Laura Johnson ran the Chicago Marathon and finished with a time of 4:28:16. This was a personal record by 16 minutes!
My 2nd marathon and 2nd in Chicago. The crowd support there is awesome- someone to cheer you on every mile. I had a PR by 16 minutes and was ecstatic!!! I had begun to have pain in my right leg; hamstring and glute 5 days prior to the race and wasn’t sure what would happen. However, I was able to run with no increase in the pain. I ran with the 4:30 pace group and increased my pace at mile 24 and finished alone but felt strong. It was a wonderful experience and I’d recommend Chicago to everyone- loved it!
Bob Murney ran the Chicago Marathon and finished this distance in the time of 3:55:40.
Absolutely stellar weather and a super fast course at Chicago. Was all ready to run this one for a good time but wasn’t to be. Kept my pace at about 8:45 for most of 13 miles, then at about mile 14 felt right hip flexor stabbing pain and then hamstring followed. Ended up missing BQ by 40 seconds. I know I have to finally get this hip flexor thing fixed. Congrats to everyone who ran Chicago this year — was truly a wonderful experience!
Christophe Cadiou ran the Chicago Marathon and finished with a time of 3:11:27.
What made this race special was that it is going to be my last race for a while – time to take care of a few injuries that have held me back over the past few months. I did not know what to expect after cutting my training significantly for the past 6 weeks, so all things considered I was pleased with my time. Great meeting the RC runners the night before the race – Thanks again Heather, Mike and Tracy for organizing our little get together!
John McGiff ran the City of Trees Marathon and finished with a time of 3:52:19, which was a PR by 5 minutes!
3rd marathon, 1st in Boise, PR by 5 minutes. Was really neat to have my family there at the end of it. 1st race as a RC member.
Peter Horvath ran the 31. Spar Budapest Marathon and finished in a time of 3:26:36. This was a massive personal record by 19 minutes!
This year’s goal was a 3:30 marathon but I planned to do it only in November. I didn’t even listen to the split results during the race I simply felt strong and fast. It was only at 38k when I realised that it would be a PR as well as this years goal and it would be minutes better than 3:30. I cried at the finish line.
RC coaches thank you so much!
Ericka Binkley ran the Chicago Marathon with a finishing time of 4:14:43.
Overall, this was a decent marathon for me, but not what I was hoping for. These past 6 months were my first time training with RC, and I was really looking forward to seeing the payoff of all of the work I’ve done with slowing down the pace of my long runs, increasing my weekly mileage, and focusing on specific speed work. However, I got hit with a cold in the week leading up to race day. So, while my legs felt really good throughout the entire race, my lungs just plain hurt. I’m trying to stay positive about how great my legs felt, and trust that the training is indeed paying off – I just got hit with a poorly timed cold for this one.
Anne-Lise Vivier ran the Chicago Marathon and finished in a time of 4:11:39, which was a PR by 6 minutes!
I know, if it was easy, everybody would do it! This one was painful, though, and I don’t think I handled the race very well. I tried to run by feel, but my finish was sluggish, to say the least. I PR’ed by 6 minutes nonetheless and I am trying to keep that in mind (especially when I had to go down stairs yesterday evening!). I know I couldn’t have done it without all the RC Coaches, so a huge thank you to them. It was great meeting fellow RunnersConnect members the evening before the race. Thanks to Heather, Tracy and Mike for organizing the get together.
Kevin Dollard ran the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon and completed this distance in the time of 3:02:10.
Missed my goal time by 2 minutes. This would NOT have been a PR though, just a goal of breaking 3:00 after 60 (I broke it 6 times in my 50’s including at 59). Went for the negative split but just couldn’t pull it off like I have many times before. The silver lining is that I won my age group (60-64) by 31 minutes. 1300 runners in race.
Sanaa Cody ran the Chicago Marathon and finished in 4:11:04. This was a new personal record by 9 minutes!
I had struggled completing just about every long run in my training plan due to heat issues in TX. Out of three prescribed 16 milers I only completed two and they were ugly to put it nicely. So I knew I would struggle as I got into the second half of the race, and I did. Despite that, I think the weekday workouts with tempo runs and long intervals carried me through. I struggled with pain in my hip flexor during the race which cost me a couple of minutes but still managed to PR by 9 minutes.
