2014 RM Classic 5k

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Link to photos on Flickr

6th Annual RM Classic 5k
September 30, 2014

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

6th Annual RM Classic 5k Registration

The 6th Annual RM Classic 5k will be held on Tuesday, September 30th at Gilman School in Roland Park. The event will begin at 6:45pm, so plan your warmup accordingly.

There will be prizes for Top Male and Top Female. There will also be random prizes and giveaways from PowerBar courtesy of PowerBar Team Elite member, Graham Peck.

Event Records:

Male: 15:06 (Karl Dusen, 2009)
Female: 18:08 (Eileen Fleck, 2009)

You can register for the event here:

RM Classic Registration

6th Annual RM Classic 5k
Tuesday, September 30
6:45pm
Gilman School

Against the Wind

One of my favorite things about this time of year is how nice it is just to be outside. You'll hear people say things like "oh what a lovely day I think I'll put on my tennis shoes and go for a jog." But we know better, and sometimes even the most beautiful looking days are some of the most treacherous.

Take Saturday, for example. Temps were great for being outside and there was a breeze. Well out on the Eastern Shore, that breeze was multiplied by infinity, and the beautiful full moon we saw meant tides and stinging jellyfish. For anyone swimming or riding a bike, it was far from a beautiful day. That was the case for Alyssa Godesky and Bob Villanueva, as they competed in the Chesapeakeman AquaBike - a 2.4 mile swim in the Choptank River followed by 112 miles out in the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge. Everyone at this point is familiar with Eagleman. This is like double Eagleman.

Swimming against an incoming tide assured a tough swim, and the volume of saltwater intake mixed with sea nettle stings slowed everyone's swim down a touch. But Alyssa came out of the water in a strong 1:07, 2nd place among the women in the field. She got out onto the bike and absolutely drilled it, sending a message to her Kona competitors as she roasted a 5:12:51 bike split - a distance PR and the fastest 112 mile bike split any of us has ever ridden. It was the windiest I've ever seen it out there on Saturday; head and cross winds for most of the loop before the final 10 miles provided some respite. The effort put her in the money in 2nd place behind local pro Suzy Serpico. Alyssa's got a couple of weeks before Kona and she is definitely ready.

Bob V, meanwhile, is prepping for Ironman Florida. He came out of the water just over 90 minutes and had a strong ride, finishing that portion of the race in 5:33. He was 25th among the competitors. Bob also just got accepted into next year's Boston Marathon so he'll have a quick turnaround following the November IM!

The other big event this weekend was of course the RM Classic 5000m. It was held on a cool but breezy morning up at Gilman, and we had a terrific field assembled for the 5th running of the event. Absent from the start line was 3-time defending champion Dustin Meeker, which meant we'd have a new winner. It was pretty apparent that Conrad Laskowski was not letting anyone take away his moment of glory, as he bolted into the lead from the word GO and didn't look back. He took the win in a fantastic time of 15:15, ahead of Graham Peck who ran an even split 15:31. Ed Aramayo and Steve Febish battled for the final podium spot, with Ed blazing the last 150m to finish in 15:58 to Steve's 16:00. Andy Sovonick and Dan Miranda ran most of the race together before Andy pulled away a little, finishing in 16:51. Dan came through at 16:57. The inseparable duo of Joel Gladfelter (17:19, who ran 21 miles the day before) and Joel Brusewitz (17:38) were next through, and newcomer David Cobb ran an awesome 17:42 - a near PR in his first run with us! We just work that quick. PJ Anderer (18:21) was across next, a little ahead of Jon Miller (18:47).

On the ladies side, Sara Breedlove became our women's champion, running 18:53. Sara has been crushing her workouts lately and is primed for an awesome fall season. Denise Knickman was 2nd in 20:37 and Lillian Pinault was 3rd in 21:01. Lillian made sure to let me know that she had run her long run of 15 miles the day before.

And of course special thanks to the crew of spectators who came up to support the racers: Nate, Steve Laurie, the Majumdars, Pat and Grady McLoughlin, Emily Hurley, Carly and her friend Tim, and Graham's girlfriend Lindsay.

Among the other performances this weekend:

Amy Horst was 4th at the Diane Geppi-Aikens Memorial 5k at Loyola on Saturday morning, and the dynamic duo of Carly Page and Julie Wolfe took the women's team title at the Metric Marathon in Howard County. It also looks like they beat the open men's team, but were still 2nd overall as the master's men won it all. Finally, Tom Stack was 4th at the Bethany Beach Triathlon. He's had a great tri season!

