If you're visiting this site, then you already know...
It's 2019, nobody uses this medium anymore.
Seriously, it just got to be a little more than I felt like managing, since I send out a big Monday email with results. Posting the same thing here felt unnecessarily redundant. So yes, our group is going strong, we just don't use the blog anymore. I'm going to try to update it a bit to make it look more recent.
The best way to get a hold of us is send an email to runbaltimore at gmail dot com.
We rely on Slack a little more these days for quick communication.
The team is still training and racing - check us out this weekend at the 20th anniversary of Celtic Solstice, and Club XC Champs in Bethlehem!
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Thursday, April 14, 2016
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.
Monday, January 4, 2016
Andy Weaver Qualifies for Olympic Trials
 |
| Andy gets to run a marathon next month (photo: Emily Gispert) |
One hour, four minutes and twenty-six seconds after he started, he crossed the line, leaving a friendly cushion between him and 1:05. He placed 10th overall, which is almost as amazing as the time, considering the depth of the field. In all, 27 men and 14 women made the Trials cut. It must have been an awesome sight to see so many runners coming down the finishing stretch, one after one, qualifying for LA.
Full Results
With this result, Andy demolished his own personal best and established a new team record, that I don't see getting taken out for quite some time (unless he does it himself).
He also gets to run a marathon next month now, joining Chrissie Ramsey as two team members who will be running the US Marathon Olympic Trials, held in Los Angeles on February 13th.
Naturally, Andy earned the first Purple Drink Athlete of the Week for 2016.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
BTTF 2 Miler
Where We're Going, We Don't Need Roads
October 21, 2015, 4:29pm: Hill Valley, California
Marty McFly arrives in the future to find things have gone horribly wrong because he left an almanac in the past and it fell into the hands of the evil Biff Tannen.
Tonight, in Baltimore, we will celebrate this momentous day in history by running 2 miles. We'll start in an empty parking lot, run around the stadium and up Ravens Walk, past the baseball stadium, and finish at the Bromo Seltzer clock tower (Save the Clock Tower).
In case you're wondering, here's the approximate route.
There will be a pre-race course run and briefing at 6:45pm at the corner of Ostend and Sharp. The race will commence precisely at 7:16pm to ensure that the finishers arrive at the clock tower by 7:29pm.
We are quite #blessed to have this Indian Summer weather tonight, it'll make things very pleasant.
Following the race, we'll adjourn to Pickle's Pub and talk about our favorite scenes from the Trilogy.
Don't get left behind!
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
That's Not My Name
Well, May came and went, and, outside of my overly lengthy Alumni Mile recap, I just didn't get around to getting weekly recaps posted. Now that we're into June it seems silly to try and do individual ones, so I'm just going to recap the weeks in this post.
The first weekend of May was indeed a busy one. Besides the renowned Alumni Mile, it's the traditional weekend for Broad Street up in Philly (fastest 10 mile course in the US) as well as Frederick Half, Flying Pig in Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh Marathon.
Over the years, Mike Mashner's nickname has caused some confusion. When Mike started running with us in 2007, we already had a few other Mikes, so we needed a way to distinguish them. We started calling Mike "New Mike" - which reminded us of New Coke, and then Coke Zero, and voila - we had Mike Zero. Or just Zero. Or simply Z. So no, his last name is not actually Zero. Mike has not finished an open marathon since Boston 2009, when he ran 2:55, which was a 7 minute PR at the time. Over the next few years his training focused primarily on Ironman, and in the past few years attempts at the distance were repelled by plaguing injuries. One year it was a DNF halfway into Philly Marathon; the next was a DNS. Heading into this year, with the Achilles/calf injury still nagging, Z made the switch to Hoka and - no joke - things started to get better. His weeks rarely exceed 40 miles, in fact many were under 30, but he's always done well in spite of lower volume. His 1:22:20ish half marathon tune-up in late March was enough to let him know he was ready for a marathon a month later. Tracking his progress during the race, his execution was fantastic. Splits were all incredibly consistent, and he ended up nearly even-splitting his way to a 2:45:39 for 31st overall. A huge PR and one of the best races we've ever seen! It was more than enough to earn him that week's Purple Drink Athlete of the Week.
