FLASH: Wiggy 3:55 @ PA Distance Festival

Unofficial splits - 1:01, 2:03, 3:07

Best 1500m for Joe in 4 years.

3:44 was winner.

Saturday Run

I'm looking to do 60-70min on a trail saturday morning, from the G-town store or The Line. Anyone up for 8:00 or 8:30 to beat the heat? -BC

Memorial Day Run

The Line at 9:30. Come on down!!!

Sunday

For those in town, Dickson and I will meet to run at Riley's Lock at 9:30 tomorrow morning. Come enjoy bucolic Maryland before summer makes the idea of meeting at 9:30 laughable.

Comment below if you want to join and we'll wait up for you.

Coach DaveO in Running Times

Dave O'Hara, GRC runner and XC/Track coach at Annandale High School, was quoted in Running Times for his work with multiple VA state champ and All-American Ahmed Bile (son of world champion Abdi Bile and now at Georgetown). Go DaveO!

FLASH: Koonce captures Mercy Health Clinic 5K title

Scott Koonce led from wire-to-wire to take the victory in 17:22. Congrats!

Saturday: The Line at 9am

I'm meeting Karl, who is returning from injury, and some others tomorrow at The Line at 9am for an easy hour or so in the trails.

Comment if you're interested in joining up.

GRC takes on ACLI Capital Challenge

Dave Burnham, of Regulators on the Run (mount up!) edged Paul Balmer of Red, White and Blumenauer for third place at the ACLI Captial Challenge this morning in Anacostia Park.

Results:

1 Patrick Fernandez     Coast Guard Washington...Running Soon!   14:44 
2 Brandon Cherry        Regulators on the Run                    14:47 
3 David Burnham         Regulators on the Run                    14:53 
4 Paul Balmer           Red, White & Blumenauer                  15:14 
5 John Zimmerman        Navy's Global Force for Speed            16:01 
6 Matthew Thomas        Navy's Global Force for Speed            16:05 
7 Stephen Kartalia      Regulators on the Run                    16:13 
8 George McArdle        Cut and Run                              16:19 
9 Brady Levander        Navy's Global Force for Speed            16:21 
10 James Donahue        The Grassely Panthers                   16:29 

GRC weekly report, May 14

RACES

It was a banner night for the GRC men at the Swarthmore Final Qualifier, with several huge PRs in the 5000.  Witty led the charge in 14:31, in a perfectly executed race. The plan going in was to run 70s for 12 laps and close in 30 for the last 200, and Witty did precisely that.  After a rough start to his season, Witty hung tough, and his perseverance paid off in a big way, as he ran the best race of his life.   Witty was not the only star of the night.   Matt ran a 15:06, for a 19 second PR.  Matt ran fearlessly from the gun, setting a 2 mile PR on route, and held on for a major breakthrough.  Sebi unleashed a huge kick in the last 400 to win his heat in 15:10, for a 20 second PR.  In the last two weeks, Sebi has dropped his 5k PR by 33 seconds. The ageless Dave Wertz ran 15:16, for a 13 second PR.  This was unquestionably the best race of Dave's life, and to run a huge PR in a track event at age 37 is truly outstanding.  Outlaw ran an impressive 15:18, in his first track race in four years, only a week after his wedding.   In the 1500, Tom ran a very solid 4:10, as he continues to work his way back to race fitness.  It's impossible for me to describe how special the night was for our athletes who made those breakthroughs.  To see months of hard work and planning pay off for them was something I'm going to remember for a long time. 

On the women's side, Meghan ran 4:42 for 1500, which was just off of her PR.  Meghan's season is only getting started, and wer'e going to see some big performances from her in the coming weeks.  Finally, Catherine finished her track career with a very determined effort at the end of an outstanding season in which she PR'ed at 1500, 3k, and 5k.  Catherine will be leaving GRC for dental school in a few weeks, and she will be missed!

 ADMINISTRATIVE

The team meeting/goodbye party for Drea will be Saturday at 7 pm at the humble abode of Charlie, Witty, and Sam.   We will be discussing important team businees, including how each of you can help make the Fathers Day 8k a success, and plans for the fall racing season.  We will also celebrate Drea's fabulous GRC career, so please make every effort to attend.

Please remember to send me your weekly training updates.  Since I'm not seeing most of you for workouts right now, it's even more important that you keep me in the loop on your training.

WORKOUT

We are at the point in the season where we have only a handful of athletes who are still racing, so practices will be lightly attended for the next couple of weeks.  I'm planning a workout for Saturday morning at BCC, and if you're interested in coming out, please let me know.

