Weekend Recap: Making Memories at the Run for Remembrance

GRC made our beloved sponsors proud on Saturday by sweeping most of the top spots at the inaugural Run for Remembrance 5k. The one and only Sam from Cornell took home the victory, and he was gifted a nice wooden American flag for his solo effort.

Run for Remembrance 5k
Sam from Cornell 15:25 (winner)
Craig 15:56
Mark 15:57
Jordan 16:06
Trever 16:12

Jackie 18:55
Rebekah 18:56
Chelsie 19:20

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Smiles and flags - what more can you ask for after a race? #ForEveryRun #RunForRemembrance #sendem #runwashington⁣ 📷 @hectorjesusmoreno1

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Up I-95, Hallie and Chelsea V tackled the Bal'more Half Marathon. There was plenty of wooter and Old Bay on the course, plus number of "How 'bout them O's, hon" cheers from spectators near Camden Yards.

Baltimore Half Marathon
Hallie 1:25:15
Chelsea 1:26:10

Finally, outside of Bahstun, Cabell and JLP took on the historic Mayor's Cup 8k. JLP held off fast-charging ex-pat Phil Royer down the homestretch, proving to the world that moving and leaving GRC is always a terrible mistake.

Mayor's Cup 8k
JLP 26:05
Cabell 27:07

Weekend Recap: Battle at Gettysburg, random road stuff

In what has become an annual tradition, a motley crew of men trekked up to Gettysburg on Saturday morning with an aim of capturing a team title over a variety of mostly Division III schools. While they may have lost that particular battle, they haven't yet lost the war, or something like that.

Gettysburg Invitational
Kyle W - 25:48 (winner)
Daniel - 26:27
JLP - 27:02
Luk - 27:03
Mitch - 27:45
Cabell - 27:38
Trever - 27:42
Jordan - 27:56

Chelsea - 23:17
Jackie - 23:47
Angelina - 24:39

Further east, Maura L took home the win at the Inter-Regional Border Battle, followed closely by Caroline and Liz T.

Rowan Invitational
Maura L -21:28 (winner)
Caroline - 22:06
Liz T - 23:17

We also had a handful of stray road results, highlighted by Natalie's third PR in four weeks.

Hartford Half Marathon
Graham - 1:11:33

Border Patrol "5k"
Taylor - 15:27** (this is a Barry Bonds-ian asterisk; does not belong in the record books)

Race Against Heart Disease
Natalie - 18:13

Weekend Recap: Kerry takes over the Twin Cities

Unless you live under a rock, you've likely heard by now that GRC President Kerry Allen laid down a 10-minute PR on Sunday to qualify for a certain high-profile race in Atlanta. Coach Jerry has the scoop:

"At Twin Cities yesterday, Kerry ran an outstanding 2:41:33, a PR of over ten minutes, which is the second fastest time in GRC history, and was good for seventh place in a very competitive field.  I can't overstate what an exceptional run that was, or how excited I am to see Kerry get the breakthrough she worked so hard for.

As I've told Kerry many times in the last couple of years, she's had Olympic Trials qualifier written all over her, but despite several big PRs at shorter distances, she's had bad luck with weather on race day and a series of nagging injuries that had her questioning whether she would ever be able to reach her potential in the marathon.  After another injury setback that scuttled her spring plans, Kerry put in a really good block of training for the past few months, and the weather in Twin Cities was perfect, and Kerry took advantage of her opportunity in a huge way.

Kerry's fabulous performance was the product of years of hard work and unrelenting persistence in the face of daunting obstacles, and I'm really, really proud of what she accomplished.  And Kerry is just getting started, and the best is yet to come in Atlanta on February 29, 2020."

