sure to sign up for heat 1.

Tibbitts' Tidbits

After sending out yesterday's email, I received a message from Seth Tibbitts, letting me know he raced over the weekend in Doylestown, PA.  The event was the Colby Umbrell Memorial 5k, an event in honor of one of Seth's fraternity brothers who was killed in action in Iraq in 2007.  Seth, just a few weeks removed from the Boston Marathon, owned this race, winning by two minutes in the excellent time of 16:53. 

Happy birthday today to Arjun!  We will celebrate following TNT by going to the appropriately named Ruby Tuesday in Charles Village. 

The weekend's other results mostly included those from either the Frederick Half, or the MAC Half.  Tim Parker ran 1:21:16 at Frederick to finish 24th, and Terry Decker ran 1:28:55, both are really great times.  Alyssa Godesky finished 3rd F and 9th overall at the MAC Half in a new PR of 1:36:39.

The big event was the 3rd Annual Arjun Majumdar Birthday Mile, and this year boasted the most competitive field to date.  The men's (Cheese) and women's (Alyssa) 2010 champions were returning, along with most of the rest of the top finishers from last year.  The new road course featured some new challenges, and with the large field (20 starters), the transition zone was crowded.  After introductions and the singing of the National Anthem, competitors got underway.  The first can hit the ground, and Tom Stott was off and running.  The cans started dropping, and feet hit the pavement.  For the women, Carly's can dropped first and she was off. 

The top of the leaderboard yo-yoed back and forth between Tom, OJ and Cheese, mostly, but Tom's rapid early pace led to his demise.  Cheese would move past OJ on the laps, but OJ can just consume so quickly, that he would move back in the lead.  Ultimately, Cheese came down the final straight in the lead, and broke the tape in 6:38.10.  9 seconds slower than last year, which he attributed to not being able to consume as quickly.  OJ, always a bridesmaid, finished 2nd in 6:45.98. The birthday honoree, Arjun, was 3rd again in 7:03, with Tristram in close pursuit at 7:05.  Brennan was having a ML and a smile, crossing in 7:09.  His cooldown includes having another. 

That was the top 5 men, on the women's side, Alyssa was running on fear it looked like, and it propelled her to a new PR of 7:56.73.  NBP was 2nd in her first attempt at the distance, in 8:48.  She led a string of women across the line, including Courtney (8:51) and Meg McNew (8:52).  Carly, another fast starter, thought her "reversal of fortune" led to an automatic DQ, but we told her she was only responsible for a penalty lap, and she continued on, ultimately finishing 5th in 13:01.

Some of the other highlights included Melissa's 3/4 completion, and JK and Meg D having given up (early) before attempting to finish.  They finally crossed the line in just under an hour.  There were a handful of DNFs, but for the most part everyone got through it. 

As a result of her double PR Saturday, our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Alyssa Godesky.

This week we had two people come through in the clutch - Ben and Kendra Ingram - who surprised all of us by showing up at the Mile on Saturday night.  It was amazing.  As a result, they earned this week's KC Masterpiece Award.

Don't forget - on Memorial Day Monday, Winchester hosts the Loudon Street Mile at 10am.  Let's go down and spend some time with the Ingrams!

Falls Road Blitzes Westminster

Kris followed by Pat

Above, Kris Simms, 39, of Baltimore, celebrated his birthday by making this angry face.  He ran 4:35 and finished 12th at the Westminster Main Street Mile.

Westminster, MD: The 30th edition of the Westminster Main Street Mile saw some incredibly fast times run, and they have Falls Road to thank.  With double winners Ed Aramayo (4:05) and Diane Heiser (4:40) running some of the fastest winning times in years, and placing 8 runners in the top 20, race organizers said they "did not know what we would have done without you" (psyche they didn't really say that).  The question on most peoples' mind is: how did this happen?

The Falls Road Dirty Dozen rolled deep into Westminster, a place few of us had ever been.  The hill-and-dale of Carroll County revealed tremendously undulating terrain, and as we approached from the finish line, we had an opportunity to see the cliff that we would be jumping off of.  We finally understood why times were so fast, and how Remus could have run a 4:24 here.  Fortune smiled upon us, as the weather conditions, which featured temps below 50, rain and an expected headwind of 13mph at race time, cleared up by the time we arrived in Westminster.  A temperature of 54, dry roads and a lighter headwind created a perfect atmosphere for running fast.

