Spring 2016's weather so far has proven volatile. About a week before the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run in DC it was apparent that we were in for a cold, windy race morning. With steady winds at 20+ mph and gusts up to 40mph, the going was definitely tough in several sections of the race. Competitors experienced some of the worst winds in the final two miles while making their way back from Hains Point.
Despite the sub-optimal weather conditions, many Striders came out to throw down impressive performances against stiff competition.
Team Competition:
Julia Roman-Duval (95th overall - 58:30) and Caroline Bauer (117th overall - 59:25) led the Striders women with crazy sub-hour performances. Beth Hannon (64:18), Alex Wang (64:18), Tiffany Hevner (69:04) rounded out this impressive team. Somehow they were the only open ladies team, so they won! With performances like these it's likely they would have run away with the victory anyway.
Carlos Renjifo lead the men in with his 26th place finish in a time of 53:14. The Striders men stacked up three more runners in 54th (Kevin Ford - 56:11), 63rd (Eric Schuler - 57:10), and 64th (Ryan Bull - 57:13). The unofficial results have this group in second place!
Additional Notes/PRs: Julia and Caroline were the 4th and 5th American women across the line, respectively, and both achieved PRs.
Beth Hannon and Mark Loeffler both achieved PRs, running 58:42 and 64:18, respectively.
We've finally made it to March! This warmer weather couldn't come a moment too soon. Hats off to our runners who braved record-breaking cold temperatures and snowy/icy conditions (or terminally boring treadmills) this winter to keep their spring racing goals alive.
The RRCA Ten Mile Challenge was postponed due to weather conditions and may (or may not) be rescheduled in the coming months. But don't let that get you down, there are still some awesome races (and nicer racing conditions) coming soon. The Boston Marathon is just around the corner and Clyde's 10k, the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race and many more are coming up even sooner.
Some Striders did manage to get a race (or three) in last month. Here's the rundown:
Nick Grossi and John Chall entered the Penguin Pace 5k, running 18:43 for 4th and 20:19 for 9th overall, respectively.
One week later Nick entered another 5k and bettered his previous time, running 18:01 for 22nd place at the Love the Run You're With 5k. He was joined by Linda Lou O'Connor who ran 20:40 for 14th (she also won her age group!).
Less than a week after that, the flurry of 5k performances continued, with Linda Lou and Mark Eagles running 20:51 for 4th and 17:53 for 6th, respectively.
Kevin Ford made a trip out to Pasadena, CA to visit family and ran the Race on the Base 10k in 34:01 (a PR), coming in 1st. On the same day, Mark Eagles ran the Sykesville Shiver Shuffle 5k in 18:33 for 3rd while Carlos Renjifo destroyed the Color Your Heart 5k, running 16:01 for 1st by a sizable margin.
Though Spring seems like an eternity away, it will be here before you know it. There are two big races that require action very soon if you want to run them:
1.) Sunday, March 16, 2013 - Shamrock 5k - Baltimore This is simply the fastest 5k (other than on a track) you will find in this area. The first mile is 90% downhill then it's flat the rest of the way. An added bonus is the race starts at 1:15pm meaning you don't have to set an alarm if you so choose and there's BEER at the finish line. Registration is currently open and the price is $35 but goes up to $40 after Saturday. This is a must-run, I don't care how fast or slow you are...
2.) Sunday, April 6, 2013 - Cherry Blossom 10 Miler - DC This one's another must-do. It's highly competitive, a flat course, and you can enjoy our Nation's Capital after the race as the race starts and finishes at the Washington Monument. Due to its popularity, registration is completed via an open lottery. The lottery opens Monday, December 2nd and close on Friday, December 13th at 11:59pm. However, many of you can gain a guaranteed entry as a Seeded Runner if you can provide the coordinator a race result meeting the standard. This means you do not have to sign-up for the lottery. Carlos and I will be putting together teams again so let us know if you want in!
Just another delayed post...work travel and beer kept me from my duties once again this week.