Andrew Goodwin ran the Fall Colours Half Marathon and finished this race event in the time of 1:44:40.
I’ve run this race for the last 5 years, and it always been nice, sunny and cool perfect running weather.
Stafford Johnson ran the Portland Marathon and finished with a time of 3:07:24, which was a massive PR by 24 minutes!
Even though I did not hit my goal time of 3:05, I am really happy about this race. It is my second marathon and a marathon PR by 24 minutes, a negative split and also a BQ for 2018. This race usually has perfect running conditions, but this year the rain has shown up early, so it was a wet one. I ran a very good race according to plan, started off conservative for the first 4 miles, found a good pace after that. The rain and wind hit around the halfway point and there are some hills there also, so it slowed things down a bit. That said, the race results had some interesting stats, my favorite of which was after 20 miles I passed 28 runners and only 1 runner passed me (and that was my running partner who finished 15 seconds ahead). In hind site, with the rain and hilly course, I probably should have adjusted my goal pace a little so I would have had a little more in the tank at the end. Overall, I am really happy with how hard I pushed at the end and refusing to let my self slow down when I was hurting.
Jeanette Villa ran the Chicago Marathon with a finishing time of 4:18:04.
The Chicago Marathon was awesome! Great course, perfect weather and awesome fan support. I had hope to set a new PR and finish under 4 hours. However, it had been very hard to train these last 7 weeks due to a new job and hamstring and piriformis pain. I decided to run for fun and to finish. The first half of the race went well. I held back a bit the second half to make sure I had enough energy to finish the race. I finished strong. My hamstrings felt tight, but I wasn’t in pain. I ran smart and most importantly I didn’t injure myself. I had a great time. Looking forward to to running the Marine Corp Marathon in 3 weeks.
Jennifer Darnell ran the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon and finished with a time of 3:29:20. This was a personal record by 5 minutes!
Before switching to RC coaching I always got very fatigued in marathons around mile 16-17. This time I ran almost perfectly even splits for the whole race which I’m even happier about than the finish time. (first half in 1:44:30, second half in 1:45:05) The training increase in race pace running on tired legs made a big difference in being able to last 26 miles at that speed. I’m a believer!!! I can’t wait to get back to similar training for the next marathon.
Rebecca Phillips ran the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Half Marathon and finished in 02:12:56.
A lot happened in my life while I was training for this race. Besides the usual business of work and life, I planned a wedding and got married. I also started working with a new health practitioner to solve some of my digestive issues. There were times when I was really tired and wanted to quit. I struggled to execute on paces or even complete workouts. At one point, I considered changing my race from the half marathon to the 8K.
But I kept at it, and I told myself I would do the best I could to finish this race. This time wasn’t my fastest (I ran closer to a 2:09 in August 2015), but it wasn’t my slowest either. I was proud of how I ran the race. I held a conservative pace for the first 5 miles. Then I gradually increased my pace until the finish. My splits, according to my Garmin watch were: 10:55, 10:36, 10:34, 10:30, 10:03, 9:51, 10:03, 10:08, 9:39, 9:57, 9:52, 9:14, 9:18. I was kind of surprised that the last miles weren’t at faster paces. I suppose I was just getting tired. Overall, I did give it my best, and I am glad I didn’t quit!
Geoff Hablow ran the Newport Marathon and finished in a time of 3:57:33, which was a PR!
Woot, Woot. First Marathon in the books. What a great feeling from start to finish. The race was tough, rain during the whole race and good 10 – 20 mph winds in open parts of the course. Lots of details but some highlights…I was locked in and focused during the whole race. Mile 6 I was in a groove. Mile 10 was first wave of emotion that this was actually happening. I was spot on to my planned pace and still in groove. Running through the half finish and onto the 2nd 13.1 miles was both energizing and demoralizing. I killed the hill from 17.5 to 18.5, it killed me on the way back at mile 23. Mile 21 – 26.2 was mental toughness as right IT band started hurting, pace slowed, hills were tough. Never once thought about stopping, just keep the legs moving. Mile 25, I am sure my form was not pretty as compensating for right knee, right hip hurt, right ankle hurt, and that lead to right calf cramping 100 ft before finish. Mile 19 I had the best water bottle exchange with my Son. He rocked!
