Several Huge PRs, a few comeback races and First time ever races of distances from the 10K to 50K.

Samantha McMenamy ran the Wallis Sand Half Marathon in Rye, NH finishing in 2:02:08 which was a 26 minute PR. Thrilled to be able to run this half after being on a wait list, Samantha ran a strong and consistent race on this beautiful course.

Samantha MI wanted to run a 2:00 half, but that was a huge goal after running my first half in September with a time of 2:28 and feeling so weak I could barely cross the finish line. This race I felt strong the entire time, the race was truly enjoyable and I sprinted across the finish line feeling strong! I missed my “time” goal, but I am very happy with my results!

Vanessa Jewell ran a Lincoln National Guard Half marathon completed in 1:57:01 31 minutes

VAfter 9 months of consistent training, changing my nutrition, and believing in myself – I finally hit my goal of running a half marathon under 2 hours without getting sick! This was HUGE for me. I’ve been running for the last 19 years and this year was the first time that I could: run faster than a 10:00 min/ mile, run longer than 6 miles without getting sick/incredibly sore, and truly believed in myself. For the first time I KNOW that I can run a full marathon and get it checked off my bucket list… who knows, maybe I can set the goal for Boston now 🙂

Donna Ferguson ran the OneAmerica 500 Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis, IN finishing the race with the time of 2:10:57. Overcoming injury to come back and complete this race when training was less than she hoped in the last weeks due to piriformis syndrome issue. She used the thoughts of her husband and son at finish as well thoughts of a good friend that lost her husband one year ago to th to propel her to a strong finish.

Donna FerI gave it all I had left in my engine… I did it… I’m back!! 10 mins slower than my PR but still #51 of 675 in my Age Division.. and I’m determined, the best is yet to come!! Medaling my daughter who said she had the best run ever and posted a pic of herself and me labeled: “I’ve inherited her love of running” – It doesn’t get much better than that!

Catherine Smith ran  her first 50K the Run For Kids Challenge 50K  completing the distance in the time of 6:43. This race was completely on trails which lead to some falls that had to be bandaged up along the way.

CatherineFirst 50K! I heard about this race from Adam Feder while I doing one of my long runs for my marathon training. Since it was only 10 weeks after my marathon, I decided it was a good time to try to tackle the distance – wouldn’t have to build up miles again. The first half of the race felt FANTASTIC. The second half was more daunting, especially the final lap. Adam and I did a lot of walking the final miles. But, the goal was only to finish, and I feel we did quite well! Results aren’t posted yet, but I think I was 5th women overall and 4th in my age group.

Dominik Gehl ran his first ever 10K, the MEC 10K in Montreal, Qc, Canada completing it in 51:04.

DominikFirst 10K race ! Very happy with the result … was hoping for a time a bit under 55 minutes, so 51:04 really is much better than expected.

 

Eric Eidsmoe ran the Indianapolis Mini Marathon finishing in 1:52:01 which was a PR. 

Eric EA great race with a chance to run a lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The weather was perfect for a PR and I did!(?) I ran a 1:51:04 last year at a different race, but my watch said that course was only 12.85 miles. This was 13.2. So I’m counting it as a PR. My splits were very even throughout (less than a 20 second spread) and I felt really good up until the final 2 miles. Those were a struggle, but I was able to maintain my pace.

Gerry Forman ran the Spring SprintvTriathlon which was a 5K in San Diego in the time of 26:27.

John Innes  ran the WPS Half Marathon  in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada coming across the finish line in a time of 1:45:52.

Weather perfect sunny, felt very strong , finished strong. Not a PR but the best time for this race which I have run for 5 years. Was not sure what to expect from my training due to long cold winter and limited outside runs but kept up with the lStrength Conditioning and felt strong ; Great run, a good time was had by all.

Jennifer Towell ran the Pittsburgh Half Marathon finishing in time of 2:09:12.

J TowellWhat made this special is my family and in hind site the fact that I finished. About mile 5 I knew something wasn’t right, even though I was keeping my paces, no severe pain just not good. At 6, I called my hubs to say I was quitting. He was at 9 so I decided to run easy there. At 9 I walked off and after about 5 minutes of debate decided to finish. It was on again off again until the end but I finished with what I now know is a partial tear of the lateral quadricep. Double edge sword here as I constantly preach “respect the body” so I am not fully proud of my decision to continue. But am kind of proud of my perseverance and the clear mental strength to push through. And the fact that my eldest believes I am the strongest person he knows.

Kathy Balme ran her first marathon at the  Toronto Marathon in Toronto, Canada completing the distance in 3:57:44. She was slowing down from about the 28-33k range but fought back and picked up to the pace to reach her goal and BQ.

