Well the good news is that no club records were in danger of falling Sunday at the Christmas Relays (though Eric Ollila did run a sterling 22:50 to turn in one of the top performances of the day). The women had a good day, easily handling our senior men. And the important thing is we finished . . . .

Women Byline Patti Bershers

Needing only to field a full team to hold on to 3rd place in the PA-roads, the open women had Jenny Wong, Helen Kao, Jen Major, and Patti Bershers out on Lake Merced Sunday morning running the Christmas Relays.  Jenny arrived early and got things going, bringing the team in 6th overall women (5th open) at the first hand-off to Helen.  Helen ignored post-CIM muscle stiffness and pain to run an excellent second leg, holding our position and handing off to Jen Major for the third leg.  Helen wins the "Taking One for the Team" award, racing just one week after her marathon PR. 

In her return to racing after a long injury-induced layoff, Jen finished fast with a huge smile on her face and handed off to Patti Bershers with team still holding its position.  Welcome back Jen, we missed you!  Patti headed out on the course, and seeing no Aggie women to chase down, hauled in one of the Aggie old guys at the second mile marker and stayed in front in him from there.  The team finished in a fine 1:57:51. In front of our team were the Impala open-A and masters teams, West Valley-A and masters, and Transports-A.  But no Aggies!  Third looks to be ours. Well done everyone!  Up next is Cal-10 in Stockton in January 9, then a nice long

break in the racing schedule.  See you all at Helen's on Sunday morning!

Open Men Byline Chris Phipps

All we needed to do was finish the race to clinch 2nd place in the 2004 PA Road Grand Prix.  The New Balance Excelsior open men did just that and managed to pick up $100 in the process.  Adidas showed up to claim the race and clinch the season with their A & B teams finishing 1,2 followed by WVTC, then a high school

team called Da Dingleberries, with the NB Excelsior team finishing 5th in 1:38:22. 

The team was led by Eric Ollila who ran a fine 22:50 to place 4th (behind Khalid Abdallah and two Transports), keeping us ahead of Da Dingleberries.  Next was Parker Kelly, who is coming back from illness, running 25 something, but getting passed by a 17 year old Dingleberry in the process.  Next up was infrequent racer Adam Hersh running about 23:47, followed by Robin Hart in 25 something holding off a fast closing Tamalpa to win the $100 for 3rd PA team.  Great job team!

Old'uns

Like the open team, the masters and seniors just had to finish the relays to hold on to their GP positions . . . no, wait, we didn't have to run. Oh well. We WANTED to run. The masters had only the very slimmest chance of catching the Pacific Striders for second after last week's race but had no risk of losing third, and the seniors had clinched first place last week.

The masters, weakened by attrition due to last weekend's races and featuring all of two masters, still finished third masters team. The good news for leadoff Tyler was that he was therefore able to finish as second master, running 25:48 in the opening leg. Lloyd Stephenson, fresh off last week's nationals performance, ran next, finishing in 26:15. Other senior Wayne Plymale ran a fine 29:10 next, with Tim Geraghty running his first PA race in decades and closing us out with the top master performance of 25:14. Final time 1:47:48, 21st overall.

Last weekend the seniors both clinched the GP title and finished second at nationals, so the Relays was just the icing on the cake. I don't have splits (though I heard Brock turned in a pretty quick one), but the team of Bob The Rocket Darling, Brock Hinzmann, Tom Bennett, and Gary MacPherson finished in 2:05:23, fifth senior team. Great job all!

On a bright note, Dan Mancini brought out his nationals tape--Lee took some great footage! And if you haven't read Dan's analysis, ask him ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) for it now before it goes into publication.

DSE Ferry Building 4 miler - 12/05/04

Wayne Plymale reports that David Moulton won Sunday's DSE Ferry Building 4

miler in 25:29. According to Wayne, the conditions were a little chilly with a head wind on the way back to the Dolphin Club. Wayne finished fifth at 26:28. Congratulations to both of you.

California International Marathon - 12/05/04

Women: Strong Emotions at CIM Byline Helen Kao

The New Balance Excelsior Women’s Marathon Team had an emotionally powerful day on Sunday. We fielded a full team with Jocelyn, Katie, Micha, Shelly, and Helen, all pulling in top-notch standings. Please see everyone’s story below (sorry so long but I wanted to get everyon'e story in). Also, team friends Melissa Lode (3:23) and Susan Beck (3:44) had great marathons.

Jocelyn (3:29.39 PR!!, 16th age group)
"I am very happy with my race. I stuck with the 3:30 pace group the entire time. It was a great day, and I'm thrilled to come back after not finishing NY. I'm feeling fine today - tight legs, of course, but walking

normal.

-Proud moments:  feeling strong during the last 10k

-Painful:  Gu!!

-Epiphanies:  I don't need much Gu!  Sportsdrink works better!

-Funny:  the New Balance hat - I loved it, wore it the whole time, but it

lost its style around mile 3 when I pulled it down so there was no fold

to show the 'NB,' translation:  I know I looked goofy."