In the not-too-distant-past, Broad Street was the shit. Point to point and net downhill, it's the site of the fastest 10 mile race ever run in the US. It is a huge participation race, but you used to be able to register the day before the race, entry fee was cheap, and it was a fun event. Then they decided they would put a cap on participants and that somehow caused the race to begin selling out. Entry fee increased. I think the organization just isn't as committed to bringing the same firepower as Cherry Blossom is, because winning times for the past few years have been in the 47s. I think the race was pretty stingy with their prize money, if I recall correctly. Anyway, still a fast race, and Nick Klastava ran a solid 57:12 (which may have suffered from a few second clock to chip discrepancy and actually been closer to 57:02). New Haven resident, Christy Ramsey, was 10th F in 57:31.
Out in Frederick, Dave Berdan finished 3rd in 1:10:37, while Nicole Wilson also finished 3rd in 1:23:58.
The following weekend was mostly a bunch of rinky dink races. But they randomly had money, and the Pecks exploited the shit out of them. First up was the Run For Their Lives 5k, where Graham Peck took top prize ahead of Chris Beck, and Kaylyn Peck took 2nd ahead of Justine DiGregorio in 3rd. Cha-ching. Then the Pecks drove the couple of miles across the valley for the St. John's Run in the Valley 5k, where Graham took 2nd to a foreign talent who somehow found out about this very small event, and Megan DiGregorio won ahead of Kaylyn. Dolla dolla bills y'all.
Dave Berdan was 5th at the Delaware Half Marathon in 1:13:52. But our PDAW this week went to Jeff Rumbaugh.
The third weekend in May also features a bunch of events, and we had a lot of folks racing. At the Brooklyn Half, Jason Farber ran a sizzling 1:14:08 and Terence Baptiste finished up at 1:19:26. Jeff Rumbaugh won the Firefighters 5k in Tampa, and took home an actual (heavy) fireman helmet as his prize.
Chrissie Ramsey came to town for the weekend and popped off an impressive 28:29 to win the Germantown 5 Miler on a hot and humid morning. On Sunday, Brian Benda ripped a 2:07:52 to finish 4th at the Columbia Triathlon. Suzanne Hurst put her triathlon legs back on and went faster than her previous Olympic distance best by 8 minutes. Conrad Laskowski and Amy Flashenberg competed in their first ever triathlon at Cascade Lake, while seasoned triathlon veteran Christa Wagner ran a faster run split than the overall winner. Graham and Meg D each came away with wins at the Dirty German 50k in Pennypack Park (PA). Graham kept his PR streak alive (has PR'd in a race every spring/fall since he was 12) which was particularly impressive given a) how warm it was that day and b) he was at a wedding on the Eastern Shore until well after midnight the night before.
That week's PDAW went to Brian Benda.
Then it was onto Memorial Day Weekend, and we couldn't have asked for nicer weather. Cool mornings with low humidity meant fast racing. Conrad and Dustin Meeker went 1-2 in the MCVETs 5k in 15:09/15:12, and Meg D led a string of Falls Road finishers with Amy Horst in 2nd, Justine in 4th and Christa in 5th. In the 10k, Graham took out another win while Nicole W also notched the victory. Also, the tunes at the finish were bumpin'.
Erik T. Orberg ran a PR 1:12:22 to finish 4th at the Buffalo Half Marathon, and in the marathon, Carly Page didn't have her best day, but still managed a 10th place 3:17:09.
Ben and Kendra Ingram ran Bolder Boulder 10k again on Memorial Day, and Sean Caskey and Steve Febish went 2-3 at the Special Ops 5k here in town. Our PDAW went to Erik this week.
Since May did have 5 weekends I'll do a separate post for this past weekend. Also, I'm pretty surprised I hadn't used this blog post title before, considering the song came out in 2006 I think.
The first weekend of May was indeed a busy one. Besides the renowned Alumni Mile, it's the traditional weekend for Broad Street up in Philly (fastest 10 mile course in the US) as well as Frederick Half, Flying Pig in Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh Marathon.