If you have any questions about what you should be doing, and when you should be getting back to workouts, give me a holler.

I'll see you on Saturday at 7 pm for the meeting.

Jerry

Four GRC Men PR at Widener!

UPDATED

Breakthrough races for Witty, Fridge, Wertz and Sebi at the SWAT Final Qualifying Meet at Widener University.

Witty - 14:31 - a 9-second PR!  
Fridge - 15:06 - a 19-second PR!
Sebi - 15:10 - a 20-second PR!
Wertz - 15:16 - a 14-second PR! 

Perspective and commentary from Coach Jerry Alexander: 

"Witty overcame so much this season.  He could easily have quit after Princeton, but he hung tough, and reaped the reward.  Wertz was great.  Fridge ran very tough and was on sub 15 pace for 4k.  Sebi looked like he was dropped with 2 to go but not only rallied, he unleashed a huge kick for the win.  There was huge celebration after each race.  Those guys were fired up, and we will be able to build off of those performances in a big way going forward.  Seeing the young guys step it up was huge.  Between Fridge, Sebi, and Young Paul, we have a core of next generation A groupers in the making."

Witty's 14:31 was the top 5,000m time run this season by a GRC athlete and moves him to 4th all time on the GRC 5,000m leaderboard:

1. Kyle Smits - 14:09.69 - Stanford 2003
2. Sam Luff - 14:15.20 - Larry Ellis Invite Princeton 2011
3. Karl Dusen - 14:30.34 - Swarthmore Last Chance Meet 2011 
4. Ryan Witters - 14:31.00 - Swarthmore Final Qualifier - 2013
5. Joe Wiegner - 14:35 - Swarthmore Last Chance Meet 2011

UPDATE: OFFICIAL RESULTS:

Men's 5,000m HEAT ONE

Ryan Witters - 14:31 (4:40, 9:21) PR!

Men's 5,000m HEAT TWO

Matt Hassett - 15:06 (4:48)

Jerry Greenlaw - 15:18 (4:47)

Men's 5,000m HEAT THREE

Sebi Devlin-Foltz - 15:10 (4:50, 9:42) winner of heat

David Wertz - 15:16 (4:50, 9:41)

Women's 5,000m

Catherine Campbell - 17:43 (5:34, 11:13)

Men's 1500m

Tom Kelly - 4:10

Women's 1500m

Meghan Lockett - 4:42

DEVELOPING...

GRC to Race at Swarthmore TONIGHT

 

The Georgetown Running Club will race at the SWAT Final Qualifying Meet at Widener University tonight in Chester, Pa.. For the majority of GRC's athletes, this will be the final track race of the spring season and many are hoping for one last good mark before the oppressive summer weather hits our region.

Women's 1500m - 7:15pm

Meghan Lockett

Men's 1500m - 7:35pm

Tom Kelly 

 

Women's 5,000m - 9:25pm

Catherine Campbell   

Men's 5,000m - 10:05pm

Ryan Witters

Jerry Greenlaw

Matt Hassett

David Wertz

Sebi Devlin-Foltz

Coach Jerry Alexander notes, "the weather looks perfect, so it should be a fast night."

The GRC blog will post results as they become available. Thurston Howell IV will be tweeting splits and results on the GRC twitter 

DEVELOPING...

Coach Needed at Potomac School

The following comes from GRC expat Jason Dwyer. Anyone interested in this opportunity should reach out to Jason via the e-mail address below.

We're looking for a woman to coach our girls cross country and distance athletes during outdoor track. Our school is located 3 miles across chain bridge in Mclean VA at 1301 Potomac School Road. Our practice times are 3:30-5:30 and we compete on most Saturdays.

Our program is closely linked with our boys program which has its own coach. We travel together and routinely have coed training groups. I handle all logistics for both teams- anyone interested would solely focus on coaching and supporting the kids.

No prior coaching experience is needed, just a love of running and patience to work with teenage runners of all abilities. We prefer someone who can coach every day and for both seasons, but could consider a part time schedule.

Salary is competitive, and I can provide more details upon request. Perspective candidates can email me at jdwyer@potomacschool.org

2013 Father's Day 8K

Register this weekend for the Father's Day 8K before the price increases!

