|
EXCELSIOR Running Club Results - 2005  Christmas Relays - 12/11/05 CHRISTMAS RELAYS: MASTERS/SENIORS WIN GP, OPEN TEAMS THIRD!
Being the last race in the road grand prix, and double points at that, the Christmas Relays has the potential to juggle the PA standings quite a bit. However, this year all of our teams were well settled in their spots (masters and seniors have both won, and both open teams finished third), with I believe only the masters even needing to run the race (and needing to finish only 7th or 8th at that).
Nevertheless, we put some strong teams out at Sunday's relays. Our open and masters men finished 4th and 5th overall (3rd/2d in their divisions), within 18 seconds of each other (1:40:44 and 1:41:02). Congratulations open men!
One thing I personally love about the Christmas Relays is that, especially if you're not running first, no one REALLY knows your time except you. This unfortunately brings up the unpleasant spectre of Phantom Time, arising when the sum of the four times doesn't QUITE equal the overall time. Details below. . . . Women Byline Helen Kao
We had a full-house at this year's relays with Eight Women out running the 4.5 mile loop around Lake Merced. Open Women Team A with Kim Fanady, Jen Major, Lee d'Alessandro, and Jenny Wong placed 4th of 22 open/5th PA in 1:54:24 to secure the New Balance Excelsior Women's overall 3rd place PA Road finish for 2005. They were blazing at an average 6:25 pace. Open Women Team B with Jamie Chomas, Julie Huy, Micha Lowe, and Molly Sear had fun with the relays, placing 11th, 2:10:38, average 7:19 pace. THANKS TO ALL THE RUNNERS!
Ed.: Going from memory, Kim ran 29:07, Jen 28:06, Lee 29:42, and Jenny 27:32, totalling 1:54:27, for an unprecedented NEGATIVE THREE seconds of Phantom Time. The women definitely earn the honesty I mean accuracy award . . . . Open Men
Parker Kelly led the team in 25:23, followed by Brian Gillis (24:38), Dan Rhodes (25:13), and Chikara Omine (25:32), with NEGATIVE TWO Phantom Time seconds to reach the official time of 1:40:44. As mentioned above, the team finished 4th overall/3rd open, and easily held on to its 3rd place in the final GP standings. Good going guys! Old'uns
The masters men, suffering from burnout after the long Fall season, couldn't scrape together a full team and once again had to rely on the generosity of the seniors, but still managed to finish second in a tight race. After senior Lloyd Stephenson led off with a fine 25:22, the team was in 4th, with only Tamalpa out of reach after Bill Bushnell's sterling 23:48 opener. Cliff Lentz followed in 24:32, passing his Pacific Strider to put us in 3rd by ten seconds, just another ten seconds behind 2d place WVTC. Tyler Abbott ran 26:09, in so doing passing WVTC but being passed back by Strider Alan Dehlinger. Tim Wallen anchored us in 24:43, passing Strider Tim Keenan to give us second place. Phantom Time was limited to a not unreasonable 16 seconds.
The seniors led with Rocket Darling in 29:45, followed by Jim Gorman (26:16), Tom Bernhard (26:47), and Don Paul (25:43), with a whopping 1:11 of Phantom Time. Miss an exchange? Without ace Stephenson, the seniors took second behind a WVJ&S team rejuvenated by the aging of Brian Davis. California International Marathon - 12/04/05
Though CIM took a year off from the Grand Prix schedule (it's on again next year), several of our members used it as their Fall marathon with a couple nice PRs to show for it.
Adam Lucas led our finishers with a fine 3:01:42 (1:32:45-1:28:58!) marathon debut. Nancy Vuong was our first woman, running a big (18 minute!) PR in 3:15. Bean Wrenn finished next in 3:28, followed closely by Helen Kao (3:33) and Kenny Warde (3:35). Shelly Pierson had lower back problems and limped in a couple minutes later. Las Vegas Marathon - 12/04/05 Congratulations to Juli Morse Stump on her 3:15 at the new Las Vegas Marathon Sunday as well. O'ROURKE TOPS OWN AMERICAN RECORD!
I guess winning the last two GP races and the long GP itself weren't enough for ol' Mr. Metronome. While the rest of us were recovering from Thanksgiving festivities, Tim O'Rourke quietly snuck off to Dallas and bested his own American 45-49 50K track record, which he set in 2003 but which was unfortunately never ratified. Congratulations From Tim . . . Thank you George (and others); just back from travels east. I represented that I was done racing until March and that's strictly speaking true since this goes in the category of a solo time trial. It had become apparent that my 50K age group record track effort from 2003 was never going to be ratified (unlike the 3:19:21 50K road effort from the same year, which was ratified). So I wanted to rectify that. The Ultracentric 24/48 hour track event in Dallas has a history of getting records ratified and that's where I headed for my day after Thanksgiving. The existing (ratified) track record that I needed to beat was 3:24:08 by the great Rae Clark (among other accomplishments, holder of the American open 100 mile record at 12:12). My unratified track time from 2003 was 3:18:52 and, as long as I was doing it again, I really wanted to beat that as well.