In our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week voting, the honor went to Conrad Laskowski - his first of the year - for winning the RM Classic, the most important race of the year.

RM Classic 5000m - Sunday

As mentioned in the email we are going to hold the 5th Annual RM Classic 5000m at Gilman on Sunday, September 22nd. The gun will go off at 9:00am so plan your warmups accordingly.

Some folks will be using the "race" as part of their weekend long run and some will be running long after the race.

Due to the competitive nature of this event, we have to strictly enforce a 25 minute time limit so no walking, please.

Just kidding. But seriously, take this race for what you want to get out of it, even if it's just to circle the track 12.5 times as part of you run, this is a fun little event that we do.

RM Classic 5k 2012

Selfishly, the RM Classic 5k is one of my favorite events of the year. But realistically, it's also pound-for-pound one of the most competitive races around. With 20 finishers it was one of the biggest fields we've had, and the average time was 18 minutes. We were fortunate to have pretty amazing weather - it was definitely not a typical fall day. 80 degrees as the high on October 24th is awesome, and conditions were perfect on the track by the start time. People came ready to run, and there was no wind, so we expected some great times.

Dan Miranda was the early antagonist (or maybe protagonist, depending on your point of view) as he took off from the gun and set the early pace. Dan was looking to crack 16, and it didn't look like he was going to have much help. He was the leader through 8 laps (5:06, 10:18), before 2-time defending champ Dustin Meeker, leading a pack that included Nate Brigham, Alex Battaglino, and Steve Febish, swallowed up Dan and assumed the lead.

Dusty's original plan was to treat the race as more of a workout, but when the competitive juices began to flow, the Mighty Meeker did not back down. He charged to a 15:56 win, his 2nd fastest winning time, finishing just ahead of Alex and Nate. Based on my records, it's the fastest recorded time I've seen Alex run in his time here (16:10.99 at UMD Invite a couple seasons ago was his previous). Steve Febish was 4th, and Dan Miranda finished 5th in 16:13. This is just 1 second off his PR (set at Shamrock this year) and is about 15 seconds faster than his previous track 5k best. In 6th was Tim Burns, who has been running well lately, but one of the big surprises of the day was Arjun Majumdar, who finished 7th in 16:47.

Last year, when the race was held during daylight, Arjun ran a Baltimore-PR of 16:28. This year, particularly the past couple of months, have presented Arjun with the exciting new challenge of fatherhood. Tarala Majumdar made her first TNT appearance (decked in her TWSS onesie) and cheered with mom Melissa as Arjun ran a scintillating race.

Arjun was the last finisher in the 16s, and next up was Brennan Feldhausen (his first RM Classic, and first track 5k since he's lived here), followed by Patrick O'Rourke. There was a gap to Andy Thivierge, whose 17:47 was on par with his other 5k's this year. Yours truly thought he was set up for a decent run as my first two miles were 5:45-5:45, but then I ate it and finished up at 18:14, right ahead of Matt Franco.

Just behind us was women's winner and now two-time champ, Diane Heiser, in 18:18. This is a track best for her, 19 seconds faster than her 2010 winning time and just 8 seconds slower than her 18:10 road best. Meg McNew was 2nd across the line in a new track PR, just ahead of Jon Miller, whose 18:39 was a 5k best for him. Amy Horst hasn't run a ton since Rockville, which made her 18:46 that much more impressive. PJ Anderer was a little over a minute back of that.

We had a really great surprise visit by Alex Viana, who regardless of his running status has always come out to support this race. Today he ran a very impressive 20:11, and as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. Sara Breedlove was looking for a good day, and quickly realized she wasn't feeling it. But, despite how easy it would have been for her to step off the track and call it a day, she soldiered on and finished the race. Our final finisher (lantern rouge) was Joel Gladfelter. Joel is the only 4-time finisher of the event, and having just ran a 50 miler on Sunday, his legs were as one would have expected. But he ran a great 21:42. I am sure the extra day of recovery helped a little too.

Thanks to everyone who came out and ran tonight, and helped make a fun night. I'm sure the Wednesday night workout threw some schedules out of whack! Special thanks to the Majumdars for coming out, and Alex Viana, and shouts to our winners and of course to Joel. In the tradition of the Grand Boucle, Dan Miranda won the Prix de la Combativite for his aggressive running.

