Howard County Striders Racing Team: Is it July already?!?!...Clyde's and Boston recap

This weekend was one of the busiest racing weekends of the year for us. On Sunday, we had a solid showing at the 34th Annual Clyde's 10k. The weather was quite nice, with the exception of the humidity. Carlos Renijifo, going for the first three-peat in Clyde's history, had a hard fought battle with Kyle Stanton and Falls Roads' Dustin Meeker. As the trio passed me near Mile 3, they were making it look easy. Kyle put in a push after hte 108 hill and Carlos didn't have enough in the tank to go with him. The chase pack was quite a sight to watch as well. Kent Werner, Seth Geoghegan, Kevin Ford, Peter Keating, and Craig Lebro were running together as they proceeded up Columbia Road to 108. Kent ended up edging out Seth by 16 seconds for a 4th place finish! However, Seth logged another PR. This makes a 5k, 10 mile, and 10k PR so far in 2012 for him! Also of note was the long awaited return of Steve Olenick to the racing scene. For those who don't know, Steve battled a mysterious knee injury after PRing in the 2010 Baltimore Marathon and was forced out of action for well over a year. Two surgeries later, he's back at it and I expect him to be in the racing team by the Fall!

In the women's race, Unsong Ostrowski ran away from the field early and won easily in 38:49. Allegedly, she doesn't enjoy racing because she gets nervous. Well, that's about to change as we are starting a non-stop stalking campaign to get her on the team. Kelly Westlake ran a great race for 2nd place in 39:48. Former rockstar, Pam Markley, who currently resides in Vicenza, Italy, made a stop in her old stomping grounds to edge out Robyn Humphrey for 3rd place. Pat Wilkerson cleaned house in the grandmaster division with a 41:26 and Janeth Scott, recently turned 50, broke 44 minutes (43:51) for 21st.

Here's a recap of the results:

Carlos Renjifo (2nd) 32:36
Kent Werner (4th) 34:22
Seth Geoghegan (5th) 34:38
Kevin Ford (6th) 34:46
Peter Keating (7th) 34:50
Craig Lebro (8th) 35:52
Steve Olenick (9th) 36:34
Jason Tripp (10th) 36:46
John Chall (31st) 39:19
Tunde Morakinyo (32nd) 39:21
Bobby Gessler (65th) 41:58

Unsong Ostrowski (1st) 38:49
Kelly Westlake (2nd) 39:48
Pam Markley (3rd) 40:08
Robyn Humphrey (4th) 40:10
Pat Wilkerson (7th) 41:23
Janeth Scott (21st) 43:51

Monday was the biggest racing day of the year (in my humble opinion)...the 116th Boston Marathon! What a difference a day makes. The morning low was in the low 60s and the humidity never dimished as the sun went down. To make matters worse, this race starts at 10am, meaning that even if you run a world record time, you'll have to do it during the hottest part of the day!

I received conflicting records about temperatures during the race. Conrad indicated that temperatures reached 90 degrees as he hit Mile 16. Caroline Bauer's recollection seemed a bit more realistic with mid 80s, but either way that's a good 30+ degrees warmer than anyone in their right mind would have wanted it! Conrad, who had been battling some injuries, which included taking a couple weeks off about a month or so ago, was shooting for a 2:44 and ran a fantastic race crossing the line in 2:50. Keith Levasseur ran solid race in 3:02. The fearless Phil Lang, running marathon #45, crushed Mother Nature and ran an amazing 3:10. Adam Wytko struggled with the heat, but was able to gut it out with a 3:29.

On the ladies side, we only had Caroline representing the team. She had been running her butt off this winter with 70-80 mile weeks, several MP runs, and two 50k's just for the hell of it. She was undoubtedly in 3:10 shape, but played it smart and didn't let her adrenaline get to her and just enjoyed the race (as much as one could) running a 3:31.

26.2 results:

Conrad Orloff (207th) 2:50:12
Shawn Young (537th) 3:00:56
Keith Levasseur (581st) 3:02:00
Phil Lang (993rd) 3:10:34
Adam Wytko (2640th) 3:29:48

Caroline Bauer (443rd) 3:31:22
Becky Ramsing (1776th) 3:53:06
Julie Thienel (1798th) 3:53:19
Lisa Fichman (2098th) 3:56:30
Janelle McIntyre (2186th) 3:57:36
Amanda Loudin (4252nd) 4:19:00

Incredible job by all, especially the Beantowners! Don't let this year deter you from doing this race again. When the weather is right, it's one of the best running experiences you can have!

Here's some pics from Clyde's: