Riley's at 8

Sam, Dix and I are going to do 12-13 tomorrow starting at 8 from Riley's Lock

Wednesday workout, August 27

RACES

While the location and distance for Run Geek Run may have changed, the results were the same, as it was once again GRC domination.  Kristin won the women’s race by over 3 minutes, in a PR of 17:58.  Kristin has been a revelation this summer, and we are going to see many more PRs from her this fall, and beyond.  On the men’s side, Stewart made a victorious GRC debut, winning by over 30 seconds in 16:16.  Don’t let the relatively slow time fool you—Stewart is a talented runner with A team potential, and we’ll be hearing a lot more from him in the future. 

WORKOUT

We’re set for 7:15 at BCC, so meet for the warmup at 6:30.

Jerry

Sunday Long Run

Sam, Luke and Jake are meeting at Greenbelt Park tomorrow at 9am. Distance will vary between 13 and 18 miles It's all on natural terrain and most of it (all of it?) is in the shade.

You can follow the directions below to get there. I haven't been in over a year and sometimes there is a gate blocking access to the parking lot. If there is, simply park across the street at Parkdale High School.

Greenbelt Park

Last Updated by Patrick on Feb 21, 2011

This is the entrance to Greenbelt Park, where we occasionally meet for Sunday long runs. The park offers a 6-mile all-trail loop that we repeat 2-3 times.

Greenbelt Park

 

 

Jake Klim

Wednesday workout, July 30

RACES

Congratulations to Kevin for winning the rarely awarded but highly coveted GRC Athlete of the Week. Kevin started his week with a 4:21.18 mile at the DCRRC Championships on Wednesday, which puts him 4th on the all-time GRC list, and he followed that with an excellent 14:55 at Crystal City Twilight on Saturday, which puts him 5th on the all-time list. That Kevin was not particularly pleased with either race shows that he has got a lot of room to improve this fall. Keep your eyes on that young fella as he continues his assault on the record books!

We had numerous strong performances from the very large crew that ran at Crystal City and while, in the interest of not boring all of you to tears I will not endeavor to list them all, a few are worthy of special attention. On the women’s side, I was extremely pleased with Kristin’s 18:01, which was a 23 second PR. Kristin’s training has been going incredibly well, and we are going to see many more PRs from her in the months ahead. Of the many highlights on the men’s side, I was very happy to see James make a successful return to racing after a lengthy absence due to injury. James has worked very hard to get back into shape, and now that’s he’s fully healthy he’s going to have a breakout year. We also had solid GRC debuts from Sean O’Leary and Kyle Cooke, both of whom were high school standouts who did not achieve their goals in college due to injury. They’ve both got unfinished business to attend to, and we’re going to see them make up for lost time in the months and years ahead.

WORKOUT

We should have beautiful weather on Wednesday night, which is both good and bad. It’s good because it will allow us to continue our transition to longer intervals. It’s bad, however, because the track will likely be even more crowded than it has been the last couple of weeks.

See you Wednesday at BCC.

Jerry

GRC Captures Second, Fourth in Crystal City

GRC teams finished second and fourth in the co-ed team competition in the Crystal City Twilight 5k last night. Compared to prior years, conditions were generally merciful. Pacers/New Balance team took top honors finishing in an aggregate time of 1:16:44, about two minutes faster than GRC's A squad. Cheers to Pacers Events for putting on a great race.

Women
3.  LDO 17:53
5.  Kristin Johnson 18:01
7.  Maura Carroll 18:42
9.  Tina Morrison 18:48
11.  Kerry Allen 18:53
12.  Teal Burrell 19:02

Men
5.  Kevin McNab 14:55
8.  Mike Franklin 15:15
9.  Sam Luff 15:16
11.  Sean Barrett 15:21
13.  Kieran O'Connor 15:25
21.  Paul Balmer 15:38
26. Sean O'Leary 15:54
28.  James Frick 15:56
29. Kyle Cooke 15:56
31.  Justin Snair 16:02
33.  Charlie Ban 16:04
36. Patrick Kuhlmann 16:11
51.  Tom Kelly 16:57
54.  David O'Hara 17:03
57.  Lavar Curley 17:16

Wednesday workout, July 16

RACES

Congratulations to GRC ex-pat David Roche for his 6th place finish at the USATF Mountain Running Championships, which earned him a spot on the US team at the World Mountain Running Championships, which will be contested on September 14 in Italy.  David's fiancé Megan also qualified for the worlds team, and as luck would have it they are getting married shortly before the race, so they will enjoy an all-expenses paid honeymoon to Tuscany. 

Speaking of superstar ex-pats, congratulations to Drea for winning the 10,000 meters at the USATF Clubs Track Championships in Tacoma, WA.  Drea's time of 37:07 was well off of her GRC club record of 35:46, but she reports that the conditions were not conducive to running fast, so she'll take the win, and turn her attention to preparing for a big marathon PR at Twin Cities. 

