Wow, another superb weekend of racing for RunnersConnect athletes. I feel a little repetitive each week, but this has really been amazing month stretch of performances. RunnersConnect was represented in every corner of the US and almost everyone ran spectacular. Here’s how the weekend played out:
Jon Thomas kicked things off on Friday evening with a 19:56 5k race. The time was a 16 second improvement from the same course last year and broke the 20 minute barrier, which has been a tough hurdle to get over for Jon.
Jamie Dodge came through with a great performance in the Lung Strong 15k to notch a new personal best at 1:10:50. Jamie has been training at this fitness level for a few months now and this race was the culmination of a lot of hard physical and mental work. Jamie is really starting to be able to demonstrate her workout fitness on the race course, which is an absolute delight.
At the same race, Richard Harris continued his 2011 racing tear, finishing in 53:14 for 5th place overall. The result was more than a 2 minute PR from last year and was another great step in the right direction.
Monica Ross capped off an amazing training stint with a 2:59:33 performance at the Chicago Marathon. Despite having some hamstring/nerve issues, she pushed through the final 10 miles to break her goal of 3 hours. This whole training segment has been awesome for Monica and yesterday’s race was the cherry on the cake.
Rob Sklenar raced the Long Beach Marathon, but unfortunately he rolled his ankle about 6 miles in, which eventually lead to some major leg cramps and hamstring issues. What truly impressed me about this run was Rob’s tenacity to finish no matter what it took. Rob knew it wasn’t going to be his day, but instead of giving up and wallowing in the bad luck, he dug deep within himself to finish to the best of his ability on the day. I am proud of his gutsy performance and it’s a testament to his character.
Matt McGyver finished his first full sprint triathlon in 1:28:17. Matt has made tremendous progress the last few months and his performance this weekend was an awesome way to cap off a year long journey back to competition and being fit. The next year promises to bring even more progress!
Jennifer Doody capped off a great Fall of training with a 1:34:34 finish at the Army 10-miler. The race marks continued improvement and consistency and after a nice break, Jennifer will be able to get back to some faster shorter races.
Pebble Williams ran a 2 minute half marathon PR on a very tough course to finish in 2:19:13. Pebble raced the BAA half marathon, which is my home turf and I can attest that it is quite challenging. I am proud of the way she toughed it out and finished strong.
Elliot Myers had one of those days with pre race hiccups and race organization when nothing seems to go right. However, he still managed to finish in 1:57:01 for the half marathon. The important part is that he’s set himself up well for a great marathon training segment and training is only going to get better each week and month from here.
I hope everyone who raced this weekend is proud of their performance, I know I am. If you didn’t race, hopefully you can use the success of your teammates to build confidence in your own training. Keep up the great training and racing everyone, I love writing these updates!
