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Club News Cross Country Featured Race Reports

2013 Brooks Team Fall Update

2013 SRC Brooks Team
Our Brooks team members are selected based on their strengths not only as runners but as ambassadors for our great sport. Whether it be racing, volunteering at races, doing trail work, or all of the above, giving back to the running community is what makes one qualified for this team. From the roads to the trails to cross country, from one mile to one hundred, one must represent Seattle Running Club and Brooks proudly. Those members were asked to recap what they’ve accomplished and experienced so far in 2013:

Wendy Wheeler Jacobs

Wendy Wheeler Jacobs
My ulta-running season culminated with the Waldo 100K in August and the Wasatch 100M in September. I have filled out the Fall with some wonderful long day or overnight trail adventures including 2 trips around Mt St Helens (pictured above), PCT section J, and across the Olympic National Park.

I once again managed the course marking and sweeping crew for the Cascade Crest 100, and have volunteered at a few other local races. I am wrapping up production of the 2014 Tribute to the Trails wall calendar, which features Glenn Tachiyama’s well-known trail running photography. These will be available at area running stores and all sales proceeds are donated to the Washington Trails Association to help keep our trails open and maintained. You can expect to see nice photos of club members included!

Keith Laverty

Keith Laverty, Tehaleh Half MarathonThis past spring marked my 10th year of competitive, injury-free running. With a new marathon PR (2:35) under my belt and a solid spring season, I was feeling optimistic as usual. However, like all good streaks: they must come to an end. Starting in early August, I suffered my first serious running injury which has put a damper on my fall road-racing and XC season.

Despite the setbacks, I competed in two 12-person team relays over 190 miles, first by winning the Rocky Mountain Relay in course record time. My 3rd leg, a 1,000 foot elevation gain over 7.5 miles, sounds reasonable enough except when you’ve just awoken from a nap on a cement sidewalk, it’s 3:30 in the morning, the weather is brisk and foggy, and the run finishes at an elevation of 10,400 feet. At the next relay, my team took 5th place in the Mixed Open division of Hood to Coast, the world’s largest team relay. I also tried to take advantage of the summer weather by partaking in a few ‘ol dusty (and often muddy) trail races. With a 1st place finish at the inaugural Tehaleh Trail Half, I won the yearly Evergreen Trail Series. Other results include, 1st at Rattlesnake Ridge 5-mile (27:04), 2nd at Cougar Mtn. 8-mile (53:55) and 1st at Cougar 5k (20:28).

Current plans include the FSRC winter series, Bridle Trails 10-mile, preparing for the 2014 Boston Marathon, enjoying the Brooks gear, and most importantly, running injury-free.

Marlene Farrell

Marlene Farrell at PNTF
Image:Win Van Pelt

My running was focused on medium length trail races this season. It allowed me to train frequently on amazing local trails without the need to get out for really long sessions. I stayed very healthy and enthusiastic about running. I ran the Sunflower Trail Marathon in May, the Red Devil 25k Challenge in June, the Cougar Mountain 20 mile race in July and the Cle Elum Ridge 25k in September. I was pleased to win every race and my highlights were being first overall (men or women) at Sunflower and setting a new course record at Cle Elum by over 26 minutes. Along the way I trained in Brooks Ravenna and Brooks Pure Flow. For the trail races I sometimes wore the Ravenna or else the Racer ST. Now that cross country is underway I am working on speed and wearing the Brooks Mach.

I still write blogs for a local running website out of Wenatchee.

Martin Criminale

Martin Criminale at Cascade Crest 100
In spite of having to recover from a serious injury in early February I achieved two milestones this summer; running my first 50 mile race and my first 100 mile race. My training was a combination of road miles (Brooks Launch) that included several outings with our local Fleet Feet Sports store here in Seattle and trail miles (Brooks Cascadia 8 and PureGrit) by myself, with friends and with the Seattle Running Club at our weekly runs. In both races I wore the Cascadia 8 and loved it! This shoe is comfortable, has reasonable traction and protects the foot extremely well from sharp objects. For both races I also wore the Brooks 5″ Essential Run Short and the Brooks short sleeve EZ T III, both of which were fantastic. Not having to worry about your gear is HUGE when you go long. Thanks for all the support Brooks!

Martin has other updates on his personal website.

Trisha Steidl

Trisha Steidl at PNTFIn July I ran and won the Lord Hill 10K. My hope was to beat the CR I set from the year before. Unfortunately I missed it by a few seconds. Rather than take direct responsibility for those few seconds, I’ll blame it on the late start (I ended up being really hungry by the time we actually started, which was about 30 minutes after the stated start time, partially due to the gate not being opened to the parking lot by the parks folks until much later than scheduled) and the fact that I basically had to walk for a minute or two behind a lady that would not move out of my way early on in the race. Last year there was a coyote that appeared on the side of one of the trails where I was alone and that certainly prompted me to run faster. No coyote this year = no course record this year. Hopefully I’ll be able to run this one again next year and beat the record, with or without the help of a coyote.