Closer to home, we welcomed the debut of new GRC superstar Phil Royer, who won the Montgomery County Midsummer Night's Mile in 4:20.  Phil is another in our long line of former Ivy League greats, and during his excellent career at Dartmouth he was a many-time Heps scorer, highlighted by his second place finish in the indoor 3000 his sophomore year.  After a couple of injury-plagued seasons, Phil is fully healthy, and we're going to see some great things from him in a GRC jersey in the months and years ahead.  The Midsummer Night's Mile also marked Sam's long-awaited return to competition, and he got his 2014 season off to a strong start with a 4:23.6.  Well done to all!
 
WORKOUT

We're set for our normal 7:15 start at BCC on Wednesday, so meet for the warmup at 6:30.


See you out there on Wednesday.

Jerry





 

McNab edges Brodeur again, this time at Freedom Four

He ran 20:05

 

FLASH: Cecilia is on to next round at USATF Champs

FLASH: Cecilia gets an auto qualifier at USATF tonight in Sacramento placing 3rd in her heat with a personal best of 2:02.14. 

"This was a phenomenal performance in a season of phenomenal performances. Not only was it a PR of 1.7 seconds, the tactics were perfect," noted Coach Jerry Alexander. "Cecilia was in last at the 400, and closed faster than anyone in the race. To make her run all the more remarkable, Cecilia has been dealing with a hamstring strain that has prevented her from running for almost two weeks." 

DEVELOPING...

Who's your Grandma?

GRC athletes put in three big performances today at Grandma's Marathon and Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. Minnesota native Evan Jurkovich notched a three-minute PR with a 2:27:37, good for 43rd place. Jurkovich closed well, moving from 69th place at the 10k to 55th at the Half. His splits were generally even and he held firm during the last 10k.

Luke Meyer hit 1:05:33 in the Half, which placed him tenth. Kieran O'Connor scored a one-second PR for 1:05:58, good for 14th place. These solid performances put the runners just a skip away from the Trials standard.

Ex-pat Benedict Sloane, who, rumor has it, is pulling for Portugal in the World Cup tomorrow, stayed relaxed for a 1:10 or so.

FLASH: GRC goes 1-4 at Lawyers Have Heart 5k

1

6421

Sean

Barrett

29

M

M2529

Arlington

VA

0:15:34

0:15:34

5:01

2

6662

Justin

Snair

31

M

M3039

Arlington

VA

0:15:45

0:15:45

5:05

GRC

3

6556

David

O'Hara

38

M

M3539

Alexandria

VA

0:16:25

0:16:25

5:17

4

6446

Lavar

Curley

33

M

M3034

Washington

DC

0:17:04

0:17:04

5:30

Cecilia's Huge Breakthrough, Wednesday Workout and GRC in the News

RACES

Congratulations to Cecilia for achieving the USATF A standard! On Saturday Cecilia won the 800 at the New Jersey International Track meet in 2:03.87, which qualifies her for the USATF championships in Sacramento at the end of June.  And to cap off her night, shortly after the race Cecilia was invited to run in the Diamond League meet in New York on Saturday. No, I'm not kidding--she's running well enough that she has the opportunity to race against a world class field.  The fact that she has gained that kind of visibility, while training alone and competing in an event in which she had minimal experience before this season, is truly amazing.  It's been a whole lot of fun for me to watch Cecilia's development this spring, and considering that she has improved her PR by a full second in the last 8 days, I can say with confidence that she will make some noise at nationals!

GRC IN THE NEWS

Check out this excellent piece on Ivy League alums running for GRC. 

http://www.activelifedc.com/running/once-rivals-now-teammates-ivy-league-grads-find-success-in-post-collegiate-running-club

WORKOUT

We'll be at BCC on Wednesday for our normal 7:15 start, so meet for the warmup at 6:30.

Jerry

Wednesday workout, May 14

RACES

We had some excellent performances on the track this weekend.  At Swarthmore last night, Hilary concluded her stellar GRC career with a strong race in the 1500.  Hilary's 2014 season was limited by injury, but she gave it everything she had in every race she ran in a GRC singlet, and as her club records in the 1500, 3000, and 5000 prove, she made an indelible impact in her two years with the team. Despite much warmer than desirable conditions for a 5000, Dave Wertz ran 15:11 for a 5 second PR, and Paul Balmer ran 15:13, with a monstrous close in the final 200, for a 9 second PR.  Considering that neither of them had raced on the track for a year, those were very impressive performances.  Speaking of impressive, Cecilia placed second in the 800 at the American Track League meet in Charlotesville on Friday night.  Competing against an invitation-only field, Cecilia showed her trademark closing speed, and while she was hoping to run faster than her 2:05.9, she has proven once again that she knows how to race, and she's ready to get the USATF A qualifier the next time out.

