Rainier To Ruston Rail-Trail Relay

I’m a huge fan of the team aspect of running, therefore relays are one of my favorite types of races. In fact I’m going to try and add a relay race section to my Race Schedule page in the near future. If you have never taken part in a relay race I would highly recommend you give it a try. There is no better way to bond with a group of fellow runners. One great relay race in our area is the Rainier to Ruston Rail-Trail Relay on June 6, 2009 (National Trails Day).

The Rainier to Ruston Rail-Trail Relay begins at Mt. Rainier National Park and runs 50 miles along the Foothills Trail to Ruston Ruston Way in Tacoma. According to the race website the course “passes through pristine wilderness and communities, following the old Northern Pacific railroad grade that once brought settlers and supplies to the west”. The race is broken into 12 legs and you can enter as a teams of 2, 3, 4, or 6 runners. There is also a 50 mile or a 50K solo option (the race is a qualifier for the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run) and a 27 mile walking relay. Please check out the Rainier to Ruston website for more information. Hopefully I will see you at the race.

I would like to thank race founder and co-director John Selby for getting me the information about this year’s race. If any of you know of any races that you think should be mentioned on this site please let me know.

2009 Henry Weinhard’s St. Patrick’s Day Dash

Over 7,000 participant braved the snow, rain and cold to take part in the 2009 St. Patrick’s Day Dash in downtown Seattle. This year’s event had a completely new (well not quite, the start was still the same) course. Instead of running on the Viaduct, runners now did an out and back on Aurora (Hwy 99). I have to admit, I really was not excited about the new course. But after running it I didn’t think it was that bad.

Basically, the new course is uphill on the way out. Then you turn around and run down hill back to the finish. The course is still an odd length, so really can’t compare you time to other races. I guess that gives the race a kind of XC feel, in that your time isn’t really important instead its all about the competition. And this race always brings out a lot of good runners so you can count on a lot of competition. I would love to hear what other runners thought of the new course, if you ran this year’s race and want to share your thoughts please leave me a comment.

Here are the results for the top 10 men and women (full results).

       Men’s top 10 

1.	Mark Mandi	19:14
2.	Jesse William	19:53
3.	Joshua Ricardi	19:56
4.	Bruce Jackson	19:59
5.	Tahoma Khalsa	20:00
6.	Steve Dekoker	20:07
7.	Tony Young	20:15
8.	Nick Hird	20:18
9.	Jim Jurcevich	20:30
10.	Mario Farioli	20:41

      Women’s Top 10

1.	Lauren Matthews	22:35
2.	Sally Bergesen	22:58
3.	Rose Wetzel	23:03
4.	Lyudmila Vasilyeva	23:29
5.	Jeanine Stewart	23:31
6.	Diane Lacki	23:34
7.	Amy-Eloise Neale	23:50
8.	Jodie Isomura	23:55
9.	Regina Joyce	24:02
10.	Shelly Hack	24:21

2009 Love ’em or Leave ’em 5K

With just under 2000 finishers, I think the 2009 Love ’em or Leave ’em 5K at Greenlake was the largest running of this event so far. Yet due to the new course (course map) that is primarily on the roads around Greenlake and the great job of the event staff there were no problems handling the larger crowds. Not only does this race have a fun and festive atmosphere, but thanks to the flat, certified course it also draws some very fast runners. If you are looking for a fast and fun early season 5K I would highly recommend the Love ’em or Leave ’em 5k.

Besides the individual age group and overall winners there was also a team competition. There were two runners per team and they were scored based on their combined time. Below are the winners of the team competition (full results).

Women under 79 (combined age)

1.   41:27 Just Friends  (team average 20:44)
      20:22    Veronica Sackett

      21:05    Laura Ruppert

       

Women masters (combined age over 80)

1.   37:52 Team BS  (team average 18:56)
      18:16    Sally Bergesen 
      19:36    Elizabeth Stahl

 

Men under 79 (combined age)

1.   32:51 Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Cupids (team average 16:26)
      16:11     Leif Kohler  
      16:40     Chris Tremonte

 

Men masters (combined age over 80)

1.   32:13 seattle running club (team average 16:07)
      15:29    Greg Crowther 
      16:44    Henry Wigglesworth

The individual winners ran some amazing times that will surely be showing up on the NW Runner Best Times List. Below are the top 5 men and women (full results).