The Cougar “Half” (really over 14 miles) in August was an interesting one. I threw up before the race (6 times) and when the gun went off, my stomach was completely empty. I started out in 5th or 6th place and slowly moved up to 2nd/3rd by the bottom of the Wilderness Peak loop. The 2nd/3rd place dance continued for awhile with another lady. As I continued to consume as many gels as possible to make up for the pre-race happenings, I found I was always in a deficit energy-wise. Somehow I managed to be strong on the uphills, but could gain no momentum on the downs. So every up I would catch 2nd and every down I’d go back to 3rd. The Quarry trail was my savior in that it’s a long uphill near the end of the race. There is one short downhill section on that trail and I took full advantage of it and somehow made a big move into first. I ran scared the rest of the way in, assuming my dance partner was going to come up on me at any moment. I ended up winning the race, but the “fun” wasn’t over. I ended the day similarly to how I started in that it was painful and no fun. I fell down a few minutes into my cool down and skidded across some mean gravel stuff and cut up my left leg and knee pretty badly and painfully. At least I got the win!

September brought the Labor Day not-quite-4-miler (instead of the half I originally intended to race). The race isn’t actually called that, but it definitely wasn’t quite a full 4 miles, so I’ve unofficially renamed the event. I ended up winning by about 7 minutes and winning a free pair of shoes for only 24 minutes of work. It was a good call on a morning where I wasn’t feeling very well.

My most recent outing was the PNTF XC race (pictured above). It was my first time racing XC in two years and I had a fun time out on the course. The weather had certainly improved upon the day before when I was out at the Jefferson Park Golf Course in the ridiculous win as we hosted the WAC XC Championships (women were 2nd, men were 4th!) Having a stressful couple of days leading up due to hosting duties, I wasn’t at full capacity for this race, but I gave it what I had on the day and moved up the field the entire time, leading many to believe I ran really fast for the last loop. I simply ran a very even race that allowed me to move from almost last place at the start to 24th.

I’m now looking forward to racing something around the Thanksgiving time and then it’s on to Club XC Nationals in December!

Travis Boyd

This summer my training was focused for the Chicago Marathon by running 110 miles/week on average for the first time ever. My body stayed healthy and I was able to run a few races along the way. I finished in 3rd place at the Run of the Mill 5k in July in 15:04. I finished in 2nd place at the Snoqualmie Railroad Days 10k in 31:03 in August. I won the Overlake Labor Day Half Marathon in September in a personal best of 1:07:47. And I completed my summer/fall season with the Chicago Marathon in October and finished in 27th place in a time of 2:19:56.

Read a brief blog recap about the Chicago Marathon.

Erik Barkhaus

Erik BarkhausTraining in the post-collegiate world has been an adventure so far. I found myself with a few months of summer training freedom before taking on the challenges of balancing a full time work schedule with the demands of heavy training. It always helps me through the rough patches to know that many others have successfully done this and continue to do so every day. I am currently focusing towards Club XC Nationals with the USA Half Marathon Championships soon after!

Greg Crowther

Greg’s update came in the form of a recent blog entry.

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Cross Country Race Reports

Comfort Zones

Joe-Evan-Lance @ PNTF 2013
My favorite moment from last Sunday’s 10k, the “PNTF Cross Country (XC) Championships,” aside from crossing the finish line of course, was courtesy Patrick Niemeyer, moments before the gun went off. We both noticed the dearth of bodies on the start line, and Patrick, closer to 40 years old than almost everybody present, had legitimate concerns about finishing dead last. As everyone bounced around with nervous energy, he looked at me.

“How did I let you talk me into this? I hate you.”

Moments later, myself still laughing, the gun went off. Eighteen seconds later I was in oxygen debt.

Leaving one’s comfort zone can be difficult. Earlier this year, one of the things I was simultaneously looking forward to the most *and* the least was how gosh darn competitive these post-high school autumn XC races were going to be. I was both excited to get my ass kicked, and dreading it. I have not been disappointed. A lot of guys named Chad are beating me.

For myriad reasons, the people who choose to run XC tend to be on the whole a *bit* faster, on average, than those who run, say, the Fremont 5k, or whatever 5k is occurring on Alki Ave this Saturday in West Seattle. This in turn makes “slower” runners less inclined to want to run XC, which in turn makes it more competitive, which in turn makes it even scarier to would-be first timers, etc etc. A vicious circle that carves interest in races like last Sunday’s XC 10k down to a mere 42 runners (+46 in the Open Womens 6k race, and +50 in the combined Masters men/women 6K). Or about the amount of people in a typical Trig classroom at your local public high school. Despite the fact that these races are MUCH MORE cost-effective; I will spend a total of $35 for five races this season…including my hip new race singlet.

The carving down also makes things decidedly more competitive at such a race. The races are broken up into “Masters” (ages 40+) and “Open” races (myself, Uli Steidl, and seemingly every fit 25 year-old in the county). And due to the intimidating reputation XC has to many otherwise possibly-interested runners (despite the word “championships” in the title, anybody can run this race; you don’t need to qualify, you don’t need to be “professional,” or sponsored. It’s frowned upon but you *can* be bald.), most everybody next to me on the starting line had those six-pack abs skinny guys get because they’re emaciated, and I saw some sorry-looking early “Movember” experiments on a few upper lips. Some may have even shaved their legs.

At a local road race like the Fremont 5k’s start line, I’ll also be surrounded by current or past collegiate running bros, with their headbands and Bieber-hair and names like Tyler, but there are also a loooooot of normal people lined up behind me, with varying levels of running interest and speed, some maybe even bald, and I’ll find myself managing to finish 10th out of nearly 600 runners.