Having been through the drill, I knew the arithmetic: 95 second 400s for 125 laps (6:22 mile pace) would yield a 3:17:55, and that is generally what I was shooting for. I had ideal temperature (mid 50's, dry overcast), great volunteer support and almost a clear track since most people were signed up for the 24 hour event and I started with the two 48 hour entrants. The one flaw was a stiff southeast breeze quartering across the north-south track. I ran mostly 94's for the first half of the attempt putting me 40 seconds to the good of 95 pace at 25K (1:38:18). Then I gave those 40 seconds back when I had to make a pit stop that took just that long. At 30K I was 1:58:43 (1:58:45 would be exactly 95 a lap). In the last 20K I grudgingly gave away seconds here and there but actually started feeling better with 5 miles to go and made up time with a 6:07 last 1600 for the 3:17:58 finish. Marathon split was right about 2:47.
I have a good feeling that this one will be ratified and I'm encouraged that I have a reasonable chance a couple of years hence of getting the 50+ road record of 3:19:33, a mark that has stood since 1983. And I am now really, really looking forward to skiing until March 2006. Thanks again and best to all,
Tim Run to the Farside - 11/27/05 Distracted by disappointing snow levels, Stephen Donahue led our contingent at Far Side in 33:53, good enough for 4th overall in the 10K. Other club members running the 10 were Brian Schultz (39:12, 49th), Alexander Shwe (41:55, 95th)--great job Alexander! Kim Fanady (43:09, 3rd 40-49), Tensixsea (43:12), Dance Shoe (43:12), Chelsey Remington (46:15, 27th), Brenda Deperalta (54:26, 170th), Nancy Wang (56:20), Jeff Shewey (1:00:33), and Ten Sixtty Greene (1:00:45).
In the 5K, Tim Wallen led our group in 16:20 (8th overall, 2d 40-49), followed by Yurik Riegel (18:21, 25th), first club woman Jen Major in a fine 18:26 (6th woman overall), Lee D'Alessandro (19:37, 9th), Dan Ramos (20:06, 3rd 50-59), Rocket (20:15, 5th 50-59), Jamie Chomas (20:24, 17th), Craig Edwards (21:53, 5th 60-69), Kasia Tarantino (22:16, 32d), Shoey Pierson (22:44), 1060 "Bean" Shoe (22:45), Tom Mann (29:34), and Gary and daughter Tennifer MacSixty (30:24/30:25).
Thanks to the many club members who came out to cheer, and special thanks to the 1060s out there. Davis Turkey Trot 5K - 11/20/05 Congratulations to Jim Gorman (56.9 years old) for a 17:21 at the Davis Turkey Trot 5K (certified, flat, but with some turns) for first 55-59, second 40+ finisher, and 17th overall. Age rated at 88.02%. Great job Jim! Fitness Magazine 4 Miler - 11/20/05 Congratulations to Kim Fanady on a 26:18 1st master/4th woman finish at the Fitness Magazine 4 miler at Crissy Field. Stanford 10K - 11/20/05 Congratulations to Bean Wrenn on a 4th place finish at the Stanford 10K. USATF XC Club Nationals - 11/19/05 "The Feast In The East" Byline Dan Mancini
Five members of the NB Excelsior Masters men XC team traveled east to Rochester, NY on Saturday to compete in USATF Club Nationals. Without their #1 ace, the team entered the race with a more modest goal of a top-5 team finish. The team competition was particularly fierce this year, and the field in general, the toughest in memory with some 250 entrants. Without a clear frontrunner, the team ran tactically as a bunch for much of the race. In the end, only 30 seconds separated the five of them. Cliff Lentz led the team with a very strong 31st place finish (35:04) in the very deep field. Tim Wallen, running with Cliff most of the race, was next in 38th (35:23), followed by the fast finishing Mike Slavin in 45th (35:31) who picked off some 15 runners in the final kilometers. Iain Mickle in 48th and Dan Mancini in 49th (both timed in 35:38) closed out the fine team effort, and the group finished eighth (of 16 teams). Greg King (43:57) rounded out the team. Clarksburg 30K - 11/13/05 CLARKSBURG: O'ROURKE, STEPHENSON, MASTERS WIN!