After a brief warmup, our crew hustled up the mammoth climb to the start line.  The fear of the other runners' was palpable, as our intimidation factor was at an 11 (but it only goes to 10?).  Despite a number of young girls ahead of me on the line, in general our entire crew was on the front, and following the absurd starter's countdown and whistle-blowing, the crowd of 200+ in heat 1 tore out of the gate and flew down Main Street.  When my parachute didn't open, I was a little concerned, but to give you an idea of just how fast this race was: I hit the quarter in 67 seconds, and had to have been in 40th place. 

The race went by in a blur; we all commented afterwards that it was the fastest that splits have ever come up in a race.  First was the quarter, which seemed like no time had passed.  It was this first quarter that was on the steepest downhill section.  The road then flattened out as it passed the half, and from there it was actually a slight rise before dropping down again.  You could see the finish line at this point, and with the benefit of the downhill you could start your kick much earlier than in other races.  When the whilrlwind race was over, all 12 of our crew had run under 6 minutes, with Ed finishing 9 seconds off the men's record (and narrowly missing the 4 minute barrier), and Diane running about 8 seconds off the women's record. 

Apparently the guy who holds the course record (3:56) was there, much older now and I don't know what he ran, so we'll just have to keep going until somebody gets it. 4 people slotted in between Ed and Tristram Thomas, who finished 5th in what they say is 4:14 but I feel like that may not be right, as I thought he said he was 4:09. We'll have to confirm that. Next, the pair of Arjun Majumdar and Jordan "Juice" Orr came through in 7th and 8th (4:22, 4:26). The birthday geezer, Kris Simms, was 12th in a rather amazing 4:35, with Pat McLoughlin right behind in 13th (4:36) and Diane, women's winner by 25 seconds, right behind. She was about 5 seconds off the course record for women. Brennan Feldhausen came through in 4:44 for 19th, and yours truly ran what can only be described as a miracle mile, running 4:50 for 23rd. I say miracle because since my surgeries I'm sure you've all seen what happens when I try to run downhill. After me was Meg DiGregorio, 2nd F in 5:05, and then Alyssa Godesky, who had already run a workout this morning, ran an incredible 5:36 for 6th, finishing narrowly behind the girl who looked super seriously fast (and was very far ahead of me at the quarter). Pete Mulligan finished in 5:49, I bet he didn't think he could ever run that fast.
Spectators for the event included Chrissie Ramsey, Jordan's girlfriend (who also had a birthday today) and Alex B, although he missed all of us run. Following the race I think only two of us actually got the ice cream sandwiches because the rest of us foolishly cooled down immediately and came back to an enormous line.

You can read the article in the Carroll County Times about the race, with quotes by Ed, as well as take a look at the photo gallery, courtesy of Ullrich Photo.

From there, it was off to the track, where Meg D rocked the women's 3000m at the McDaniel Twilight Meet, winning in 10:53.55. The track was super close to the race, and it's a really weird beige color. Never seen a track that color that wasn't concrete. The big event of the night was the final event, the Distance Medley Relay. Our crew of Ed, Jordan, Arjun and Tristram was taking on the team from McDaniel College, and it wasn't even close. Ed led off with a 3:15, passing to Jordan who ran a 55 second 400. As Jordan told us after, the last DMR he ran on finished in 9:37, where he got "rolled" running a 1:49. Well, our team wouldn't run quite that fast, but it would be a (default) TWSS record! Arjun ran a 2:07 800 leg and handed off to Tristram who soloed to a 4:30 1600 for a finish time of 10:48. It was really awesome to watch, the field was completely empty and it was 9pm, but it was a great night for racing.

We followed this up with trivia night at the Greene Turtle. God, if I lived up there, I honestly don't know how I would make it more than a week.

Awesome job everyone! Great Wednesday races!

