WE JUST CRAZY AND RICH

It was a quiet weekend on the racing front, but there were a few performances worth mentioning. On Saturday, in Susquehanna State Park, our ultra duo, Caroline Bauer and Keith Levasseur, participated in the 24th Annual HAT 50k. I suspect they were both using this race as a long training run for Boston in 3 weeks. Caroline battled through the sub-par conditions and stream crossing for a 9th place finish in 5:39:15 while Keith took 7th on the men's side in 4:24:56.

On the race, Caroline wrote: 'The race went pretty well, it was a muddy day but thankfully the rain stopped right as we were lining up at the start line and didn't start back up again until we were driving home. Keith and I both took falls and ended up with pretty bloody knees. There were a few major climbs and descents which will hopefully only get me ready for Boston!!'

In Ellicott City, a few team members raced in the 2nd Annual Northfield Roadrunner 5k. The course was said to be quite hilly, particularly the first mile or so. Andrew Madison ran with the lead pack for the first half of the race then ran away from Mike Colaiacovo to win in 16:41 and $200. Mike took second in 16:47. Jason Tripp, who received props during the awards ceremony for being in the middle of Boston training, ran a modest 18:33 for 8th. Little did the race director know he is just getting old and slow!!! On the women's side, Robyn Humphrey ran a solid race in 19:55 for 2nd overall and $150. Megan Digregorio and Sara Breedlove from Falls Road stumbled over county lines to grab 1st and 3rd, respectively.

Finally, John Chall ran the Dancel Family YMCA 5k on Sunday and crossed the finish line in 18:58, good for 1st in his age group.

Next weekend will be busy as just about everyone (except the wounded) take part in the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler. Can't wait to report on the fast times!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Spring...

It was a busy weekend of racing that had a spring-like feel to it. It started off in our Nation's Capital, as a few racing team members competed in the Rock 'N Roll National Marathon/Half. Caroline Bauer continued her PR crushing 2012 campaign with a 1:28:55 in the half, good for 26th place! I know from experience this course isn't as flat as advertised. She is definitely going to be in sub-3:10 shape as she toes the starting line in Hopkinton in less than a month! Meanwhile, Keith Levasseur still coming back from injury hopped into the marathon like it was nothing and ran 2:54:27 for 21st place on the men's side as he begins to set his sights on a big PR in Boston.

Also Saturday morning, our Captain, Carlos Renjifo, and Kevin Ford took part in the 2nd Annual Forget Towson Invitational at UMBC. This low key track meet consisted of a 3k and 4x800m relay with several members of the Georgetown Running Company and Falls Road racing teams. In the 3k, Carlos hung with the big dogs from DC and ran a 20+ second PR with an 8:46.68 for 4th place while Kevin ran a smart, even race in 9:39.35. Carlos then ran a 2:03 split in the 4x800. BEAST!!!

Finally, Phil Lang ran the Germantown, TN half while in Memphis for the Annual RRCA Convention in 1:22:03 for 13th overall and 4th in the M40-44 age group!

Great start to the spring season!!!

Striders represent at Shamrock 5k

On a spring-like afternoon in Charm City, several members of the Striders Racing Team came out with hopes of a PR. As I stood with Issel just around the final turn near the finish line, I wondered who would shoot around the corner first. It was none other than the team captain, Carlos Renjifo, as he powered past a solid Falls Road pack in the last mile to win the race with a new PR in 15:04. Soon after, it was nonstop cheer time as several Striders came cruising in. Most notably, Seth Geoghegan kept his amazing 2012 campaign going with a 15 second PR of 16:20. Pat Wilkerson crushed her goal of sub 20 minutes with an incredible time of 19:38 and took home the women's masters title. She is getting faster with age! This race indicates that many are going to run very well at Cherry Blossom in a few weeks. A summary of the results are as follows:

Place Div/Tot Name S Ag Hometown Gun T Net T Pace
===== ======== ======================= = == ================ =====
1 1/317 Carlos Renjifo (PR) M 29 Columbia MD 15:05 15:04 4:51
13 7/530 Seth Geoghegan (PR) M 32 Columbia MD 16:22 16:21 5:16
14 6/317 Andrew Madison M 23 Baltimore MD 16:30 16:28 5:18
21 9/317 Craig Lebro M 26 Columbia MD 17:02 16:59 5:28
22 11/530 Keith Levasseur M 33 Columbia MD 17:10 17:08 5:31
25 14/530 Jason Tripp M 39 Ellicott City MD 17:14 17:12 5:32
31 3/253 Phil Lang M 44 Columbia MD 17:32 17:29 5:38
60 2/129 John Chall M 54 Crownsville MD 18:39 18:36 5:59
69 2/69 Bobby Gessler M 55 Ellicott City MD 19:02 19:00 6:07


79 1/146 Pat Wilkerson F 53 Columbia MD 19:40 19:38 6:19
111 1/321 Vicki Lang F 43 Columbia MD 20:26 20:21 6:33
175 8/968 Grace Tran F 34 Columbia MD 21:35 21:31 6:56

Great job everyone!!!

Full Results can be viewed here: http://charmcityrun.com/content/results/shamrock12.htm
Pictures from the race, courtesy of: Charm City, HCS
Videos of the race, courtesy of : Falls Rd, HCS

Post Race: All Smiles!