Tim O'Rourke won again the race that he's become synonymous with, having won it last year and set the M44 single-age American Record three years ago. This was Tim's third long win of 2005, and led him to an easy win in the long GP. On the senior side, Lloyd Stephenson won his 7th road gp race of the year--his 4 out of 5 easily won him the senior long grand prix. On the team side, the masters won a close battle with Pacific Striders, and the seniors lost (irrespective of drop downs) for the first time this year (if memory serves me correctly), by just 1:07. Shelly Pierson led a fine women's effort, and, thanks to a strategic pre-race signing, the open men posted a full team fulfillment ratio over three fold that of Humboldt, WELL over half a full team! Details . . . Women Byline Helen Kao/Nancy Vuong
What a phenomenal day! Our 3 teammates who raced Clarksburg each hit personal goals. For SHELLY PIERSON, the race was a chance to build up for Cal International. She went out smart and slow, then easily picked up the pace and one-by-one picked off other runners left and right, placing 6th age group 2:15.27. As her friend and start-of-the-race-partner, Tom, said at the finish "Shelly left me in the dust WAY BACK there." MOLLY SEAR who is bypassing a marathon this fall in anticipation of Boston next spring made this her big race for the fall. She was right on target, aiming for 7:40 pace and hitting 7:42 on a hot day to finish 2:23.19 (12th age group and a WHOPPING 14+min PR). NANCY VUONG wow'd even herself with her strategy for a fast-start-fast-finish long run, but easily held an also-fast-in-the-middle pace to come in strong at 2:17.09, 8th age group. Molly and Nancy noted the new uniforms were great--no chafing and the waistband of the shorts were a thousand times more comfortable then the aqua shorts! Open Men
New member Agustin Cruz ran 2:04:23 to finish 36th and lead the open men, followed by Eric Knackmuhs in a 2:30 training run. Old'uns
As mentioned above, Tim O'Rourke led all masters and our team in 1:48:57, 7th overall, to take the race, the grand prix, and apparently 5th in the open gp. Vitas Ezerskis followed close behind in 1:49:32 to finish 3rd master, 10th overall, runner-up to Tim in the long GP, and 7th in the open gp. Tyler Abbott completed the scorers in a rough 2:02:45, 14th master, 31st overall, and apparently 11th in the long gp, which, thanks to the Dan Shore rule (whereby older runners are generally dropped from the standings when considering comps), would give him comps next year, so we might as well schedule the surgery right now [It could be noted that, (a) Tyler is responsible (Can you say conflict of interest?) at the PA level for both the Dan Shore rule and the division of masters between short and long, and (b) only six masters ran all five races in the long gp, but we will not do so here. -Ed.] Returning member John Spriggs (2:17:45, 25th 40-49) and Niall Vignoles (2:31:46, 33rd 40-49) rounded out the team.
For the seniors, after Lloyd's 1:59:58 26th overall race and gp win (he also finished 10th in the masters gp) came Les Ong in 2:16:13 (8th 50-59), Kenny Warde (2:27:04, 14th 50-59), and Dan Ramos (2:41:45, 22d 50-59). Congratulations all!
Finally, special thanks go to Marc Boutillette for showing up just in case, and to Helen Kao and Marc for great support along the course. New York Marathon - 11/06/05 Helen Kao forwards the following from the New York City Marathon . . . No details yet from our brave trio who ventured east to run the New York City Marathon this past Sunday. But word has it that the race (which didn't start until 10AM) was a HOT one, reaching temperatures over 70 degrees! BRENDA GEE ran perfectly even splits (2:04 at the half) to finish 4:10 with a chip time of 4:00 flat. NANCY WANG persevered through the mid-day heat, finishing in 4:49. And MICHA LOWE raced to an 89th place finish in 3:22. Terrific running!
[Wayne Plymale also ran a tough race in the heat--he finished in around 4:40. -Ed.] NYC redux
Patti Bershers pointed out a couple omissions from last week's New York City Marathon report. In the heat, Mike Shwe ran 3:11:43, followed by Matty Greene in 3:14:28.
Also, Jeff Dewey ran 3:17:09 in the Marshall University Marathon (West Virginia) over the weekend. Congratulations! PA XC Championships - 11/06/05 PA CHAMPS: NELSON, MASTERS REPEAT!
Among hushed utterances of the D word, Dan Nelson led the masters to their second consecutive PA Championship. Nelson, winning the race by almost two--not a typo--minutes, helped the club dominate the team competition, with four runners in the top 10 and the final scorer in 12th. This sealed the masters' perfect season--seven for seven in the races they attended, easily winning the grand prix as well. Among seniors, Lloyd Stephenson finished second to win the grand prix, following in the footsteps of three?-time senior winner Kim Lilot. The open teams also ran well, amid torrid competition. Details . . . Women Byline Lee D'Alessandro
This year's PA X-C Championships and Western Regional Championships lived up to its reputation as one fast race. In the top-heavy women's open division, JENNY WONG raced to a near PR in 25:15 (33rd) and JEN MAJOR in 26:29 (54th). BEAN WRENN in the middle of her marathon racing season, ran 26:57(73rd), followed by LEE D'ALESSANDRO 27:27 (86th). HELEN KAO PR'd with a sub-28 min in 27:56 (97th) with JAMIE CHOMAS finishing well in 28:00 (99th). Rounding out our full team was MOLLY SEAR, who graciously filled in at the last minute, in 30:57 (141st) in a gutsy 2nd X-C race ever! Thanks to NANCY VUONG for her enthusiastic cheering and a special thanks to support from new mom ALLIE BIGELOW bringing newborn ZACH to watch his 1st x-c race! Great finish to the x-c season ladies! Open/Masters Men: Reports to come Tamalpa XC Challenge - 10/29/05 Lloyd Stephenson won yet again at Saturday's John Lawson Tamalpa Challenge, and the masters posted their sixth victory of the year to remain undefeated in 2005 cross country races. Details below . . . Women: All Women PR @ Tamalpa! Byline Lee D'Alessandro
It was a beautiful day at China Camp for the new, more scenic Tamalpa X-C course. We managed to field a full team with some runners making big sacrifices for the cause! Finishing in 19th with a time of 29:10 was Lee D'Alessandro. Nancy Voung, doing her best to hold back per marathon training, finished in 30:24 for 30th. Molly Sear in her 1st x-c race ever clocked a 32:03 (41st) and enjoyed every second of it! Not far behind in 45th was Kasia Tarantino with a 32:45 and just one week before the NYC marathon, Brenda (Gee) Deperalta finished in 36:24 for 49th. Great job ladies! Men: From 7 out of 10 to 7th out of 10 Byline Chris Phipps
Tamalpa used to be one of the bread and butter races for our club where not too many years back we could get 7 of the top 10 individual spots. Too bad the rest of the PA found out about it. The 2005 edition of the Tamalpa challenge was run on a slightly different, but even more challenging course. No fewer than 10 open teams showed up to compete. Final team scoring is not yet in, but it looks like our team was 7th. Chris Phipps led the team in 23rd place at 23:27, followed by Chikara Omine (29th, 23:46), Brian Gilliss (38th, 24:24), Danny Lilot (46th, 24:51), George Torgun (62nd, 25:58), Yurik Riegel (78th, 27:30) and Brian Schultz (80th, 27:44).