D.C.’s Kerry Allen qualified for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials with a 2:41:33 at the Twin Cities Marathon this...
Posted by RunWashington on Sunday, October 7, 2018

Here's the rest of notable happenings from the weekend:

Twin Cities Marathon
Kerry 2:41:33
Emily P 2:53:10

Chicago Marathon
Keely 3:03:03

Army 10-Miler
Emily d 59:09
Kelly 59:39
Maura L 61:10
Natalie 64:58
Molly 66:17

Thistle (the Missile) 52:29
Sam C 54:09
Max 54:28
Graham 54:47
Kyle 55:33
Sean B 55:38

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Just three guys having a grand old time at the halfway point of an oppressively humid 10-miler - surely the back half of the race was even more fun!⁣ •⁣ •⁣ •⁣ #armytenmiler #foreveryrun #runpacers #sendem #grc #runwashington #rundc

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Weekend Recap: Too much variety

This weekend's race results are like a really long menu at a chain diner: there's a lot of good stuff there, but it's going to take a while to sift through it all.

Here's what we've got:

Navy Mile
Taylor 5:00.28 (#3 All-Time)
Gina 5:05.87 (#5 All-Time)
Jesse 5:23.71

Daniel T 4:19.77 (#4 All-Time)
Mitch 4:37.18

Paul Short XC
Caroline 21:34

Chealsea V 23:06
Liz T 23:34
Angelina 24:24

Great Race 10k
Maura 35:52

Alex A 31:42

Prince William Half Marathon
Natalie 1:23:43 (winner)

Outlaw 1:13:43

National Capital 20 Miler
Evan 2:01:39
Dickson 2:01:40

Weekend Recap: Mostly Clarendon

It seems as though the vast majority of GRCers ran down Wilson Boulevard at least once on Saturday, with several running down it twice. Isn't Clarendon Day a hoot?

Clarendon Day 5k
Paul T 14:59 (winner)
Kyle W 15:02
Sam from Cornell 15:09
Daniel T 15:10
Max 15:24
Luk 15:24
Alex 15:25
Outlaw 15:29
Graham 15:33
Jordan 15:47
Mitch 15:48
Cabell 16:01
Trever 16:01
Evan 16:20
Matt 16:53
Sean O 16:56
Sam D 17:13

Gina 17:42 (winer)
Liz R 18:15
Liz T 18:46
Jackie 18:48
Rebekah 18:52
Angelina 20:01
Theresa 20:50
Jesse 21:15

Clarendon Day 10k
Luke 32:50 (winner)
Graham 34:20
Luk 35:10
Outlaw 35:21
Sam D 35:50
Kyle 36:04
Evan 36:16
Matt 37:16

Natalie 38:20 (winner)

In outside action, TK4 took home the W at the Run! Geek! Run! 5k in 16:16, leaving behind several nerds wearing glasses in the process.

Weekend Preview: Pacers Racers Edition

Our munificent corporate overlords and all-around good guys Pacers are hosting one of the jewels of the local running calendar this weekend, the Clarendon 5k & 10k. The weather is starting to round into shape just as our roadsters do the same. Relative to the question of quantity and also of quality, GRC is bringing the metaphorical lumber this weekend. Here are some reasons why Clarendon Day is great:

1) Saturday race
2) The double!
3) Day drinking
4) Heading eastbound on Wilson

The forecast calls for torrential PRs this weekend on the perennially quick course. On the men's side, there are whispers, nasty little blasphemies about attacking the club record (14:35). Even if many of the men have the talent, fitness, and youth to undertake such an endeavor, one doubts if they have the dashing good looks affiliated with the current record. We'll also have some GRC debuts this weekend, including Liz R, Max P, Alex A, and probably some other ones I'm missing:

5k - Kyle Wagener, Sam Chauvin, Daniel Trettel, Lars Benner, Alex Archer, Jerry Greenlaw,  Max Pedrotti, Cabell Willis, Lukasz Olenginski, Mitchell Abrams, Jordan Psaltakis, Trever Reed, Paul Thistle

10k - Luke Meyer

Double - Matt Hassett, Samuel Doud, Evan Jurkovich, Sean O'Leary

For the women:

5k - Jesse Carlin, Jackie Kasal, Rebekah Hernandez, Liz Reynolds, Angelina Oputa, Annyck Besso, Gina McNamara, Theresa Kennedy, Liz Tawa

10k - Natalie Patterson

Send em

Weekend Recap: Do two halves make a whole?