RM Classic 5k
October 24, 2012

Results

1. Dustin Meeker 15:56
2. Alex Battaglino 16:01
3. Nate Brigham 16:03
4. Steve Febish 16:09
5. Dan Miranda 16:13
6. Tim Burns 16:28
7. Arjun Majumdar 16:47
8. Brennan Feldhausen 17:13
9. Patrick O'Rourke 17:16
10. Andy Thivierge 17:47
11. Ryan McGrath 18:14
12. Matt Franco 18:15
13. Diane Heiser 18:18 (1st F)
14. Meg McNew 18:38 (2nd F)
15. Jon Miller 18:39
16. Amy Horst 18:46 (3rd F)
17. PJ Anderer 19:52
18. Alex Viana 20:11
19. Sara Breedlove 21:24 (4th F)
20. Joel Gladfelter 21:42

But You Ain't Got No Legs

The week after the Baltimore Marathon is typically pretty quiet on the racing front. The Army Ten Miler is one of the Texas-sized races hosted in the District, and not a race that we've historically had a big presence at. This year was no different, but in a twist of fate, Joel Brusewitz - who has a storied love/hate relationship with this event - was called up from the bench at the last minute to fill in for injured Luke Belford. Joel was still recovering from his Baltimore Half effort the week prior, and after a solid first 5 miles (29:35) he slowed a bit on the back half. But, he still finished at 1:00:27. Nick Gehlsen, running for AAI, ran 1:03:50. And of course our buddy Andy Sovonick ran 57:12.

There were quite a few events in Pennsylvania this weekend, with the Runner's World Half Marathon taking place in Scranton. Bryn Burkholder had a great race, running 1:36:38 for 37th place. Lillian Pinault was just behind in 1:37:18. Lillian has been noticeably absent from track lately, and did in fact confirm that the time was not a PR - but it was the fastest she's run in a few years.

At the Blue Gray Half Marathon in historic Gettysburg, Mike Mashner lowered his PR by a lil bit to 1:19:25 on the heels of a high volume week. He finished 6th.

On the ultra-side, Joel Gladfelter took on the Tussey Mountainback (or mOUnTaiNBACK) 50 miler. It features a lot of up and a lot of down, but it's a road course and as such can see some fast times. It also served as the 2012 USA 50 Mile Road Championship. Joel went into the race admittedly not quite as prepared as he'd have liked, but gave it a good run. He didn't walk, and finished strong, and said he could have taken some time out of his slow aid station transitions. Joel was 22nd in 7:33:09 and among those eligible for the USA Championships, he was 13th. Britt Kern also ran, and was coming off his excellent 2:50 marathon last weekend and apparently an 8k the day before. That doesn't sound very wise, it sounds like something Ploskonka would do! But Britt finished up at 10:05:56.

For the 4th consecutive year Dave Berdan won the Race for the Cure 5k in Hunt Valley, this year running 15:59. Bryan Borowski was 9th in 18:14 and Allison Letourneau was 4th among women in 18:22.

At the Ready Set Sniff 5k, Bobby Van Allen and his dog ran a 21:52 5k around Patterson Park to finish 2nd in the human + dog division. Amy Horst and her pup Sherman mostly walked, but finished in 43:15.

And in her final race of her first collegiate cross country season, Becky Parks finished 82nd at her conference meet.

Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Joel Gladfelter. Great effort Joel!

As mentioned in the email, I was not at the track tonight, but tomorrow (or today, depending on when you're reading this) we are holding the 4th annual RM Classic 5000m on the track at Gilman. 6:30pm for the warmup, 7:00pm start time. Some will treat it as a workout, others as a race, and some may do more afterward. But it looks like decent weather as the high tomorrow is supposed to reach 80 degrees. Hope to see many of you there.

We Got Him!

Just to make sure that, before this unforgettable day comes to an end, that everyone who reads this is aware that we got him.