And if you think the competition was tough at Tamalpa, just wait until the PA Champs this Sunday. This race is in our own back yard, so let’s show up strong and try to improve on our 7th place finish from this week! Old'uns Byline Dan Mancini
At the John Lawson Tamalpa XC Challenge, the NB Excelsior Masters Men maintained their perfect string of team victories with another strong performance in the final "regular season" XC race on the Grand Prix circuit. Leading the team for the 3rd time this season, Iain "Ironhorse" Mickle notched a 6th place finish in 24:04 in the deepest Masters field so far this year. Following in quick succession were the closely bunched pack of Dan Mancini in 8th (24:21), Mike Slavin in 9th (24:22) and Hans Gouvens in 11th (24:29), while Lloyd Stephenson - enroute to another Senior victory - rounded out the team scoring in 17th (25:23). The team is readying itself to defend its PA Champs title on Sunday. Shoreline XC - 10/22/05 At the Shoreline Cross Country Meet Saturday, Dan Nelson easily won his second of two cross country races this season as he tunes up for the championships, and the masters seem to have garnered their fifth victory. Details . . . Women Byline Jen Major
Five members of our New Balance women's team raced at Shoreline Park this past weekend. The course was very fast, but challenging, and despite the name, there was no beautiful shoreline in sight- just a lot of dirt and gravel. While the scenery was lacking, our racing was not! We lined up with LOTS of college runners, but many of them only looked fast and intimidating. We ran very well, and nearly everyone was happy with her performance on Saturday. Jen Major finished in 25th place, 19:08; Bean Wrenn was next, 36th, 19:35; Lee D'Alessandro was close behind, 42nd, 19:46; Jamie Chomas, was right behind her in 49th, 20:07; and Helen Kao, who had 17 more miles to run, was 54th in 20:19. Great job everyone! Thanks for running this weekend! Shoreline Again: Open/Masters Men Report Byline Dan Mancini
In the mixed Open & Masters race at the Shoreline Open XC race, John Weru led the men's Open team with a superb 14th place finish in the highly competitive field in 22:33. Next in were the duo of Brian Gilliss and George Torgun in 64th (25:00) and 65th (25:03) respectively, followed by Dan "on the comeback trail" Lilot in 73rd (25:38), with Brian Schultz rounding out the team in 122nd (28:36)
The men's Masters team scored another victory behind the dominant performance of Dan Nelson. Running in the top-10 in the early going of the most competitive XC race on the circuit, Dan scored an easy Masters victory, finishing an impressive 16th overall and bettering by one spot his 2004 performance. Not only was Dan the top over-40 competitor, he was also the top over-30 finisher. Next in was Iain Mickle in another fine race - 4th Master (37th overall) in 24:01, followed by Cliff Lentz - 9th Master (56th overall) in 24:34, Dan Mancini (running at tempo effort) - 16th Master (74th overall) in 25:40, Lloyd Stephenson - 3rd Senior (79th overall) in 25:47, Tyler Abbott - 19th Master (87th) in 26:19, Ian Hersey - 37th Master (113th) in 27:51, Kim Lilot - 15th Senior (123rd) in 28:38, Greg King - 48th Master (130th) in 29:35 and Jim Misener - 69th Master (155th) in 33:05. Humboldt Half Marathon - 10/16/05 Humboldt: O'Rourke, Stephenson, Don Paul, Masters, Seniors Win! Lentz, Wong Third
The men just barely scraped together full teams for all divisions. Among the runners who went, however, Tim TMTTFA O'Rourke won masters (and 45-49), Lloyd Stephenson won seniors, Don Paul won 55-59 (2d senior), and both the master and senior men's teams won. Other top finishers included Jenny Wong in 3rd, and Cliff Lentz and Vitas Ezerskis as 3rd and 4th masters. The women's team also seems to have done very well, possibly even scraping out a win (won't know for sure until results are posted), and the open men's team was named Dan. Women Byline Nancy Vuong
Humboldt is the PA Half Marathon Championships. Congrats to Jenny who championed her age group. WVTC put out a strong team at HH but our team standing at this race is defnitely top notch.
