Weekend Results: Halloween Races, Obstacle Courses, 10 Mile Champs, and some XC

RESULTS

Emily P did double duty this week as she sharpens up for the full at Richmond. On Thursday she was second overall, and first woman, in a Halloween 5k while pushing the triple stroller on a hilly course, which Emily described as perhaps the hardest effort of her career, and that's saying something for a 3-time Olympic Trials qualifier. On Saturday, Emily got the win in the RRCA Southeast Region 10 mile championship, running 61:01 on an out and back course.

Stewart got roped into running the HCC Team Challenge, an obstacle race that was allegedly 5k, for his office team, and being a dutiful employee he brought a ringer of his own in the form of his lovely wife. Stew and Steph both got the wins, and because they both started in the third wave, their biggest obstacle was dodging the other participants who were clogging the course.

Sean B placed 7th in the Cuyamaca College 6k XC in San Diego, in 19:34. While xc times are meaningless, particularly when the course is not accurate (which appears to have been the case), it's clear that Sean ran well because there were a couple of national caliber guys less than a minute ahead of him.

Weekend Results: MCM & Spook Hill

MCM

Kieran ran a truly courageous and determined race at MCM, and his 3rd place finish, in 2:28:07, while impressive standing alone, does not even come close to doing justice to his effort. Kieran ran his own race and continued to press forward mile after solitary mile solo for majority of the time. Meanwhile, a chase pack formed behind him, and Kieran's pursuers worked together to cut into his lead. Inevitably, all of that solo running began to take its toll and as the temperature rose, Kieran felt the effects of the effort. Kieran did his best to hold on, but when he was finally caught in the 25th mile, he had nothing left in the tank.  Kieran represented the team with great distinction. He'll be back, more determined than ever to improve on his 24th place finish from 2016 when he toes the line at the 2020 Trials, and we are looking forward to seeing some great marathoning from him in the years to come.

In other weekend results, Julie T was second at MCM 10k in 38:01. Julie is gearing up for the full in Phoenix in January, and this was an excellent rust buster. The hardest part of the day for her was running home with her giant trophy, which is the type of workout we could all get used to.

Spook Hill

Stewart and Stephanie went 1-2 in the Spook Hill Cider and Wine 4 miler, with Stew running 20:22 and Steph his nearest pursuer in 24:00. The course was hilly and the grass was high, so those were both strong performances on a spooky hill.

Weekend Results: Gettysburg College Invitational

This weekend we had strong performances at the Gettysburg College Invitational. The Guys got the team win!

Daniel led the way in 4th in 26:00, followed closely by Kyle in 7th and JLP in 8th, both in 26:07, Tyler in 17th in 26:34, Russell in 26th in 26:46, Lars in 28th in 26:50, Cabell in 36th and Wertz in 37th, both in 27:06, Greg in 39th in 27:09, Mitch in 52nd in 27:37, and Luk in 58th in 27:42. Daniel went with the leaders from the gun and while he couldn't quite hang on late in the race, he's developing a great base for track season. Kyle and JLP both stated a strong case for making the A team for Clubs. Russell bounced back quite well from his trail 50k last week, and Wertz hung tough with college kids literally half his age. Mitch made his official GRC debut, and the toughness that allowed him to progress from a non-varsity club-team runner to America East Conference scorer during his career at Binghamton will serve him well going forward.

Weekend Results: Army, Glory Days and Chicago

Army Ten Miler:

Apparently, Summer isn't over yet. Hot temps and high humidity made this weekend's races interesting, but the horrid conditions did not stop Lucas from turning in another outstanding performance, as he placed 6th behind 5 Army WCAP athletes, in 50:38. Lucas was not only with the leaders for well over half the race, he threw in some surges and tried to dictate the pace. While the pack dropped him around mile 7, Lucas came back strong in the last mile and was gaining ground on the athletes in 4th and 5th place, both of whom are Olympians. Lucas has some more big performances up his sleeve this Fall!

The men won the open team title at Army, with Stewart in 13th in 52:57, Luke in 15th in 53:18, Paul T in 54:40, Graham in 55:22, Tyler in 55:57, Sean B in 56:40, Chris in 58:02, and Kyle in 59:58. Those times are reflective of the horrific conditions (did I mention it was hot out there?) and our guys are fit, and will be ready to go later this fall.

The women also won the open team title, led by Kerry in 4th in 60:54, Steph in 9th in 61:43, Emily P in 61:55, Maura in 65:00, and Keely in 73:20. As with the guys, the brutal conditions caused very slow times, and when the women get a chance to show what they can do, they'll respond with some outstanding performances!

Glory Days XC:

We had a strong crew at Glory Days xc, with Jackie getting the win in 19:04 , followed by Emily K in 19:18, Chelsea in 19:23, Alexa in 19:37, Marianne in 20:16, and Angelina in 21:06. For the men, JLP got the win in 16:01, followed by Mitch in 16:16, Hashem in 16:17, Austin in 16:19, and Sean in 16:45. Jackie and JLP  are working their way back into shape after injury and have some good momentum going into the rest of their fall season!

Chicago:

Congratulations to Ryan S for an excellent marathon debut in Chicago, where he ran 2:29:16. The weather was not ideal in Chicago, and while Ryan was fit to run sub 2:26 in good conditions, he did extremely well to break 2:30 in the heat. Ryan ran even pace most of the race, and fought all the way to the tape, passing several guys in the last mile. Well done, Ryan!

Finally, Russell got the win in the Cloudsplitter 50k trail race in Virginia, in 4:50. What possessed Russell to want to run a 50k trail race is a mystery that may never be solved, but if you're going to run, you might as well win, so congratulations are in order.


Here's hoping Fall comes back soon...

Race Preview: Army Ten-Miler

Another busy weekend of racing is upon us, and one of those races is the much anticipated Army Ten-Miler on Sunday.

We've got a very strong men's squad led by Lucas, Stewart, and Paul Thistle, who will be making his GRC debut. Paul ran 49:38 at Broad Street in May, and while he's likely not quite that fit this early in his season, he is a man to keep an eye on going forward. Lucas will likely go out with the leaders, and he's got a real shot at the club record. Lucas is coming off a very strong race at Philly RNR a few weekends ago. If you want to learn a little more about this guy and get some good race advice for this weekend from Coach Jerry, follow this link https://www.runpacers.com/blog/people/elite-athletes/lucas-grc/
Stewart is in great shape and looks to land in the top 5 list. Graham, Mark, and Evan are tuning up for fall marathons.

For the women, Maura L is coming off an excellent race at Paul Short and is ready for a long-overdue breakthrough on the roads. Several of our women are prepping for fall marathons, including Emily P, Kerry, Julie, and Keely.

Stay tuned for results from Army Ten-Miler and our crew running some cross country at Glory Days invitation.

Weekend Results 9/30-10/1

Here are some great things that happened this weekend!

Navy Mile

5. Alyson McGonigle 5:03.60 (3rd GRC all-time!)
8. Emily Koehle 5:09.98 (5th GRC all-time!)
9. Erin Sicher 5:12.90
10. Jackie Kasal 5:15.30
12. Alexa Squirini 5:26.82
13. Liz Tawa 5:27.91

17. Daniel Trettel 4:20.09
20. Ryan Witters 4:27.45
22. Evan Jurkovich 4:36.45

Paul Short XC

Maura Linde 20:30 (5th place!)
Angelina Oputa 25:00

Austin Hayslett 25:32


Also, Kerry won the Leaf Peepers Half Marathon in New Hampshire in 1:26:09! Don't miss this in-depth article: https://www.timesargus.com/articles/graves-allen-win-leaf-peepers-half-marathon/