Female overall results

1.  Heather Gallagher   18:00

2.  Sally Bergesen       18:16

3.  Christina Feliz        18:39

4.  Erica Pitman          19:00

5.  Karen Demartini      19:10

Male overall results

1.  Brett Winegar         15:03

2.  Greg Crowther        15:29

3.  Joe Darda              15:33

4.  Bruce Jackson       15:53

5.  Eddie Stickler        15:56

Tony Young beats the indoor mile World Record for 45 and over

On January 31st at the UW Invitational at the Dempsey Indoor track 46 year old Tony Young of Redmond, WA ran a 4:13.25 in the mile. This was not only faster than indoor world record for age 45 and over but the fastest mile indoor or outdoor that a runner 45 or older has ever run. Unfortunately, since the UW indoor track is an oversized track Tony’s time will not count as the official world record. The official indoor mile record is 4:21.90 by Albin Swenson. The previous fastest indoor or outdoor mile was a 4:16.09, which Tony ran outdoors last year down in Gresham, OR. If you would like to see a video of Tony’s indoor world record, it is at Flotrack.com. Also, you can see a post race interview with Tony at Runnerspace.com.

2009 Hayward Classic Masters Track Meet Cancelled

I am currently working on putting together a list of outdoor track meets in Northwest that will be available to open and masters runners to compete in this spring and summer. Hopefully I will have that up soon. But I do want to let everyone know that one of the best masters track meets around (don’t forget that you only have to be 30 to compete in masters track meets), the Hayward Classic in Eugene, OR has been cancelled for 2009.

According to an e-mail I received from Ruth BreMiller of the Oregon Track Club, they were unable to secure the use of Hayward Field and the other options that were available were not adequate to put on a high quality meet. However, Ruth did go on to tell me that they already have a firm commitment to use Hayward Field in late June 2010. So the Hayward Classic will be back next year.

Washington teams at XC Club Nationals

Sorry it has taken me so long to post this, but due to the snow I haven’t been at my computer very much (I don’t have a computer at home). Washington teams had a pretty strong showing at the USATF XC Club Nationals in Spokane on December 13th. Below is a list of how each of those teams did. Hopefully these teams will continue to enter different events (XC, track, road relays) throughout the year so maybe we can start to build up some friendly team competition within the State. Please let me know if I have missed anyone or need to make any corrections.

Masters Women (40+)

 

Place    Points           Team

   1           23        Club Northwest-A

Points        Name            Time

   2        Susan Empey      24:21 

   9        Karen Steen         25:08

  12       Alyssa Tower        25:24 

  20       Christina Ashby    26:08

 

Place    Points           Team

   3           34       Seattle Running Club 

Points        Name                Time

   3        Alysun Deckert         24:23 

  13       Mary Hanna              25:34

  18       Amber Cruzan           26:05 

  30       Heather Nugent         27:34

  32       Kristy Maraveller       27:53

 

Place    Points           Team

   4           49          Eastside Runners 

Points        Name           Time

   1        Liz Wilson          23:55 

  17       Francie Faure      26:03

  31       Brenda Carter      27:44 

  33       Molly Hurd          27:56

 

Place    Points           Team

   5            56         Club Northwest-B 

Points        Name           Time

  15       Regina Joyce      25:40 

  16       Kelly Kruell         25:43

  25       Gail Hall             26:41

 

Place    Points           Team

   8           91           Hard Core Runners Club 

Points        Name               Time

  14       Lisa Garcia             25:37 

  38       Carol Stuhley          28:42

  39       Donna Nettleship    28:43 

  43       Ilene Gerardi           29:18

  46       Rosanne Bacon      30:51

 

Masters Women (50+)

 

Place    Points           Team

   5          153     Road Runner Sports-Seattle

Points        Name               Time

  50      Phyllis Nelson          32:03 

  51      Joy Cordell              32:07

  52     Sherri Prather           38:38

 

Masters Men (40+)

 

Place    Points           Team

   5          128         Club Northwest

Points        Name               Time

  12       Michael Lynes        34:55 

  16       Tony Young            35:15

  31       John O’Hearn          36:31 

  32       Keefer Whan          36:37

  37       Paul Abdalla           36:55 

  48       Sean Messiter        37:19

  49       Carl Winter             37:24

  64       Kevin McGinnis      38:20

             Ian Brown              39:00

             Loren Hill               40:51

 