Katie (2:58.32 PR!!, 3rd age-group)

"I tried to stay patient and keep a nice, steady pace. When I reached mile 18, I felt very strong and almost worried that I hadn't run the first half of the race quickly enough. I questioned whether or not I was SUPPOSED to feel as good as I did.

Regardless, I slowly started picking up the pace. The weather was so beautiful and I was so thankful that I had made it to that point of the race with no gliches. I loved hearing the crowd and appreciated their energy, especially that of Shane and my

mom. That made it all worth it. When I crossed the bridge at mile 21, I just decided to give it everything I had. My quads had really tightened up here. They felt like springs wanting to burst through my skin, but I figured it was par for the course. I knew that I was able...so I really just enjoyed the experience. Pain can be so rewarding, due to the amount of work that it takes to create it. . .The finish. . . was uplifting, exciting, and raw.

There was never a time that I assumed that I 'had it in the bag.' That There was never a time that I assumed that I 'had it in the bag.' That only hit once I crossed the finish line. I was very grateful and satisfied as I hugged my family. [Patti notes that Katie was FLYING by all the men in the last 10K ]

Micha (3:10.49, 6th age group)

Despite one of her busiest work schedules leading up to CIM, Micha ran a sharp and solid race. Although disappointed not to break 3:10, she felt strong and surprised herself by coming in just seconds off her PR. We know you'll be back Micha!

Shelly (3:27.27, 15th age group)

Shelly ran the strongest, gutsiest race of the team on Sunday. A bad bout with bronchitis/pneumonia just 2 weeks before the race sidelined her from running in the last weeks. While she'd have loved a faster time, she was very proud of finishing. At mile 23, she was able to get a phone call out to her family to let them know that she was indeed going to finish! And finish she did—-placing 15th in her age group!

Helen (3:24.50 PR, 20th age group)

"Running with a team and having friends and supporters on the sidelines transformed the marathon experience for me. After training for and running 7 other marathons on my own, I can never see myself doing that again. Being part of our women’s team, and sharing the process as well as the final achievement with friends helped me race the best marathon I’ve ever run. (A special big thanks to Shelly who ran the final miles with me, despite having a hard day, and inspiring me to push it to the end.)

My parents (who have never understood why I run) were all smiles on the course and at the finish; seeing them proud of me was everything. In theend, the PR was icing on the cake."

Open Men Byline Chris Phipps

The weather reports all week had predicted a storm for CIM with rain and that notorious wind out of the southwest, but the storm never came and conditions were perfect for the race.  The New Balance Excelsior men had enough depth for 2 teams, and it appears that we were 2nd and 3rd behind the winning WVTC team. 

Once again it was Paul Wellman leading the team with a fine 2:35:56 to finish 25th.  Next in was Dan Rhodes in 59th at 2:47:27, scoring enough PA points to earn comp entries for next year off of just 2 races.  Chris Phipps (65th, 2:50:28) was next, just barely holding off a fast closing Brian Gilliss (66th, 2:50:34) making his marathon debut.  Eric Yan ran a huge 12 minute PR of 3:10:42 to qualify for Boston with just 17 seconds to spare, and Joseph Carboni ran a 3:20:09 (PR?), but missed his goal of qualifying for Boston by just over 4 minutes.  (The Boston qualifying time is up to 3:10:59 for men under 34 and 3:15:59 for men 35-39).

Ed.: The Ex-Ex team of Christ Lundstrom (12th, 2:20:04, PA Long Grand Prix

Champ) and Jerad Crave (23rd, 2:34:05, would have earned comp entries if he were still a PA runner), led the current team by some 29 minutes through two runners, but unfortunately lacked a third.

Old'uns

Vitas Ezerskis won his first grand prix race of the year Sunday, running 2:38:12 to beat the Aggies Jose Aispuro by almost six minutes. Congratulations Vitas! With most of the team up at nationals (and Tim wishing he was there as well), the only other master to run was Tim O'Rourke, finishing next in 3:17:19.

Don Paul led the seniors in a yo-yo 3:21:55. Les Ong, Kenny Warde, and Allan Stanbridge ran together to clinch the road grand prix title in 3:35:53, 3:35:53, and 3:35:56. Congratulations to all, and special thanks to Les, who ran nationals on Saturday then jetted back to run CIM Sunday.

USATF Cross Country Club Nationals - 12/04/04

SILVER ALL AROUND!

At USATF Cross Country Club Nationals Saturday, Dan Nelson, in spite of a hamstring strain, pulled out a tough second place finish. The masters men also finished second, by 2:22 (yes, national masters cross is scored by time not place), and the senior men finished second by only 42 seconds. Details . . . .

Masters Men Byline Dan Mancini

On Saturday, at the USATF XC Club National Championships in Portland, the

NB Excelsior men's Masters team scored their finest result of the

year, finishing 2nd overall against 21 of the best teams in the country.

