Team RunnersConnect throws down 5PRs and a win and several course improvements.

Brian St.George raced the Longyear Lake 5K in Chisholm, MN coming across the finish line in the time of 16:49 which earned him a PR and win and a course record.

BStThe race went pretty well to my plan. I wanted to go out a bit slower (5-10 seconds/mile) and see what I could do in the last mile. It worked for me during my last 5k, so I thought I’d stick with it. There were two 20 something’s out in front leading the race who had a 1st mile of 5:10. I know both of them and knew their recent race times didn’t warrant this fast of a pace, so I kept to my plan and told myself “they can’t hold this pace”. My first mile was a bit fast (right on goal pace), but I managed to slow it up a bit for the 2nd mile and caught both lead runners between 1.75 – 2.25 miles. I didn’t feel as much kick at mile 2 as my last 5k, but still managed a fastest 3rd mile. With a sub 17 on the line, I found it in me to go all out during the last .3 or so and finish with a goal time, PR, course record, and overall win in 16:49.

Sean Regan raced the Gopher To Badger Half Marathon in Hudson, WI finishing in the time of 1:32:41 which was a PR of 4 minutes.

seanThis was a PR by about 4 minutes since my last Half in March, which feels great. Left foot flop (fatigue) was in play until about mile 4-5, and then it resolved itself as usual. But I had a tough time keeping to my goal pace of about 6:56/mile in the middle of the race. My breathing told me everything I needed to know – that I wasn’t going any faster in those miles if I expected to finish the race. So I focused on staying relaxed and patient, knowing that some runs get better as the miles go on. And that held true in this race. Body and mind started to come together better in the final 3rd of the race, which resulted in a strong finish as I reeled in about 7-8 runners in my last mile or so at 6:30ish pace. Finished 6th in my age group and 37th overall out of a field of 1015.

Rich Rein ran the Gopher To Badger Half Marathon in Hudson, WI completing this race distance in the time of 1:47:13 which was a PR of 6 minutes and 57 seconds.

RichReinThis race was another checkpoint along my journey to my goal marathon this year (which means I was working on/trying out specific aspects of my marathon plan), while also serving as yet another installment of our family fitness adventure (my youngest sister and mother were also participating, each running the 5K). All in all, a great race!

 

Christophe Cadiou raced the Marietta Dog Days 5K in Marietta GA coming scross the finish line with a time of 19 minutes and 55 seconds which placed him second in his age group.

CCadiouVery humid at the start (100% humidity according to Garmin), so even though this is not a PR, I was happy to run a sub-20′, which had been eluding me for the past couple of years. I was also happy to place 15th overall and 2nd in my age group. Only dark spot, I hurt my Achilles tendon pretty bad and will have to stay off my feet for a few days.

 

Sweeny Choong ran the NW Galaxy 18K in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur finishing this distance in the time of 1 hour and 26 minutes.

SweenyCIt was my first 18k race and as such to analyze my progress I compared my average pace of this race to a 15k race I ran a couple of months back. It was considerably slower; from 4:36 km/hour pace to 4:46 km/hour. I will need to work harder on my fast finish long runs. Fortunately this is a tune-up race and so I have a month and a bit more to train harder before my FM in early Oct. 🙂

Jim Welland ran in the Cincinnati Running Club Cross Country Run 5K in Norwood, Ohio completing this event with the time of 26:05.

JimIt was a very challenging trail run. Hills and at times, rough trail. Had to watch every step. I didn’t go all out but still good in a very good workout.

 

Dominik Gehl ran in the MEC Montreal 5 10K which is in Laval, Quebec finishing this race in the time of 46 minutes.

DominikDirections were wrong at km 5 … So we ended up running only 9K and didn’t pass by the mid race fuelling / water station. At least the race organization decided to offer us the next participation for free.

 

Ian Mannix raced in the Adelaide Corporate Cup Round One which was a race of 7.2 km finishing the first race in a series of several races over many weeks with a time of 38 minutes and 16 seconds.

This is the fastest first race I’ve done over the past five years, by almost one minute. I felt strong and am confident I can get PB’s throughout the seven races now. My end goal is to consistently run at least 12km/h – five min km.s Points are awarded by time improvements. Normally runners just start really slow, (Some even walk a bit) but due to the confidence from my RC conversations, I feel I can be a bit “truer” to myself and start harder and make continuing gains over the next 14 weeks.

John Ranger raced the Perth Half Marathon in Perth, Western Australia finishing this race with the time of 1:36:58 which was a PR by 5 minutes and 24 seconds. 

john RangerHad been training well and so was aiming for a 1:40:00. Conditions were pretty good – 13C but with an 18kph breeze. The course was out (with the wind) and back making for a tough second half. Knowing this I went out a little harder than planned to make the most of the breeze but wasn’t looking forward to the run back. I had just read the runners connect report on running in windy conditions and made sure where possible to jump in behind a runner in front and gradually move up through the field. With 4k to go I managed to settle in with 2 other guys each taking our turn out front to bring us home. With all the help I was able to average 4:30 coming home for a negative split and a 10km PB of 45:10 over the last 10k

JC Sawyer ran in the 47th Annual Yankee Homecoming 5K Road Race in Beverly, MA coming across the finish line in the time of 22:52.

JCJust feel good about my time. It was an evening race which is a low-energy time for me, and I had some diaphragm pain most of the race but pushed through to finish strong.

 

Vladimir Selec ran the Sujica Half Marathon in Bosnia and Hercegovina finishing this race in the time of 1:32:01.

HM tuneup race not bad after 12 hour drive the previous day and getting up at2:00 AM..leaving for the race at 5 AM

Sascha Fennel ran the SEMI MARATHON NEVACHE BRIANCON in the French Alps completing this race in the time of 1:52:44 which was a 6 minute and 24 seconds from 3 weeks ago.

SaschaFPerfect race plan well executed. The negative split strategy works out perfectly for me. Slow start. The best part of the negative split plan is that you pass plenty of people. After km 3,6 nobody passed me while I passed approximately 200 people in “vacuum cleaner” mode. Each new runner in front of me gave me new energy. The feeling at the end is one of success. If I had done the same time with a positive split and other runners passing me the sensation could have been totally different. But this way, I felt happy and proud. I went there with no goal other than to find the excitement of a race. And man, I had fun ! I felt like singing or screaming out loud of joy several times. My excuses to some fellow runners that I passed as they probably heard me coming as I was greeting most spectators cheering back to them.

Simeon Bayles ran in the Bridge to Bridge Trail Race which was a 5 mile trail race in New Paltz, NY finishing this event in the time of 35:51 with 3 minute improvement on the same course.

SimeonTrail race so not a PR but it was a 3 minute improvement over the other time I ran this race 2yrs ago. I haven’t raced since May and I had taken some time off to get on top of some injuries after that so this was a good test of fitness. Slowest mile was 7:42 and fastest was 6:23 which just reflects the diversity of effort in a trail race (was probably working way harder for the 7:42). My next race isn’t till the end of September and I think this served as a sign that I’m on my way back but still have plenty of work to do to be happy with my effort in September.

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