Withstanding Mid-Atlantic humidity is remarkably similar to running a half marathon: both efforts last longer than what seems appropriate. Despite swampy conditions on Sunday morning, our crew logged strong efforts and placed well at both the Navy-Air Force Half/5 Miler and the Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half.


NAF Half

Kieran 1:10:56
Sam D 1:11:59
Trever 1:16:21
Mark 1:16:41
Evan 1:17:34

Kerry 1:21:28
Maura C 1:23:05
Chelsea V 1:26:24
Keely 1:31:15


NAF 5-Mile
Paul T 25:19 (winner)
Outlaw 27:03
Jordan 27:15

Emily d 28:34 (winner, course record)
Kelly C 28:45
Maura L 28:47
Hallie 31:36

Up in Philly, Lucas made a valiant run at an OTQ, while Dickson and Hashem placed well in the midst of some hard marathon training.

RnR Philly Half
Lucas 66:34
Hashem 71:23
Dickson 72:09

If you squint really hard, you can see Hashem and Dickson mixing it up with Des and Kellyn Taylor in the photo below.

Weekend Preview: Debonair Debutante Edition

With Florence heading south, no doubt ducking the terrible rage awaiting her were she to delay what promises to be a debut-filled weekend, GRC is ready to roll. Keep your eyes on flooded roadways, though: Coach Jerry's salty tears after a Vanderbilt meltdown on Saturday night could rival what Flo has in store.

Our good friends at the Navy Air Force Half Marathon are hosting the finest half and five-miler around this weekend. Our women's 5 contingent features Kelly C, Emily d, Molly A, Emily P, Hallie F, (and Jerry did not say Maura L, but I'm pretty sure she said she was running at practice on Wednesday?). Holy talent! Not to be outdone, the men will send Paul T, Outlaw, Jordan P,  and late entrant Sean B to the line. Paul's time will need to be converted from lane 4 of Hains Point.

In the half, Maura C, Margaret J, Keely E, and Chelsea V will represent the women, joined by Trevor R, Evan J, Charlie B, Mark H, Sam D, and Kieran O.

Debuts:
Kelly C
Molly A
Sam D
Margaret J
Chelsea V

One seems to recall that RNR Philly will feature some GRC representation, but the ignorance and stubbornness of the author will shroud those participants in mystery until results are available.

Send em

Explosive New Book: RUN (and Hide)!

Fresh off his latest book, FEAR: Trump in the Whitehouse, famed author, Bob Woodward, has penned a non-fiction thriller detailing the GRC during the tumultuous years Patrick Murphy skippered the fledgling team. The book is entitled, "RUN (and Hide): The GRC Administration Under Patrick Murphy". 

Although the book has yet to be released, I've (amazingly) come across a copy, and some of the charges are explosive. Below are a few excerpts. Though you might think I enjoy sharing these snippets, please know that it really pains me to post them here on this beloved blog: 

 On page 1,276 (it's a 3,000+ page epic!), a team member known only as "B. Young" (narrowing the source down to two people) claims Patrick "colluded with PACERS during the 2009 Veteran's Day 10k, essentially handing PACERS the win." This collusion occurred years before the teams officially merged. In 2009, the two teams were rivals. This is by far one of the devastating accusations in the book. 

In an earlier chapter, former President of the GRC, Sam Luff (AKA "Sam from Cornell #2") is reported to have called Patrick a "dumby (sic) face" in April 2012, after a contentious board meeting. 

During that same board meeting, Charlie Ban was drinking a concoction that resembled “a mix of both coffee and beer, two drinks Charlie claims he never touches…” He also, according to one account, wore blue jeans, or, according to another, blue jean shorts (jorts) to this same meeting. 

Kyle Cooke, it’s said in the book, “has hoarded upwards of six to eight different singlets.” 

According to official membership paperwork, current GRC President Kerry Allen's real name is Allen Kerry, and she was named after her father, Allen Kerry Sr. 

Although he joined the team after Patrick’s tenure, the book also claims that Cabell Willis has a “ghost writer, who pens all of Cabell’s Instagram posts.” 

An author known only as Enamanoos (sic) has written the book's Foreword.

Weekend Results: ZAK ATTACKED EDITION!

