Well hello Mr. Summer...nice to meet you

"Party in the summer and the heat is on..."  Name that artist

Saturday was certainly a scorcher.  It was in the mid-70s and humid as hell as the sun rose.  Unfortunately, The North Face Endurance Challenge races were kicking off.  In the 50k, Tunde participated in his first ultra and ran well given the subpar conditions, finishing in 5:44:44 for 43rd and 5th in his AG.  Caroline battled through the heat, telling me that the race was way harder than it should have been.  She crossed the line in 5:42:26 for 7th and 2nd in her AG.  Tiffany, also running her first ultra, took 3rd in her AG in 6:02:02.

To nobody's surprise, Keith ran the longest race offered...the 50 miler.  The course definitely had some good hills thrown in but he ran a solid time of 7:27:31, good for 7th overall and 2nd in his AG.

The postrace North Face gang...good day for Striders all around!

 Dave ran the Run for Hope - USATF Master's 8k Championships and clocked a 29:43 for 20th.  However, his team took top honors!

On Sunday, the racing conditions weren't much better, but it was one of the popular local races...the Bel Air Town Run.  Chris led the way for the men, running 18:33 for 26th and 2nd in his AG despite dealing with a stomach bug.  Weems and John had a friendly battle, with Weems taking it, 19:10 (39th) and 19:13 (40th), respectively for 2nd and 3rd in their AG.  Mick rocked his AG, running 19:55.  Dorothy had another day as well, winning her AG handily in 21:41.

Finally, though nobody treated it as a race, the Striders put on the 4.09mi Run Benefiting the Be Strong Stay Strong Fund.  All proceeds went to support two local runners that were severely injured in at the Boston Marathon, Erika Brannock and her sister, Nicole Gross.  Over 300 runners participated with several others donating money, raising $8,000 for the fund.  Runners doing what they love for a great cause!!!

The start of the 4.09mi run

The Brannock family nearing the finish line

The Summer is Definitely Here

With temperatures already soaring into the 90s in early June, there is no doubt that the summer is here.  Along with it have come some blazing fast times by our men and women.

At Damien's Run this past weekend, the line was filled with a number of "bounty hunters", aiming to score some prize money and potentially a $500 bonus for breaking the course records (Men - 14:32, Women - 16:37).  Both races saw the records broken, with finishing times of 14:23 (Abiyot Endale) and 16:35 (Teszata Desalage).

Behind the leaders, there was a strong contingent of Striders, with some outstanding performances:

-- Jeremy Rea, who has just recently begun to do track work again, ran a solid race (16:56, 6th).
-- In his first race as a master, Jason Tripp (17:33) began his winning streak with a convincing victory over fellow Strider master runner, Mike Colaiacovo (10th, 18:23)
-- Craig Lebro made it under the 18-minute barrier (17:53)
-- UnSong Ostrowski, suffered her first defeat of the year to a record-breaking winner, but still ran a very strong 18:46, good for 2nd
-- Kelly Westlake ran a great race, finishing less than 10 seconds behind UnSong (18:56) and taking the award for first female master.
-- Robyn had a tough day, but still managed to run a 19:27, which is nothing to frown at
-- John Chall and Dorothy Beckett took the grand master awards, with times of 19:01 and 22:08, respectively
-- Bobby Gessler finished 2nd in the grandmaster category (19:46)

Photos from the race are available here and full results are available on the Striders website.