On the strength of 3 runners in the top-15, the team

dominated everyone but the heavy pre-race favorite and 2-time defending

champs Team Runners High. From the gun, Dan Nelson joined

by 2 others formed an elite group that set the pace for the largest and

deepest (250 runners) field in the 7 year history of the Club

Champs. Hampered by a hamstring strain on the last lap of the muddy and

challenging 10.75km, 5-lap circuit, Dan garnered 2nd place honors

in 36:27 among the country's best Masters runners. Running patiently in

the early stages, Brian Spangenberg came charging home with a

superb 9th place in 37:19. Craig Steinmaus continued his excellent late

season racing with an impressive 14th place in 37:41. Meanwhile,

running shoulder-to-shoulder the entire race, Dan Mancini and Hans Gouwens

picked off 20 runners in the final kilometers to finish

strongly in 36th (38:41) and 37th (38:47) respectively. Mike Slavin put in

a remarkable performance shadowing Dan and Hans for much of

the race to grab 43rd in 38:59. And Tim Wallen, returning from a hamstring

injury and with only 3 weeks training, completed the team

effort in 69th (40:11). It was a terrific effort by the entire team.

Senior Men

With the squad divided between Nationals and CIM, they still almost

managed to pull off a national championship, finishing just forty-two

seconds behind Boulder Road Runners. New senior Lloyd Stephenson finished

first for the team (and second among all team scorers and eighth senior)

in 41:22. Jim Gorman (4th 55-59) and Charles Griffin finished together in

43:00 and 43:04, followed by Tom Bernhard (45:46) and Les Ong (46:02).

P.S. Results may be found at http://www.flashresults.com/

Run to the Farside -  11/28/04

  

[Phipps] Double Win Weekend for Chikara!

Chikara Omine dusted the competition at the 30 somethingth annual Crystal Springs Thanksgiving Turkey Trot over the famed 2.95 mile high school course running 15:57.  Racing on this course for the 48th time, defending champion Chris Phipps finished 4th in 16:30 to keep his streak of 15 consecutive top 10 finishes at this race alive.  Right behind Phipps was teammate Danny Lilot who was 4th in 16:59.99.

Chikara then came back on Sunday to dominate the field at the Run to the Far Side 10K, running 33:42 to win by over half a minute and winning a Southwest airline ticket in the process. 

__

Ed.:

Also running in the Far Side 10K were Michael Prutz (36:50), Brian Schultz (38:21), David Moulton (40:29), and Chelsey Remington (43:47). In the 5K were Andy Apfelbaum (17:38), Matt McCarron (18:04), and Wayne Plymale (21:02). I'm sure I missed some people--sorry!

Finally, thanks to the New Balance 1050s who ran the race--Chris Phipps, Andy Chan, Shane and Katie Litzenberger, and Helen Kao--I hope I didn't miss anyone--and to the dozen or so other club members who came out and spectated in 1050 shirts.

  

Pacific Association Cross Country Championships - 11/21/04

MASTERS PA CHAMPS! Byline Dan Mancini

For the past 10 consecutive years, the Reebok Aggies men's masters had dominated the PA Cross Country Championships, winning both the individual and team titles every year since 1994. A dynasty for sure, but a dynasty no more. On Sunday, the New Balance Excelsior Masters made good on their season-long goal of bringing home a championship by winning both the individual and team titles on the unforgiving Golden Gate Park 10k (6.4 mi.) course. Again showcasing their formidable depth, the team ran off with 5 of the top-10 spots, scoring a decisive victory over the Aggies 27 to 40. 

Leading the way as he has all season, Dan Nelson ran 33:44, annihilating the field by 1:11, the largest winning margin ever recorded in the PA Champs race. Had the race course not been modified from previous years, Dan would have smashed the course record by an estimated 35 seconds.  Dan was followed home by a superb debut performance by Brian Spangenberg in 3rd (35:17), and a fiesty effort by the still improving Craig Steinmaus in 4th (35:25). Meanwhile, whipping himself into a frothy frenzy, Dan Mancini closed well to grab 9th in 36:02, with Hans Gouwens

battling mightily to finish 10th in 36:13 to lock up the team scoring.

Mike Slavin added a gutsy performance in 16th (36:41) after weeks of nursing a chronic knee injury. Andy Apfelbaum, in another impressive course debut, was next across the line in 34th (38:19), his strongest effort of the season. Tyler Abbott followed him home in 42nd (38:51), while Charles Griffin ran a strong 39:42 (55th) to nail down 7th overall amongst the Seniors. Running with a calf pull, Lloyd Stephenson was next in 70th and 11th Senior (40:50), followed by David Schmidt in 119th (44:28) and Tom Bennett in 165th (56:21).  It was an inspired team effort all around. And for their placings in the Champs race and in the season end grand prix standings, Dan Nelson, Brian Spangenberg, Craig Steinmaus and Dan Mancini earned spots on the 8-man "All-Pacific Association" Cross Country Team.

Open Men Byline Chris Phipps

The PA Cross Country Championships continues to be the most competitive post collegiate race in California. With several team members MIA, and 3 of our scoring 5 back from last Sunday's 30K, the New Balance Excelsior team managed a 7th place team finish among the 11 teams competing over the newly lengthened 6.4 mile course. 