I feel certain that today I would easily defeat that guy in 2012 who got top-10 with a 16:59 in Fremont. But Sunday there I was, running a seemingly smart and close-to-ideal pace en route to a 35:34 10k. On Lower Woodland Park’s slow & relentlessly brutal course. A 10k PR. And….I’m rewarded with 30th place. Thirtieth. Out of 42 runners. I distinctly recall wrapping up the 3rd of five 2k loops (or maybe it was the 4th?) and noticing “Wow, it’s kinda sparse back there behind me.” And you notice the fans on the course starting to spread out again, their backs turned to you, having seen the front-pack guys go by and possessing negative interest in your physiological stress or whether you can hang on for top-30.

I joked to others about how I fully intended to finish “2nd to last” at the National Championships in Bend, OR in mid-December. That was and still is my end goal. Just toe that championship line with an SRC singlet covering my hairy chest, and try my darndest to not get last. Humbling, but in a way that’s good for a guy whose mother is usually flabbergasted that her bald son finished before most people in that local small-fry trail race.

Patrick, about 43 minutes after telling me he hated me, got 3rd to last on Sunday. I hope he doesn’t still hate me.

PNTF 2013 Results

Top image: Win Van Pelt

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Race Reports

One Goal To Go

Travis Boyd Chicago
My goal at the Chicago Marathon was to run 5:15 pace and finish under 2:18, in order to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials. I was actually right on pace and feeling good through 20 miles, but at mile 22 my calves started cramping up pretty bad, so I ended up hobbling through the last couple miles and finished in 2:19:56. Although I was disappointed that I fell a couple minutes short of the trials standard, I’m happy to run a four minute personal record and I look forward to taking another shot at the Trials standard next spring. I plan to race the USA Half Marathon Championships in Houston in January, and since Baby Boyd #2 is due in mid-April, I’m thinking about doing a March marathon before our second is born. Which marathon, I have not yet decided.

As far as Cross Country, I plan to run the PNTF Championships at Woodland Park on November 3rd, and following that, the USATF Club National Championships in Bend, Oregon, on December 14th.

Happy running!

Ed. Note: Cool heavily-watermarked photos from Travis’ big day in Chicago, with interesting animated watermark effects on top of a beautiful blue SRC singlet, can be found here.

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Club News Race Reports

SRC Sweep at 2013 Labor Day Run

Travis Boyd Labor Day Half 2013

On Labor Day 2013, many Seattle Running Club runners took part in the very popular and competitive Labor Day Half Marathon in Redmond, Washington. SRC had a great showing, with the top 3 men all wearing the SRC singlet as well as Trisha Steidl taking the womens win in the 4 mile race.

Travis Boyd (pictured above) led the way with a 1:07:47 final time, followed closely by Uli Steidl (1:08:59) and Erik Barkhaus (1:09:53). Trisha’s 24:08 in the 4 mile race led all women by over 7 minutes and was 8th overall.

It was a great early-season showing as many of the club members are gearing up for a fast fall of cross country racing. If you yourself are interested in running XC with us, please feel free to come out to our team workouts on Wednesday evenings and introduce yourself! The more the merrier!

Labor Day Run Full Results
Labor Day Run Photos

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Club News Featured Race Reports

Cascade Crest 2013 – 100 Miler Lessons

Cascade Crest Martin Tim AngelI don’t know if I’ll ever run a hundred miler. (Oh yes, I should mention up-front that despite the post title, *I* learned no lessons at Cascade Crest this year. At least not first hand. But bear with me.) I admit the allure of triple digits appeals to me, because unless you’re Yiannis Kouros, it’s pretty much the final frontier. And since the absurd idea of running 100 miles at a time first occurred to me a few years ago, I figured the most likely venue would be the central Cascades of this beautiful state (read: nearby) and the Cascade Crest 100.

That said, I bailed on a wimpy little 50 miler just over a month ago because I felt overwhelmed by the effort it would require, so who really knows how or when I’ll obtain the huevos to double that distance PR.

I do know that if I ever *do* get the courage, I have recently received three very thorough and entertaining guides on what I can expect. SRC members Martin Criminale, Angel Mathis, and Tim Mathis (no relation unless I’m wrong…? Win can you double check this before taking it live? And if they’re not married can you get me Angel’s phone number? Thanks! Also please delete this before taking live that would be embarrassing! ;p) all ran their very first hundred miler on August 24th, all at Cascade Crest, and all published imperative information for anyone wishing to do the same someday.

A lot can and will go wrong when you start talking about running for 20-30 hours in a row (or so I’ve heard). If you yourself are also weighing the risk/reward ratio for this ridiculous endeavor, I advise you to perhaps bookmark these three race reports, if not find a talented tattoo artist and have our SRC friends’ new wisdom permanently secured to your arm.

Martin’s Report (photos)

On Low Points
Everyone I talked to said, “Dude, it’s not if but when…” All that talk kind of scared me. Subsequently at the start I was trying to ’embrace the journey’ as they say and take on whatever was thrown at me. Mile 20 came and went, no low point. Mile 40, still no low point. Mile 54, no low point. Heck, on No Name Ridge at mile 80, STILL NO REAL LOW POINT. Then came the climb up to Thorpe Mountain (mile 83); without realizing it I was suddenly practically on my hands and knees. My power hike had turned into a survival hike and I had to stop twice to literally put my hands on my knees just to conserve strength.