Main Street Mile - Wednesday

I'm sure everyone registered has seen the email regarding tomorrow night's event.  Packets MUST be picked up by 6:30.  I'm willing to wager that they would give out multiple packets, so if anyone is going to have a difficult time being there by 6:30, let me know and I'll make sure to collect yours. 

The race starts at 7pm, so make sure you're warmed up and ready to go.  It's a point to point race, so remember to leave that extra mile in your legs to get out to the start line.  I believe this is also where you pick up your stuff, although admittedly I didn't read the email or instruction thoroughly.

As we will be done by 7:07, I plan on eating an ice cream sandwich and going for a 2-3 mile cooldown.

From what I understand, Jordan/Tristram/Ed/Arjun are heading from the race over to McDaniel to compete in a DMR.  I would not mind watching this. 

Since it will also be around dinner time, we can also discuss getting food somewhere. 

We Did It...For Jason!

Here we are, wearing our race day t-shirts (cotton) and the longest shorts we all own, on our way to Port to Fort on Sunday.  We are all also wearing some kind of hat, except Ed, whose hair is dark enough to look like Brennan's skully.  For results, read on...

Dave Ploskonka had a great race at Bull Run 50 Miler on Saturday, finishing 10th in a new PR of 7:28:50.  With his strength and his speed on the track as of late, I'm sure he's going to do quite well at Boston a week from today!  Jared Jaskot ran 18:59 on the undulating hills of Patterson Park at the College Bound Foundation Race for the Future 5k, earning 3rd place and marking the first time he's gotten under 19 minutes on a road 5k.  T. Baptiste ran what sounded like a terrible race at Kent State.  It was supposed to be 25k (15.5 miles) but was longer (16 miles) due to a change in start venue.  Terence came through in 3rd in 1:41, but after the 4th finisher, there was nobody for a real long time.  Apparently a volunteer left their post and runners got lost, some potentially running 22 miles!  At the Cary Long Course Duathlon, Chris Scott went 26th place.

On Sunday, at Port to Fort, we had our largest contingent ever for this race.  Garrett Ash led all runners from wire to wire, finishing in a new team record 19:02.5 (eclipsing Kyle Smits' 19:08 from 2007).  Dustin Meeker was hot on his heels, running in 2nd place through 3 miles, before getting passed by Luke Belford.  Dusty finished 3rd in 19:09.  Ed Aramayo, racing for the second day in a row, got out hot before feeling the effects of two great races on Saturday.  He finished 4th in 19:24.  Max Hacker, in his first race in Baltimore, was 5th in 20:04.  Then came the pack - Pat, Zero and myself, with Brennan (bandit) and Tristram (who jumped in at mile 2).  We fanned out across the road so that if anyone attempted to pass us, they "would not be able to" [Pat McLoughlin].  As Brennan and Tristram peeled off before the narrow finish line, the three of us remaining held hands above our heads, proclaiming that we "did it for Jason!" and that we, much like the sponsor of the race, in fact "Believe in Tomorrow."  Meg McNew was just behind us in 23:14 for 3rd F, and Steve Wancowicz was there but I suspect he was also banditing.

At the Women's 5k by the Bay, where there was some decent money on the line, Diane Heiser was back to defend her title.  She ran 18:10 - 2 seconds faster than last year - in a 2nd place effort.  This is a PCPR for Diane.  Denise Knickman ran great, going 18:38 for 5th.  Meg DiGregorio, living that college life, had a rough morning, running 18:54 for 7th.  The best story from this, however, is that Hirut Mandefro was back from Flagstaff for this race.  She left DC at 3am, taking 3 trains and walking 5 miles just to get to the start to earn a $500 payday.  Then, Diane had to drive her back to Baltimore and get her on a train.  Ha.

The GW Parkway Classic 10 Miler was on Sunday, and what would you know, Sara Spears ran a PR.  1:19:40 (sub 8s!).  Pretty amazing considering she was in Kreplachistan for 2 weeks, did no running, was jetlagged and they had lost her luggage on both ends of the trip.  This was a near 3 minute PR for her. 

And that was good enough for Sara to earn this week's Purple Drink Athlete of the Week! 