The team was led by Paul Wellman who was 53rd in 34:31.  Next was new team member Chikara Omine who was 65th, in 35:09, just ahead of Chris Phipps in 66th (35:19).  Making his team debut, Ben Chaffe was our 4th runner, coming in 90th in 36:57. Completing the scoring team was Brian Gilliss in 99th (37:45), followed by new team member 18 year old Samuel Berrin in 101st (37:55), Adam Lucas, (117th,

39:59), and Brian Schultz (122nd, 40:13).

Women Byline Helen Kao

Pulling together a full team at the last minute, the women New Balance Excelsior runners battled long work hours, illness, and injury to race PA Champs. Congrats to all the women who ran, and to the women who came out to cheer us along the new course.

Opinion was split--we loved the flatter course but weren't as happy about the  longer/uphill finishing stretch (and some missed the hay bales). In first was Jenny Wong who slipped in a super 29th place finish with 26:31 between her crazy NB work hours to launch the new NB 1050s. Allie Bigelow had a great day--post-injury leg seems to be holding up OK, 70th with 28:24. Micha Lowe, also working crazy

long hours lately, ran a conservative race pre-CIM with a solid 29:11 for 80th. Helen "Kaw" as misspelled in the listing, also kept the pace conservative for 29:54, 99th.

Welcome back (again) to Jocelyn Friel who is coming off her recent illness at the NY Marathon to run a strong 30:24 for 104th. Stay healthy and injury-free ladies and we'll come back stronger and faster next year!

P.S. According to Dan Mancini, the course was 1:46.73 longer than the

traditional course.

Clarksburg 30K - 11/14/04

O'ROURKE WINS CLARKSBURG! If at Forty-First You Don't Succeed, . . .

In his 42d PA road grand prix race as a master, Sunday's Clarksburg Country Run 30K, Tim O'Rourke notched his first victory (after five second place finishes!), running 1:49:54 to place seventh overall and just ahead of teammate Vitas Ezerskis (1:50:11, 8th overall). These two led the masters to their 4th straight road grand prix race, with Lloyd Stephenson (1:59:08, 2d senior, 25th overall) dropping down for the victory. Tyler Abbott ran a very tactical 39-41-ouch 46 2:06:18 double ouch to round out the team. CONGRATULATIONS TIM!!!

The seniors seem to have finished second behind Tamalpa and have all but clinched first place in the grand prix. Les Ong led the seniors (after Lloyd) in 2:09:38, followed by Allan Stanbridge (2:23:53) and Kenny Warde (2:25:33).

Open Men Byline Chris Phipps

The Clarksburg 30K is a great little race that for some reason just doesn’t seem to be too popular with a lot of the top PA runners.  Those who do run it usually use it as a tune-up for CIM, or do it just to score a bunch of PA points.  The New Balance Excelsior open men had one more than the 3 required for a complete team, and that was good enough for a second place finish.  Paul Wellman led the team finishing 6th in 1:49:07.  Finishing just out of the top 10 was Dan Rhodes in 11th (1:51:14).  He was followed by Chris Phipps in 19th (1:55:08) and Brian Gilliss in 24th (1:58:27).  All 4 plan to be back in 3 weeks for the marathon.

Women Byline Shelly Pierson

Nothing could be finer that a Sunday in Clarksburg!  At least this was the truth this past Sunday!!  The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful, unlike the past versions of rain and wind. 

Our girls set off, all three of them, on a "training run" as they are all looking to fiercely compete in three weeks at CIM.  The three musketeered group of Shelly Pierson, Katie Litzenberger and Micha Lowe all ran together for the first 12 miles, pulling each other along as they told stories to pass the time and miles.  At mile 12 both Shelly and Katie kicked the pace down a notch to slightly faster than their goal marathon pace for a strong finish (2:12:12), crossing the finish line together.  Our third musketeer (Micha) was super strong and held fast to here goal pace and finished not too far behind (2:16:58). 

Micha adds that team friends Melissa Lode followed close behind her in

2:24:19 and Susan Beck finished with a strong 2:33:56.

Crystal Springs Challenge Cross Country - 11/13/04

Griffin Wins! Gouwens Second! Omine Eleventh!

Charles Griffin notched his first PA victory at Saturday's Crystal Springs Challenge, running 25:31 to win the senior division by over half a minute. Hans Gouwens finished second in his PA Champs warmups, running 23:07 to place 21st overall. Starting to return to his prior form, Kim Lilot finished third senior in 26:27. Tyler Abbott, running easy for the team the day before Clarksburg, was the next master in 28:17, followed by Greg King in 29:43. The masters just needed a few points here so they'd score in the maximum five plus champs races for the year.

On the open side, newcomer Chikara Omine ran a very strong 22:05 to take 11th overall in a stacked field up front. Great job Chikara! Dan Rhodes, also running the day before Clarksburg, finished next in 25:16, followed by Brian Schultz (26:17). Already having scored in the maximum five races before champs, the open men didn't field a full team.

Fleet Feet Open Cross Country - 11/06/04

Wellman 8th at Fleet Feet

Paul Wellman finished 8th at the inaugural Fleet Feet Sacramento cross country meet, running 18:37 in the stacked field. Charles Griffin's was the third place senior finisher I heard great things about the course. Congratulations Paul and Charles!