Zak won the Lehigh Valley Marathon this morning, blasting a 2:38:40 to win by a minute and a half. A cursory glance at splits reveals the race story: Zak had gapped the field by 10k, and ran evenly the rest of the way to stretch the margin to its final resting place. Being out front in a marathon is a lonely endeavor, but Zak kept steady and brought home the victory.

There are no confirmed reports that Zak was fueled in his heart and his legs by the pent-up anguish of a thousand Orioles losses, nor that he screamed "Time to slam brews!" at the finish. There are, however, confirmed reports that Zak said it was "'...definitely not an ideal day for a marathon, and the course was pretty sloppy in a lot places, but I was able to send 'em nonetheless."

At Parks Half, Dear Leader Kerry (80:28) followed suit by wrapping up an early season victory, a great indicator of successful marathon pain to come.

On the men's side of the ledger, Sam C (70:52) took home second in his GRC debut, followed by Sean O (77:33) in ninth.

Kyle had a top 10 finish at the City of Lakes Half, clocking in at 71:03.

Emily d broke 5 in the Fifth Ave Mile with a 4:59.

On Saturday evening, Outlaw got the party started with a 2nd place finish in the 9/11 Memorial 5k, blazing a 15:58.

DEVELOPING...

Weekend Preview: Zak Attack edition

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was also really damn hot," is how Dickens probably would have started A Tale of Two Cities were he writing the past couple weeks. And then! Sweet temperate relief on the horizon this weekend, just in time for GRCers to supply the missing heat. Here's what we've got cooking:

Zak takes on the first big US soil (sorry Frances) marathon of the season, in what is probably the Lehigh Valley marathon according to Google but is definitely in Pennsylvania if not.

Emily d takes on the mile up the coast in the sub-elite heat of the 5th Ave Mile (club record is 4:49.07, be on the watch?)

Native son Kyle W will return to Minnesota to run in some sort of half marathon, and is likely to return with a sizable PR that won't fit in the overhead.

Closer to home, Kerry, Sam C, and Sean O are running the Parks Half. This will be Sam's GRC debut.

Outlaw will look to stretch his vicious summer speed into the 5k at the 9/11 Memorial race as he transitions to the "hard training" for the marathon.

Other people are also probably running, but due to the idiocy and crippling fallibility of the author, they are not recorded here.

DEVELOPING

Weekend Recap: Frances down under, Annapolis 10, Reunion at Carderock

I'd like to say that performances from last weekend were positive signs of a successful fall racing season to come, but unfortunately not all of the weekend's performances took place in the Northern Hemisphere.

Down under, Frances Loeb made her 26.2 debut at the Sunshine Coast Marathon in Australia in a runner-up performance of 2:59:31. A sub-3 debut is impressive by any measure, but as Coach Jerry pointed out, "Frances's home base in Vanuatu is not conducive to running at all, let alone marathon training.  Between the extreme heat and humidity, trails that are so overgrown that they are virtually impassable, and a workout loop that is only 200 meters, Frances had her work cut out for her to get in enough training to think about even attempting a marathon, let alone running it competitively." Our analysts agree that this race was a positive sign of a successful spring racing season to come for Frances.

Closer to home, we had a smaller crew tackle the historically humid Annapolis 10-Miler. Jordan led the way in 5th with a 57:24 clocking, and TK finished 10th in 58:57 despite a scary bout with heat-related illness. Tom is already back on the mend, thanks to the doctors that put the IV in Tom Kelly "IV" (joke credit goes to Charlie). Newcomers Chelsea V (64:58) and Caroline (65:36) also competed well.

In non-race news, we hosted our first ever GRC Reunion on Sunday. The past and present of GRC celebrated club accomplishments, paid respects to Lauren and Nina, and honored individuals who have helped to cultivate our club's culture over the years. Charlie also got to spend some quality time with young Henry.

While not everyone got the memo about matching attire, there were still smiles all around from the old-timers and the new folks at our first ever GRC Reunion #sendem

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Weekend Recap: Another track mile, belated Riley's results

Via MCRRC Photos

Most running blogs run the risk of turning into weather blogs during the dog days of summer, so we're just sticking to the facts this week.

