Long Weekend Recap: Road Mile, Outlaw in Ottawa

Does a race during Memorial Day weekend qualify as a spring race or a summer race? These are the types of questions that keep me up at night. I'm leaning towards summer, but I'm open to opposing arguments.

The major event of the weekend took place on Memorial Day proper out in Winchesta, VA. Our crew of Gina, Emily, and Jackie placed 3rd (5:05), 5th (5:08), and 6th (5:18) at the Loudoun Street Mile. While Loudoun County is a veritable hike from DC, this race has a long history of awarding snazzy backpacks to top finishers, and this year's neon colorway was no exception. By all accounts, Gina and Emily couldn't even wait 10 minutes after receiving the backpacks to start flaunting them about in the streets of downtown Winchester.

Up in Canada, Outlaw closed out his spring season (or started his summer season) at the Ottawa Half Marathon with a 1:14:36.

Weekend Recap: TK in Green Bay, Mark 3rd at Historic Half

Folks, I've said it before on this very blog, and I'll say it again - you have to escape the DC area if you want to run a fast distance race during the summer. Some may argue that May isn't "summer", but what else do you call a day where the temperature hits the upper 80's?

Always one to heed my advice, TK4 traveled to Wisconsin for the Green Bay Half Marathon on Sunday morning. Tom ran a massive PR of 1:13:40 for 6th place, despite windy conditions and limited competition near his pace.

Never one to heed my advice, Mark Hopely ran a strong 1:14:39 for 3rd place at the MCM Historic Half in Fredericksburg, VA. Mark hoped to defend his title, but the combination of a hot morning and a hilly course made that a tall order against a competitive field. I doubt that Mark will start taking my advice anytime soon, so there's a good chance that he reclaims his title at the 2019 edition of this race.

Kerry also continued her sneaky spring (summer?) comeback tour, running the Capitol Hill Classic 10k in 40:38.

Weekend Recap: Swat, Zak runs a 5k

For reasons unbeknownst to us, club runners aren't permitted to compete in college conference meets. The Swarthmore Last Chance Meet is the next best thing, and despite its inconvenience for your standard non-NCAA runner (whose idea was it to have a meet on a Monday?), a good chunk of our track crew made the trek up to Delaware County for some fast late-season times. Particularly notable performances include Alex Morris running a 3-second PR in the 800m for a new club record plus Paul Thistle continuing to chip away at his club record in the 3k steeple.

 Swarthmore Last Chance Meet

800m
Alex - 2:08.87 (GRC Club Record)
Jesse - 2:11.11

1500m
Alyson - 4:36.45
Jackie - 4:41.94

Lars - 3:57.35
Craig - 4:02.15
Mitch - 4:03.96

3000m Steeplechase
Paul T - 9:00.52 (GRC Club Record)

5000m
Maura L - 16:41.25
Rebekah - 17:58.26

Jake - 15:12.49
Witty - 15:23.14
Alex A - 15:23.78

Outside of Swat, Lucas Stalnaker won the 5k at the Montevallo University Last Chance Meet in 14:30.78, and Emily d logged a solo 4:36 1500m at a low-key meet in Paris. Expect her to shred up the track once she returns stateside in the near future.

Zak also won the Police Week 5k in 15:55. Good job, Zak.

Weekend Recap: Some marathons, other races too

Summer showed up early to the party last week, and our distance crew responded with a mad rush to fit in as many races into this weekend as possible. It's either now or never, folks!

On the marathon front, Natalie claimed both victory and a PR at the Kalamazoo Marathon, crossing the line in 2:59:10. Up in Pittsburgh, Maura C completed her hometown marathon in a two-minute PR of 2:52:26.

Down in Philadelphia at the Broad Street 10-Miler, Tyler replicated his strong performance from Cherry Blossom with a solid 53:20, and Mark Hopely knocked out two PR's in one race with a 25:42 5-mile split en route to a 52:16 finishing time. I would think that there was a 10k PR in there too, but let's be honest, who cares what a lowly blog writer thinks.

Closer to DC, Steph won the Frederick Half Marathon for the third year straight in 1:20:19. That's an impressive streak of victories, but even more impressive is Steph's ability to perfectly replicate her breaking-the-tape pose year after year. 

Our track crew also joined in on the weekend fun by running quick times at the UMD Kehoe Twilight Invitational. Standout performances include a pair of 2:13's in the women's 800m from Alex and Jesse, a pair of 1:55's in the men's 800m from Craig and Daniel, and a near-PR in the 5000m from JLP.

800m

2. Alex 2:13.24

3. Jesse 2:13.59

6. Craig 1:55.31

8. Daniel 1:55.87

1500m

5. Alyson 4:39.55

6. Jackie 4:43.37

7. Liz 4:45.52

13. Elyssa 5:09.47

15. Mitch 4:07.69

5000m

3. JLP 15:22.50

4. Lars 15:29.81

6. Jake 15:47.15

7. Wertz 15:53.64

9. TK 16:00.82

11. Luk 16:02.68

4x400m

1. GRC 4:06.29