No doubt an accomplishment, a learning process and ready to do it again! While I missed my goal, I am more than happy with the results as I finished, not injured, and really enjoyed the experience. Thanks to all the Coaches. You all rock!
Kari Ingebritsen ran the Twin Cities 10 Mile and finished this race in the time of 1:34:04, which was a PR!
This was my first 10 mile race and my husband ran it with me. The pacing was crazy during the first 3 miles. It felt slow and people were passing us, so I was surprised when I saw how fast we were. The third mile there was a hill and very narrow space to run in. We hit a wall of humanity with people walking and it was near impossible to navigate, so I wasn’t surprised to see that slower than I wanted. After that though, we got free and the paces started coming more the way I wanted. It was freezing cold, but it was beautiful running along the river, up very scenic Summit Avenue passed the college I graduated from, and ending at the state capital. Thanks, Runners Connect coaches and community. I would have never gotten this far without you!
Scott Thompson ran the Twin Cities Marathon and finished with a time of 3:46:57. This was a massive personal record by 32 minutes!
Pretty ideal conditions at TCM this year and fall is my favorite time of the year. Lakes, fall colored trees, St. Paul Cathedral, finishing at the state capital building: a great venue.
I topped my PR by 32 minutes, although my target was 3:40 so I fell short of that goal. I held fairly closely to my training plan, but missed or shortened a few workouts due to a busy work schedule and a full family life.
Al Williams ran the Munich Half Marathon with a finishing time of 02:13:14, which was a PR!
I set myself a goal of 2h 20m with a stretch goal of 2h 15m. So I am stoked with 2:13:14 at my first attempt at the half.
After I got shin splints in my left shin 10 days out I was relieved to just get to the starting line. Was able to run relatively pain free, although pretty sore afterwards. I ran the first 10k pretty easy and picked up the pace from there. With 5k to go I picked up the pace again and I don’t think anyone passed me in the last 3-4k. Was cool to catch the 2h 15m pace runner just before entering the stadium. Finishing in the Munich Olympic stadium is pretty cool.
Jennifer Feldman ran the Prairie Fire Marathon, finishing this distance in the time of 3:43:30. This was a personal record by 9:40.
I started running about 5 years ago–just off and on. About 2 years ago I decided I wanted to run a marathon. I trained for my first marathon (same race 2015) by listening to running podcasts, including RC, and reading everything I could get my hands on. In my first race I did better than I thought I ever would but made all the classic mistakes and finished injured and discouraged despite my decent time. It took a few months to forget the misery of that race to remember why I love running. I started running consistently around 125-130 miles a month and after a few months decided I needed a coaching system if I was going to try racing a marathon again. I joined RC in June and it was so different than the way I trained for the first marathon. I had compared my runs to the previous cycle and if anything I felt slower! The coaches reassured me that it would be fine but it is hard to let go of the control and hand it over. I was so unsure about my fitness by race day that my goal was to meet my previous time or just barely PR. I should have trusted my coaches!! From the very beginning I felt so much more comfortable running this race, at least for 23 of the 26.2 miles. In the last race I was struggling by mile 17.
My “a” goal pace was an 8:35 which seemed a reach to me for all 26.2 miles. Amazingly, I kept looking down at my watch at what I felt was an 8:35 or slower pace to see it around 8:25-8:30. I tried to hold back the pace and just kept telling myself to “run your own race” as people passed me in the first half. I slowly cut a few seconds off each split and hung on. The second half I was running 8:15-8:25 and still feeling pretty good. Fastest miles were 20-21 and I tried to open it up at 22 but that was as hard as I could go. Mile 25 was when I honestly considered walking. Everything just got hard all at once. Made it through that tough mile and shifted back to a faster pace knowing I could hold on a little longer! I honestly left EVERYTHING out there. I PR’d by almost 10 minutes and ran a BQ time!! Probably not quite fast enough to be out of the grey area but absolutely thrilled to have done it. I couldn’t have done anything differently and that leaves me feeling satisfied and ready to try again. The weather was really perfect, overcast and 55-65 degrees. The race is small but extremely well organized and the nicest volunteers. Amazing race day!!!