Martin: “Oh man Luke… I am beat down.”
Luke: “You’re doing okay.”
Martin: “Feel. Very. Weak. How long has it been since I have eaten?”
Luke: “Back at the last aid station, about one hour.”
Martin: “Oops…”

That was when I had my first gel. And half a mile later when I got to the Thorpe Mountain aid station I had another. And a cup of Coke. I chased this with the contents of my last wrap and threw the tortilla into the trash. Sometimes you just need to do what works even though I knew it was the beginning of the end for my stomach. I guess I figured that making it through this bad patch and not being able to eat solid food for the remaining 15 miles was better than loosing an hour or more and only maybe getting back on the solid food. I think it was the right call.

Angel’s Report

After Aggie handed me and the tutu off to Alicia, we were on our way for a little bush wack and a treacherous stream crossing that on legs that had run 68 miles at 2:30 a.m. didn’t seem all that dependable. One of the first things Alicia said that I remember is “Check this shit out” as she flashed her brighter-than-the-sun flashlight. This made me laugh the moment she said it, surprised me when I saw how bright it was, and came as a great comfort to me later on the section of the trail known as the “trail from hell.” It has this reputation because it is extremely technical, has log crossings, a lot of rocks and roots to trip on and drops right off the side into a lake so if you trip, your life could be in danger. The race director, Rich white, reassured the runners that the only person who had ever fallen off and swam to safety was a person who littered on the trail. I was sure not to litter! I made a rookie mistake on this section of the trail and forgot to grab the spare set of batteries packed away with my crew. My lights were becoming dim, but with Alicia’s light, we had no worries except for the long shadow that cast from my feet covering the trail directly in front of me.

Tim’s Report

Even with a friend driving us back, the car ride back to Seattle was excruciating, with knee tendinitis bothering me more than at any point during the race, and muscles, realizing that they could relax, locking up and generally taking the opportunity to protest what I’d just subjected them too. We made it home though, and as I was showering Angel came in and announced that she’d finished making her “nest” – a pile of pillows on our bed surrounded by drinks, bags of chips and a lap top. “That’s where I’m going to spend the next day.” From the nest we ordered some Thai food, updated our Facebook statuses, and fell asleep at about 7:30. Today my legs are as sore as they’ve ever been, our house is still trashed with drop bags, and I can’t bring myself to do anything requiring physical exertion. But I’m happy, and pretty darn proud.

Pictured at top: Martin taking care of feet in the middle of the night, which I’ve heard is a popular ritual in hundred milers; Tim successfully finishing…also a popular ritual.

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Featured Member Information Race Reports

Running El Camino

Tim Mathis, El Camino
On July 18th, my wife Angel Mathis and I (both proud SRC members!) completed a 4 week, 550 mile run from the Southwestern corner of France to the Atlantic coast in Spain on El Camino de Santiago – a 1200 year old pilgrimage and trade route. Along the way, we ate hundreds of pounds of tapas, ran a bunch of marathons and a couple of ultras, and met interesting people from all over the world, including: a Scottish runner who did 80 miles in one day and used the Camino to complete 20 marathons in 18 days, a family who walked across France and Spain with two infants and a donkey, and a bunch of Eastern Europeans walking 50 kilometers a day.

My wife wrote about her experiences here.

I did the same here as well as about preparing for the adventure.

[edited to add: it took us awhile to get this live, so please also enjoy Angel & Tim’s much more recent respective recaps of running their very first 100 mile race this past weekend at Cascade Crest!]

Categories
Featured Race Reports

SunFlower Trail Marathon & Red Devil Challenge 25k

Marlene Farrell Red Devil 25kSunflower Trail Marathon, Mazama to Twisp
May 11

On the same weekend as the first Cougar Mountain Series races, I ran a beautiful trail marathon that goes from Mazama to Twisp, called the Sunflower Trail Marathon & Relay, put on by Winthrop Mountain Sports. I won the race, and ended up beating the male competitors too (that was a surprise). Two relay teams did beat me, but they had two people and five people, respectively. My time was 3:22:49 for a slightly-long course with just under 2000 feet of elevation gain. My next competitor was 3:29:37.

It was one of those races where everything came together. I could have had a problem with the heat, but I drank at every mile (when my new Garmin beeped) and I was more acclimated than most, because we had experienced a heat wave in Leavenworth. The elevation was less than I’d been training on, so that
was fine.

I was nervous for a few reasons: 1. It was my first running race of the year; 2. I hadn’t done a marathon since Pigtails in December but the difference was that I had really trained for this one, so more was at stake; 3. I love this race and hadn’t run it in several years, so I had high expectations for myself.

But it all went really well. I was able to have a strong finishing kick (when there are finally spectators again, after a lot of alone time), so I knew I had paced myself well.

The big bummer is I wore my new awesome Brooks team uniform and just checked the race photos and somehow there is a photo of everyone except me! I do think Kay Allen got a photo of my on her iPhone (standing still at the finish).

Red Devil Challenge 25k Trail Race
June 1

This race is 3 years old and I’ve run it every year. I also won it the other years and had a title to defend. Last year the next woman was very close to me so I couldn’t rest on any laurels this year. I was getting over a cold but that didn’t seem to affect me, and in fact it probably made me take last week a little easier, so I was more rested. I felt steady for the long initial climb (2000 ft in 4-5 miles), but I wished I was a little faster. My downhill running felt effortless and light and I was slowed only a bit by the mud patches. There’s still an extra 1000 ft of elevation gain, but it’s done over undulating terrain and I loved it because I enjoy switching from uphill to downhill mode and back again. I never saw the 2 men in front of me, but I think they were ahead by virtue of the uphill and if anything I think I gained on the downhill. I was thrilled to find out that I was over 7 minutes faster than I was last year, proof that my trail specific training is going well.

