No More Cloudy Days

SWEEP was the name of the game this weekend as we saw 7 team members cross the line first, with a slew of their compatriots filing in behind them.

First on Saturday, Kris Simms ran the Marian House 5k. You remember this one - it's the race where Arjun contested an all-out, balls-out sprint with a competitor that time. Kris finished 2nd and ran 19:27. He was hoping I didn't see the result, but as I figured the race had to be long, he suggested that it was in fact quite more than 5k. Down in Glen Burnie, Terry Decker finished 2nd in the GBIA 5k, winning some cool prizes.

Terence Baptiste ran the Akron Half Marathon, finishing 25th in 1:19:31. I asked him where that speed came from and he said it was from our run at Patapsco from back during the summer.

Then it was onto Sunday, where TWSSers put on many free clinics. Starting on the NCR Trail with the NCR Half Marathon, where the trio of Phil Turner, Dustin Meeker and Nate Brigham ran together the entire way before Dusty and Nate left the door open for Phil to take the win (to complement his 2+ minute PR) in 1:13:27. Dusty was 2nd in 1:13:28 and Nate took the 3rd spot in 1:13:29. Steve Febish was using the race as a wave run, so while he surely had to be running by himself most of the way, he nailed the workout and finished 4th in 1:17:37. Melissa Tanner took the top spot for the women in 1:25:47. Bob Villanueva, just a week removed from his great Chesapeakeman Aquabike, finished in 1:33:11.

Heading down to Mt. Washington, it was time for the Race for Our Kids 10k. It's one of the more challenging races out there, with a serious uphill last mile +, but the weather could not have been better. Just a few years ago this race was at the end of June, and I literally saw someone wilt (Kris and I had to catch her before she fell. That girl went onto compete at the 2012 US Olympic Marathon Trials). Dave Berdan made a return to racing with a 32:10 4th place effort. About 3/4 of a mile back, but in 5th place overall, was Chrissie Ramsey, who easily won the women's race in 36:36 - making it one of her fastest times ever. Dave Berardi came in at 37:15 for 8th, and then it was Megan DiGregorio in 2nd at 38:09, just off her personal best, and then Meg McNew in 39:25, again not far off her best time. Denise Knickman completed the ladies' sweep in 41:17.

Moving further down the road it was the Falls Road 15k, now renamed the Pacemaker Prep 15k I guess. Newcomer David Cobb, fresh off his 17:42 at the RM Classic, crossed the line first in 56:33. He said he runs that route nearly every day, albeit with a baby stroller, and hasn't felt that light in months. Great job David! PJ Anderer took 3rd in 1:01:33. The race for the women's victory was much closer, with Sara Damiano making a strong move in the back half of the race to pass Jen Sheely, taking the win in a PR of 1:09:11 to Jen's 1:09:39.

Attached to the 15k was also the Hilson Hustle 5k, named after Bob Hilson in honor of his birthday. Cory Donovan, in his final Chicago prep, took the win in 19:15, and Josey Mintel was 3rd overall and first lady in 20:13. Lillian Pinault finished 4th in 22:12.

With so many terrific performances on a weekend I forgot even had any races, it was a tough week for the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week. 7 winners, numerous PRs, but the most impressive to me this week was Sara Damiano!

Receiving the KC Masterpiece Award this week are Dustin and Nate for displaying great team/sportsmanship.

Falls Road 15k - Sunday 9/29

Looking for a low-key race tune-up race this weekend? Check out the Falls Road 15k. It's on Sunday, 7:30am so you can be done and home well before the Orioles regular season finale against the Red Sox. It's at Druid Hill Park, so you could even run THERE, and then do the race.

If you're not up for running, but are available to help out, why not give back to the store that supports us and show up around 7am to be a course marshal, help with registration, finish line, etc.

Other events going on this weekend:

Race for Our Kids 10k - the challenging race in Mt. Washington that has a decent prize purse, so I can bet I know where most of our mercs will be. www.raceforourkids.org.

The Hilton, Hustle & Hops 8k - an EVENING race on Saturday. 5pm in Catonsville. Registration is on www.runningmaryland.com. Fun cookout and beers post-race.

I Can Only Imagine

It was quite a busy weekend, with races near and far. It made for a great send-off for the month of September, and segue into the fall season.

Kicking things off locally were the Northsiders Nate and Emily Brigham, and Dustin Meeker, who ran the Catonsville Fall into Fitness 10k. Nate and Dusty basically held hands the whole time as they tempo'd their way to essentially a tie for first in 34:25. Emily, meanwhile, was competing in what is likely her first race in quite some time. She finished 3rd for the women in 45:22.

In the College Corner, Becky Parks finished 97th at the Charles Bowles Invitational (5k) in Oregon, running 19:47. The highlight of this one was Nick Symmonds firing the starting gun. Elsewhere in Oregon, Matt Jablonski got in his first XC race of the season, finishing 52nd in 25:09 at the Dellinger Invite at UO.

