Weekend Races...

Besides watching more of the Tour, there will be some competitive races in the Baltimore/Metro areas this weekend. A bunch of Bmore runners will be making the trek out to Rockville for this Saturday's Rockville Twilight 8K. If I were healthier, I would definitely partake in this race. It starts in the evening- 8:45PM, hence the "twilight" in the name. Good Luck Falls Road Team!

Artscape is this weekend too downtown...no athletic events to report on taking place in tandem with the festival. It would be neat though if they hosted a 5K or something; and everyone would be encouraged to wear artistic outfits and ridiculous makeup, etc. The perfect intersection of art and sport. With Bmore being so cycling inclined, there could be a bike-friendly component too with decorative bikes? Hmm...feedback?

Beastly Begley Kills 10,000m @ USATF Nat'ls

Stud of the meet thus far, Amy Yoder Begly stomped the stadium record at Hayward Field in the 10,000m final set last year by Olympic Trials champion and fellow Olympian, Shalane Flanagan. Her time of 31:22.69 was a substantial PR and edged out Flanagan by a little over a second (31:23.43). Begley's time moves her to #9 on the Top US Womens 10,000m History list. Hopefully this will be covered tonight on ESPN! Watch it, I have a feeling the Flanagan/Begley battle was pretty intense.

More official results from yesterday's prelims and finals found here.

USA Track & Field Nationals!

June 25-28, 2009
University of Oregon-Hayward Field
Eugene, Oregon

TV Schedule:
ESPN, June 26, 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. ET
ESPN, June 27, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. ET
NBC, June 28, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET

Stud Profile:

Geena Gall has already qualified for the next round of competition in the 800m after finishing third in the prelims yesterday at Hayward Field (2:04.92). Her lifetime PR (2:00.80) at this years NCAA championships not only granted her another NCAA title in this event, it also happens to be the nations leading time. Semifinals will be conducted tonight at 5:45. This should be shown in tonight's coverage on ESPN. Go Blue!

More information and athlete preview can be found on the USATF site.

Soggy 10 Miler Results

Great Job to all competitors, including you Mr. Police Commissioner- remember to drink more fluids next time!
First Female finisher (above) pictured crosses the line sub 1:10...not sure of her time.

2nd place Female finisher, Jackie Truncellito, the Back On My Feet Program Director-Baltimore chapter crosses the line. Also finishes sub 1:10.

To us spectators, the race seemed to be a success. Corrigan Sports did a nice job of hosting the event, even with the uninvited moisture. Everyone that finished seemed relatively happy...except that everyone's GPS devices noted the race distance as 10.25 miles. Hmm...I later came to find out that the course had definitely been marked incorrectly with the turn around point being much too far. Oh well. It happens but that can be pretty frustrating when you are picking up the pace thinking you are kicking it into the finish when in actuality you have an extra quarter mile you didn't know about.

The hospitality/post-race area was nicely set up. Everyone seemed to love their premium zip-up windbreaker hoodie thing. Supposedly, Runner's World ranked the 10 miler's premium as one of the best? Seemed to fit a tad large.

The BOMF participants that ran did great. Being so new to running, you would think some of the runners would have gone out too fast or would not have appropriately paced themselves. Quite the contrary, both Kevin and Arnold were conservative during the first 5 miles and stayed consistent until the finish. I feel a marathon coming on...

6/20: Baltimore 10 Miler

One of Baltimore's newest and largest races; the University of Maryland- Heart Center Baltimore 10 Miler will be taking place this Saturday in Druid Hill Park. Approximately 3,000 participants will run the rolling 10 mile course this weekend in Charm City. Last years top female finisher clocked a 67:42, just for frame of reference. Boy, I wish I was running this and I wish I was in SHAPE to run this- foiled by injury!

I plan on still being there to cheer on a couple friends and fellow Back on My Feet members. The residential members have progressed from running 1 mile with significant effort to training for a 10 miler! These runners have really stepped up their game. It's amazing to witness such significant development from runners who would never have classified themselves as runners 3 months ago.

I expect in the coming years that this race will continue to grow, especially when factoring in the stellar "Feel the Power" premium hoodie. Digging the logo which is an embroidered embellishment on the chest of the hoodie...very Maryland-esque.

Enjoy the races!

pics courtesy of Baltimore 10 miler

6/21: ITU Championship Series in DC

The Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series will be making a stop in our Nationals Capital this Fathers Day, June 21st. I know close to nothing about competitive triathlons but am always interested in seeing elite level competition. Looks as though the 2008 Olympic champion, Aussie Emma Snowsil will be there as well as Olympic bronze medalist, Emma Moffatt.

Americans to look out for include 2008 Olympic 4th place finisher, Laura Bennett and World Silver medalist Sarah Haskins to name a few.

More detailed competitor information can be found on the ITU official site.

The schedule is as follows:

9:00AM Elite Mens Group Swim waves begin
11:00AM Elite Mens Group finishes
11:45AM Elite Womens Group Swim waves begin
2:00PM Elite Womens Group finishes

Course map can be found here.

I think I might stop by to watch since I plan on being in DC anyway for Father's Day. It'll be good to familiarize myself with race flow as I will be attending the Philly Triathlon next Sunday, June 28th to watch a close friend compete in.

pic courtesy of triathlon.org