Last Sunday marked the first big time local race of the Spring season....Cherry Blossom 10 Miler
This has always been a staple race for many of us as the course is fast, the competition is world-class, and compared to other races, this one is very affordable and surprisingly not too much of a hassle to get to (once you get off the Metro).
As we stepped off the top stair of the escalator onto the Mall, the air was brisk and the sun had not yet rose about the horizon. I know I had personally under-dressed and immediately began to feel my body using tons of energy to keep my skinny frame warm. However, once the sun did come up shortly before 7am, it did warm up just enough to make most of us decide to ditch the winter hat, armwarmers, and gloves.
The gun went off a few minutes late and thousands of runners blazed down the road to the Arlington Memorial Bridge. This race is notorious for tons of people going out way too fast and paying for it the second half, despite the flat terrain. On the men's side, I knew this was my year to have to lead the team due to injuries and despite being the first Strider to cross the line (53:33), I was disappointed with my performance, as I had tightness in my knee which forced me to slow down quite a bit from Miles 6-9, it was was a small PR. However, the rest of the team picked up the slack. Carlos, in his debut comeback race, executed his pre-race plan to perfection, going out in 5:20 and holding 5:20-5:30 pace the rest of the way, finishing 36th in 54:13. Kevin, running his first non-Club Challenge 10 mile race of his career, had the race of the day, crushing his PR by 80 seconds, running 56:10. Seth had high expectations this year after crushing this course last year, and ran very well considering his lack of speedwork, finishing in 56:57 (67th). Steve ran with Kevin and Seth for a majority of the race but faded a bit in the last few miles, but ran a PR nonetheless in 57:21. Craig followed shortly behind in 58:08, then Keith who ran the course as a last minute hard workout for Boston (58:25). Maurice led the Master's team as he continues to get back into top form, finishing 2nd in his AG in 63:17. Tunde, also on the comeback trail, wasn't far behind in 64:00. Weems crossed the line in 64:25 and John in 66:51. Bobby, running the race as a 'medical runner', stopped several times to assess runners having difficulty and with his cell phone, ran 68:35. Impressive, Doc!
In the ladies race, our top 2 finishers both ran over two and a half minute plus PRs, that's right....150+ seconds!!! Kelly led the way, finishing as the second Master in the race in 62:20. I saw her at the finish line and she was smiling as usual, but I could sense she was hoping to run even faster than she did! Caroline, also running Boston in two days and in complete beast-mode with her training, rocked it once again with a 64:04. She doesn't agree with me, but I know she is capable of a sub-3:07 marathon right now. Robyn had a heck of a day herself....WINNING her AG with a 65:35 performance...A-MA-ZING!!! Vicki, also on the upswing, had another great performance after telling me days before the day she didn't think she was even in shape to race 10 miles (typical Lang), running 70:51. Finally, Dorothy finished 2nd in her AG in 72:14!
In the team competition, the Men's 'A' and 'B' teams finished 2nd and 5th, respectively, losing to Potomac River. The mixed Master's 'A' and 'B' teams took 2nd and 4th, respectively. Great job everyone!!!
Meanwhile in Annapolis, Adam opted for the low-key Cherry Pit 10 Miler put on by the Annapolis Striders. He finished 4th in 58:24, winning his AG (and hopefully a pie?).