JENNY WONG (1st age group, 3rd women overall) 1:23.13 - Was feeling tired but happy with the finish and place. Glad it wasn't as long as Clarksburg!
NANCY WANG (12th age group) 2:01.05 - The half marathon ended up being a 14 mile race as she arrived at parking (at the end of the long line of cars on the road) just as they heard the announcer yell "1 minute to start." So she dropped everthing and sprinted from the car to the start just in time to catch the starting gun.
NANCY VUONG (3rd age group) 1:30.27 - What a gorgeous course! It's gotta be my favorite so far. I went out faster than I had planned but felt good so continued to run strong and even stronger the second half. The out and back course felt like it was downhill both ways - if that's possible. Anyway, I'm very pleased with today and would definitely run it again. [also a HUGE PR]
KASIA TARANTINO (8th age group) 1:46.42 - Super psyched to run a 9 minute PR and break 1:50 by a long shot. An awesome performance considering she was fighting a cold, laryngitis, hamstring straing, and Achilles pain. Only her 2nd half marathon but she felt strong and good the whole way. But lesson learned--never wear an iPod for a half-marathon or suffer the chafing consequences!
MOLLY SEAR (5th age group) 1:37.37 - Another PR! She's unsure if she's happy about her PR or running with the beautiful giants. She is happy to score for NBEx in her debut race. Yeah!
MICHA LOWE (4th age group) 1:33.47 - Woke up feeling tired in the morning. Felt really good for the first half but couldn't hold the pace in the 2nd half. But still managed to run 5 miles after the race for her 20 mile marathon training run (last long run before NYC in 3 weeks!)
HELEN KAO (4th age group) 1:33.32 - One of the best weekends I've had in a while. Was nervous coming into Humboldt that my shin would be a problem. But perhaps because I was so happy after my brother's wedding yesterday, I just kept going with how I felt. Started tiring at the end but felt I gave the race my all and am very happy with yet another PR. Open Men Byline Dan Rhodes
I ran 1:15:30. Old'uns
The battle for the masters win was tight. Tim O'Rourke, Cliff Lentz, and Vitas Ezerskis all ran together the first ten miles, along with WVTC's Eric Albrecht, two other masters, and our open team. In the end O'Rourke pulled out his third masters victory of the past year, with Albrecht, Lentz, and Ezerskis just a few seconds back. Times were around 1:14:20. Rounding out the team were Andy Apfelbaum in a PR 1:20:10 and Tyler Abbott in 1:21:44.
For the seniors, we had the winner, the top 50-54, the top 55-59, the top team, and enough runners to fill out our open team! Lloyd Stephenson led the way in 1:19, with Don Paul finishing not far behind in 1:20. Tom Bernhard and Jim Gorman followed in 1:23 and 1:25 (I believe). I'm afraid I don't have the rest of the times yet, but Les Ong, Dan Ramos, Allan Stanbridge, and Kenny Warde filled out the team. Congratulations to all, and special thanks to the seniors for saving the open team (this week average age 51). I hope to be able to get out a more detailed report after results are posted. Addendum: Humboldt Loose Ends: Women, Masters, Seniors Win!
With Humboldt results delayed, last week's race report was incomplete. We were confident that the masters and seniors had won, but the women also won--their first win in two years! Congratulations!
I was also unable to report the senior's times last week. Lloyd Stephenson led the way in 1:18:58 (1st), followed by Don Paul (1:20:44, 1st 55-59), Tom Bernhard (1:23:16, 4th/3rd 50-54), Jim Gorman (1:25:14, 2d 55-59), Les Ong (1:27:21, 3rd 55-59), Ian Reid (1:31:03, 4th 60-64), Dan Ramos (1:34:22, 6th 55-59), Allan Stanbridge (1:34:41, 7th 55-59), and Kenny Savior Warde (1:38:32, 8th 55-59). Congratulations all! Dick Collins Firetrails 50 Miler - 10/15/05 Congratulations to Chikara Omine on his 2d place, 7:04:00 finish at Dick Collins Firetrails 50 Miler! Chicago Marathon - 10/09/05 Stephen Donahue ran a gritty (1:13:35 half) 2:39:47 136th place at the Chicago Marathon Sunday, while on the women's side Bean Wrenn continued her strong racing with a (PR?) 3:10:42 128th place finish. Congratulations! Folsom XC Challenge - 10/08/05 Folsom Byline Dan Mancini
The NB Ex Masters men continued their strong racing on Saturday at the Folsom XC Challenge. Though not fielding a full team, the 3 men who did show up all placed in the top-7 on the undulating 4-mile course. Leading the way for the team in another strong performance was Iain Mickle in 3rd (21:55), followed by Hans Gouwens in 6th (22:29) and Dan Mancini in 7th (22:33). Presidio Challenge - 10/01/05 PRESIDIO: TRIPLE WIN!