  

John Lawson Tamalpa Challenge - 10/30/04

NELSON, MASTERS WIN!

Dan Nelson captured his third straight masters win Saturday at Shoreline, leading the masters to an easy victory over a tough River City squad. For the open men, .* Jenny Wong led the woman with a strong 28:54, adding a fifth place finish to a string of top finishes. Great job Jenny!

Masters Men Byline Dan Mancini

In what they hope will be a preview of the PA Champs., the men's Masters team vanquished a stacked River City Rebels team on Saturday at the Tamalpa Challenge. Running at close to full strength for the first time all year, the team grabbed 5 of the top 10 places, while showcasing a brilliant display of team tactical racing. Dan Nelson led the way for the squad, once again easily handling the field en route to an asterisked course record 24:19**. Had he not high-fived the spectators over the last 300 meters, the undisputed record surely would have been his.

Meanwhile, a minute back, the team race was heating up. A group of 6 runners:

Steinmaus, Gouwens and Mancini battled 3 Rebel runners through the sinuous

trails for the crucial 3rd thru 8th places. Employing crafty tactical racing (and a few well-placed elbows) through the narrow single-track final mile, the trio worked over their opponents. As they emerged from the wilderness, the group was down to 5 (3 Excelsior, 2 Rebels), when Craig Grizzly Adams Steinmaus unleashed his ferocious kick, devouring his rivals, to grab 4th place in 25:31; while Gouwens and Mancini battled each other over the final 200m, with Hans prevailing 25:41 to Dan's 25:41.5 to grab 6th and 7th places. Meanwhile, Mike Slavin, recently sidelined for 2 weeks with a knee injury, moved up steadily through the pack to nail down 10th place in 26:30, helping to seal the victory for the team.

Andy Apfelbaum (27:37, 26th), Charles Griffin (28:53, 9th Senior) and John Spriggs (29:39, 61st) ran strong races to add more fuel to the Excelsior juggernaut.  Tyler Abbott bowed out of the race, opting instead for the bigger x-point payday that the Open race promised...more on that from

Tyler...

Open Men

In a return to 1996 placing if not form, Tyler Abbott led the open men in 28:31. Having been told that 2-3 more open guys would show up, and knowing he wouldn't score in the masters race, he thought he'd make sure they had a full team and opted to run in the MUCH hotter open race. On the bright side, he finished first master and first team open man, and picked up a slew of x-points. Brian Schultz was the only NBE male runner under 40 years old--Brian finished shortly behind Tyler in 29:59.

Women

Jenny Wong ran a great 28:54 for fifth place.

Shoreline Open - 10/23/04

NELSON 1ST MASTER, STEINMAUS 3RD!

Dan Nelson captured another masters win Saturday at Shoreline, with Craig Steinmaus continuing his return to '03 shape with a strong third place finish. On the open side, the race marked the long-awaited return to racing of '03 cross standout Paul Wellman. Paul ran 23:12 for 26th in the stacked field. Dan Lilot (25:23, 65th) and Brian Schultz (27:54, 106th) were our only other open runners, but fortunately we had extra masters to fill out the team.

Women Byline Patti Bershers

Four women ran the Shoreline XC race on Saturday, beating out the rain but not a fleet-footed 13-year old from Los Osos, Jordan Hasay, who ran 17:03 on the 5K course to easily win by 24 seconds over a fast Megan Daly. Hasay's time was only 7 seconds slower that the 1999 course record of 16:56.  Yikes. 

In first for NB Excelsior was Patti Bershers, running 19:33 for 22nd place.  Allie Bigelow was close behind, running 19:49 for 32nd place.  Micha Lowe ran a strong race, 19:59.99999 (OK, they called it 20:00), for 35th place, and Helen Kao had a good day in 20:27, for 46th place.  There were at least 3 college teams out there, and once those results (and Hasay's) get pulled out, our PA placings ought to jump quite a bit.  Next up:  Tamalpa!

Old'uns Byline Dan Mancini

At The Shoreline Open on Saturday, the men's Masters team continued it's strong racing. Dan Nelson led the way posting a new Masters course record time of 22:30 (1st Master, 17th overall) eclipsing the former record by 2 seconds set in 2002 by Dan Gonzalez. Craig Steinmaus - continuing to work toward recapturing his OMS form of last year - was next in for team in 24:13 (3rd Master, 43rd overall). Dan Mancini, suffering from his annual Shoreline Landfill malaise was next across the line in 24:28 (7th Master, 49th overall).

Lloyd Stephenson - new to the Senior ranks - followed in 25:29 which would have been a new Senior record had Tom Cushman from the Aggies not beat him to it. (2nd Senior, 67th overall). Andy Apfelbaum posted a fine 26:16 (16th Master, 79 overall) to round out the top 5 scoring. Meanwhile, Tyler Abbott, yearning for the glory days of September, finished in 26:47 (18th Master, 86th overall) - a staggering 2 mins. 34 secs. behind Craig, a man he out-leaned at the tape not 6 weeks ago in GGP. OUCH times 2!  Rounding out the team, former Senior course record holder, Kim Lilot finished in 28:31 (12th Senior, 111th overall). It looks like we were narrowly defeated by the River City Rebels.