Tim Warren ran the BAA Half Marathon and finished with a time of 1:54:58.
Despite the steady rain, this was a good race for me. Not a PR, but good enough for 4th place in my age group. It also completed the BAA Distance Medley (5K, 10K & Half) and I finished 4th in my age group in that race series. It was the fourth half marathon I have run this year, and my second best time. I’m hoping I can use this tune-up to break 4:00 at Marine Corps Marathon.
Elliot Parry ran the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon and finished this race in the time of 3:47:43. This was a huge personal record by 38 minutes!
My second full marathon. My first was last year in the same location. I wanted to come back and see what a years worth of training meant on the same course.
Heather Joe ran the Chicago Marathon and finished in a time of 4:54:10. This was a PR by 20 minutes!
I will start by saying this race was awesome. Really enjoyed the course. I felt better during this marathon than the last two. Had to stop for the bathroom and got pretty sick at the end. I always get sick but this time it wasn’t near as bad and I pushed through. The last marathon I earned a DNF because I was so sick. This was no where near my goal but still a 20 minute PR so I will take it!
The best part about my race was meeting the RC team the night before everyone was awesome!
John Sheridan ran the Chicago Marathon and completed this race in the time of 4:06:17. This was a personal record by 00:15:54.
This was a big PR for me and caps off a great year of running harder and faster than I ever thought I could. Starting with a 5k in the spring, followed by a 10k, and then a half in July, each race brought new PRs and gave me the confidence to really trust the training and to push myself. I’ve been running for about four years now, and this is the first year that I’ve actually been able to race each of my races, including the marathon. For me that’s a very special feeling.
Eric Martin ran the Chicago Marathon and finished with a time of 3:35:53, which was a PR by 5 minutes!
Broken ankle in April. Cast for two months. Rehab, strength training, RC program and more I was determined to get a time that would ensure I could got Boston. All good. Good day. Great race. Lots of fun.
Nana Little ran the Steamtown Marathon and finished in a time of 3:26:57. This was a PR by 8 minutes 9 seconds.
I beat my goal time (3:30:00) by several minutes and had an 8-min. PR. I ran Boston in 2011 (where I set my previous PR) and was hoping to qualify again for Boston at this marathon. I finished 13 min. faster than my BQ standard, so I hope to be able to register for the 2018 Boston marathon!
This race was different from previous races in several ways. First, I felt pretty confident throughout the race about all the hard training I had put in the last few months, and even when there were rough patches, I felt physically and mentally strong to handle them and push through them without letting my pace suffer too much and without feeling demoralized. Second, this was the first race I followed a pace group fairly closely — since there was no 3:30 pacer, I followed the 3:25 pacer and held back at mile 20 when he began increasing the pace. I think that running around roughly the same group of people helped me feel accountable to them in a way, and also made it much easier obviously to keep an even pace. Third, I had a great fueling strategy that I had practiced on all my long training runs and felt confident about during the race. Fourth, during the steep inclines in the last few miles of the race, I kept repeating certain mantras to myself, which I found really helped me to attack those tough hills mentally. Overall, I don’t regret anything I did before or during the race and would not change any of my racing or fueling strategy if I had to do it over again. It felt awesome to cross the finish line feeling strong and having beat my goal time. Thanks, Coaches, for helping me get there!
Paulo Correia ran the Meia de Sampa Half Marathon and finished with a time of 1:57:29, which was a PR by 41 seconds!
I ran my best half marathon ever. I planned to be conservative during the first 7K and speed up until the end. Everything worked very well. The flat course and the temperature helped the final sprint from 19-21K. I thank all RC coaches & members to the supportive environment we have online.
Roxanne Litynska ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon and finished with a time of 1:46:04, which was a PR!
My first race of any distance. Actually I ran 13.5 miles in 1:46 because there were so many people that I had to overtake! I didn’t expect this.
Karin Wallace ran the Chicago Marathon and finished this distance in the time of 4:27:35.