At our own Presidio Cross Saturday, the open men pulled out their first PA win in almost gulp two years, and first cross win in over four, the masters men continued their winning ways after a one week hiatus, and after almost six months, Dan Nelson returned to the racing scene to pick up any easy win (well it looked easy anyway). Details . . . . Open Men: Open Team Wins First XC Race Since 2001! Byline Chris Phipps
The New Balance Excelsior Open Men’s team won their first Cross Country race since the now defunct Aggie Invite back in 2001--and first PA win of any kind in two years--and it was their first win on their home course since 2000! Chikara Omine led the charge with a great finish to place 7th in 20:21. He was joined in the top 10 by Chris Phipps in 9th (20:35). George Torgun ran a strong race to finish with his highest place of the season, 13th (21:09). Brian Gillis (19th, 21:29) and Dan Rhodes (24th, 21:48) completed the scoring 5, followed by displacers Adam Lucas (39th, 23:36) and Brian Schultz (45th, 24:56). The win puts the team in a 2nd place tie with WVTC for the season. Women
Thank you to the five women who came out to race one of the most vertically-challenged courses on the XC circuit. Thanks also to our crew of volunteers: Kim Fanady, Helen Kao, Jenny Wong, Bean Wrenn, and Christine Wang Morris (great to see you Christine!). In alphabetical order: - JAMIE CHOMAS ran another amazing post-baby run at 27:32 (you and Jocelyn have cut a hard path for our newbie mom's to follow in terms of post-pregnancy return to racing!) - LEE D'ALESSANDRO ran just one week after the Race for Cure 5K, finishing hard in 26:48 - JULIE HUY had a tough and tiring race but gutted it out to the finish despite not feeling tops, 32:22 (great show of perseverence) - KASIA TARANTINO, in only her 2nd XC race EVER, kept her pace smart and steady on the challenging course, 28:50 - JENNY WONG finished 9th with 24:06 despite driving to and from Chico the day before and having to drive to Reno right after the race for work (stellar run Jenny!) Masters Byline Dan Mancini
On Saturday at the Presidio Challenge XC race, the NB-Ex Masters men capitalized on the home field advantage by taking 6 of the top-10 spots. Leading the way as he did last year, Dan Nelson forged a big early lead in his 2005 XC debut, and cruised home in 20:30 for a comfortable win. Cliff Lentz was best of the rest with an impressive 2nd place finish in 21:06, relying on his strong finishing kick to hold off Aggie nemesis Jose Aispuro. Meanwhile, on the strength of exclusively cycling training, Hans "I haven't run a step since the Jamba 5k" Gouwens miraculously finished 5th in 21:32, much to the chagrin of 7th placer Dan Mancini (21:36). Iain "I got lost in the maze of the Presidio during my warmup and nearly missed the start" Mickle finished 8th in 21:54, clearly traumatized by the whole fiasco (he ran 20 secs. faster in practice last week). The fast-improving Andy Apfelbaum rounded out the top-10, posting a superb 22:03 - more than a minute faster than last year. Ian Hersey in 47th (24:52) rounded out the team effort. Heritage Oaks Bank 10K - 09/25/05 PASO: DON PAUL, SENIORS NATIONAL CHAMPS!
Don Paul took the men's 55-59 national title in the Heritage Oaks Bank Masters' National 10K Championship Sunday, and the seniors repeated (third time? fourth time?) as national champs. The seniors also saved the open men and masters men, neither of whom fielded a full team without senior drop-downs. Among other teams, the good news is that everyone else has a hard time fielding teams at Paso too. Details below . . . . Women Byline Kim Fanady
The NBEx women put on a great showing at the Heritage Oaks Bank 10K yesterday. After weeks of entreaties by their team captain, everyone jumped on the bandwagon in the last week, enabling us to field a full team of 6 and hopefully keep that 3rd place in the Grand Prix. On a beautiful, clear, cool morning in pretty Paso Robles, everyone ran well over the fastest, flattest course on the Grand Prix circuit. Leading the charge was Kim Fanady in 40:23, 14th woman overall and 8th PA woman in the National Masters 10K Championships. In the open 50 Buck 10K, Helen Kao was next in a PR 42:06 (who says you need sleep to run well?), followed by Micha Lowe at 43:17. Julie Huy rolled in at 49:15, with Brenda Gee completing the team at 49:54. And they all won money! Nancy Wang also did us proud in the Masters, staging a dramatic duel for the finish over the last hundred yards which had the spectators yelling and cheering. Way to go, team! Open Men @ Paso Byline Dan Rhodes
Everyone wins in the Paso Robles 10K. Not only does the team pick up the cost of race entry + $20 for travel this year there were race officials handing out a $10 or $50 dollar bill to each runner to cross the line. So with nothing to lose but some sleep . 4 Open Excelsior Men went to Paso for an all expenses paid trip. First in for the men was Stephen Donahue finishing 14th in 32:31, looking good for Chicago. Next in was Chikara Omine who after suffering with the Flu all week and then staying up all night to catch up on school work still drove down that morning and finished 17th in 34:46. Followed by Dan Rhodes running 35:10 for 18th. Michael Shwe rounded out the team with a 37:41 good for 27th. Good job to all. Old'uns
Vitas Ezerskis led the way for the masters in 33:59, 15th place in the masters race. Tim O’Rourke finished next in 34:21 (4th 45-49), followed by Andy Apfelbaum (35:45 PR) and, much later, Tyler Abbott (37:38 ouch). Like the open team, the masters will be filled out by a senior—thanks guys!