WORKOUT

We'll be at BCC tomorrow for the normal 7:15 start, so meet for the warmup at 6:30.  It's going to be a small crew, so if you plan to come out, let me know, and we'll get you a customized workout.

Jerry

Dave Wertz ran 15:11

at the Swarthmore Final Qualifier 5k. I think we're all safe taking the rest of the week off of trying, because nobody is going to top that! It was a five-second improvement for Dave.Two seconds behind him, Chili Balmer helped himself to a nine-second PR in 15:13.
Hilary capped off her GRC career with a 4:37 1500.

Charlie the Chiseler

During the past six months, Charlie Ban has been quietly but steadily chipping away at his half marathon PR, which, as of last year, was circa 1:12:20. Then in November, he hit a 27-second PR in Richmond with a 1:11:52. After a December marathon personal best in the highly classified "Operation Wild Pitch," Ban lowered his half time yet again with a 1:11:16 at RNR USA, good for a sixth place finish. In Frederick on Sunday, Ban ran 1:11:35 for a fifth place finish. Although Richmond and RNR are more than fair courses, this weekend's run was probably his best result at the half distance given the challenging topography of Frederick's course. Ban, seen above chipping away at a hamburger, subscribes to a race preperation theory known as "the hard training," which most observers credit for his recent successes.

Registration Open for the Father's Day 8k

Loyal GRC blog readers...

Its Father's Day 8k Time!

Registration is open for this year's edition of the race, which goes off at 6:30PM on Sunday June 15th along the C&O Canal in Georgetown. Space is limited and prices go up on Mother's Day (May 11th), so book your place on the starting line today. Come celebrate Father's Day and Men's Health Week with your family, friends, maybe a few of the towpath's geese, and the harriers of GRC.

Wednesday workout, May 7

RACES 

It was another huge weekend of racing, with a large GRC contingent on the track at Maryland Twilight, and our road crew in action at Broad Street, and in various other far-flung locales.

There were several excellent performances at Maryland, highlighted by Mike's club record of 3:53.35 in the 1500. Mike now holds the GRC records in the 1500, 3000, and 10,000, in addition to being the proud owner of a Penn Relays championship watch. By any measure, Mike had one heck of a first track season as a postgraduate, and we're going to see more great things from that young fellow in the months and years to come. Also running well for the men at Maryland were Ryan (3:55.19 1500), Chuck (1:56.6 800), and Tex Paul (a solo 15:20 5k). On the women's side, Cecilia displayed her monstrous finish once again, closing a huge gap in the last 150 to win the 800 in 2:05.9. The time was slower than she hoped for, but Cecilia will have another shot at the USATF A qualifier this weekend.  Our 1500 crew was out in force, led by Susan in 4:35.8, her best performance to date in a GRC jersey. Hilary ran a solid 4:37.98, and she will be ready for a big improvement next week at Swarthmore. Avril returned from her latest romantic getaway in Haiti less than 100 percent fit, but she ran a very strong 4:43.01, followed closely by Tina in 4:43.51, and Heather in 4:44.2.

The times at Broad Street were slowed considerably by a strong headwind the second half of the race, but that did not deter our crew, which was led by Lindsay, who was an outstanding 7th overall, and 4th American, in 59:39. Maura ran 61:29, which was identical to her time at Cherry Blossom, but because of the less than ideal conditions in Philly, Maura's run was certainly worth sub 61 on a better day. Evan equaled his PR of 52:09, and if not for the wind he would have run significantly faster. Jake ran hard the first half but faded to 53:04, and while he hoped to run faster, it was an excellent effort given his difficult recent circumstances.

In other road news, Charlie ran 1:11:35 for the 5th place in the Frederick half. Luke ran 50:14 at the Mountain Goat 10 mile in Syracuse, which has a net elevation gain of 565 feet. Luke classified his performance as "okay" but not worth reporting. I respectfully disagree, as it's more proof, if any were needed, that Luke will be ready to qualify for the Olympic Trials in Duluth. Finally, also in Syracuse, Patrick placed third in a 5k color run, and he's fully confident that next year he will best his 10 year old niece, as well as the guy in jeans who held on for the win.


WORKOUT

The brackets for the state lacrosse tournament are out, and the battlin' BCC Barons will be playing on the road, which means we've got the all-clear for Wednesday night. We'll roll at 7:15, so meet for the warmup at 6:30. With many of you shutting it down for the season, turnout is likely to be modest at best. Let me know if you intend to come out and we'll get you a plan. I'll see you Wednesday at BCC.

