This is How You Remind Me

Chad Kroeger kind of looks like Dax Shepard

"Never made it as a wise man. I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing. Tired of living like a blind man, I'm sick of sight without a sense of feeling...

And I've been wrong, I've been down, been to the bottom of every bottle. These five words in my head scream: 'are we having fun yet?'"

With this amazing bit of poetry from the Canadian rock superstars, Nickelback, we were off. In our first day above 90 degrees, a dozen or so hearty souls chose to race the first (and last) Nickelback Appreciation Day 5k. Nearly everyone positive split. It was carnage.

Following the 3 Doors Down 3k, contested by Graham Peck (9:20) and Conrad Laskowski (9:45), the night's main event did feature some decent Tuesday night performances. Erik Anderson showed up to take the win (and the Falls Road Nalgene bottle!) in 16:52. Greg Lange had a terrific run, breaking 17 minutes (16:58). Ian Clark ran an evenly split 17:20. And Matt Franco yo-yoed but ran 17:36.

Most of the rest of us weren't as cool. As Graham ran with various people throughout the race, here was his take on the event:

"Much like Nickelback's albums, each time around it just got worse."

Megan DiGregorio was the women's winner (of 3 entered) in 18:27. Kate Levinson, who we've seen running at the track for the last year, finally joined up with us and despite racing just two days ago, ran a respectable 20:47. And Sara Breedlove rounded out the podium in 21:29.

Shoutout to timers/race officials Pete Mulligan, Lillian Pinault and Bryn Burkholder!

Afterwards a few of us went to Kooper's, where it took them forever to make some burgers and then, as usual, mine was barely cooked and it went right through me. The end.

Nickelback Apprecation Day 5k Results

1. Erik Anderson, 16:52.19
2. Greg Lange, 16:58.65
3. Ian Clark, 17:20.11
4. Matt Franco, 17:36.20
5. Tom Stack, 18:14.04
6. Joel Gladfelter, 18:22.29
7. Conrad Laskowski, 18:23.42
8. Graham Peck, 18:27
9. Megan DiGregorio, 18:27.27
10. Ryan McGrath, 18:49.73
11. Evan Burros, 18:50.73
12. Dave Ploskonka, 19:26.63
13. Terry Decker, 19:39.47
14. Kate Levinson, 20:47.74
15. Louis Foudos, 21:17.24
16. Sara Breedlove, 21:29.82
17. James, 26:43.78

Mud on the Tires

A pattern has emerged over the past couple of weeks: hard bouts of rain, often lasting for days, during the week, followed by ethereal weekends. While I certainly have enjoyed my weekend training, the impact was felt this past week on Tuesday when we got kicked off the track and nearly washed away in the Great Flash Flood of Roland Park. We were #blessed with rains like down in Africa for the remainder of the week, which led to a muddy run for some of us on Saturday down at Greenbelt. But trails > roads any day of the week, and we had some fun.

The weekend weather made for some nice days to race on! The Baltimore Ten Miler was on Saturday, and Dave Berdan decided to get back on his horse a few weeks after his tough day at VCM. A very quick first mile showed him that he wasn't quite prepared for the day as he finished 3rd in 55:38. Jason Farber was 10th at 59:36, and Tim Parker finished at 1:02:55. Megan DiGregorio was the 2nd lady to cross the line as she ran a 1:03:43. Jon Miller, who raced a bunch this spring, is getting his legs back and ran 1:06:44. Emily Hurley and Suzanne Andrews pushed each other and held onto finish 4th and 5th (1:08:34, 1:08:53) and Dave Ploskonka came in just under 1:10. Marci Benda was 10th F in 1:10:40 and Jackie Range, a week off her fantastic first half ironman, ran 1:15:03, presumably in a pacing effort. Newcomer Paige Boehmcke ran 1:17:59, and Ed Jablonski must have been pacing the 1:20 group. Big shout to Alley Firey, who ran a 1:28:22, and Sara Damiano paced the 1:35 group!

Collin Anderson ran another fake race, the Drop 13 Half Marathon, which had a net elevation loss of 3000 feet. On average, that's 230 feet per mile. To put it in perspective, Westminster Main Street Mile loses 144 feet over 1 mile. So...

Anyway he won the race and ran 1:10:40, which, if it were even close to legitimate, would obviously have been a huge PR. But it's not, so it doesn't really count. Although I will say that I imagine one's quads would be leveled after an effort like that!

Kevin McGrath ran the George Sheehan "Classic" 5k, and I'll use the quotes in a serious way because what made that race "classic" was its 5 mile route. It was a great race honoring the late "running doctor", Dr. George Sheehan. Serious runners came to race it, and it was awesome. Then a ton of anklebiter races popped up, and people in general become more concerned with "participating" than competing, and this race changed to a 5k. Excuse my rant.

Sunday was the BRRC's GPS 5k, which moved from its old spot at Lake Montebello up to the NCR. Cool, another race on the NCR. Just what we need. At least these events don't pretend to be something they're not. Graham Peck pedaled his little bicycle up there and then won pretty handily in 16:51. Ryan Dietrich, a week off his Eagleman race, ran 18:32 for 3rd. Johnny Lyons was 6th in 18:42. Mr. Peck ran 20:56 and I'm sure he ran to and from the race. Kristin Bremer was 5th F in 21:58.

At the Father's Day 5k, newcomers David Ringwood and Kate Levinson both rocked, with David winning in 16:40 and Kate taking 2nd F in 20:33.

Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to the deserving Suzanne Andrews!