RM Classic/Memorial 5k took place tonight under extremely humid conditions following another dose of rain this afternoon.  Twelve harriers - the Dirty Dozen - took to the track for the 7:00pm start, and twelve and a half laps later, 2010 Champion Dustin Meeker emerged victorious, successfully defending his title.  His time of 15:40.4 is a new track PR.  Shortly behind him came Tristram Thomas (15:49.3) who went on to do another 5k right after the main event, running just under 17 minutes (with the help of some friends).  Conrad Laskowski, who ran 20 miles yesterday and drove straight to the track from NJ, rounded out the podium, running a season best 15:52.1.  Ed Aramayo had a rough Friday night/Saturday, and was unsure of his ability to run tonight.  He didn't want to commit to racing, but he knew once he was out there he would likely get caught up in the emotion of the event.  He ran valiantly, finishing 4th in 16:08.6. 

Arjun Majumdar, hot off his 16:51 at last week's Kentlands, had a furiously fast finish, running the last 200m in 30 seconds, and blazing past Seth to claim 5th in 16:28.9.  This is the fastest he has covered the distance since he's lived here (confirmed: 16:29 at Bay Cafe 2007).  It was a great race for Arjun.  It was also a great race for Seth Tibbitts, who posted an all-time personal best 16:35.3.  Finding his legs after a lackluster TNT workout this past week was Dave Berardi, who at 51 years young ran a 17:27.0. 

Two weeks off our Ironman, Mike Mashner and I traded positions throughout the race, never straying more than a few meters from one another.  I had a small gap in the last lap that Mike brought back, and we cross the line at the same time, with RM being credited with the "win" at 17:47.0 to Mike's 17:47.1.  For me it was about the same time I ran at BRRC Meet #3 a few weeks ago, so I was pleased, and Mike was happy as he hasn't run too much since IM. 

Joel Gladfelter is our streakholder as he is the only person who has done all 3 RM 5k events.  He has improved each year - this year he ran 18:28.1 (full 5 second track PB).  Alex Viana was a last minute post, but came out and ran and for that we respect him.  He did the inaugural RM Memorial and ran 19:39.  On this day, on probably less running and maybe even less overall fitness, he blazed that, running 19:20.9.  And last, but by no means not least, was Meg McNew.  Meg ran the Parks Half Marathon this morning in a season best 1:27:06.  With 17 miles already in her legs, she came up to the track to watch, but then got roped into running because we had no ladies competing.  She thought she would run 30 minutes.  Nope.  Not even close.  She and Alex ran most of the way together before his ego kicked in, and she finished up at 19:26.6.  Incredible stuff!

It was a great race and a great event.  We sang the National Anthem (led by Melissa Majumdar) and paid homage to America.  Coach Amy Horst was the official timer, and Melissa was the official onomatopoeia-er (she made the "boom" sound for the start, as well as the bell lap).  Other terrific spectators and lap counters included Meg D, Christa Wagner, Uncle Pete and newcomer Liz Lawton, who is going to start running with us.  Thanks to everyone who came out and helped this event going for the third year.  Pound for pound it is the fastest race in Baltimore!

Back to the Future Part IV

Anything is Possible 5k

Has any seen or heard of this?  I thought it was a joke at first, but apparently it's real.  This race takes place at 2am on Sunday, November 6th, as we "fall back" to 1am for Daylight Savings Time.  I think it's a pretty neat concept, original and unique! 

As a reminder, don't forget about tomorrow evening's RM Classic 5k.  It looks like we'll have decent weather and a good turnout.  Friends and family are welcome, if there is interest we can even hold a fun run 1 mile on the track prior to the start of the 5k.  Remember, this is a very important race as it will raise money and awareness. 

This is an open invite - anyone who reads this blog is welcome to come!  If you want to RSVP, email me at runbaltimore@gmail.com

RM Classic 5k - Sunday @ 6:45pm

Apparently this rain is never going to stop.  They should rename it Tropical Storm Puff Daddy (can't stop, won't stop).  Projections have rain until Sunday or even Monday.  Which is terrible. 

However, we will continue as planned with the 3rd Annual RM Classic (actually, 2nd annual Classic I suppose, the first year was Memorial), on Sunday evening at Gilman.  Due to a few people's schedules, we have set the time for a later-in-the-day 6:45pm start.  We'll be up there early to warmup.  Preliminarily it looks like we'll just have one heat. 

What: RM Classic 5k
When: Sunday, September 11th, 6:45pm
Where: Gilman School
Why: To raise money and awareness

Since it is a national day of remembrance, we will do some special things to honor America as well.

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.