I tend to run the first 15-20 miles faster than I did in this race and then need to run/walk to the end not feeling well at all. I used a different strategy for this race really trying to run the whole thing. To do that, I stayed with the 4:25 pace group for the first 21 miles. I went off on my own, and unfortunately ended up finishing slower than the pace group, but that was because I had to stop to use a portapotty. Regardless, I did it running.
Marius Enescu ran the Bucharest International Half Marathon and finished in 1:39:38.90. This was a PR by 6 Minutes!
Spring 2013, about 30kg more, no physical activity whatsoever. That was me. It was also the point I decided to start working-out and I started running. It gradually grew on me. After some months came my first 10k and eventually my first Half-Marathon and at some point I did also a Marathon. But nevertheless, the HM remained the race I enjoyed most, the event which I feel is closest to my heart. The personal best for my first HM was just under 2h (1:59). I gradually improved to 1:55, 1:50, 1:47, even 1:45 spring this year. 1:40 seemed impossible, it really did. How can I, a former >100kg couch potato run under 100 minute HM. How can that be possible?
That’s when I realized how important training is. Don’t get me wrong, I was training also before, especially starting with 2016 I was doing at least 30KM per week, majority of weeks more. But that was not enough, I was improving very slowly or not at all.
This is how I decided to look for professional help. I somehow found myself attending a webinar held by a group called Runner’s Connect. I said to myself, why not? Let’s give it a try. Fast forward 3 months, a lot of high quality structured training, advice, a wonderful community of coaches and fellow runners and I removed the IM form impossible.
Almost 6 minutes trimmed from my PB and my limits are now redefined. The most wonderful part? I did not suffer at all throughout the race. I ran all of it as a march to victory. I was only doing what I already knew, what I had already learned during the training. I was confident, in control and finished strong.
THANK YOU RC – MUCH LOVE!
Simon Froggatt ran the Lubeck Marathon and finished with a time of 3:46:46, which was a PR!
First Marathon at 48yrs old. Wondering why I left it so long?
Michael Jacque ran the Long Beach Marathon, finishing this distance in the time of 4:22:15. This was a personal record by 2 minutes!
In this race, I worked 14 hours the day before and due to a work event, haven’t ran since Friday the week before – no warmup, no nothing. Had endured some knee issues but was glad they were fine during the race. Did manage to get 5 hours of sleep the night before the race 🙂
Have completed 20 miles in practice at a 9:19 average, and here did the same – just ran out of juice at 20m. This is the second in the three part Beach Cities Challenge and I didn’t want to miss it, so my primary goal was just to finish. First 16 I was cruising, first 20 overall was very comfortable, last 6 weren’t pretty. Next goal will be to crush the Carlsbad Marathon in February 17.
Madeleine Said ran the Long Beach Half Marathon and finished in a time of 2:20:42.
I ran a strong race throughout. Even at mile 10 I thought I could keep my pace till the end and even kick it a bit. But instead, those last few miles became a grueling hot mess. I felt like I had added at least a minute to my pace but I refused to look at my watch – I just kept running. In the end, my last mile paces were equivalent to my early mile paces when I was reining it in. But the effort was a whole other story! Oh and I think I know what my max heart rate is now 😉 Thanks RC for all the great coaching!
Patrick Callahan ran the Army 10 Miler, finishing this distance in the time of 1:39:54. This was a new personal record by 10:00.
This is the biggest race I have participated in with 8 waves and nearly 25,000 runners recording times. I was starting my warm-up on this cold windy Saturday and when I turned around my wave was heading to the start line so I only managed some leg swings. Coach Danny and I came up with a plan for the race with a goal for a 10 minute PR and I came in at exactly 10 minutes faster than my first 10 miler this past April. My company, General Dynamics, and had three corporate teams in the race. They gave me some good swag and have several cheer squads out on the course. Great encouragement and support. Really stoked to see the results of all the work I put in this spring and summer and looking forward to working with coach Danny and getting fitter and faster.
Kory Wnuk ran the Warrior Dash 5k, finishing this distance in the time of 32 Minutes. This was a PR by 20 minutes!