I also see that Julia Webb ran a 4:42.46 for 20th place at the Mason Spring Invite (1500m).

THIS WEEK is a really cool week, with Wednesday's Westminster Main Street Mile.  The event starts at 7pm, and Westminster is neither particularly close nor against traffic.  So plan accordingly as far as getting out there.  Following the race, we can decide on a place to chomp up some food.  Ice cream sandwiches are given out following the run.  This means, however, that TNT will be pretty light.  I'm going to go up still and do my run, and there will still be people doing a workout so don't let it deter you if you planned on going.  The workout will be a simple ladder, 800-1200-1600-1200-800 with 4x200 on the end. 

5000m Track Time Trial - Saturday @ UMBC

Since both Towson and Goucher have decided they would rather keep their meets full of slow college kids (Goucher, seriously? You're like an all-girls liberal arts college), the track guys are going to use Saturday for a 5000m time trial.  Here are the details:

UMBC Track (on UMBC's campus)
7:45 am start warming up
Run 12 1/2 laps as fast as you can

According to weatherspark.com, the preliminary 8am forecast for Saturday is temps in the mid to upper 30s, with a 25% chance of precipitation.  Winds will be negligible. 

This is an OPEN event - anyone reading this blog (HCS, GRC, etc) are welcome to come out for the event.  The idea is to keep everyone on track for their spring racing season.  If you are interested you can contact me, or Tristram, who I will label point person on this one.  As long as there are more than 3 people, we can count it as an official race.  I've got numbers and pins, and although I won't be there, if someone wants to go (who is not running) and use the Time Machine, it can be officially timed, and we'll send the results to WRR for rankings.

On a side note, we had 27 people at the track last night.  It was pretty awesome.  13 of those people went to CVC afterwards.  And finally, if you plan on registering for the Westminster Main Street Mile (Wednesday, April 13, 7pm), do it soon.  Registration closes April 1 but I bet it fills up before then.  This is going to be an awesome event, I think we have at least 15 people going as of now.

False Alarm!

Thanks to Kris' attempt at registering for the Westminster Mile race last night, it prompted me to get in touch with the president of the WRRC to find out if we could squeeze in a few people.  She came back and said that there had been a typo in her registration page that closed registration prematurely.  I hate when that happens.

In other words, we are good to register for the race, BUT if you are thinking of doing this, as it's only $9, you may want to do that sooner than later!

I Need a Vacation Tonight

For anyone who has posted on the blog lately, you may have noticed the upgraded version of this blogger format thing, and if you use colors like I do, the purple doesn't look really purple any longer.  It's unnerving.

Decent weekend of racing, even though there were just four performances.  Dave Ploskonka ran for a 5th place finish at the Seneca Greenway Trail 50k in 4:19:xx.  Great job for Dave after just getting back into his usual long runs.  Additionally, as I've now confirmed, but will wait until official results are posted to make it "official" - Dave's time is a new team record, displacing Travis Warren's 4:30:xx at HAT from a few years ago.  At the Tim Kennard Ten Mile River Run, Denise Knickman chased her Club Challenge performance with a win in the incredibly quick time of 1:03:08.  And at the B&A Trail Half Marathon, Chris Benassi took 5th in 1:19:32 and Erik Westlund was 21st in 1:24:00.  Both are terrific early season times, and the effort earned Chris Benassi his first ever Purple Drink Athlete of the Week!

There's some exciting stuff going on this next week, including one of my favorite holidays of the year, Mardi Gras, Pat's 30th birthday, Pub Run and Shamrock 5k.  Next week features our return to "official" TNT workouts in an event which will be known as the Strides of March.  There's tons of track meets coming up, if you're so inclined, and we're collectively attacking the world of Main Street Miles this year, beginning with Wednesday, April 13th's Westminster Main Street Mile (7pm).  Downhill, point-to-point. 

Finally, for any GRCers out there reading this, if there is interest in running a 2mile "race" on the track on Saturday, March 19th, get in touch with me as Ed is looking to do this type of effort.  We'll give you numbers and make it officially timed and call it a race, and we'll even send it into WRR.  We also discussed the possibility of throwing together a DMR at some point this year.  Let's collectively rap.