[Ed.:

The writer understates. Our first and second runner beat the corresponding rebel by one place each. Our third through fifth runners lost to the corresponding rebel by one place each, so they beat us by one point! (In fact, there's another possible runner in there, so it may have ended up a tie, but the rebels would beat us by virtue of their higher-finishing fifth runner.) Not only that, but the third through fifth runners lost by a total of FIVE SECONDS (two seconds, two seconds, one second)!] Next up is Tamalpa on Saturday. It's probably the last full team we'll field before Champs, so let's get out there with a strong effort!

Napa to Santa Cruz Relay - 10/19/04

Twelve Angry Men Win Relay

Twelve Angry Men repeated as winners of the Relay from Napa to Santa Cruz.

Team members Chris Phipps, Dan Rhodes, Parker Kelly, and Matt Metzger were

four of the angry men. The team ran 20:08 on the 190+ mile course to win

by an hour and a half or so! Congratulations all. 

Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon - 10/17/04

Stephenson Wins Senior Debut!

Lloyd Stephenson won his senior debut, and Ian Reid won the super senior division Sunday at the Humboldt Half Marathon. Lloyd ran 1:19:42, good enough for 36th place overall, and Ian ran 1:28:34. Unfortunately results have just now been posted on the PA website, so most team reports will follow, but it appears that our masters and senior men may have won (depending on drop downs), open men were second, and women were third or fourth.

Old'uns

Hans Gouwens led the masters with a 1:15:01 performance (3rd master), followed very closely and consecutively by Tim O'Rourke (1:15:04) and Vitas Ezerskis (1:15:10). Then there was a gap. And another gap. And another gap. Tyler Abbott finished next in ouch 1:23:44. The good news is that, thanks to the top performances above, we can easily win the masters race, depending on who we're able to drop down.

As reported above, Lloyd Stephenson won the senior race in 1:19:42. Les Ong finished next in 1:24:24 (6th), followed by Tom Bernhard (1:27:28), Ian Reid (1:28:34), Allan Stanbridge (1:32:43), and Kenny Warde (1:41:11). Thanks to all the seniors for making sure we could field all full teams!

All-in-all, a surreal day, with the storm coming in hard just after the race. I've heard reports of almost a dozen accidents people saw on the way home. I know Cliff just barely made it to the Garberville Safeway suffering from hypothermia!

Women@Humboldt Byline Helen Kao

Five women braved the cold and rain to run a strong race at last weekend's Humboldt Half Marathon. Fortunately the downpour started AFTER the half was completed. The New Balance Excelsior women's team was led by running pair Katie Litzenberger 1:26.21 (10th woman and 5th in age group) and Shelly Pierson 1:26.27  (11th, 2nd in age group). Shortly thereafter, with a PR by 3.16 came Patti Bershers 1:27.14 (15th, 5th in age group).

Chelsey Remington ran a solid race to round out her 2004 season with 1:32.52 (24th, 9th in age group). Last up to bat was Helen Kao with a 3.30 PR at 1:37.14 (37th, 6th in age group), spurred on in the last mile by her coach Cheryl Shwe. Team friend Susan Beck also had a strong day, running 1:42.56 to beat the storm. Next up is Shoreline XC: contact Patti Bershers if you are running.

US Half Marathon - 10/17/04

Wayne Plymale reports that he ran the U.S. Half Sunday in 1:33:57 (48th place, 2nd age group) in preparations for the Silicon Valley Marathon in a couple of weeks. Good job Wayne!

Aggies Folsom Challenge XC - 10/09/04

Parker Kelly ran as our lone representative to Saturday's cross country

meet in Folsom, running 23:50 for 32d place. Good job Parker!

Lake Tahoe 10K - 10/08/04

Fanady First Master at Lake Tahoe 10K

Whitney Stephenson reports that "our own Kim Fanady came in 1st master, 3rd woman and 15th overall with a time of 41:24 in the 10k at this last weekend's running festivities in Lake Tahoe." Whitney herself was 11th in her age group with

a 4:40 high-altitude performance in the Lake Tahoe Marathon. Congratulations both of you!

TWIN CITIES MARATHON - 10/03/04

Gallagher 2:27, Donahue 2:29

Hoy's Ex I mean Ex I mean NB Ex ex-pat Ryan Gallagher, putting his Hood to Coast training to good use, and Stephen Donahue both set multi-minute PRs and both joined the sub-2:30 club at Sunday's Twin Cities Marathon. Ryan ran 2:27:52, with Stephen following close behind in 2:29:4x (he was temporarily omitted from the results). Congratulations both of you!

Bridge to Bridge - 10/03/04

I haven't seen results yet (website says they'll be posted by FRIDAY!), but at Bridge to Bridge Sunday Chris Lundstrom was in the lead pack of five at mile 6, and new member Mike Slavin, whom I saw not far behind at 6, reports that he ran around 41:40, probably eighth overall and first master.