On Friday, Outlaw and Dickson closed out their summer mile circuit at the Going Green track meet in Gaithersburg, MD. Semi-professional rabbit Tom Kelly performed his characteristically perfect pacing duties for 1200m before allowing Outlaw to turn on the jets for a 4:29.1 performance. Dickson cruised home with a 4:43 after finding himself in no-man's land.

Since trackside reports suggest that the finish line was placed in lane 6, we've contracted a team of data analysts from FiveThirtyEight to run calculations on whether this would equate to a sub-4:28.3 PR performance for Outlaw.

Last weekend, Kerry defended her title at the venerable Riley's Rumble with a 1:25:53 performance. Ex-pat Kristin "Snakes" Johnson was 3rd in 1:30:37, and Charlie finished 2nd overall in the men's standings with a 1:20:39 run. I'm told that Riley's Rumble has hills but can't personally attest to that fact. It's entirely possible that the photo below is using some camera perspective trickery to create the illusion of a hill.

Via MCRRC Photos

Weekend Recap: Crystal City Twilighter, Midsummer Night's Mile last weekend

In a turn of events expected by none, this year's Crystal City Twilighter was not hot. Temperatures hovered right below a comfy 70° at the start, but with one small wrinkle: nor'easter conditions that dumped over 5" of rain on the DC area throughout the day. Regardless, as anyone with previous experience with the Twilighter can attest, running in the wettest year of the race sure beats running in the hottest year of the race.

Particularly notable performances from Saturday night include 2nd place finishes from Kyle Wagener (15:28) and Emily de la Bruyere (17:38), plus some strong top-10 finishes from Kerry (18:01), newcomer Katie Read (18:05), and Emily K (18:39). Unfortunately, not too many people had their cameras out in the rain, so we'll have to make due with this singular photo that has surfaced on the 'gram.

Full results can be found here: Crystal City Twilighter 2018

Playing catch-up on last weekend's results, Outlaw and Dickson set the track on fire at the Midsummer Night's Mile in Germantown, MD.  Outlaw kicked home to 2nd place in 4:30.7, followed by Dickson in 4:37.8 after 1200m of perfect 67-second laps from expert pacer TK4.

“The mile is more fun with friends” - Roger Bannister, probably. 📷 @mcrrc • • • #foreveryrun #grcrunning #sendem #runwashington #nbrunning #rundc #trackandfield #bringbackthemile #midsummernightsmile

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Weekend Recap: July 4th, Emily d in France again

July weather in DC has been known to cause even the most hardened local runner to flee from the city, and race results from the past week confirm that the GRC Summer Diaspora is in full swing.

Up in Vermont, a vacationing trio of Kerry, Hallie, and Greta took time off from picking blueberries and drinking Heady Topper to compete in the Clarence DeMar 5k, running 18:15 for the win, 19:19, and 20:25 respectively. Hallie and Greta's runs were particularly impressive due to the circumstances surrounding their buildups to this race - Hallie is coming off of a long injury-induced layoff and Greta is fresh off a lengthy stint in the Middle East.

Somewhere in France, Emily de la Bruyere had a heck of a weekend at the French Outdoor Championships, which take place around two weeks after the USATF Championships. It's worth noting that Bastille Day is around two weeks after the Fourth of July, and I doubt that the interval of time between these two national championships is a coincidence.

On Friday, Emily ran a club record in the 5000m with a 4th place finish in 16:15.39. While that performance alone would be enough to call the weekend a success, Emily also had the gumption to try her hand at the 3k steeple on Saturday night. Her 10:15.02 performance for 4th was a little ways off of her PR, but taken in total, that's a darn impressive 24-hour stretch of running.

Back stateside, Stubborn Mark Hopely took home the W at the Heritage 5 Miler, running a controlled 28:25. Mark is the only club member with photographic evidence of his race (only half credit for post-race watermelon photos). It would be nice if other club members sent along photos of their races.