Place    Points           Team

  12          374        Eastside Runners

Points        Name                  Time

  50       Tony Hawkes             37:29 

  67       Lance Logan              38:37

  82       Jeff Sowards              40:04 

  85       David Treadwell          40:12

  90       Christopher Michaels  40:49 

  94       David Eddy                41:23

 102      Mark Steen                43:03

 

Place    Points           Team

  13         428        Fleet Feet Running Club

Points        Name                 Time

  63       Lance Docken           38:17 

  75       Scott Drennen           39:16

  86       Kevin McCrabb          40:16 

  97       Daryl Montgomery     41:38

 107      Tim Campbell            43:48

 

Place    Points           Team

  14         430            EMDE Sports

Points        Name                 Time

  74        Kevin Swaim            39:07 

  77       Jeffrey Rahn              39:40

  83       Tim Haugan              40:08 

  95       Troy Nelson              41:30

 101      John Townley            42:53 

 103      Michael Lauffer          43:04

 109      Paul Suter                44:31

 

Place    Points           Team

  16         468           Fairhaven Runners

Points        Name                 Time

   70      Kendall Townsend      38:52 

   87      Steven Wade             40:18

   88      Stephen Roguski        40:34 
  110     Charles Dooley           45:40

  113     Anthony Cava             48:42

            John Schick               48:14 

 

Place    Points           Team

  17         487         Fleet Feet Running Club-B

Points        Name                 Time

  89       Patrick Kenworthy      40:44 

  91       Zachary Willis            40:53

  96       Paul Morrison             41:38 

 105      Richard Nelly              43:18

 106      Chris Blair                  43:38

 

Masters Men (50+) 

 

Place    Points           Team

   1          48            Club Northwest

Points        Name                 Time

   1        Rick Becker              36:42 

   2        Michael Smith           36:51

  11       Mark Billett                38:51 

  13       David Cannon             39:11

  21       Frederick Motteler      40:21 

  24       Michael Allison          40:55

  31       Jerry Zyskowski         42:34

 

Place    Points           Team

   5          133         Seattle Running Club

Points        Name                 Time

   8        Henry Wigglesworth   38:23 

  26       Kent Sizer                 40:59

  27       Win Van Pelt             41:15 

  35       Mark Drangsholt         43:45

  37       Scott Serpa               45:09 

  44       Tony Myrie                48:28

 

Place    Points           Team

   6          185         Eastside Runners

Points        Name                 Time

   3        Joe Sheeran              37:14 

  42       John Swenson           47:20

  45       Wes Pitman              49:30 

  46       Norbert Geer              49:37

  49       Jim Buckley              50:22 

  51       Osamu Yamamoto    51:04

  57       Hon-wah Chan          52:50

 

Place    Points           Team

   8          219         3 Rivers Road Runners 

Points        Name                 Time

  39       Dana Ward                45:44 

  40       Jeff Huth                    46:26

  43       Stuart Kretzschmar    48:11 

  47       Steven Wisness         49:48

  50       Ronald Melton           50:25

 

Masters Men (60+) 

 

Place    Points           Team

   4          27            EMDE Sports

Points        Name                 Time

   3        Jeff Corkill                 42:25 

   9        Joe Machala             44:33

  15       Scott Melville             48:43

 

Place    Points           Team

   5          30           Eastside Runners

Points        Name                 Time

   5        David Longmuir          43:41 

  11       Frazer Mann              45:11

  14       Patrick Dwyer            47:20 

  19       James McGill            50:12

  22      Charles Crouse          51:06

 

Place    Points           Team

  7           73            3 Rivers Road Runners

Points        Name                 Time

 21        Bill Voiland                50:45 

 25        Kenneth Kniveton       52:56

 27        James Peterson         53:58 

 28        Jon Neely                  54:38

 29        John Butterfield          1:16:20

 

Masters Men (70+) 

 

Place    Points           Team

  1            6            Snohomish Track Club

Points        Name                 Time

  1         Ben Grevstad             52:32 

  2         Bill Iffrig                     55:41

  3         Larry Wright              58:38 

  4         Melvin Preedy           1:06:50

 

Open Women 

 