Here's some finish line pics courtesy of Issel:
Mark
Carlos
Kevin
Steve
Tunde
Caroline
Weems
Robyn
John
Vicki
Dorothy
Post-race group shot
Steve and Carlos with their pregnant wifeys post-race
On a chilly, windy morning in DC, we sure packed a punch out there! (Un)official results (known PRs in bold):
Mark Buschman 53:33 Carlos Renjifo 54:13 Kevin Ford 56:10 Seth Geoghegan 56:57 Steve Olenick 57:21 Craig Lebro 58:08 Keith Levasseur 58:25 Maurice Pointer 1:03:17 Tunde Morakinyo 1:04:00 Weems McFadden 1:04:25 John Chall 1:06:51
Kelly Westlake 1:02:20 Caroline Bauer 1:04:04 Robyn Humphrey 1:05:35 Vicki Lang 1:10:51 Dorothy Beckett 1:12:14
Sorry in advance if I missed anyone! Races of the day go to Kevin on the men's side with nearly an 80 second PR. Carlos, in his comeback race, ran a tremendous race as well! On the ladies side, Kelly and Caroline destroyed their PRs by 2:30+...AMAZING LADIES! Also, Robyn brought home GOLD in the 45-49 AG! DDAMMNNNN
I decided to join those racing with a 4:30am buzzing alarm. By 5:20am, I pulled up to the Broken Land Parkway Park 'N Ride and discovered several Striders were on the exact same schedule. The Metro ride was a piece of cake and the crisp, cool air shocked our systems as we crested the (broken) escalator. Sorry to digress; now to the real story:
The conditions were near ideal for this time of the year (unless you were spectating). I didn't hear anyone complain about the wind going around Hains Point. We had several amazing performances which including huge PRs by our team captain, Carlos Renjifo, who blasted across the finish line in 51:43 for 20th place and a 1:37 PR. He ran with the big dawgz and showed he deserves to be in the discussion with the area's elite. This is also a new team record! Seth Geoghegan, our newest (official) member battled through a toe blister (wore a new pair of shoes for race day...what an idiot) to run a 2:00 PR, 56:01 for 49th. Docta Kent wasn't far behind in 56:36. Peter Keating, reportedly only running 25 mile weeks, ran 57:07 for 72nd overall. Keith Levasseur, who I'm guessing ran a 20-30k warmup, had a solid Boston tune-up as he cracked the top 100 men for 96th place with a 58:27. The last of our sub-hour crew was the infamous Jason Tripp, who looked strong the last 150m, clocking a 59:06. Our only healthy grandmaster, John Chall, performed well with a 63:08.
Our ladies squad was quite (grand)masterful as well. I swear they get younger each day! Robyn Humphrey led the way averaging just under 6:30s, rolling through in 64:40 for 56th and 2nd in AG. Kelly Westlake was right on her heels, finishing 65th in 65:18. Ms. Constantcy, Pat Wilkerson rounded out the sub-70 crew with a 67:49, including 3rd in her age group. Janeth Scott ran even splits for a 70:26 followed by Dorothy Beckett in 71:44. Many of the Run 4 Chocolate ladies were also spotted on the course.
Courtesy of Robyn: So Kelly and I are out together, too fast (Kelly's fault) but good thing as at 1.5 miles Joan Benoit Samuelson comes up on my right and I say "Kelly, an American treasure is to our right", Kelly looks to see and she is like OMG, where is Dave Tripp with his camera when you need him? Joan says "Thank you so much", so humble, lovely lady as she powers up and pulls away I say, "now I can die", which got a big smile! A great moment for Kelly and I!
Here's a formatted Striders breakdown:
Place / Name / 5 Mile / Gun Time / Net Time / Pace
20 Carlos Renjifo* 25:51 51:43 51:43 5:11
41 Tom Williams 27:04 55:12 55:11 5:32
49 Seth Geoghegan* 28:19 56:04 56:01 5:37
56 Kent Werner 28:11 56:38 56:36 5:40
75 Peter Keating 29:46 57:26 57:07 5:43
96 Keith Levasseur* 29:29 58:30 58:27 5:51
111 Jason Tripp 29:25 59:08 59:06 5:55
171 Brian Fleming 30:46 1:01:37 1:00:59 6:06
263 John Chall 31:01 1:03:14 1:03:08 6:19
307 Akintunde Morakinyo 32:05 1:04:05 1:04:01 6:25
429 Bobby Gessler 32:25 1:06:06 1:06:01 6:37
The lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler is now open (http://cherryblossom.org/). If you have not received some guaranteed form of entry (volunteer, charity, seeded runner, etc), please make sure to sign up by December 9th. Once the lottery selection process is complete, I will send out a call for people interested in being part of a Howard County Strider team.