Over the years, Mike Mashner's nickname has caused some confusion. When Mike started running with us in 2007, we already had a few other Mikes, so we needed a way to distinguish them. We started calling Mike "New Mike" - which reminded us of New Coke, and then Coke Zero, and voila - we had Mike Zero. Or just Zero. Or simply Z. So no, his last name is not actually Zero. Mike has not finished an open marathon since Boston 2009, when he ran 2:55, which was a 7 minute PR at the time. Over the next few years his training focused primarily on Ironman, and in the past few years attempts at the distance were repelled by plaguing injuries. One year it was a DNF halfway into Philly Marathon; the next was a DNS. Heading into this year, with the Achilles/calf injury still nagging, Z made the switch to Hoka and - no joke - things started to get better. His weeks rarely exceed 40 miles, in fact many were under 30, but he's always done well in spite of lower volume. His 1:22:20ish half marathon tune-up in late March was enough to let him know he was ready for a marathon a month later. Tracking his progress during the race, his execution was fantastic. Splits were all incredibly consistent, and he ended up nearly even-splitting his way to a 2:45:39 for 31st overall. A huge PR and one of the best races we've ever seen! It was more than enough to earn him that week's Purple Drink Athlete of the Week.
In the not-too-distant-past, Broad Street was the shit. Point to point and net downhill, it's the site of the fastest 10 mile race ever run in the US. It is a huge participation race, but you used to be able to register the day before the race, entry fee was cheap, and it was a fun event. Then they decided they would put a cap on participants and that somehow caused the race to begin selling out. Entry fee increased. I think the organization just isn't as committed to bringing the same firepower as Cherry Blossom is, because winning times for the past few years have been in the 47s. I think the race was pretty stingy with their prize money, if I recall correctly. Anyway, still a fast race, and Nick Klastava ran a solid 57:12 (which may have suffered from a few second clock to chip discrepancy and actually been closer to 57:02). New Haven resident, Christy Ramsey, was 10th F in 57:31.
Out in Frederick, Dave Berdan finished 3rd in 1:10:37, while Nicole Wilson also finished 3rd in 1:23:58.
The following weekend was mostly a bunch of rinky dink races. But they randomly had money, and the Pecks exploited the shit out of them. First up was the Run For Their Lives 5k, where Graham Peck took top prize ahead of Chris Beck, and Kaylyn Peck took 2nd ahead of Justine DiGregorio in 3rd. Cha-ching. Then the Pecks drove the couple of miles across the valley for the St. John's Run in the Valley 5k, where Graham took 2nd to a foreign talent who somehow found out about this very small event, and Megan DiGregorio won ahead of Kaylyn. Dolla dolla bills y'all.
Dave Berdan was 5th at the Delaware Half Marathon in 1:13:52. But our PDAW this week went to Jeff Rumbaugh.
The third weekend in May also features a bunch of events, and we had a lot of folks racing. At the Brooklyn Half, Jason Farber ran a sizzling 1:14:08 and Terence Baptiste finished up at 1:19:26. Jeff Rumbaugh won the Firefighters 5k in Tampa, and took home an actual (heavy) fireman helmet as his prize.
Chrissie Ramsey came to town for the weekend and popped off an impressive 28:29 to win the Germantown 5 Miler on a hot and humid morning. On Sunday, Brian Benda ripped a 2:07:52 to finish 4th at the Columbia Triathlon. Suzanne Hurst put her triathlon legs back on and went faster than her previous Olympic distance best by 8 minutes. Conrad Laskowski and Amy Flashenberg competed in their first ever triathlon at Cascade Lake, while seasoned triathlon veteran Christa Wagner ran a faster run split than the overall winner. Graham and Meg D each came away with wins at the Dirty German 50k in Pennypack Park (PA). Graham kept his PR streak alive (has PR'd in a race every spring/fall since he was 12) which was particularly impressive given a) how warm it was that day and b) he was at a wedding on the Eastern Shore until well after midnight the night before.
That week's PDAW went to Brian Benda.
Then it was onto Memorial Day Weekend, and we couldn't have asked for nicer weather. Cool mornings with low humidity meant fast racing. Conrad and Dustin Meeker went 1-2 in the MCVETs 5k in 15:09/15:12, and Meg D led a string of Falls Road finishers with Amy Horst in 2nd, Justine in 4th and Christa in 5th. In the 10k, Graham took out another win while Nicole W also notched the victory. Also, the tunes at the finish were bumpin'.
Erik T. Orberg ran a PR 1:12:22 to finish 4th at the Buffalo Half Marathon, and in the marathon, Carly Page didn't have her best day, but still managed a 10th place 3:17:09.
Ben and Kendra Ingram ran Bolder Boulder 10k again on Memorial Day, and Sean Caskey and Steve Febish went 2-3 at the Special Ops 5k here in town. Our PDAW went to Erik this week.
Since May did have 5 weekends I'll do a separate post for this past weekend. Also, I'm pretty surprised I hadn't used this blog post title before, considering the song came out in 2006 I think.