Place    Points           Team

  6           153          Club Northwest

Points        Name                 Time

 15        Rose Wetzel              22:32 

 22        Vanessa Hunter         22:49

 26        Megan Johnson          22:57 

 44        Lauren Matthews        23:26

 46        Lia Slemons              23:26 

 50        Kristi Houk                23:32

 78        Linn Schulte-Sasse    23:53

118       Diane Martineillo         25:17

 

Place    Points           Team

 11          284         The Spokane Swifts

Points        Name                 Time

 19        Johanna Olson           22:43

 35        Janet Collar               23:14 

 48        Jodi Suter                  23:29

 84        Rachel Jaten              23:59 

 98        Haley Cooper             24:26

106       Amber Hamilton         24:46

107       Annie Warner             24:51

115       Heather McLaughlin    25:04

 

Place    Points           Team

 19          562         Eastside Runners

Points        Name                 Time

 38        Susan Ashlock           23:20 

121       Andrea Garvue            25:21

123       Erica Pitman              25:30 

131       Jennifer Bolibol           25:55

149       Tami Curtis                28:22 

152       Susan Pevovar           29:48

 

Place    Points           Team

 21          659          The Spokane Swifts-B

Points        Name                 Time

117       Heidi Bresson             25:10 

125       Lori Buratto                25:41

136       Adrianne Campbell      26:19 

140       Lora Jackson              26:38

141       Sarah Ranson            26:38 

142       Lanaia Severino          26:48

145       Eve Nelson                27:02

150       Libby Fisher               28:43

 

Open Men

 

Place    Points           Team

  6           216        Club Northwest

Points        Name                 Time

 12        Joseph Gray              31:33 

 20        Mikhail Sayenko        31:50

 39        Mark Mandi               32:22 

 68        Brett Winegar            33:16

 77        Sean Sundwall           33:23 

 88        John Timeus              33:30

134       Scott Halliday            34:19

152       Jeremy Park              34:38

240       Jeff Hashimoto           34:54

 

Place    Points           Team

 14          479         Bigfoot Track Club

Points        Name                 Time

 49        Mark Curell                32:45 

 64        Andrew Fuller             33:08

 85        Eric Burck                 33:28 

 97        Ty Axtman                 33:38

184       Sean Coyle                35:25

 

Place    Points           Team

 18          576          Eastside TC

Points        Name                 Time

 73        Eric Griffiths               33:19 

107       Sean Williams            33:53

118       Rusty McCrea            33:59 

132       Michael Anderson       34:17

146       Patrick McCurry         34:33 

186       Timothy Riley             35:30

 

Place    Points           Team

 22          673          Seattle Running Club

Points        Name                 Time

 98        Ben Mangrum            33:40 

119       Travis Boyd                33:59

138       Destry Johnson          34:22 

143       Gregory Crowther       34:28

175       Chris Charles             35:09 

196       Ben Sauvage              35:50

204       Aaron Ladd                36:02

219       Mark Davies               36:45

            Adam Lint                  37:22

 

Place    Points           Team

 32          937           Brooks ID

Points        Name                 Time

 81        Michael Bresson        33:24 

155       Steve Dekoker           34:40

182       Josh Hadway             35:24 

250       Gregory Gallagher      38:37

269       Matthew Cusack        45:52

 

Place    Points           Team

 38          1101       Fairhaven Runners

Points        Name                 Time

129       Chad Portwood           34:14 

207       Peter Ellis                  36:08

245       Steve Grichel              38:21 

254       Jason Gulley              39:01

266       Sam Brancheau          43:16

 

Place    Points           Team

 39          1107       EMDE Sports

Points        Name                 Time

194       Thomas Pileggi           35:47 

202       Evan Sims                  35:59

231       Michael Bergquist       37:28 

236       Ryan McIntyre            37:44

244       Kenneth Linder           38:20 

258       Sam Picicci               39:53

264       Charles Toillion          41:15

 

Place    Points           Team

 40          1115        Eastside Runners

Points        Name                 Time

122       Jonathan Murray         34:04 

209       Cullen Cantwell           36:12

249       Travis Adams              38:34 

267       James Johnson           43:32

268       Jeff Mataya                 43:35

 

Cold, Windy Day of Racing at the 2008 USATF XC Club National Championships

Men's masters race

While the 7 – 11 inches of snow that was predicted for race day in Spokane, WA never quite materialized (there was just a dusting of snow on the course at race time), the wind and cold temperatures were definitely a factor. By the time the races began on Saturday the temperature was about 20 degrees with winds around 30 mph (that makes it feel like its about 0 degrees out).