Weekend Recap: Emily competes well at USATF Nationals, Mark wins shoes

On Thursday evening, distance hurdling superstar Emily d finished 22nd in the 3k steeple prelims at this year's USATF Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, IA. As is often the case in our sport, the end result only tells half the story, so here's an eyewitness report from Coach Jerry: 

"Emily ran a truly courageous race in the semi-final of the steeple.  Emily was in the lead pack, which included Courtney Frerichs, until 800 to go.  At that point Frerichs dropped the hammer, and Emily got separated, but she was still in position to qualify for the final on time with 200 to go.  Then the last water jump happened.  Emily got too close to the barrier, and ended up taking a nasty spill, resulting in her being completely submerged.  She got up quickly, but at that point she was totally out of gas, and barely made it over the final barrier.  Emily crossed the line in 10:16.39 with her head held high.  As Emily put it, if you're going to fail, you might as well fail spectacularly, and she's none the worse for wear.  I was extremely proud of Emily's race--she lined up with the best athletes in the country, and was not afraid to get after it.  She put herself in a position to succeed, and gave it everything she had, which all I can ever ask for.  Emily's season is not over, as she's got the French championship in 2 weeks, and she'll be back, better than ever."

In other news, Mark Hopely won the Battling Cancer 5k last weekend in Fredericksburg, VA. Mark's 16:50 effort netted him $100 and a pair of kicks. While the time is nothing to write home about, we can all appreciate how smooth Mark looks running in sunglasses.

Weekend Recap: Neverending Track Season, Lawyers Have Heat

If there's one thing I've learned this track season, it's that track season is not "nearly over" in early May. Each week has brought about a new slate of meets that I am either unfamiliar with or have carelessly forgotten. This week, I'm going to try the ol' reverse jinx method - track season is just getting started (wink wink).

Emily d surely had the track performance of the weekend with her 9:59.33 3k steeple out at the Portland (Oregon) Track Classic. The odds were stacked against Emily, who had reportedly last jumped over a steeple barrier at the 2017 USATF Nationals, but sometimes a lack of expectations is the key ingredient to a long-awaited PR. It's likely that Emily's club record time will qualify her for this year's national championship, so maybe I'm right about track season actually just getting started...

Photo via MoCoRunning.com

On the East Coast, Daniel Trettel just missed out on the club record in the 800m with a 1:53.89 at the newly-established DMV Meet of Champions. Judging from this photo of his finish, it looks like Daniel had an innate sense that he should have run .04 seconds faster. A little further north, Liz raced a mile at the New Jersey International Meet in a strong time of 5:03.12.

In the local road race world, seven brave souls faced the inevitable heat and humidity of the Lawyers Have Heart 10k on Saturday. Maura L fared best in the conditions with a 6th place finish in 35:31, and solid efforts were also logged by Taylor (37:02), Kerry (38:38), Emily (39:41), and Rebekah (40:01). On the men's side, Paul finished 13th in 32:15 and Zak also finished the race, despite some mid-race uncertainty about his prospects to do so.

Weekend Recap: Track in Tennessee

Track season continued its seemingly endless march forward over the weekend, with notable meets in both West Chester, PA and Nashville, TN.

North of the Mason-Dixon line, a fearless trio comprised of Alex, Alyson, and Liz ran the 1500m at the John Hay Invitational. Alex ran 4:34.87 for a 3-second a PR (and a GRC #4 all-time performance), and she was followed by Alyson in 4:38 and Liz in 4:45.61. Despite my best efforts, I can't find any photos from this meet, so please enjoy this thumbnail from a Milesplit video where you can see what appears to be the outlines of Liz and Alex.

At the Music City Distance Carnival, Maura L claimed bronze in the 5000m via a 17:02.2 clocking, and Paul Thistle nearly ran a season best in the 3000m steeple with a 9:07.04. Conditions were steamy trackside, but morale was high, so both Maura and Paul expect to return next year with plans to improve on those performances.

Also in Tennessee, friends of GRC Ryan Lockett (mile, 4:09.09) and Kieran Gallagher (1500m, 4:18.15) ran season-best performances in their respective events.

Speaking of GRC friends, ex-pats Phil Royer and Hannah Rowe ran the Mountains to Beach Marathon in Ventura, CA on 5/27. Hannah performed exceptionally well for her first 'thon (2:54:14), and Phil finished runner-up (2:29:32).

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.