They had posted the top three finishers, however, and I did see that club friend Caroline Annis finished second in a great time of 43:31 among the women. I also know Wayne Plymale ran 29:08 in the 7K. I apologize for anyone I've missed, but congratulations all, reported or not!

Presidio Cross Country Challenge - 10/02/04

NELSON/MASTERS WIN, OPEN MEN SECOND, MANCINI THIRD

Wong, Griffin Fifth

Dan Nelson made his masters cross country debut with an easy 1:15 win at our own Sixth Annual Presidio Cross Country Open Saturday. Dan Mancini finished third, showing the strength he's been working on in those interminable Polo Fields/Strawberry workouts. The Dans led the masters to a solid victory, their first cross country win of the year.

The open men had an excellent race, the top 7 all finishing within a minute of each other, to take second in a narrow victory over Empire. In the other divisions, Jenny Wong finished a strong fifth, as did Charles Griffin among senior men. More below . . . .

Open Men Byline Chris R.D. Phipps

With our best turnout of the XC season, the New Balance Excelsior Team placed 2nd out of 6 complete teams at our own Presidio Challenge. Race director Chris Phipps had his best race in months on the hilly course that he loves so much finishing 17th in 20:33.  Chris wasn't even thinking about his race for the first 2 miles, he "was just checking to make sure that the course was properly marked and that we had enough course monitors."

Following Chris were Eric Ollila (21st, 20:51), Cliff Lentz (22nd, 20:58), and Dan Rhodes (28th, 21:14) with new member Josh Dapice (30th, 21:18) edging out Brian Gilliss (31st, 21:19) for 5th man.  Brian finished just in front of Empire's 4th man, and our 7th man, John Trevithick (36th, 21:44) finished just in front of Empire's 5th man helping us beat them for the first time all year.  We didn't quite have the 5 additional runners needed to score a B team, but we were just one shy with Robin Hart (38th, 21:53), Danny Lilot (42nd, 22:22), Yurik Riegel (48th, 23:16), and Adam Lucas (52nd, 24:18).

Race Director says thanks to all who came out and helped.  With special thanks to Patti Bershers for coordinating the race day registration table, Tim Wason for taking care of the finish line, Pete Vicencio for his flawless data entry, and to Bob Darling and Don Paul for picking up and dropping off all of the cones.

So, who wants to go to Folsom next weekend? 

Women Byline Patti Bershers

Five women fit in a race around registration, course monitoring, and other duties at our very own Presidio XC race this weekend.  Jenny Wong had a great day, running 24:01 to place 5th overall.  Allie Bigelow continues to recover from her injury by racing through it, running a crisp 25:36 for 18th place. 

Under strict orders from their coach to take it easy today, marathon-training Patti Bershers and Helen Kao tried to be disciplined about it, running 27:19 (37th place) and 27:49 (42nd place) respectively.

Whitney stepped in at the last minute to fill out the team, running 33:00 for 65th place.  Thanks Whitney!  Thanks also to the other women who could not run but came out anyway to volunteer their time on various race duties - Jamie Chomas and Lee D'Alessandro.

Masters Men Byline Dan Mancini

The Masters mens team scored a series of firsts on Saturday at the Presidio Challenge. Dan Nelson won his 1st cross country race as a masters, easily handling the field in a new course record of 19:59.7, marking the 1st time a Masters man has cracked the 20:00 barrier on the very challenging 3.55 mile course.

While Dan was time trialing his way to an easy victory more than a minute ahead of the field, the rest of the squad was helping to secure its 1st team victory of the XC season with Dan Mancini finishing in 3rd (21:16.4), Tyler Abbott 11th (22:28.2), Brad Zamczyk 22nd (23:11, and another 1st - his debut xc race as a Master, welcome back Brad!), Andy Apfelbaum 25th (23:17), Charles Griffin 33rd (and 5th Senior in 23:48), John Spriggs 41st (24:24), Ian Hersey 48th (24:44), and Jim Misener 88th (28:11).

The team is building momentum as the season progresses, and has yet to show its full strength. 

[Ed.: We raced fine, but what's really important is that we finally regained our status as the best-dressed PA club! The new warmups look great--thanks New Balance! And of course thanks to all the club members, racing and otherwise, who came out to help. Great to see Geraghty back!]

Heritage Oaks Banks 10K - 09/26/04

Women's Report Byline Patti Bershers

The Excelsior women mostly had great days at the 3-point Paso Robles 10K.  Shelly Pierson returned to her team-leading ways with an easily run 38:45, 17th place.  Next in for Excelsior was Kim Fanady in the masters race.  Kim ran a superb 40:06, 10th place in the National Championships at this distance.  Great job, Kim!  An injured Allie Bigelow took the third spot on the team, with a solid 40:14, for 24th place. 

Patti Bershers filled in the fourth spot on the team with a 41:08 for 29th place. Chelsey Remington wasn't far behind with a 42:30 that was good for 32nd place.