Seattle teams had a very strong showing taking 4 of the top 5 places in the women’s masters (40+) race. With Club NW (A) getting the win followed by Fleet Feet Boulder, Seattle Running Club, Eastside Runners and Club NW (B), respectively. In the men’s masters (40+) race it was team Fluffy Bunny winning over Fleet Feet Boulder, Bowerman Athletic Club, Dirigo R.C. and Club NW, respectively. The Boulder Running Company/Adidas won the open women’s race with New Balance Boston, the Boston Athletic Association, New York Athletic Club and Run Ohio-Second Sole Racing Team rounding out the top five. For complete results visit the USATF XC Club Nationals site.

Open men's 10K

The men’s open race was won by the McMillan Elite team, followed by the Bowerman Athletic Club, Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, Boulder Running Company/Adidas and Asics Aggie Running Club. The race for individual champion ended up being a great battle between Scott Bauhs and Andrew Carlson. In the end Scott Baughs out kicked Andrew Carlson to win by 2 seconds and claim his first national championship as a professional runner. I heard Bauhs even had to stop to tie his shoe once during the race. This guy is going to be a great runner. For a complete recap of all the races check out the USATF race review.

For more photos from the races check out the following websites:

Northwest Running and Racing flickr site

Club Northwest race photos

USATF photos

Bauhs out kicking Carlson

Fairhaven Runners Team heading to Spokane for XC Club Nationals

Today’s issue of the Bellingham Herald has an article about how the Fairhaven Runners Team and I are heading to the USATF XC Club National Championships in Spokane this weekend. Its always great to see local papers giving some space to covering running (especially when you are the top of the article). In case anyone is interested in reading about me and my team, here is the link to the article: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/601/story/710276.html

2008 USATF XC Club National Championships

Saturday, December 13th, is the USATF XC Club National Champioinships in Spokane, WA. This is always a very fun race because it has such a wide range of runners, from Olympians to your average local runner. Plus, the emphasis on the team aspect of running is great.

The race will be held at Plantes Ferry Park in Spokane, WA on mostly flat, loop course that is all grass (course map: 10K course, 6K course). I have never run on the course myself, but friends who have run on it tell me it is a slow course. While there are no big hills, there are still lots of gradual ups and downs. But the main thing is the ground is very soft and sucks your energy right out of you. Based on the weather forecast for Spokane it looks like it should be a pretty muddy race. There is supposed to be on and off rain all week leading up to the race and then snow flurries on Friday and race day.

Last time I checked the list of entrants for the race it seemed like there should be a good turnout this year. For example, in the men’s open race there is currently about 375 runners entered. As far as teams from Washington State, there aren’t quite as many as I had hoped there would be but there still are 7 teams that I know of who are sending runners. Club Northwest, Eastside Runners, Fairhaven Runners and Seattle Running Club will all have both men and women competing in Spokane. Brooks ID and EMDE Sports will have men’s teams competing and The Spokane Swifts are sending a women’s team. If you know of any other WA teams that I have missed please let me know since I will try and post an update of how the WA teams did after the race.

Schedule of Indoor Track Meets for Winter 2008/2009

When it comes to running indoor track in western Washington there is really only one place to go, the UW. The UW has a great indoor facility and they host several meets every winter. Below is a list of indoor meets at the UW that allow non-collegiate runners to enter. I will also post the list of indoor meets on the Race Schedule page of this blog. I will try to keep the list of meets on the Race Schedule page up to date as well as post any info I have about each meet. So please let me know if I am missing any meets or info.

December 6

UW Winter Preview Meet, Dempsey Indoor, University of Washington

January 17

UW Indoor Preview Meet, Dempsey Indoor, University of Washington

January 30-31

UW Invitational, Dempsey Indoor, University of Washington

February 14

The Husky Classic, Dempsey Indoor, University of Washington

February 15

UW Indoor Open, Dempsey Indoor, University of Washington

March 7

UW Last Chance Qualifier, Dempsey Indoor, University of Washington