This race was much more pleasurable than when I did it in 2014. The group I was running with elected to run the competitive wave at 8:30 AM and I did not get locked in behind walkers on the single-track trail. My plan was to run with my group and just have a good time. However, I quickly lost track of the group and picked up the pace. I was really not looking forward to the first obstacle that involved swimming to a floating platform. It was cool enough that the prospect of getting into the water was unfavorable. I did a lot of passing on uphill climbs as I reeled in people when they fatigued. I had no problems with any of the obstacles and flew through them like my shorts were on fire.
I did not see an official time, but based on The Hammer’s watch I ran the course in roughly 32 minutes, which is about 20-22 minutes faster than my time in 2014. This is because I got to run the entire time and did not have to wait to pass people on the trail or obstacles.
Fred Inklaar ran the Sloterplasloop 10k and finished with a time of 43:42, which was a PR by 26 seconds!
Finally beat my PR from 2010. I’ve had five years where my fitness was steadily decreasing, first because of an bike accident and then an ankle injury that kept popping up. But since November 2015 I’m on the rise again – and how! This shows I’m truly prepared for the Athens marathon on November 13th. Greece, here I come!
Carmen Lopez-Acevedo ran the Los Diezmil de Madrid 10k and finished in 53:15, which was a 30 seconds PR!
This is a tune up race I decided to do pretty last minute. I have been struggling with the speed work lately so it was a wonderful surprise to PR on a difficult course! It was a lovely day and I met up with new friends from my running group which was really nice.
Michelle Dixon ran the Rock’n’Roll Brooklyn Half Marathon with a finishing time of 3:15.
I ran most of this race with a throbbing headache – kicked in by mile 4 and grew steadily as the race progressed. I’m happy that I was able to push through and finish and still shaved over 5 minutes off my last half marathon 3 weeks ago. But I am disappointed that my finish time doesn’t reflect all of the hard work I put into training. I still have a long way to go on this “comeback.”
Kristie Rios ran the The Y Race 5k and finished with a time of 0:51:02.
Kirsten Kalkhurst Burbo ran the Smuttynose Half Marathon and finished in a time of 1:39:38, which was a PR by 1 minute!
FINALLY! I’ve been wanting to break 1:40 for a couple of years now. AT LAST – it’s in the bag. Thanks to RC, I’m learning to run more strategically. Waves were self-seeded so I started up front for the first time. Starting up front was challenging. In addition to the annoying critic in my head reminding me that I’m not an elite runner and don’t belong at the front, once the race started, I had the sensation of getting overrun by the herd. But I more easily found my pace and then kept it in check – something I haven’t traditionally been able to do.
I picked up the pace at about mile 9. I definitely felt it by mile 12 but by that time, the PR was in my sights so nothing was going to stop me. I also ran a negative split for the first time. I got 5th in my age group out of 672 runners. I couldn’t be happier!
Thanks RC!!
Bjorg Klem ran the Wineglass Marathon and finished this race in the time of 4:00:56. This was a new personal record by 15 minutes and 11 seconds.
This is my new favorite small town race: Great organization, town, swag, medal, pre and post race amenities and generally super relaxed. Great course too – net 200 feet downhill over 26.2 miles with only a couple of fairly gentle uphills and some great downhills through lovely scenery. I started right behind the 4 hour group but after about a mile let them go but kept them in sight pretty much the whole time. After 6 and 12 miles I was about 50-55 seconds behind the group and hit the half way point in 2:02. From there I kept a fairly steady pace of 9-9:05 until mile 20. At this point I was still feeling pretty good, which has never happened before, so decided to push the pace a little. That worked for a few miles (8:47-9min pace miles 21-23) but after 24 miles, my legs finally said stop, but I never stopped to walk and pushed it as much as I could in the final 1.2 miles. I didn’t quite hit my 4 hour A goal but I am thrilled with my PR and my first negative split in a marathon. A big thank you to the RC coaches for all your support and guidance through this training cycle. It took me a while to finally run slow consistently for my easy runs but combined with some challenging paces in the speedwork, it works! I have no doubt a sub 4 marathon is in my future. Also thank you to the awesome RC community, such great support! Next up: NYC marathon!
Alfredo Guerrero ran the Jet Blue Long Beach Half Marathon and finished with a time of 02:02:25.
For some reason this race is difficult for me probably because the last 3 miles there are little bit up hill.
