Sssssooooo it's been a while...

Well, it's been six weeks since the last post.  I guess it's official I may be the worst blogger this planet has ever seen.  Since I have so many results to recap, I'm opting for a list in lieu of a book.  Most notably, Adam set a new team record at the lovely distance of 100 miles at the Burning River 100 in 21:05:21!  Keith also put together a hell of a weekend in July winning a 3-day stage race which included a 50k, 50 mile, and marathon. We have a decent group running the A-10 this Sunday so good luck to everyone racing!

Now for the results:

7/4/2013	6th Annual Smiles for Sophie Birthday Bash and Dash	Nick Grossi	17:05	5th	PR, 1st (M30-39)
7/14/2013	Pikesville Miles That Matter	Maurice Pointer	18:37	15th	2nd (M50-59)
7/12-14/2013	Blue Blazes Ultra (3-day stage race)	Keith Levasseur	4:07:37		50k
		Keith Levasseur	10:08:06		50 mile
		Keith Levasseur	3:43:57		27 miles; Overall event winner
7/14/2013	Utica Boilermaker 15k	Robyn Humphrey	1:04:42	45th	4th (F45-49)
7/27/2013	Crystal City Twilighter 5k	Carlos Renjifo	15:56	12th	1st (M30-34)
7/27/2013	Cricket Baltimore Road Race	Chris Chattin	17:35	5th	1st Master
7/27/2013	Burning River 100 Mile Endurance Run	Adam Wytko	21:05:21	23rd	PR, RTR
7/28/2013	Hadassah Check It Out Challenge 8k	Maurice Pointer	27:26	1st	GM PR
8/3/2013	Casey Cares Foundation 5k	Nick Grossi	17:21	7th	2nd (M30-39)
8/10/2013	Charles Street 12	Maurice Pointer	1:17:54	17th	1st (M50-59)
		Robyn Humphrey	1:22:15	3rd
8/10/2013	Tom Ausherman Memorial 5 Miler	Chris Chattin	29:12	23rd	1st (M45-49)
8/18/2013	BRRC Too Hot To Trot 10k	Weems McFadden	38:34	7th

Columbia Women's Distance Festival (WDF)

The conditions this morning were hot and humid, but that didn't deter some 400 women from taking on this year's edition of the Columbia Women's Distance Festival (WDF).  What makes this number particularly impressive in my mind is that the no-show rate was less than 10% -- an impressive number when conditions are perfect for running.  You ladies are tough!  Hats off to all of you.

Times didn't seem to be affected too much by the heat, with the eventual winner, Anna Holt-Gosslin, taking a commanding  victory in 17:45. Behind her was UnSong Ostrowski, who continues to run PRs, this time shaving an insane 20 seconds from her previous best and finishing in 18:26.  Kelly Westlake also had an excellent race, finishing 4th overall (1st in the master's category) with a time 18:51 -- her fastest 5k this year.  Samantha Matthews was next in 5th, equaling her time from the Baltimore Women's Classic (19:37) in tougher conditions.  Samantha was followed closely by Robyn Humphrey (19:48, 6th, 2nd master).  Closing out the list of performances was the dynamic trio of grand masters, who yet again achieved a 1-2-3 sweep for the 50+ age category: Pat Wilkerson (8th, 20:17), Janeth Scott (14th, 21:14), and Dorothy Beckett (17th, 21:22).


Full results are available here: http://striders.net/events/wdf/2012. Pictures will hopefully be posted soon.

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.

BOSTON LOOMS...

We had several awesome performances at Clyde's this morning! I will provide a recap once chip times and pictures are posted.

Meanwhile, our focus shifts to Boston where the 116th running of the Boston Marathon is scheduled to be a scorcher! Good luck to all of those running. Forget that PR and enjoy the experience and remember to stay hydrated...

Two-Person 5M Relay

Time to break out the old high school/college track spikes in preparation for this year's Two-Person 5 Mile relay on Wednesday, August 3rd, at 6:30PM (Oakland Mills HS).

Never taken part in the event before? It's pretty simple: Two participants run alternating 1/4 mile legs on the track. Each participant runs 2.5 miles total. If you've been looking for a challenging workout to help you work on your turnover, this is the perfect workout for you!

It'd be awesome if we could get a bunch of the folks on the racing team to show up. We can mix and match to make things fun. If you have a relay baton lying around at home, bring that too! If you're hurt, please consider coming also. I am the race lead and am still looking for some volunteers to help out.

Hope to see you there.

RACING TEAM WOMEN DOMINATE AT HCS WDF 5K

On another hot and humid morning, the women of the Racing Team took several top honors at the HCS Women's Distance Festival 5k. Stefanie Commins showed she is beginning to return to old form as she took off at the gun and never looked back to beat local stars Sherry Stick and Denise Knickman in 18:28.

Donna Wecker and Kelly Westlake battled one another with Donna creeping away at the end to claim 1st Master. Pat Wilkerson continued to be 'Mrs. Consistent' posting a time of 20:20 for 9th overall and 1st Grandmaster. Dorothy Beckett was tops in the 50-54 age group with her 21:45, only hours after returning from a late night flight from CA.

Official results:

1 Commins, Stefanie 18:28

4 Wecker, Donna 19:26

5 Westlake, Kelly 19:34

9 Wilkerson, Pat 20:20

16 Beckett, Dorothy 21:45

AWESOME JOB LADIES!!!