Jerry

O'Brien cracks top 10 in Philly

Word on the street is that winds on the back five slowed times at the Broad Street Run 10-miler. Nonetheless, there were some good performances today.

7.  Lindsay O'Brien.  59:40
15.  Maura Carroll.  1:01:29
18.  Catherine Campbell.  1:01:46

17.  Evan Jurkovich.  52:09.  PR, I think.
24.  Jake Klim.  53:04.

Maryland Kehoe Twilight Results

On Friday night the GRC mixed it up with top College runners from  Penn State, Georgetown, Maryland, and other large schools as wells as runners from other club teams.

800m
1.  Cecilia Barowski (2:05.90)

1500m
7.  Susan Hendrick (4:35)
9.  Hilary May (4:37)
13.  Avril Kaplan (4:43.01)
15.  Tina Morrison (4:43:51)
16.  Heather Jelen (4:44.20)

800m
11.  Big City (1:56.68)

1500m
3.  Mike Franklin (3:53.35)
6.  Witty (3:55.19)

5000m
1.  Texas "St. Paul" Paul (15:20)
3.  Panama Red (15:59)

RE: Wednesday workout, April 30, LOCATION TBD--SEE BELOW

RACES

It was a banner weekend for GRC on the track at Penn and on the roads at Pikes Peak. The headline, as you all know by now, is Mike's victory in the 10,000 meters at Penn Relays. Mike ran a perfect tactical race, and there was never a moment of doubt in my mind that he would win.  It would be difficult to overstate the gravity of Mike's victory, but rather than prattle on about it, suffice to say that this is the first, but surely not the last, major championship won by a GRC athlete. What makes Mike's victory even more special is that he had several factors working against him, including a demanding work schedule that required him to work a half day on Thursday, and deliver a presentation on Friday morning. Mike drove up to Philly on his own on Thursday, arriving at 5 pm.  His race started at 11 pm, and after a short awards ceremony and warmdown, he grabbed a couple of hours of sleep on his brother's couch, then drove back to work in time to arrive at 8 am, and give his presentation at 10 am.  Post-graduate running has a set of challenges that college athletes do not face, but in his first year out of school, Mike has proven that he can thrive as a runner despite these challenges. We'll surely see Mike continue to improve in the months and years ahead.  

Luke and Tina also ran very well at Penn. In his first race on the track in 3 years, Luke ran step for step with Mike for the first 8,000 meters, and although he could not find the extra gear to go with the leaders when the pace quickened, Luke held on for an excellent 29:45. Tina ran a PR of 17:46, and while she paid for the aggressive early pace in the last mile, Tina proved that she has made a successful transition to the longer distances on the track.

At Pikes Peak, Lindsay carried the flag for the women with an excellent 34:57, good for second place. Lindsay is in great shape and will look to rebound quickly and shoot for a PR at Broad Street on Sunday.  Outlaw lead the way for the men in 30:46, and he is well on his way back to PR shape.  Speaking of PRs, we had huge ones from Paul Balmer in 31:09, Dave Wertz in 31:30, Dave O in 32:18, and Jonny in 32:22.  Tex Paul did not PR, but ran a very solid 31:11.  Among these excellent performances, the one that stands out for me is Dave O, who continues to make huge improvements despite his advanced age and the minor distraction of having a newborn at home.  Last year at Pikes Peak, Dave was thrilled to break 33 for the first time.  He's now knocking on the door of sub 32, which is a testament to his determination to excel no matter how many reasons there might be for him to slow down.

ADMINISTRATIVE

If you're around on Friday night, come out to the Maryland Twilight meet at College Park.  There will be several races featuring GRC's finest, starting with Cecilia's shot at a USATF A qualifier in the 800 at 6:30.  The 1500 is at 7:20, and that's another race you won't want to miss, so come on out to show your support for GRC on Friday night!

WORKOUT

It's a safe bet that we will be able to practice at BCC tomorrow.  The games scheduled for tonight have been cancelled, and it's only supposed to get worse tomorrow, so it's extremely unlikely there will be a lacrosse game getting in our way tomorrow.  Unless you hear from me otherwise, plan to meet at BCC at 6:30 for the warmup, and we'll roll at 7:15. The backup plan is American University.  BCC on a rainy night is certainly preferable to AU, as that run back to the metro from AU in wet clothes would be less than pleasant, so with any luck, we'll be able to use BCC.

Wherever we practice, it's going to be a small turnout, as the Maryland crew will do their workout tonight, and some of the Pikes Peak crew will need to take the night off to recover.  Thus, rather than publish a workout, I'd like to get a headcount of who plans to show up, and we can then customize the plan for those of you who will be there.

Jerry

PHOTO: Post-Penn Relays 10k

The results still need amending, but here is photographic evidence of Mike's club-record setting win last Thursday in the OD 10k. That watch looks gooooooood.