It's still not clear what place we were as a team - I'm guessing third, maybe second if we're lucky, but it hasn't been posted yet.  Great job all, and thanks for driving 4 hours to race at 7:15 in the morning! 

Congratulations to Chris Lundstrom on his 37:32 11th place finish, and to Chris Lundy on her 42:52 4th (?) place finish. More to come later in the week. . . . 

Tilden Tough 10 - 05/16/04

[Bershers] Excelsior Sweep at Tilden

Excelsior women swept the Tilden Tough 10 Sunday. Katie Litzenberger won the race, with Jenny Wong second, and Shelly Pierson third. Details (times) are sketchy at this point, but congratulations to all three!

Zippy 5K Run - 05/09/04

Lundystrom Wins, Bernhard First Senior

Chris Lundstrom ran 14:38 to run away with the win at Zippy and best Corey Creasey of the Transports by fourteen seconds. On the women's side, team friend Chris Lundy ran 17:19 to win by twelve seconds over the Impala's Shaluinn Fullove. Among seniors, the top four had been exactly the same the last two races--Don Paul, Jim Gorman, Don Porteous (Tamalpa), and Tom Bernhard. At Zippy Tom took advantage of Don Paul's race director-related absence and a very strong second half to win the race by three seconds over Jim Gorman. Congratulations Chrisses and Tom! Details . . . . 

Open Women Byline Patti Bershers

Despite widespread injury (latest victim: Jen Major, stress fracture), illness, and in much happier news, pregnancy (Amy Pierson!), the open women were able to field a full team for our own Zippy 5K. Leading off was Allie Bigelow, continuing a strong spring racing season with an 18:54 effort, good for 21st place. Right behind her (well, right beside her until somewhere during mile 2) was Patti Bershers, with a 16-second PR 19:03, for 28th place. Jenny Wong once again answered the last-minute "Please! Will you run?!?!" call with a 19:48 effort. Jenny thought she'd only be able to run 21 considering how much she's been working lately, but clearly all of those workouts keeping up with 7-month old Bender the Dog have been helping. KK also stepped in at the last minute despite having run a Double Dipsea with Phippsea on Saturday morning, with a 20:54 shake-out run. Thanks KK! And on the post-pregnancy comeback trail was Jocelyn Friel, running a fine 22:02, and more impressive, looking better than all of the rest of us doing it, despite just having had a child. Great job Jocelyn, so nice to have you back out there! And thanks to all of the women who weren't running but came out to volunteer! Next Up: Pacific Sun 10K, and less than 5 weeks to go to Dipsea! 

Open Men Byline Pete Vicencio

With a beautiful, calm day to greet them, the Excelsior Open men put a hurting on.the Excelsior Masters men (Open team results TBD, but are likely predictable. Adidas Transports first, yada, yada). Unfortunately for the Open men, the tide may soon change. In a race easily won by former teammate Chris Lundstrom (14:38 and a 14 second victory over a strong field), Open team leader extraordinaire Dan Nelson - in his Open swan song since he is soon to become Masters runner super-extraordinaire - led us in 8th place in 15:08. Dan was followed by Stephen Donahue in a great return to racing with his 18th place finish in 15:32. Rounding out the A team were Pete Vicencio (25th, 15:53), Parker S. Kelly Jr. (40th, 16:16) and John Trevithick in his second consecutive A team scoring performance (49th, 16:27).

Leading the B team, and hot off an even hotter Wildflower Triathlon the week before (47th overall in the Oly distance event despite giving up his body and mega-minutes on the swim), was Jerad Crave (51st, 16:29). Jerad was followed by a damaged Dan Shore (53rd, 16:34), Dr. Dan-"Dan #3"-Rhodes (59th, 16:42), Brian Gilliss (84th, 17:14), Yurik Riegel (130th, 18:48) in a LONG-awaited return to racing, and Brian Shultz (137th, 19:02).

As always, Tyler apologizes for anyone I've missed. 

Masters Women Byline Kim Fanady

It was a beautiful morning of haphazard and wanton frivolity for the masters women at Zippy. Kim Fanady bounced back from the Boston Death March to post a club record and PR 19:24 (much to her surprise!), 5th master and 35th overall. Deborah Ulian and Susan Beck zipped the course together, finishing in 22:04 and 22:05. Whitney Stephenson and Kelly Murphy turned out to cheer on their teammates. Happy Mother's Day to Kelly! 

Old'uns

Tim Wallen led the masters again in a very competitive field. Tim was 6th master overall, but was just four seconds behind the 3rd master. Vitas Ezerskis finished next in a strong 16:23. Lloyd Stephenson, Brad Zamczyk, and Craig Steinmaus finished close together in 17:03, 17:08, and 17:17 to round out the A team. The B team consisted of Andy Apfelbaum (17:34), Jesus Welcome Back! Garcia (17:46), Tyler Abbott (17:58), Randy Guerrero (18:38), Michael Gama (19:39), and Jim Misener (20:59)--the first time we've had a masters-only B team all year. Although this was probably our best effort yet this year, we still seem to have finished third behind the Aggies and Pacific Striders. Wouldn't it be great if our top open runner turned 40 in the near future?