Hope your running is going well. Hope to see you on the trails…

Categories
Featured Race Reports

The Long and Winding Trail

Max Ferguson, 2013 Chuckanut 50k
Photo courtesy: Paul Nelson
So, I guess that race went pretty well. I’m not quite sure how I did that, but I’ll start at the beginning and explain how I got to where I am today. If you have something more important to do, I’ll just let you know now: it’s consistency. If you’re at work though, writing TPS reports, doing some crazy lab work (I’m looking at you Greg Crowther), or busy scoping out some nice real estate (Win…), feel free to kick your feet up for a minute and take a stroll with me down memory lane.

I can pinpoint the exact time I realized that people ran after college. It was early 2000s at Edmonds stadium. Lined up to run the 10k was two old dudes, some college guys, and the stands had maybe ten people. How or why I was there has slipped through the cracks in my memory, but there I was. I watched one of the older runners completely demolish the entire field–running under 30 minutes–at a time in my life when I was under the distinct impression that a 15 minute 5k was the limit of human achievement. At halfway, when the rabbit dropped out, I remember asking my assistant coach who the hell this guy was.

“Oh that’s Uli Steidl,” he said. “He is world class. I think he’s 40.”

My coach was correct about one thing and slightly inaccurate about the second detail. (Although to be fair I have asked a vast number of people about Uli’s age and only SRC members have gotten it right; everyone else just perpetually states “I think he’s 40.”) In any case, the memory of someone running THAT fast while not being sponsored or in school baffled me. How is it possible??? I didn’t really know, but I knew then and there I wanted to run after college. I never thought I’d be as good as Uli was, but I figured I’d give it a shot.

All through high school I had that image of post-collegiate glory bouncing around in my head. My high school coach, the venerable Jef Rettmann, gently explained, “Max, you’re never going to win state. The 5k just isn’t long enough for you. Wait ’til college though, the 10k is going to be your thing.”

So I kept at it.

In college the story was the same. My coach, the imposing Dave Warth, gruffly mentioned, “Max, you’re never going to win nationals. The 10k just isn’t long enough for you. Wait ’til you get out of college, the marathon is going to be your thing.”

So I kept at it.

After college, I tried the marathon. In fact, I might have even gotten good at it at one point. For a brief two month span through April and May of 2010, I honestly think I had that beast wrangled. But never tamed. I accidentally started in the wrong race in Vancouver that year, then ran back to the start after blasting four miles at five minute pace. The restart was no good, my calves blew to pieces, and mentally I was cooked. I spent two years trying to get it right and finally came to the realization “Max, you’re never going to win the Vancouver Marathon. The road is just too fast for you. Trails and ultras, that’s going to be your thing.”

So I kept at it.
Max Ferguson, Chuckanut 2013Photo courtesy: Pacific Party Canopies
In April of 2012 I entered the Yakima Skyline 25k with hopes of dipping under 2:30. I came blitzing across the line in 2:15. In July I wanted to run 2:30 at the Chuckanut 30k, I stunned myself running 2:24. Finally, this past weekend, after splitting 2:24 for the middle 18 en route to a 3:47 Chuckanut 50k, I think it can be said I found “my thing.”

A huge thank you to all the people that have helped me along the way. My high school coaches Jef Rettmann, and Brett Johnson, without whom I never would have kept running as long as I have. I have been lucky enough to have had a phenomenal running family in high school and college, notably Sam Ahlbeck who never let me win a race, Joel Purcell who still probably think I’m going to hell, David Desmarais for beating me in the PE mile in 8th grade, Nate Lowe for arguing with me for every step of a 15 miler, Chad Byler for taking a huge risk allowing some freshmen on the C2C team, and Michael Hardbarger for taking me shopping in the middle of the winter that one time. I now find myself with another host of incredibly friendly and supportive faces, the Balanced Athlete peeps without whom I would be sleeping on the streets with a cardboard sign (“will tie shoes for money”), Seattle Running Club, without whom I would never have even tried trail running, my father Mike for refusing to carry me on hikes after the age of two, and finally my mother Susan for allowing me to drop the trumpet for track in hopes of wooing chicks with my athletic prowess.

As long as I have the support of people like this: I’ll keep at it.

Categories
Club News Cross Country Featured Race Reports

Destry Johnson’s DNS

Destry & SRC at Emerald City
Destry (2nd from right) and the SRC squadron at the Emerald City Open
Photo: Win Van Pelt
I had dedicated the second half of 2012 to the preparation for and the successful execution of…the 2012 New York City Marathon. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

Having run the Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon every year since the inaugural 2009 race, I was excited to put down a solid half time in June of 2012. Unfortunately, the course had been changed from a one-way course to a loop course with much more difficult terrain. It wasn’t exactly a fast race before and the changes certainly didn’t make it any faster. I knew the course had been altered going into the race, of course, but I hadn’t scouted it out in detail. I knew the race…sorta, kinda…it was to head down from Seattle, cross Beacon Hill and then head back up around the stadium area to finish at Seattle Center. I took off and cruised through about the first half of the race on pace, but I slowed in the second half as the hills caught up with me. Boy, make sure you scout your course: Lesson Learned…again. I’m supposed to be older and wiser now, aren’t I? There was much carnage on the course and I didn’t fare too bad over all, finishing in 8th place with a time of 73:29.