An Honor Well Earned

Last night in Warwick, Rhode Island, Laura O'Hara was bestowed the high honor of induction into the state's High School Athletic Hall of Fame.  Rhode Island's Interscholastic League issued the following commendation:

"While an All-State athlete in cross country and track during the late 1990s, O’Hara extended her local successes beyond Rhode Island borders.  She is the only female from Rhode Island to compete in the Footlocker National Cross Country Championships (where she made two appearances), earning All-American status after finishing 13th in the 1997 race. She was also a two-time outdoor track All-American after finishing 2nd in the two-mile run and 5th in the mile run at the 1998 National Scholastic Outdoor Track Championships. After her Navy family moved to Portsmouth before her sophomore year, O’Hara won a combined seven state championships in cross country and outdoor track and received nine separate Providence Journal All-State awards.  She set seven state track records in indoor and outdoor track. A 1998 class valedictorian at Portsmouth High School, O’Hara was twice named 'Schoolgirl Athlete of the Year' by Words Unlimited, the statewide media organization.

At Stanford University, she ran cross country and track for the Cardinal’s national caliber cross country and track teams. O’Hara earned Academic All-American honors for the 2001 cross country season and All-American honors in the 3000 meter steeplechase during the 2002 outdoor track season. She was ranked in 10th in the U.S. in that event in 2002.
 
O’Hara currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. She has worked for nine years in the Office of the Historian for the U.S. House of Representatives and she recently completed her Master’s degree in Applied History and New Media at George Mason University.

O’Hara has tried 'retiring' from competitive running twice, but it has not quite stuck. She still runs competitively, having set a personal best of 2:50:01 in the marathon and 1:17:13 in the half marathon. In 2008, she married fellow runner David O’Hara, who teaches and coaches cross country, indoor, and outdoor track at Annandale High School in Fairfax County, Virginia. Both O’Haras compete for the Georgetown Running Club, a post-collegiate team of athletes who pursue their careers by day and personal records by night. Running remains a family affair; in 2010, O’Hara joined two uncles, her mother, Holly Turner, and her husband in completing the Boston Marathon."

O'Hara, seen here at the ceremony with her husband, "Dashing Dave," made these remarks:

"I am truly honored to be nominated to the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Hall of Fame. No success is ever achieved in a vacuum and I have been fortunate to have many wonderful people in my corner in high school and beyond: my parents, Holly and Fletcher Turner, who provide unwavering support; my brothers, Bret and Tim Turner, who are very good at keeping me humble; my high school coaches, Pam Allie-Morrill and Ellen Chilabato, who developed me both as a person and as an athlete; Bob Leddy, who guided my teenaged-self through the sometimes blinding media spotlight and remains a dear friend; my husband, David O’Hara, who is and forever will be my favorite training partner; and my teammates, past and present, who have kept the long miles fun. In the end, records are made to be broken and it has been exciting to see the successes many young women in Rhode Island have achieved in track and cross country over the last few years."

Said O'Hara after the ceremony, "GRC is the reason I still run competitively.  Period."

Well done, Laura.  Here's to having the strength of character to keep achieving.   

Saturday Group Run - Update!

We'll meet at the store at 9:30.

The Exchange

On the morning of last week's Kehoe Invitational Track meet at the University of Maryland, Coach Jerry threatened to enter me in the shot put and his taunt reminded me of the first and only time I threw the shot in competition.  Every year my high school traveled to the Archibald Relays, which was a well attended relay meet held in rural Ohio.  The highlight of the meet was the "weight men's relay," which was a 4 x 100m race limited only to kids who threw the shot or discus.  At some point during the bus ride down, one of our "weight men" got sick -- shot putters at my high school often ate Taco Bell on the ride to meets -- and the coach needed someone to fill in for the realy and of course turned to this author, whose modest ability in the sprint events ensured that he would not be mistaken for a ringer.  But to be eligible, I had to throw the shot.  After finishing the 1200 meter leg of the distance medley, I took the spikes out of my flats, walked into the cage, and tossed the shot overarm.  To the disgust of onlookers, the shot barely dribbled past the circle and the official called a fault, but I had qualified to run the weight men's relay.

An hour later came the main event.  I ran the leadoff leg and my exchange was with Doug "Beef" Decker, whose nickname was aptly applied (Beef's surname has been altered by the author).  As I approached the exchange, I looked up and saw that Beef was standing completely flatfooted, his hightop basketball sneakers planted firmly in the fly zone, and realized -- to my horror -- that he did not intend to start running until after receiving the baton.  We made the exhange, but Beef's acceleration was about as rapid as one would expect from a hightop-festooned adolescent shot putter named "Beef," and the resulting collision, which Beef seemingly did not notice, sent me skidding backward over the surface of the cinder track.  I came to a stop considerably closer to the starting line than I had been before making contact with Beef and the crash landing was met with guffaws and jeers from the bleachers.  I spent much of the bus ride home removing cinders from my bottom and Beef sat down next to me and explained that he was worried that a running exchange may have caused him to drop the baton and look silly.

