Ives 3000

This holiday cheer comes from the rosewood desk of emeritus club president, John O’Donnell:

Friends,

Our man Gerry informed me yesterday he passed the 3,000 mile mark in his running log for 2013, a year in which he observed his 74th birthday. I got out my calculator and learned that’s over eight miles per day, and he routinely takes Saturdays off before the Sunday long run.

Gerry Ives, a.k.a. "Ives 3000" is the last real man.

Gerry Ives, a.k.a. “Ives 3000” is the last real man.

I can’t run a lick anymore, and my friend Bennett, 65, tells me it’s because I am old. When I start to rattle off the names of guys in my cohort who run far better than me, his one word explanation is outlier. So everyone my age who runs poorly does so because of age, not because they don’t train hard enough, and everyone who is my age who runs well is an outlier.

This much I know:

Gerry Ives is the last real man.

While the youngbloods were returning along the C&O canal during last Sunday’s distance run, a fellow harrier cried out “It’s okay, I’ve got you by thirty years!” Gerry was still several miles ahead of both the pack and the prey at this point.

2013 Grand Prix Finale: Jingle All the Way 8k

Drew Killian must have been apologizing to Rachel Clattenburg for not wearing his club singlet; perhaps he wants to upgrade from red-on-white to pink-on-turquoise? Regardless, singlet designer and Grand Prix contender, Rachel, proudly wears her own work to the Jingle All the Way 8K. Photo by Swim Bike Run Photography/Brian W. Knight

Drew Killian must have been apologizing to Rachel Clattenburg for not wearing his club singlet; perhaps he wants to upgrade from red-on-white to pink-on-turquoise? Regardless, singlet designer and Grand Prix contender, Rachel, proudly wears her own work to the Jingle All the Way 8K. Photo by Swim Bike Run Photography/Brian W. Knight

Breaking news from the wintry mix of downtown D.C, with more stories to come shortly.

Jingle All The Way 8K
December 08, 2013 - Washington, DC
Results, Team Results

PLACE  NAME                A/S	TIME  PACE
  11   Charlie Ban         31M  26:21 5:18    
  24   Ben Stutts          25M	28:16 5:41    
  48   Andrew Killian      34M	29:38 5:58       
  53   John Hallett        28M	29:56 6:01    
  59   Megan Haberle       34F	30:20 6:06   9th woman
  92   Rachel Clattenburg  29F	31:46 6:23  17th woman
 229   Laura Jennings      32F	35:17 7:05     
 532   Jerold Paulson      54M	39:22 7:53    
1048   James Scarborough   55M	43:22 8:38    
1740   Shinobu Kusakabe    42F  48:53 9:21    
4401 Finishers

3rd of 93 CO-ED Club Teams

The Philadelphia Five

Nick Williams finds that redemption lives close to home, in his second attempt this fall with a new personal best. Meanwhile Shinobu Kusakabe positioned herself excellently for a potential breakthrough, cruising through halfway in 1:37:04 and finishing 6th in her division. Well done to all!

GORE-TEX® Philadelphia Marathon
November 17, 2013 - Philadelphia, PA
Results

Marathon
Bib	Name 			S/Age	Net	Pace	Plc	Sex	Div
1395	Nicholas Williams	M31	3:00:12	6:52	316	287	61
2676	Shinobu Kusakabe	F42	3:22:30	7:43	1059	159	6
1024	Daisuke Ogata		M38	3:27:42	7:55	1372	1126	189
3288	Scott Sanger		M48	4:04:23	9:19	4539	3012	345
10,889 Finishers

Half Marathon
Bib	Name 			Sex/Age Net	Pace 	Plc 	SexPlc 	Div
20733	Brian Savitch		M34	1:24:53	6:28	128	109	24
12,466 Finishers

Shinobu writes: Continue reading

Oldies, Goodies, Elites and Community Rock 12K in Alexandria

USA! USA! Photo courtesy of Julia Taylor

USA! USA! Photo courtesy of Julia Taylor

So, let’s get the business part of this report out of the way.

The first of the .US Road Racing Championships, sponsored by USATF in collaboration with a new sponsor, Neustar, gets a spotty report card. Can I say that and still keep my good standing in USATF? Hope so.

The race course gets a solid A. The plentiful and emotionally invested police officers of the City of Alexandria get a good A. The staff of USATF and the boatloads of volunteers, happy to help and cheerful, ALL get As. And, the weather was an A+++ for a distance event.

But, some of the administrative details deserve, well, attention to detail. The online registration was cumbersome and hard to follow. And, you know, if I say that, you can dismiss it. If Julia Taylor says that, they need to pay attention.

As your determined PR person, I was crushed, crushed I tell you, to see that my WRC affiliation did not show up on the website along with other clubs. I called. I emailed. I was told again to verify my age and promised the change would be made, but no luck. And, then, at packet pickup things really fell apart Continue reading

Sic Itur Ad Astra (Thus do we reach the stars)

Paul Karlsen, bearing his club colors and displaying impeccable trail etiquette. At the Riffle Ford Rd. Aid Station along the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail, at mile 12.8 of the 2013 Stone Mill 50 Mile Run.

Paul Karlsen, bearing his club colors and displaying impeccable trail etiquette. At the Riffle Ford Rd. Aid Station along the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail, at mile 12.8 of the 2013 Stone Mill 50 Mile Run.

Paul Karlsen has achieved escape velocity from Planet Marathon’s gravitational pull, and is now in ultrarunner space. Many thanks go to race director, Doug Sullivan, and the MCRRC, who so capably hosted this logistically challenging event, thus culturing an engrossing experience for both athletes and their enablers alike.

Meanwhile, an undeterred Lauren Gabler stealthily struck a redemptive performance that somehow eluded her at this year’s Marine Corps Marathon. Word has it that her passport application for 2014 Boston is now being expedited.

Stone Mill Fifty Miler Race
Montgomery County, Maryland    11/16/2013   6:00 A.M.
Official Results

Place Sex/Tot  Num   Name                S Ag Gun Time Pace  
===== ======== ===== =================== = == ======== ===== 
   15  13/178    159 PAUL KARLSEN        M 35 08:07:00  9:45 
251 Finishers

2013 Anthem Richmond Marathon
November 16, 2013 - Richmond, VA
Results

PLACE	NAME		BIB	HALF	NETTIME	G/PLACE	D/PLACE	DIVISION
147	John Kendra	1096	1:30:37	3:07:22	130	 4	M50-54
577	Lauren Gabler	1125	1:44:22	3:34:03	119	32	W25-29
4798 Finishers

Friends of WRC, Harsha Thirumurthy (2:40:42) and Shawn Rumery (2:41:33), also ran quite respectably down in Richmond.

Good job to all! but what will Sunday’s Second Act bring? Stay tuned for late breaking results from Philadelphia and the 2013 USA Masters 12 km Championships!