Catching up

Well, I've been slacking the past few weeks so here it goes:

Nick clocked a 37:04 at the Lawyers Have Heart 10k in DC back on June 8th for 27th.  Sunday, June 9th was Damien's 5k.  It was a hot day so no course records were taken down.  Chris ran 17:21 for 5th and 1st Master honors.  John was 19:09, only good for 3rd in this competitive AG.  In the ladies race, Jess WON in 18:36.  Robyn, reportedly battling a slight hangover, ran 20:06 for 3rd and top Master.  Dorothy was 7th in 21:40.  Here's a few action shots courtesy of Mick:

Chris checking his watch

Jess was able to crack a smile while destroying the field

Post-wine night Robyn

Dorothy nearing the finish line

 Also that day, Maurice took top honors at the Running with the Devils 5k in 18:30.  NICE!

Saturday the 15th meant the Baltimore 10 Miler.  Jason kept his race streak alive on the brutally humid morning, running 63:08 for 15th and 2nd in his AG.  Tunde, acting as a 70:00 pacer, was near spot on in his duties, clocking 70:04.

Sunday was Father's Day and the humidity was front and center once again.  At the Bullseye Running Father's Day 10k, Steve ran a PR of 35:13 for 2nd.  Peter and Chris had a good battle for most of the race, but Peter pulled away over the last 1.5 miles, crossing the finish line in 35:57 for 4th, top Master, and winning the Father/Son team competition with his son, Joseph, while Chris ran 36:43.  Phil, with the help of the volunteers, was able to run his race.  He ran the entire race alone, and I mean alone.  He managed a solid performance of 37:53.  Mick took his AG in 41:25, despite acknowledging pre-race he was using the race as an 'easy' tempo.  Bobby wasn't far behind in 41:55.  He won the Father/Daughter competition with Katie. 

Meanwhile, down in Annapolis, Weems and John ran the Dawson's Father's Day 10k hosted by the Annapolis Striders.  Weems edged John out again, 38:33 and 39:00, respectively.

Keith ran the San Francisco Marathon and added another sub-3:00 performance to his resume, finishing 36th in 2:54:25.  Maurice ran the BRRC Lake Montebello 5k and finished 2nd in 17:37.

Yesterday, Dorothy was our sole participant in the very competitive Baltimore Women's Classic.  She won her AG and crossed the line 25th in 20:20.

Don't forget about the Women's Distance Festival this Sunday.  If you are a guy, please consider helping out.

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.

Racing Team Women Represent at Damien's 5k

On another hot and humid Sunday, the women of the racing team toed the line and ran strong races.

Stefanie Commins, who was running only her second race in 2011, set another season best with a time of 18:54 -- a 13 second improvement over her Remembrance Run 5k time and good enough for second place. Unlike the her race at the Remembrance Run, however, first place was completely out of reach, as the winner clocked an insane time of 16:41, finishing 4th overall!

The real race this time was in women's master category. Newcomer to the racing team, Kelly Westlake, ran a solid effort and worked hard at the finish, just passing fellow Strider, Robyn Humphrey, at the line. The time separating the two was less than quarter second, with Kelly running 19:54.52 and Robyn finishing in 19:54.78. Kelly finished as first master, while Robyn, who tightened up with less than a quarter mile to go, had to settle for second this time.

As a side note, both overall winners ran very fast times, but in both cases, I believe, just missed out on the $500 prize money for setting a course record (14:32 for men, 16:41 for women).

Results are posted here (Link) and pictures are posted here (Link).