Why Ragnar when you can B-more?

Only a couple weeks behind once again...

Rewinding back to the first weekend of the month, we sent a group to take on Ragnar DC, an overnight relay from Cumberland to National Harbor.  he team consists of 12 runners, each running three designated legs.  The team is split into two vans, and the entire team only meets at major exchange points and the finish line.  This year was a bit different in that the Government shutdown closed three of the final six legs (legs 31, 32, 35).  This made the race roughly 186 miles total and the three cancelled legs had to double up and run with legs 33, 34, and 36.  Driving time to skip the cancelled legs was subtracted from the overall time since nobody was running on the course.

The Run4Beer team consisted of: David Horrocks, Emily Drew, Mick Slonaker, Yasuo Oda, Tiffany Hevner, Michael Mbugi, Jessica Ivy, Jack Ivy, Jorge Renjifo, Mark Buschman, Kendra Smith, and Ed Reynolds.  While I'll spare all of the details, we started with the last wave of teams at 2pm, only five started then.  During leg 7, Jorge's first, a sign was moved on the course that sent him and two other runners way off course.  He ended up running 5 extra miles and we were in dead last.  However, we fought over way back and ended up taking second overall with a time of 22:13:30.  The runners in Van 2 spent their first two legs running in the pitch black darkness along the C&O canal and rural roads outside of Frederick.  By the time we reached the final leg of the race, it was in the low 80s and very humid.  Crossing the finish line as a team was an experience, but we were then limited to two large pizzas (split by 12 people) and one cheap can of beer post-race.  Overall a fun experience but the race management left more to be desired.

Here's a few photos documenting the journey:

Van 1 before driving to the start

The ladies

Some the guys barely staying awake

Mark and Jess after crossing the finish line

Team photo at the finish line

 And here's a video courtesy of Yasuo:

Fast forwarding to last weekend, it was finally time for the Baltimore Running Festival.  We had several people running the various events.  Let's start in the Marathon.  Dave Berdan took the overall crown, winning in 2:30, eight minutes ahead of second place.  He is an absolute beast and did Corrigan Sports a favor but agreeing to still run a race with no prize money.  On the men's side, Nick had a tremendous performance, finishing 6th in 2:49:21.  Right behind him was Kent, who allegedly slept until nearly 7am and barely made the starting line.  His training is so erratic juggling four kids and long shifts at the hospital, but he still manages to get it done; 2:49:24 for 7th.  Jason had cramping issues but still ran a BQ (though slower than his qualifying time) in 3:03:47 for 35th.  Kevin also had major cramping issues, having to come to a complete stop at mile 26 and walk backwards across the finish line.  It was amazing to watch the determination he showed to finish the race.  Sometimes time isn't the most important thing, it's the effort exerted.  He clocked a 3:05:10 and will have redemption at Boston...I'll bet that!

In the ladies race, Julia, who only runs 3-4x per week, led the race for 22 miles before running into cramping issues herself, but ran 3:00:30 for a 5 minute PR and 2nd overall!!!  I'm telling you this woman could run an Olympic Trials qualifying time if she could put in a year of solid training!

In the Carefirst Half, Maurice led the way, crushing his AG per the usual, running 1:22:36.  John was 2nd in the AG, running 1:28:08.  Robyn had a solid run on the tough course, crossing the line in 1:31:36 for 2nd in her AG.

Finally, in the Team Relay, we had a men's, women's, and Master men's squad.  The team of Mark, Carlos, Tim Burns, and Izzy solidified 2nd place in a course best of 2:22:35 behind Falls Road who broke 2:20 for the first time in race history for the relay.  The HCS/BWAC Master's team of Chris, Dave, Peter, and Steve Kartalia showed age doesn't matter, finishing 4th in 2:32:34.  The ladies team of Caroline, Emily, Suzy, ad Jessica crushed 3 hours, finishing 2nd in 2:54:29 for a new team course in the relay.

Julia was all smiles after her 2nd place marathon finish

Pre-race group shot

Start of the Marathon and Team Relay