Colonial Half Marathon, BU Valentine Invitational recap and results

Road Racing

The duo of Mark Hopely and Natalie Patterson represented the GRC road racing crew this past Saturday, February 15th at the 41st annual Colonial Half Marathon in Williamsburg, VA. The two put up strong performances running 1:10:19 and 1:23:03, respectively, to both finish third. These times are especially impressive considering they were running what Mark dubbed as "America's hilliest half." These two are fit, and given a more forgiving course, are poised to rewrite their own record books this Spring.

Results here.

          Patterson, left, and Hopely, right, bring home hardware for their efforts at the Colonial Half

Indoor Track

Several members of the GRC indoor track team doubled back from the Millrose Games last week for a showing at the BU David Henry Valentine Invitational this past weekend.

On the women's side, Maggie Shelton led off the action running a strong 2:59.46 in the 1,000m, which puts her at #2 on the GRC all-time list for that event. Gina McNamara was next up for GRC, posting a 4:53.53 in the full mile. This is a new club record for the track mile, besting the previous top GRC mark by 0.36 seconds. Gina had been battling knee issues since her DMR leg at Millrose but was able to rally in time for her performance.

Elias Graca and Scott Gulizio started off for the men's team in the 800 the following day. Elias ran a speedy 1:52.91, breaking the second GRC track record of the weekend by 0.30 seconds. Scott was not far behind in a quick and even split 1:53.28, which now places him third on the GRC all-time list.

Tom Kelly was next up for the men in the full mile, running a strong 4:26.73. This is a season best for Tom and is surely a good omen for his progression to continue as track season heads outdoors. Adam Hearn was the club's representative in the 5,000m, running 15:29.76. Adam came through the 2k comfortably poised for his goal of a 14:50 finish when he decided that indoor 5,000m races weren't difficult enough already and finished the last 3k with only one shoe. Jokes aside, Adam still ran formidably after losing his shoe to another runner's spike, and will return to the track for outdoors with his shoes tied tighter than ever.

                       Hearn, right, catches up with a friend from the B.A.A after his 5,000m race

Results here.

Women's 1000m
Maggie Shelton - 2:59.46 (GRC #2 all-time)

Women's 1 Mile Run
Gina McNamara - 4:53.53 (club record)

Men's 800m Run
Elias Graca - 1:52.91 (club record)
Scott Gulizio 1:53.28 (GRC #3 all-time)

Men's 1 Mile Run
Tom Kelly - 4:26.73

Men's 5,000m Run
Adam Hearn - 15:29.76