The seniors were the only one of our teams to come out strong. Don Paul won the 55-59 national championship (by 1.5 minutes!) in 36:30. Lloyd Stephenson led our seniors in 35:51, winning the PA championship and finishing 4th nationally. Tom Bernhard finished strong in 37:01, 7th 50-54 nationally, followed by Les Ong (38:51, 4th 55-59), Al Stanbridge (40:59, 7th 55-59), Dan Ramos (42:00, 8th 55-59), and Kenny Savior Warde (43:26, 11th 55-59). Great job seniors, and thanks for saving the rest of us! Race for the Cure 5K - 09/25/05 Wong Wins Race for the Cure!
Our very own JENNY WONG won first place among all women in 18:48 at the SF Race for the Cure, winning by just one second! Whoo--talk about fight for the finish. She was 14th overall. Great run Jenny!
LEE D'ALESSANDRO, coming off a bad sinusitis, also ran Race for the Cure, placing 5th women (1st age group) in 20:00 flat. Trailblazer 10K - 09/25/05 Wrenn Third at Trailblazer 10K
Chicago training is going well. I ran my last long run yesterday but had to combine it with a 10k race. I was supposed to do a 10k tune-up on Sat and run 17 miles yesterday but I couldn't find a Sat race. So I ran 5.5, raced the 10k and then ran another 5.5 afterwards. The 10k went well - it was the Trailblazer 10k in Mountain View. I think I got 3rd woman and finished in 40:00 flat [Congrats Bean!!]. Now it is taper time! Yahoo! Jamba Juice 5K - 09/18/05 JAMBA: MASTERS, SENIORS WIN AGAIN!
The masters remained undefeated for the Fall season, the seniors won yet another road race, Lloyd Stephenson continued his winning ways, and both the open men and open woman put forth strong A & B teams at Sunday's Jamba Juice 5K. The club had a great showing, with over 40 runners coming out and A and B teams in all four of the divisions in which we compete. Details . . . . Open Men: New Balance Excelsior Open Men Take 2nd at Bananaman 5K Byline Chris Phipps
Unless Spider Man and Batman are running for WVTC or Fleet Feet, our open men finished 2nd at the Jamba Juice Bananaman 5K for our biggest payout of 2005. We always get a great turnout for the SF races and this one was no exception. John Weru led the open team in 11th with a quick 15:18 despite a nagging leg injury. Stephen Donahue’s 15th in 15:46 showed that he’s been training. Mega-mileage Chikara Omine was 23rd 16:01, followed by Chris “alcohol has no effect on me†Phipps in 38th, 16:24 and Dan X-point leader Rhodes in 42nd at 16:28. The team had plenty of depth this week with Brian Gillis (67th, 17:05) and Eric Knackamus (68th, 17:06) finishing together followed by Pete Vicencio (81st, 17:31), Dan bachelor party Shore (82nd, 17:34), Brian Schultz (154th, 18:54) and David Moulton (172nd, 19:15). Women @ Jamba Byline Jamie Chomas
We had a great day out chasing Banana Men with PRs all over the place!! Eleven women raced under sunny blue skies on a flat fast course, and we were able to score two teams. Leading for us was JEN MAJOR with a 17th place finish in a PR 18:23; NB queen JENNY WONG came in next in 23rd place with an 18:30. PATTI BERSHERS hit 19:00 on the nose for a 38th place finish, a little bummed that the officials didn't agree with her 18:58 watch time--you broke 19 as far as we are concerned! KIM FANADY was next in with a 19:29 for a 46th place finish, and a course PR! HELEN KAO came blazing in with a PR as well: a 50th place finish in 19:44. Awesome running!!
MICHA LOWE (20:34, 74th)--running Jamba in the middle of a 20-miler marathon training run-- led a pack of three NB ladies: JAMIE CHOMAS(20:35, 75th) and new teammate MOLLY SEAR (20:50, 77th) came in just behind her. Molly ran a PR also! Molly, we are looking forward to having you score for us when you are eligible next race! With a 22:43 and a 119th place finish, KASIA TARANTINO had a great run. BRENDA GEE came in 23:58 in 146th, and NANCY WANG raced in at 24:32 in 158th place. Unfortunately Lee D'Alessandro and Nancy Vuong have been fighting off colds and could not join us but they were out on the sidelines cheering loudly!