Thursday Workout, May 9

RACES

It was another big weekend for GRC, with several excellent performances on the roads and the track.  At the Broad Street 10 miler in Philly, Lindsay ran a humongous PR of 57: 47, earning the coveted GRC Athlete of the Week.   When Lindsay filled out the information sheet to get her comp entry for Broad Street a month ago, she said her goal for the season was "to break 60 for ten miles."  I'd call that mission accomplished.   In slighty over a year with GRC, Lindsay has improved her 10 mile PR by over 3 minutes.  If she can knock off another 3 minutes next year, we'll have ourselves a runner!  Also at Broad Street, Jake ran 51:41 after a very aggressive first six miles. It was not the PR Jake was hoping for, but the next time he goes out on PR pace, he will be able to hold on.

On the track, we had a big presence at the Maryland Twilight meet, with numerous PRs and blue ribbon finishes.  Susan ran her first 1500 in four years, and looked right at home, winning in 4:37 off a slow early pace.   Susan took the lead with over 600 to go and held off a very stiff challenge from a Maryland athlete in the last 200.   Susan has her mental edge back, and she is going to be a force to be reckoned with on the track in the future.   Avril also ran her first 1500 in several years, and she finished in a very impressive 4:43.   Catherine tuned up for the 5k at Swarthmore with a PR of 4:49.  On the mens side, Witty won a tactical 800 with a decisive move with 250 to go in 1:56.  In the 5000, we had very nice PRs from our young duo of Paul and Sebi, in 15:22 and 15:30, resepctively.   Breezy made his 5k track debut in a PR of 17:11.   Dave Wertz was on pace for a big PR through 4200 meters, but started his cooldown 2 laps early, finishing in 15:37.   In the 1500, Matt ran a solid 4:11, and Tom made a succesful return to competition in 4:13.   We're going to see some excellent performances from this crew at Swarthmore next week.  

ADMINISTRATIVE

Most of you have now shut it down for the spring season, but we will continue to hold practices for those who are still racing.  The practice schedule will be a bit erratic for the next week or two as we cater to the weeknight track meets, but we'll return to our normal Wednesday routine soon.

For those of you who are on a break from workouts, it would be very helpful to me to hear from you once a week about what you're up to, so please send me those weekly emails.

Don't forget the team meeting/party for Drea on May 18.

WORKOUT

We'll be at BCC on Thursday for a 7:15 start.  I'll communicate directly with the Swarthmore crew regarding the workout.  If you are not running Swarthmore but plan to come out Thursday, let me know, and we'll put together a plan.

Jerry


 

Kenny Gogetter PRs in second marathon in three weeks

Ken Rayner was pretty jazzed after running a few-minute PR in Boston. He came back three weeks later to PR again, by two minutes to run 2:35:11 for sixth place at the Lincoln Marathon in Nebraska, which served as the National Guard Marathon Trials, for which he placed second. He has yet to tell me whether that means he's on the team or when or where the team competes. Regardless, he is quickly demonstrating that the marathon is his distance. He's no Chris Bain, but he's a start...

Broad Street Results

Lindsay O'Brien:  57:47.  PR! 13th place.  Today's success comes just two weeks after a big 10k PR (mid-34) at Pike's.

Klim: 51:41.  20th place.  Hit five miles in 25:20.  "Not the time I was looking for, but I was happy I went for it."

FLASH: JERRY OUTLAW, JIMMY DALY MARRIED

(Clarification: not to each other.)

 
Wire reports confirm marriages sent today in New Jersey and Maryland.

Elko: "I do."

Priest pronounces man and wife.

Outlaw: "Wed 'em."

Developing.....

FLASH: GRC brings home three event titles at UMD Twilight Meet

The GRC track team saw a large contingent race on Friday night in College Park at the University of Maryland Kehoe Twilight Track Meet, highlighted by three event wins.

Full team results:

Women's 1500m:
1. Susan Hendrick (4:37.14)
4. Avril Kaplan (4:43.31)
7. Catherine Campbell (4:49.28)

Men's 800m:
1. Ryan Witters (1:56.43)
8. Chuck Kascur (2:02.58)

Men's 1500m:
5. Matt Hassett (4:11.58)
7. Tom Kelly (4:13.71)

Men's 5000m:
1. Paul Balmer (15:22.44)
2. Sebi Devlin-Foltz (15:30.33)
3. Dave Wertz (15:36.80)
5. JR Roberts (15:55.07)
6. Brian Young (17:11.40)


Photos are posted on the GRC Facebook page.