August came before I knew it and that means the Seafair Torchlight 8k. Torchlight is one of my favorite races, hands down, even though I think the older course(s) were much, much better than the current version. It’s summer time, the race is in the evening, the course rolls through the parade route…it’s just all good. Well, until that last climb at the finish. They should change that…REALLY should change that. Anyway, I had been ramping the mileage up in August and I came into the race tired and ran my slowest time ever. At least it was still fun and I didn’t get lost like many of the 5k leaders did. Many of them ran 10k or more as they were still heading South when the 8k racers looped back toward Seattle Center! To top it all off I ended up with the flu the next day – honestly, who gets the flu in August?!

In September I decided to run the Joint Base Lewis McChord Half Marathon. I figured it would be a good way to gauge my fitness and probably run a decent time. The day was beautiful, with Mt. Rainier majestically rising in the east as the sun came up. The course is excellent, with just a few rolling hills. It’s definitely a PR course. With all the training and 100+ mile weeks I was unable to hang on for a real fast time, however, and finished 2nd in 71:50.
Destry @ Emerald City
Emerald City Open
Photo: Win Van Pelt
Having missed some of my favorite cross country races due to training or preparation for the JBLM Half, I was anxious to at least run in one cross race before New York. Seattle University’s Emerald City Open provided the opportunity and the shock and awe of the differences in training for 8 or 10k versus the marathon became evident quickly. Slow and steady didn’t win the race for me, but I did finish in 12th place with a 26:44. My ankles were sore for days due to my marathon training on mostly roads and paved trail.

In late October I recall watching the news coverage of a tropical storm-then-hurricane named Sandy as it decimated various areas in the Caribbean. “Glad I’m not headed that far South when I go East in a few weeks,” I remember thinking. Well as fate would have it, Sandy crashed into New York one week before the 43rd running of the New York City Marathon. “This is NYC,” I thought,” no way a storm will keep them down for a week. If there is one city on earth ready for anything, it’s NYC. Right?”

Monday and Tuesday more details became available: it had been a real whopper. No power, no gas, flooding, all three local airports closed until further notice, beaches gone, houses gone, a crane dangling in shambles from a Manhattan skyscraper. I had prepaid for some of my hotel stay, no refunds. I had paid for our airfare with points, no refunds. I had logged 1,251 miles from July 1st to the Tuesday before the race. Do I check in for my flight at 6:30AM Thursday if Newark is open?

I had been fortunate enough to qualify for the sub-elite group and thus had some good contacts with the NYRR association. Tuesday I called the elite/sub-elite coordinator to find out more information. I learned that the race coordination center was up and running, trying to rebook elite athletes from all over the world on flights later in the week. They had been told by the mayor’s office that the race would go on: the city needed the 370 million dollars the race brings in. Perhaps I would go after all. Wednesday I called again to make sure I wouldn’t be displacing any recently made homeless locals if I was to travel to NYC. I was assured that there was plenty of room and they wanted my business. Newark had just reopened. “OK,” I thought, “it’s on!”

As our plane turned in on final approach to Newark runway 22L, we had a view of Manhattan. Everything looked normal from the air. Once we landed and got inside the airport we found it sparsely populated. The van ride to midtown took us by lowland marsh areas where you could see storage containers and supply sheds near radio/TV towers that were in shambles, 3 mile gas lines, a traffic jam at the entrance of the Lincoln tunnel like I’ve never seen before and as many dead signal lights as one can imagine. You think traffic is crazy in Jersey? Try it without any traffic lights! Finally we arrived in Manhattan and everything seemed…fine. People were out, Times Square was bright and everything seemed normal. After dinner that night we walked down past Times Square toward 34th where the power was still out at the south end of the island. It was a very odd site indeed to see half of New York City bright and bustling behind us and then an imaginary line marked where power stopped and we looked down into a forest of cold, dark skyscrapers. Apocalyptic movies came to mind.

Friday came and I needed to go for a little run and pick up my packet at the runner’s expo. With breakfast came the worst effect of the storm we personally experienced: the hotel restaurant was out of wheat bread. As I ran up to Central Park I saw the now infamous crane dangling from a skyscraper. Our hotel was located two blocks away. Central Park was closed due to trees and branches being down, but it was a fraction of the devastation the Puget Sound saw last winter when an inch or so of ice covered everything. That afternoon we took the bus down to the runner’s expo, picked up my race packet and headed back to the hotel. My number for the 43rd running of the New York City Marathon was active! “It looks like I’ll be running this thing, after all,” I thought. At 5PM when we returned to the hotel I stopped by the elite runners suite to make sure everything seemed to be coming together. It looked like everyone who planned to run was going to make it in and the race really was a go! Thirty minutes later as my wife and I got ready for dinner we heard an announcement on the news: “There is a rumor that the New York Marathon has been canceled; press conference to come momentarily.” I couldn’t believe it, the mayor had gone on world news just a few days ago essentially begging runners from around the world to still come, and spend our money, in New York. The NYRR association had told me 30 minutes earlier that everything was coming together…and now it’s canceled?! I rushed up stairs and found the NYRR folks and many runners watching the news amongst murmurs. Nobody could believe it, including the NYRR employees there with the elite athletes. There had been no advance notice to any of them.
Destry & Amy Hastings
Destry & Amy Hastings
I think there were decent arguments to be made either way for both going ahead with the race or canceling it. What is unbelievable to me is the indecisiveness of the mayor’s office and it’s inability to communicate in an effective manner and timeline. I’m only speculating, but I do not think Rudy Giuliani would have handled the situation as Bloomberg did. He would have made a decision early and sold people on it with facts and data. That’s what clear leadership does. We were heading out to dinner Friday just after the news as two large groups of runners were arriving…they hadn’t heard the race was canceled until they got into the lobby of the hotel. One included about 15 folks from Japan and another was larger than 30 from Australia. I’m sure they would have preferred even more than me for a firm decision to be made earlier in the week. It’s certainly the truth that any of us traveling to NY for the marathon and were put out both financially and with our time have it much better than those who lost everything due to hurricane Sandy. But the mayor didn’t have to cause more problems with his indecisiveness.

