There were so many great performances this weekend that I'm going to run out of superlatives to describe them. In fact, I could exhaust my supply of SAT words just talking about Frances's race at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford, where she made an outstanding track 10,000 debut in 33:17 which, it goes without saying, is a new club record. Indeed, Frances came through 5,000 in approximately 16:17, which is 10 seconds faster than her week-old club record at that distance. Frances was knocking heads with a world-class field, and it was beyond inspiring to see her fighting hard for the full distance. Frances's race is all the more impressive because due to a series of setbacks over the winter, she's only been training hard for about four weeks. Frances is very much on the upswing, and she's going to try to qualify for nationals in the 5,000 in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more great results from that plucky kid!
We also had some excellent results on the track at the Maryland Kehoe Twilight Invitational, where Cabell kept the PR train rolling by running 3:55.8 for 1500, which is 5th on the all-time GRC list. Until this spring, Cabell hadn't run a PR since 2012, and he's now making up for lost time with his third PR in his last 3 meets. Also in the 1500, Phil ran a strong 3:56.1, followed by Stewart in 3:59.9, and Balmer in 4:12.2. Stewart's overly aggressive early tactics cost him a shot at a PR, but he learned a valuable lesson about competing on this level, and we're sure to see a big PR from him at 1500 later this spring. In the women's 1500, Susan looked very good in winning her heat in 4:43.2, and she will run much faster later this season in a more competitive race. Tina's 4:53 is not indicative of her fitness, and she too will run much faster later this spring. Last but not least, Otto ran a very nice PR in the 5,000 of 15:23.7, aided by Phil's sterling pacemaking for 3800 meters. Otto has decided to matriculate at Galludet, and his time on Friday was well under the school record, so we're going to see him rewrite the record books in the next 4 years.
The action on the roads was highlighted by our women's crew at the Broad Street 10 Miler, where we had excellent performances across the board. Lindsay led the way in 59:21, followed by Teal in a huge PR of 59:24, Kristin in 60:16, and Maura in a big PR of 60:56. Because Lindsay has been dealing with a variety of injuries all year, she entered the race with the (modest for her) goal of breaking 60, and she was pleasantly surprised to be able to handle an aggressive early pace and finish strong. Teal probably would have broken 60 at Cherry Blossom had the course been accurate, and she left no doubt in Philly, running a 55 second PR, which places her 4th on the all-time GRC list. Teal's dramatic improvement at the shorter distances bodes extremely well for another PR in the marathon at Grandmas. Kristin's performance was a big step forward in her preparation for Grandmas, where she will be looking for a Teal-style breakthrough. Maura ran a 33 second PR as she continues to make a strong transition to the longer road distances. On the men's side, Jake ran a very solid 52:25, and while the time was not what he was hoping for, Jake competed extremely well, and he was pleased with the effort.
We had thee impressive performances at the half marathon distance. Sean Barrett ran 1:07:50 at the Orange County half, and he would have threatened his PR if not for the fact that he was obstructed repeatedly by slower runners in the full marathon, which started 40 minutes before the half. Sean continues his return to full fitness despite his grueling schedule, and he's going to take a shot at PRs in the full and half later this spring. In what was probably the best race of his life, Charlie ran a 45 second PR of 1:10:10 at the Pittsburgh half, much to the delight of his rabid hometown fans. Kieran ran a hard tempo of 1:10:24 at the Frederick half as he continues his preparation for a major breakthrough in the full at Grandmas.
In the shorter road distances, Kevin continued his domination of the local scene by winning the George Washington Birthday 10k in 31:15. Unlike last week when his 10 mile debut came down to the bitter end, Kevin was able to take the measure of his high-level competition early, and cruised the last 2 miles for a comfortable win. And speaking of domination, Shauneen crushed the field at the Run for the Children 8k, winning in 29:42, crossing the line more than 40 seconds ahead of the top man. Well done to all!
WORKOUT
We're set for our normal 7:15 start at BCC, so meet for the warmup at 6:30.
Jerry
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