Larry Noel Greenbelt 15k

I mentioned this at FHR last night, but wanted to put something on the blog about it.  Here are the details:

What: Larry Noel Greenbelt 15k
When: Sunday, September 4, 5:00pm (yes, evening)
Where: USDA Ag Center, Greenbelt, MD (next to College Park)

This race has been around for a while, and the roads are great to run on.  In speaking with Garrett about the event, proceeds from the race will go to the Girls Gotta Run Foundation, a non-profit organization that he is involved with.  They provide support for impoverished Ethiopian girls training to become runners.  Garrett is closely connected with this organization and has let me know that if they don't reach 100 pre-registered runners by Monday, August 22 (next Monday) the race is in danger of being canceled. 

I realize the event is on the Sunday night of Labor Day weekend, but if you're going to be in town, I encourage you to consider it.  Registration is relatively inexpensive for the distance ($30), and you can quite easily make it into your weekend long run. 

In other race news, Tristram received a message from the McDaniel College XC coach about their September 10th home invitational.  They have a 5k event as well as a 3k event.  Registration is just $5.  You'll get to go head to head with some college runners, and it's a pretty fun event.  Doug Ripley usually does it as he went to school there I think. 

And finally, in trying to plan the RM Classic, the date we have been targeting is Sunday, September 11th.  A few people have inquired as to the time of day that this race may be run.  Do we go with a morning race, or a twilight one?  Then the discussion came up yesterday about possibly putting it on September 10th (the Saturday) and doing it as a twilight race.  This would enable people to do things afterward, and still get their long run in on Sunday.  So, if you have any input (if you plan on running it), post in the comments or email me.

RM Classic 5k

The RM Classic 5k was held tonight, in lieu of the normal TNT workout. A larger than expected group of 9 competitors toed the line in the dark for the start of the twelve and a half lap race. Brisk, fall conditions were not great for spectating, but seemed to be good for racing. Temperature was in the mid 40s and there was no wind. Barf got out to an early lead, coming through 800m in 2:33, with a trailing pack of Dustin, Alex B, Mike Prada, Pat and Seth. Joel kept pressing, thinking he could maybe get under 5 for the first mile, but ultimately his body shut down and he came through just ahead of the pack in 5:23 or so.

Joel stayed out front for another lap, but Dustin led the charge and the group ran right through him. The peloton had come through 1600m in nearly 5:30, which was slow given the firepower in the group. Dustin was doing what seemed like the lion's share of the work on the front, setting a great tempo and leading the group through 3200m in 10:50. With two laps to go Dustin started cracking the whip. He broke away from the group, with Alex in hot pursuit. He ultimately held off the fast charging Alex and powered through the line in 16:38, with Alex right behind in 16:40.

In the battle for 3rd and 4th, Pat and Mike had run together most of the race, with Pat holding a small advantage going into the bell lap. Mike, however, used that old college speed to drop a 69 last lap and finish up at 16:47. Pat, meanwhile, ran a PR at 16:52 - 2 seconds faster than his Shamrock 5k time from earlier this year. Great job negative splitting, maybe that's the key!

Seth came through in 5th at 17:15, which he said is a post-high school PR. Jared Jaskot's best coming into the race was 19:30, so his 18:21 was a HUGE PR. Barf eventually finished up at 18:32. What's great about this performance is that he just raced on Saturday, and was only 30 seconds slower today despite running like a clown at the beginning.

In the competitive ladies' division, Diane grabbed the early lead over Denise and held it to the line. She came through 1600m in about 5:50, and for a second we thought maybe she'd take a stab at sub 18. She got stuck in no woman's land, though, and fought tough on her own, splitting 3200m in just about 12:00 and then finally finishing at 18:37. She's run 18:12 this year for 5k, but at last year's RM Memorial, she ran 19:12 or something. Denise, meanwhile, coming off a long layoff, ran a solid, even 19:27.

So 9 racers, nobody over 20, 4 under 17, some PRs - totally awesome.

The RM Memorial 5k was first held on September 12, 2009. A hearty group of athletes showed up at Goucher College's track on a moist Saturday morning. GRCers Karl Dusen and Mike Smith showed up, running some very fast times alongside Seattle-based Dentite, Kyle Smits, and Winchestertonville-based Ben Ingram. This year's event took a back seat to most of the big fall races, and as a result was thrown together fairly last minute, mostly to ensure we didn't break the chain. Next year's event will be planned with more time.