With the race now canceled my wife and I had some time on our hands. We had heard of people volunteering in various areas, but reports were that there were too many people trying to help and the vast majority just stood around for hours as there wasn’t anything to do. As we walked through the city we realized the best thing we could do was to support local business, as many were not being patronized as they normally would. We went to a couple Broadway shows, ate good food and enjoyed ourselves. We also decided to leave Sunday afternoon instead of Wednesday afternoon.

Sunday morning I thought I’d go for a run. I mean, I had planned on it anyway! When I got to the lobby of the hotel Sunday morning I was greeted by droves of runners. Some wearing their number, some wearing their number upside down. Apparently all the runners in attendance for the NY marathon were going on a Sunday run too. The experience was quite surreal, as ran around the island I would see two runners here, fifty there, a few thousand running here and there in Central Park. Even down in Battery Park there were hundreds of runners. Nearly everywhere I turned I saw runners. It was awesome – every day should be like that America! Interestingly enough, one of the runners out and about in Central Park was Edgar Martinez’s wife Holly, who had organized an impromptu marathon around the park. I had the opportunity to meander over and chat with Edgar for a few minutes after the crowds died down. He not only is one of my favorite baseball players of all time, but one heck of a nice guy!
Destry & Edgar Martinez
Destry & Edgar Martinez
In all, I’m not sorry my wife and I took the trek out to New York for the non-marathon. I feel as though I supported various businesses, both large and small, including Rupert’s Deli, in the process. My heart goes out to those victims of the storm and I hope my donations go to good use as they rebuild and get back on their feet. And like Arnold Schwarzenegger always says, “I’ll be back.”

Second half of 2012 race summary

Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon: 73:29, 8th place
Seattle Torchlight 8k: 26:49, 9th place
Joint Base Lewis McChord Half Marathon: 71:50, 2nd place
Emerald City Seattle U 8k XC Open: 26:44, 12th place
New York Marathon: DNS…well, nobody did

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Club News Cross Country Featured Race Reports

Brooks Team 2013 Update

Brooks Team 2013 Update
Each Brooks Team member has accomplished a lot this year. Some are fantastic race highlights, particularly on the trails. Beyond racing, their efforts show that they are deeply involved in the local running community, giving back in many different volunteer ways and also being wonderful ambassadors for the sport, for SRC and for Brooks. Here is what occurred for members in the second half of 2012:

Travis Boyd

Travis BoydI volunteered for the second time in 2012 at the Cougar Mountain Race Series on October 28th. I also enjoyed running with and helping the Kamiak High School Cross Country team for speed workouts during the week and watching the boys team take first place at the conference and regional meet.

I ran several cross country races this season. My first XC race of the year was at Sundodger where I ran 25:39 for 8k and got 24th. Then at the Western Washington Classic on October 6th I ran 32:19 for 10k and got 26th place. At my next race, Emerald City on October 13, I finished my highest place of the year at 5th place. On October 27th I hit the roads and raced the Snohomish River Run Half Marathon in
Everett, WA and placed 1st in a time of 1:09:09.

Marlene Farrell

Marlene Farrell Pigtails
Image:Trisha Steidl

I ran a lot of trails this summer for the joy of it and also to stay injury-free. I enjoyed a couple months of not racing until I ran the Cougar Mountain half marathon trail race and came in first with a time of 1:56:09. I also helped with timing after my race. I raced with the SRC cross country team at three races this fall, Sundodger, Emerald City and PNTFs. My highest placing was at Sundodger, where I finished 2nd in the Women’s Open race in a time of 22:02. I kept my racing fun by inserting three low-key races into my late fall. As a giant candy cane I ran and won the Leavenworth Pumpkin Run 6.5k. I also won the Turkey on the Run 12k in Wenatchee and set a new course record for the Pigtails Marathon in a time of 3:02:09. I love doing events for good causes and ones in which I see a lot of friends. Now that it’s winter, I am focused on cross country skiing, ski coaching and ski racing. Come spring I hope to run the Sunflower trail marathon and one or more Cougar Mountain races.

My main volunteer efforts this year were my springtime running club for 75 elementary kids and my assistant coaching for the high school cross country team. I hope to continue both endeavors in 2013, with the hope of sharing my love of running, providing kids with a healthy after-school activity, and helping kids of all ages work toward running and fitness goals. I also write a blog for RunWenatchee.com (and occasionally for SRC) to share stories and inspiration about running. I was only able to volunteer at one SRC race, but I am taking over the coordination of the Brooks team, in terms of updates, apparel needs and hopefully organizing for Brooks team members to make a strong showing at certain events in 2013.