Terence Baptiste ran the Akron Half Marathon, finishing 24th in 1:18:53. Not a PR, he said, but his legs "felt like noodles" the last two miles. He did say, though, that he once again has the running bug, crediting his summer of running in Baltimore for getting him pumped to race again. He'll look for a flatter half to race this fall to keep the momentum rolling.

Sunday came and you can see how we did in the dedicated Falls Road 15k post below, so no need to rehash that one. But up in Corning, NY, a few took on the early fall favorite Wineglass Marathon and Half Marathon. Megan DiGregorio was pacing the 1:40 group in the half, and brought them through in 1:39:50. Pete Mulligan paced the 4 hour group in the marathon, and they hit 4:00:43. Marci Benda was actually racing and ran a 3:18:11. Then Pete let me know that something was messed up with the timing and it may not be completely sorted yet, so we'll have to follow how it shakes out.

Up in the Boogie Down, a few of our athletes took on the NYRR's cross country season opener at beautiful Van Cortlandt Park. The Henry Isola Cross Country Classic 4 miler saw only one runner finish ahead of Steve Febish and Ed Aramayo (be sure to click on the link to read the shout-out they received in the race recap!). Steve was 2nd in 22:37 with Ed in 3rd at 22:54. For the ladies, Ashley Campbell, who didn't plan on running, finished 5th in 27:32. Ashley wasn't going to run, but decided she may as well - but she didn't have any cash on her. The friendly NYRR let her run anyway! Thanks guys!

Lee DiPietro won the Notre Dame Prep Blazer Dash 5k, running 20:31, and looks to be in good shape ahead of the Baltimore Half in 11 days.

Our final racer of the weekend was Kevin McGrath, who spent what had to have been the hottest, most humid summer he's ever endured here in Baltimore. Back in NJ, he ran the Jersey Shore Half Marathon, and, well, didn't have a great day, but he got through it and is still on track for running his first marathon at NYC in a few weeks.

Our Purple Drink Athlete of the Week went to Sara Damiano - I believer her first ever!

Last night on The Runaround we chatted with Pat Price of the blog Writing About Running as well as Olympian Khadevis Robinson, president of the Track and Field Athletes Association. The topic was the movement to form an athletes' union for the sport. It was a great conversation, so if you missed it, listen in! In the last segment, we also gave shouts to Johns Hopkins women's XC team on their great finish at Paul Short, and a nod to Ultra Race of Champions winners Max King and Ellie Greenwood, who won the UROC 100k put on by Bad to the Bone Endurance.

Falls Road 15k 2012 Results

It was a beautiful day for the Falls Road 15k at Druid Hill Park, with cool temperatures, blue skies, and a slight breeze. Somehow this is the first year I've been to this race, I think it started the year I got hurt and then I've had my own races to compete in the past two years. The Falls Road Running store put on another great event at the park, with 180 finishers. Your top three men were:

1. Keith Levasseur (54:50)
2. John Blum (58:19)
3. Maurice Pointer (58:29)

Jon Miller ran well to finish 9th in 1:03:29, and PJ Anderer shaved 4 minutes off his 2011 time, running 1:04:14.

The top three ladies were:

1. Meg McNew (1:01:30)
2. Diane Heiser (1:03:17)
3. Christine Kim (1:07:23)

Both Meg and Diane ran UP to Druid Hill Park, Meg covering at least 6 miles before the 9.3 mile race, and looked strong into the finish as she won easily in a pace just below 6:40 per mile. Sara Damiano finished 12th for women in 1:10:21, a 2 minute improvement from 2011.

Thanks to Jim, Karen, Dan, Eric, Stacie, and of course our great volunteers Dan Miranda, Denise Knickman, and Eileen Fleck, for their efforts today.

Results can be found here.

I Believe I Can Fly

Under normal circumstances, comparing Pete Mulligan to Michael Jordan would be ludicrous, unless we were talking about the Michael Jordan that played minor league baseball for the Chicago White Sox.  But what Pete accomplished on Sunday was akin to all of MJ's career highlights, rolled into one.  Pete shaved 27 minutes off his previous personal best in the marathon, an astronomical improvement, and in the process, achieved the new (and more difficult) qualifying standard for the Boston Marathon.  Pete's time of 3:24:15 put him inside the 3:25 time limit for his age group, so, with some good fortune, Pete will be on the line in April 2013. 

Pete at the Hon Run 2007

That performance was enough to earn Pete the Purple Drink Athlete of the Week, but it wasn't without some stiff competition.

Pete raced at the Wineglass Marathon in Corning, NY, a race known for its fast times and propensity for bestowing Boston Qualifying times upon its competitors.  A point-to-point, downhill race, this year's edition took place in wet, chilly conditions that seemed to be too much for some, but just right for others.  And apparently, the "others" were everyone that we run with.  Meg McNew's previous marathon best was a 3:17.  She lopped off 11 minutes, running 3:06:43 and finishing 8th among women. 