Thanks for getting out and running hard! It was a great day! Old'uns
In a stacked masters field, Iain Mickle led us with a fine 16:11 (4th), with Vitas Ezerskis, always a consistent top finisher, close on his heels in one of his best recent 5Ks (16:13, 5th). Tim Wallen (16:27, 10th), Cliff Lentz (16:39, 12th), and Tim O'Rourke (16:43, 14th) closed out the scoring. In a position he's not used to, Hans Gouwens (16:51, 18th) led the B team, followed by Andy Apfelbaum (17:03, 21st), a big gap, Tyler Abbott (18:14), Peter Hsia (18:37), new member Jeff Dewey (18:41)--welcome Jeff! and Samuel Harvell (18:52). I passed Tim Geraghty walking in the third mile, and he limped in at 18:57--hope you're ok Tim. As mentioned above, we seem to have won handily--but hats off to the open men, who slaughtered us.
The seniors also won, and won both sub-age divisions. Lloyd Stephenson won the overall senior title in 17:10, followed by second senior/first 55-59 Don Paul in 17:36. Tom Bernhard (17:57, 4th) and Jim Gorman (18:03, 5th) completed our 1-2-4-5 near sweep. The B team of Jim Tracy (18:32, 8th), Les Ong (18:35, 10th), Kim Lilot (19:15, 17th), and Dan Ramos (20:21, 26th) also seems to have done well. In his much-anticipated comeback out of retirement, The Rocket finished next in 20:46, followed by Gary MacPherson (20:51) and Tom Mann (27:58). I apologize for anyone I've missed. Franklin Templeton 5k - 09/11/05 Congratulations to new member Molly Sear on a fine race. From Molly . . . Thanks to Helen and Jenny, I now have a uniform! I test drove it on Sunday (9/11) at the Franklin Templeton 5k in San Mateo. While it was not a PR race, I did the uniform proud by coming in 3rd for all women, 2nd in my age group. Yes, truly a small, hometown race! %20Happy.png ":)") And if you want a unique 5k experience, try this one next year. Mile 2 is a lap around Bay Meadows Race Track, a nice, fluffy, 4 inches of sand to sink into! And great prizes to boot - I missed getting an iPod or digital camera by mere seconds! Put it on your list for next year and get your holiday shopping done. Golden Gate Park Cross Country - 09/10/05 MASTERS, SENIORS DOMINATE!
The masters dominated at Saturday's GGP cross country meet. Cliff Lentz, Iain Mickle, and Tim Wallen ran most of the race together (Tim leading most of the way), eventually finishing 2-3-5 (with Hans Gouwens and Dan Mancini finishing the team scoring in 9th and 11th, Mike Slavin just behind Dan--welcome back Mike!). Lloyd Stephenson notched his third cross country win of the year for the seniors, and the senior team put out a rare cross country team and seem to have won handily. Among other groups, the open men had a very strong turnout (16 runners!), and over half the top five was under 30, with one of the 30+ers new recruit Bret Kimple. And the women also had a strong showing, with three in the top 25 in the stacked field and nine runners overall. Unfortunately results weren't posted as of press time, so I only have the women's report . . . the others will follow. Women Byline Jenny Wong
The women made a big showing for the big Golden Gate cross country opener on 9/10. It was a picture perfect sunny day (one of only a handful that we get in SF in the summer) and we all enjoyed hanging out under our big New Balance tent (even if it was lopsided because Jenny broke one of the leg brackets). Jenny Wong finished in 11th in 25:39 (started out too fast, couldn’t recover because she’d been doing too much hard running, yoga and rock climbing earlier on in the week), Jen Major, happy to be running in the warm sun and coming off her fast 7th place finish at last week’s Empire Open, finished 17th in 26:07, Bean Wrenn (who was our last minute ringer) and showing no signs of fatigue from marathon training, finished 24th in 26:13. Patti, who also raced last week with Jen and definitely felt the effects of doing 9 strawberry hill repeats earlier in the week, finished 52nd in 27:51. Next was new Vizsla puppy mom, Nancy Vuong, in her debut race as a New Balance Excelsior team member (we are SO happy that Helen stole her from the Iguanas) finishing 54th in 27:54. Lee D’ Alesandro, who just got back from a world wind trip up Mt. Kilimanjaro, finished in a strong 28:02. Not showing the effects of a crazy work week and marathon training, Helen Kao finished 60th in 28:35. New super-mom, Jamie Chomas finished 72nd in 29:17 and new recruit Kasia Tarantino, who had never run cross country before and got so into race mode that she didn’t even notice any of the mile markers finished 94th in 31:40. Open Men: NB Excelsior depth is the difference Byline Chris Phipps
On the roads, after a team's top 5 are in, there isn't much the rest of the team can do to help the team's placing, but in XC it's a different story. Not only can your 6th and 7th runners displace another team's 5th man, but if you score a B team, then members on that team are also displacing. After a careful analysis of the results, it looks like we finished 3rd (our best finish this season), by the narrowest of | 