Friday, May 22, 2015
Thursday Night Run - Change of Location
Hi Folks
For the past several months I've been having a Thursday night run from the World Trade Center at 6:30. A variety of people have stopped by to join and that's great. Since it's now light much later, the temps are getting much warmer, and the Inner Harbor is packed with annoying tourists I'm moving the location to the trails of Robert E Lee park for the Summer. The plan is to meet at Falls Road at the same 6:30 time (traffic up 83 should be getting lighter soon for the summer break). This will also tie in with the periodic Thursday night runs that the store has been putting on lately.
PJ
For the past several months I've been having a Thursday night run from the World Trade Center at 6:30. A variety of people have stopped by to join and that's great. Since it's now light much later, the temps are getting much warmer, and the Inner Harbor is packed with annoying tourists I'm moving the location to the trails of Robert E Lee park for the Summer. The plan is to meet at Falls Road at the same 6:30 time (traffic up 83 should be getting lighter soon for the summer break). This will also tie in with the periodic Thursday night runs that the store has been putting on lately.
PJ
Friday, May 8, 2015
Alumni Mile 2k15
Friday, May 1 - Since 2009 one of the marquee events on the spring racing calendar has been the Alumni Mile, held as part of the Terp Twilight Meet in College Park. This year's event coincided with one of the most celebrated days - We Got Him Day.
For the few of us Maryland Track alums, it's a fun reason to get together with the old squad, and a chance to take a crack at a track mile. Overcast and cool conditions all day made for a chilly evening for spectators, but good racing conditions for the 8pm start.
Conrad Laskowski has won this event a few times, which is particularly impressive considering he had only graduated 2 years before the meet was created. Personally I've been all over the board here: some years average, a few years really slow, one year pretty fast. Some of the other staples include Tom Stott and Denise Knickman.
A big field lined up and in the first lap, Tom raced to the early lead. By lap 2, Conrad and Andy Sovonick had made their way to the front, and Conrad built a gap that he would never relinquish. He won his 3rd Alumni Mile in 4:59, with Andy in 2nd at 5:15 maybe. Coach Danielle sat for 3 laps before hitting her NOS button, leaving me in her dust and then blazing by Tom with 250 to go. Tom settled for 4th in 5:25ish, and I came through at 5:33, a second slower than last year. Denise came in around 6:15 I think.
Athletes from Georgetown Running Club were there competing in the actual meet, and had some good performances as well. One of the highlights was watching a girl from Georgetown (Univ) trying to run 16 minutes in the 5000m. She had 3 pacers but with a couple laps left was all alone, working so hard before ultimately fading in the last 800m to finish around 16:15 maybe. Still, it was impressive.
I always enjoy running around campus and through College Park, and I love supporting the team and catching up with old teammates. Thanks to Patty Stott for being our cheerleader/videographer. You can watch the full video of the race below:
For the few of us Maryland Track alums, it's a fun reason to get together with the old squad, and a chance to take a crack at a track mile. Overcast and cool conditions all day made for a chilly evening for spectators, but good racing conditions for the 8pm start.
Conrad Laskowski has won this event a few times, which is particularly impressive considering he had only graduated 2 years before the meet was created. Personally I've been all over the board here: some years average, a few years really slow, one year pretty fast. Some of the other staples include Tom Stott and Denise Knickman.
A big field lined up and in the first lap, Tom raced to the early lead. By lap 2, Conrad and Andy Sovonick had made their way to the front, and Conrad built a gap that he would never relinquish. He won his 3rd Alumni Mile in 4:59, with Andy in 2nd at 5:15 maybe. Coach Danielle sat for 3 laps before hitting her NOS button, leaving me in her dust and then blazing by Tom with 250 to go. Tom settled for 4th in 5:25ish, and I came through at 5:33, a second slower than last year. Denise came in around 6:15 I think.
Athletes from Georgetown Running Club were there competing in the actual meet, and had some good performances as well. One of the highlights was watching a girl from Georgetown (Univ) trying to run 16 minutes in the 5000m. She had 3 pacers but with a couple laps left was all alone, working so hard before ultimately fading in the last 800m to finish around 16:15 maybe. Still, it was impressive.
I always enjoy running around campus and through College Park, and I love supporting the team and catching up with old teammates. Thanks to Patty Stott for being our cheerleader/videographer. You can watch the full video of the race below:
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