In the inaugural half marathon, Carly Page showed her fitness by not just winning the race, but doing it in style, and running a 6 minute PR (1:25:48).  I mistakenly cited her position on the Top Ten All Time list, supplanting Meg McNew's best, but was corrected and I apologize to both of them for the error! 

Terry Decker also competed in the half, but was a little disappointed with his result - a 1:29.  He felt he was better than that effort, and I think so too, so I hope he can get on track for his upcoming marathon.  His fiance, Molly Eagen, ran her first marathon and went 4:23, which is a great debut time.

Also earning wins this weekend were Arjun Majumdar and New Becky Parks, in two lowkey, local 5k's.  Arjun ran the Marian House 5k on Saturday at Lake Montebello.  The awful idea of having a two loop course led to Arjun and his main competitor having to weave through walkers towards the end of the race while engaging in a sprint to the finish.  Mostly, our biggest question was who is this guy that is able to keep up with Arjun in the last 400m of a 5k?  Apparently his balls were exposed, too, which had to have been quite a sight.  In any event, it was hard to tell who was going to win but in the last few strides, Arjun got him, running a great 16:39 and earning his first W in a long, long time.  For NBP, who ran the not-accurately-timed-or-measured Sowebo Landmark 5k on Sunday, she of course won and was not pleased with the effort.  Or the shoddy organization.  But what did you expect, it's a race in Southwest Baltimore!

The Falls Road 15k was held on Sunday and thanks to everyone who helped out, even if some of you were "on the clock" for the store.  Alyssa Godesky finished 2nd among women behind soon-to-be-newcomer-to-the-group Kellen McGee.  Alyssa had to run before the race, and then was supposed to pick up the 2nd half of the race.  She tackled the hills of the course and ran a great time.  Just behind was PJ Anderer, and then Kelly Meier in 3rd.  In 6th was Sara Damiano, who joined us for track tonight.  Christine Trzcinski and Karen Menge rounded our our troupe of ladies who stormed the race. 

Lillian Pinault ran the Freedom's Run Half Marathon in 1:42:45, about 7 minutes faster than she was expecting, and Dan Miranda doubled in back-to-back half marathons, running a 1:18:43 in a 2nd place effort at a half marathon in New Hampshire on Saturday, before flying back Saturday night and running the half marathon leg of a half ironman on Sunday in Columbia (where he ran about 1:20).  Not a bad weekend!

Out in Oregon, Matty Blaze Jablonski was racing in his first ever big boy college race, the Bill Dellinger Invitational, an 8k cross country race at U of O.  Matt finished 41st in a stacked field (every race will be stacked for him from now on) in a great debut time of 24:45.  At another college xc race, the Paul Short Invite, on Friday, Tristram Thomas finished 122nd in 27:39.

Our final competitor this weekend was Ben Ingram, who was looking forward to competing in his first ever half ironman at the inaugural Poconos 70.3.  The only problem was the river they were using to stage the swim was surging, and at 14 feet, the park said the swim was a no-go.  So the race became a bike-run, with a 55 mile ride and 13.1 mile run, and competitors were to go off every couple of seconds.  Ben wrote up his race report on his blog, but basically in this type of race he is going to crush almost every time, and his result was a 3rd place AG finish, which earned him a spot to next year's IM 70.3 World Championship!  However, since he just registered for IM Wisconsin, which is the same day, he had to pass.  Must be nice to have that option! 

As mentioned in the email, in addition to our PDAW, we have two new awards that will be popping up from time to time:

The NOS Award goes to the athlete who punched it at just the right time, and this week it went to Arjun.

The AutoZone "In the Zone" Award goes to an athlete who seems to be hitting his or her stride, and this week it went to Carly Page.

Good turnout at the track tonight, it was obviously pitch black just after we started the workout, which is unfortunate but we'll just have to get used to it!  Also as I put in the email, the next few weeks we are going to start winding down.  For the most part, the few of you that have marathons this fall know what you're doing, and there are enough of you to keep working out together for a while.  For everyone else, I think you're mostly satisfied just getting in some quicker running, so the workouts will be fun.  Also, somehow Space Jam was already a label for me to use.

Miscellaneous

A few things before I forget:

1. My friend Celeste's all-female relay team for Baltimore is down a member.  If any of our ladies would like to run, please get in touch with me.  There would be no expectation of running fast, you would literally be able to run 8 minute pace and that would be fine.

2. One of our runners is unable to run the Marine Corps Marathon and is interested in transferring his bib.  If you are interested in this race (Sunday October 30), again, let me know and I'll hook you up.

3. Falls Road 15k is Sunday, 7:30am at Druid Hill Park.  Ed is taking care of the timing this week as I will be home in NJ.  So far Zero has agreed to help and I believe Alyssa may be helping after she is done running the race, but another set of paws would be of great benefit to Ed.  If anyone can help, holler at him.  Meeting point is Safety City (up top, basically where the mile 1 mark is for Celtic Solstice).