Max Ferguson

Max Ferguson Box CanyonMy summer started out phenomenally, following another disappointing Vancouver Marathon (3rd time, still haven’t gotten it nailed!). I chronicled the early portion of the summer in a blog post for the SRC. After a week long break following my victory at the Cougar Mountain 13 miler I began my build up for my upcoming assault on the Cle Elum 25k CR. I held a steady diet of long runs along the Wonderland Trail encircling Mt. Rainier. After months of phenomenal training and preparation, Cle Elum was cancelled at the last minute due to smoke. Using my fitness, I traveled to Mt. St. Helens and, despite a very scary dehydration situation, managed to squeak under six hours for the Loowit Trail. This sets an official FKT, and beats the winning time run a week prior at the Mt. St. Helens 50k. I will return next summer, and, with better knowledge of the course, hope to bring that record under five hours.

My fitness was at an all time high leading into XC season. However, my quickness seemed to have faded a bit over the summer. XC season flew by in a lactic haze, the only lasting memory being a slightly disappointing 35:53 at PNTFs, and a more uplifting 5th place at the NW regional XC meet.

This left me with one last race for the year before I was able to curl up in the fetal position and endure some much deserved R&R, Amica Seattle Half Marathon. Placing 3rd last year, I had high hopes for finishing top 5 regardless of who was there. The race went out brutally hard, and I was relegated to ‘hanging on’ for 10 miles until I FINALLY began to feel a smidgen of competitive juices. Rallying, I managed to hold off several other runners, and gain on the rest of the field. I finished 9th in 1:13:59. Not quite the time I wanted, or the place, but, given how poorly I felt before and during the race, I feel it is a testament to a base of fitness I had hidden away for months on end. The culmination of this year is a very real new year’s resolution to not train for road marathons for a full two years, and focus on the trails. My success there is hard to ignore, and I hope to add to the ever growing list of top finishes and course records I have been amassing off the roads.

Destry Johnson

Sunday morning I thought I’d go for a run. I mean, I had planned on it anyway! When I got to the lobby of the hotel Sunday morning I was greeted by droves of runners. Some wearing their number, some wearing their number upside down. Apparently all the runners in attendance for the NY marathon were going on a Sunday run too. The experience was quite surreal, as ran around the island I would see two runners here, fifty there, a few thousand running here and there in Central Park. Even down in Battery Park there were hundreds of runners. Nearly everywhere I turned I saw runners. It was awesome – every day should be like that America! Interestingly enough, one of the runners out and about in Central Park was Edgar Martinez’s wife Holly, who had organized an impromptu marathon around the park. I had the opportunity to meander over and chat with Edgar for a few minutes after the crowds died down. He not only is one of my favorite baseball players of all time, but one heck of a nice guy!

In all, I’m not sorry my wife and I took the trek out to New York for the non-marathon. I feel as though I supported various businesses, both large and small, including Rupert’s Deli, in the process. My heart goes out to those victims of the storm and I hope my donations go to good use as they rebuild and get back on their feet. And like Arnold Schwarzenegger always says, “I’ll be back.”

Read more about Destry’s 2012 racing season…

Trisha Steidl

In August I raced the Cougar Mountain Half. Unfortunately somewhere on/near DeLeo Wall I smashed my right heel down on a rock and bruised it severely. Two minutes later I did the same thing in the same place, causing an immense amount of pain, leaving me unable to run normally. I ran as best as I could for the remainder of the race, which got me a 2nd place finish. After the race I wasn’t able to stand on my right foot. Long story short, I fractured my heel and, not too surprisingly, wasn’t able to run much. It’s been almost five months since then and the past three weeks finally put me back closer to my normal mileage and training. I’m still not 100% as my body adjusts to a new way of running and getting stronger, but there has been a lot of positive movement over the past couple of weeks and I look forward to getting back in shape and doing some racing again.

The lack of my own running allowed me to focus more energy on my team. The men finished 3rd and the women 6th in their first WAC XC Championship. My top guy, Erik Barkhaus, also won the conference meet and, thus, earned the Athlete of the Year award! The teams went on to finish 16th and 23rd respectively at the toughest regional championships in the nation, which was held on the same course as the 2011 Club Nationals race. Again, Barkhaus ran very well, finishing 15th in the Region. This earned him all-region honors. The team did our annual volunteering at Cougar Mountain, which gave SRC 60+ hours of work time to go towards our requirements to be able to host the Cougar Series. We have some pictures posted on our SU XC/T&F Facebook site.

Lance Thompson

Lance ThompsonI had a spring full of strong 5km races and 2nd place at the Cougar Mountain 5 Mile Race. I placed 3rd in the Cougar Mountain 8 miler. In the early summer, I had the first of a few injuries that kept me from racing the second half of the year. I then ran as a volunteer pacer helping those who wanted to break 3 hours through the first half of the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon in Seattle. I volunteered for a work party at Cougar Mountain, and also volunteered during the Cougar Mountain 50K as an aid station worker.

Wendy Wheeler Jacobs

After completing my racing season with a 100 mile endurance run in July, I focused on volunteering. In July I worked the first and last aid stations at White River 50 Miler.

In August I managed the marking for the Cascade Crest 100 Mile. I also participated in the WTA hike-a-thon, covering 250+ trail miles in the month to raise money for this cause. I swept the course for one of the Cougar Mountain races.

In September to October I volunteered my time on the “Tribute to the Trails” 2013 calendar, a fundraiser for the WTA. I was elected president of the board for the WTA and now lead the strategic planning effort for that organization. I will be working registration at Bridle Trails. I put in a lot of back-country mountain miles in the fall, mostly in the Goat Rocks Wilderness region, exploring trails there in between forest fires.