KathyI am ecstatic, thrilled, pleased, basking in the glow…………… I just ran my first marathon yesterday (Sunday) in Toronto with my sister, Erin King (also on RC). So thanks so much RunnersConnect; great training plans, great coaches; between that, the positive feedback from the RC team and members, and the constant encouragement from my sister, I made my goal and am now a marathoner and a Boston Qualifier!!! Yay!!!

Michelle Hall raced the Race for Hope 5K in Washington DC coming in the time of 22:01 which was a PR by 47 seconds.

MichelleHallI ran this race to raise money for brain cancer with my friend who has brain cancer for the past 9 years. It was a lovely day and very inspirational to be around so many survivors.

 

Michael Groner ran the Flying Pig Half Marathon in Cincinnati, OH in the time of 2 hours and 22 minutes.

m GRONERThe Flying Pig Half Marathon was the first event I signed up for after completing my first marathon in January. Feeling much more confident after training with RC for about 3 months, I was looking for a big PR in this event.However, two months ago I had to stop training due to PF. I started running again with only four weeks to go to the race. Honestly, it felt like starting from scratch and I didn’t think I was going to be prepared to run the race at all. However, Coach Jeff’s plan totally got me back on track and the great coaches and community kept me going when I was down. In the end I ran the race and I just missed that PR. Considering the circumstances, I was extremely happy with the performance. I’ll get that PR next time

 

Gary Landsverk ran the Monona 20K in Madison, WI completing the distance with the time of 1:41:05 which was a PR as it was his first race at this distance. Ran as a tune up race to gauge fitness and build confidence for his marathon.

Gary LI followed the advice from my coaches on RC and it turned out perfectly. I ran the first half at relatively easy pace, and then basically ran a cutdown from there, with the last three miles pushing it pretty hard. It was fun, and I finished strong. I had no soreness or fatigue afterwards, so I know my training has got me ready for my goal race in two weeks. Thanks RC!

Rod Hauer ran the Dino Half Marathon as part of his training lead up to his full marathon completing the half in time of 1:52:11.  Racing on tired legs, Rod was able to placed 1st in his age group and 43rd out of 235 runners.

Disappointed in my time, but being I am training for the marathon,I was on somewhat tired legs so I guess I’m ok with it. Paced 1st in my age group and 43rd out of 235 half marathon.

Erin King raced the Toronto Marathon in Toronto, Canada finishing in the time of 3:05:31 which was a 3 minute personal best as well as landing her in 4th place overall female as well as 3rd in Master division. Erin had come down with a headache cold just days before the race and sleep very little in the days leading up to the race as well as had hip cramping during the race but was able to hold strong for a fabulous race effort.

Erin KingI trained for this race partly as a means to encourage my sister, Kathy Balme, to try her first marathon. Our hope was that we would both qualify for Boston so we could both go in 2015.  My sister ran a great race and qualified for Boston!! I ran this race entirely by feel with only vague attention to my watch. This was very liberating and satisfying as I still ran an even split race despite my battles with hip cramps and strong winds.

Russell Friedberg raced the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis, IN finishing in the time of 1:27:20 which was a PR of over 2 minutes.

RussellCompletely failed to keep my 1:29 plan as my slowest mile was mile 7 @ 6:48. I ran 8 of the miles sub-6:40, and finished with a 6:19 kick for the last 1.22. Measured .12 long and STILL PR’d by 2’06”. I can’t get over those splits.  In my last 2 races (IL on 4/6 and IN on 5/3) I dropped my PR by 2’28” and then 2’04” for a total reduction of 4’32” in 2 races.

Rod Buskirk ran the Pittsburgh Half Marathon coming across the finish line with a time of 2:00:03 which was a PR by 16 minutes 53 seconds.

What made this race so special was that although it was a tune up race for the VA Wine Country half on May 31, 2014, I exceeded my goal time of 2:05 by nearly 5 minutes. Being a new member, I’ve only been using Coach Danny’s training plan for a few weeks but I can already see huge improvements. It was great to go into a race with a plan and the confidence that I could execute that plan. I’m really looking forward to my race at the end of the month and my first marathon, the Marine Corp in October.

Amy Feit ran the beautiful Colorado Marathon finishing in the time 3:32 which was a 3 minute PR. Sharing the weekend with family running other race distances  made this weekend very memorable.

AmyThe race itself went well. Any day you can PR at elevation and with near record high temps is a good day! It felt like Boston all over again with 17 miles of quad beating downhill at the beginning 🙂 I dealt with some cramping in the last 10k, so it was tough, but tough is what the marathon is all about.

 

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