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05/15/11 -Tilden Tough Ten 10 Mile

Hey gang-

I know, I know, I always manage to come up with a random stray race result!!


Three Strawberries avoided the confusion of the Bay to Breakers and ran the decidedly Un-Bay to Breakers, the Tilden Tough Ten 10-mile race which is limited to 300 entrants, along some paved and very steep and rutted dirt trails in Tilden Park.

The Berries went 1-2 in the 50-59 age group with Barry Smith (1:05.07) and Jeff Teeters (1:06.52). Barry was 8th overall while Jeff was 13th overall.

Masters runner Mike Singleton was also in this race, making the trip up from Modesto and completing the rugged course in 1:09.06. This netted him a strong 4th in the masters (40-49) category and 21st-place overall.

Nice job, lads!

Sean McFarland, Kenny Rakestraw Electrify Fans at Brutus Hamilton

Folks, don't ever tick off Sean McFarland before a race.

 

Being disrespected can motivate a runner like nothing else as this tale reveals. The Strawberry Canyon Track Club had to scramble to shoehorn two entrants into the 5000-meter race Brutus Hamilton Meet held at Cal's Edwards track facility.

 

Backing things up a few days, it was an idle comment made by a Cal coach who took us too lightly which set things in motion. I was querying him about what was required to get athletes into this Cal meet and he nonchalantly responded, "I'll get them in if they want to be hamburger."

 

Bad idea.

 

Sean, who'd been somewhat indifferent about running this meet, perked up. I could tell by his body language he didn't take too kindly to this comment. The coach had insulted both Strawberries and Big Macs everywhere. Sean looked at me and then over at the Cal coach and said quite simply, "I'll run in this meet."

After some juggling and shuffling I managed to get Sean as well as new member Kenny Rakestraw into this meet. Kenny is an accomplished runner in his own right, although he was denied a walk-on spot with the Cal team when he came into Berkeley from high school in Newport Beach, CA. (Also for good measure and relevant to the tale, I also managed to squeeze another coachee, Lenin Huamin from adidas Transports racing team into the 5000).

 

After the layers of bureaucratic dust had settled, race day rolled around on Friday April 22nd. It was cool and quite breezy. A total of 27 runners were entered in Sean and Kenny's heat of the 5000 which had an impressive field including six current Cal runners. I gave them their pre-race instructions and the starter lined everyone up as the flags whipped around noisily. "Tuck in your shirt!" he barked directly at Sean, who likely gets fashion tips from his coach.

 

When the preamble was delivered and the gun sounded, Sean and Kenny patiently stuck to their pre-race pace plans. Although they were close to last at the outset, they still came through the 200 in a shade under 36 seconds, right on pace for a sub-15:00 effort.

 

After the first 600 meters, Sean and Kenny started to thread their way up through the field. By the mile they were squarely in the middle of the pack, and Sean came through at roughly 4:43.8. The runners ahead of him were starting to redline a bit in some cases, but Sean looked like he was out for a cruise. Within two laps Sean was in the top ten and Kenny had moved into the top twelve.

 

Right then, it happened, there was a moment of stillness. The sun had come out from behind the clouds. The skies became visibly brighter and the breeze washed over the track. I took a deep breath and just took in the halcyon moment. It was beautiful. I couldn't have been happier.

I snapped out of it and began hollering at random faces I recognized: "Watch this! Sean is gonna win this thing!" They looked at me as if I'd lost my marbles. After all, wasn't it too early in the race to make a call like that with a runner 10+ seconds and 10 places out of first place?

 

But I'd felt there was a shift in the tide of the race and the crowd started to realize something was building at the two-mile mark. Sean rolled through in 9:26 and Kenny in 9:30. Sean's eyes burned fiercely into the backs of his tiring competitors. I yelled at him, "You're gonna win it, Sean!" ... somehow I could sense he already knew that.

 

Kenny was hanging on gamely too, having the race of his life. Note he is a triathlete first, and here he was, handing it to the collegiate runners. He had a 15:40 outright 5K PR, although he had run a 15:08 5K leg in a triathlon. Still, it is known those are imprecisely measured distances in many cases, not subjected to the scrutiny of a certified course or the precision of the track. Kenny managed to stay in the top half of the field and fought off many challenges during the last mile of the race.

With 800 to go, Sean McFarland surged past Transports runner Lenin Huamin into the lead and only Lenin went with him. They began to gap the field and I saw two Cal coaches with their mouths hanging open. A surge of electricity went through the small but raucous crowd as the excitement began to build like a volcano of energy.

 

There was no stopping the rush of excitement as Sean and Lenin were now in a two-man war of attrition. Both runners flew around the track, and with 400 to go I've never heard 500 people make that much noise, ever. This was a remarkable race ... the Strawberry Canyon TC fans had been screaming for every lap, but the entire crowd was getting into it now.

 

Sean was rolling but Lenin had him in his sights, never quitting, only a half-step behind Sean, and with 200 to go it was ON. Lenin tried his damndest to close on Sean, but Sean was not going to be outkicked by anybody on that day. Sean opened up his long stride and surged to the finish as the clock ticked off the seconds: 14:36, 14:37, 14:38, 14:39 when he snapped the tape.

 

There was absolute pandemonium as Sean's new club record of 14:39.30 (a 25-second PR) flashed on the finisher's scoreboard screen, ahead of Lenin's 14:40.03 mark. Kenny rolled in next in tenth overall with a very strong 15:00.73 mark, missing that 15:00 barrier by the slimmest of margins but beating three of Cal's runners.

 

Looking back, that was a race for the ages in the annals of the Strawberry Canyon Track Club. Everyone who was present felt very fortunate to have witnessed such a remarkable effort by Sean and the competitors who pushed him to this first of many breakthrough performances.

 

And the moral of the story is, ya don't ever wanna tick Sean off before a race.

05/01/11 - Big Sur-Prize at 5K

Just when you are sure it's safe to throw in the proverbial towel, the fist of life gives you a high five! 

 

After the Master Berries put together a spiffy team of over 40s at the Zippy 5K, only to be out-zipped by the Ags, we come into the following weekend hoping simply to put some points, any points, on the board.   We essentially took our Zippy team, removed our 1, 2, 4 and 6th best runners, and hoped for the best.   The primary goal was to find five royal blue singlets in the chute by the end of the race.   The "just show up" strategy of scoring.  Outkick a sloth or something.

 

Meanwhile, the open team brought 3 of the 4 from Zippys.   No expectations of a team, just enjoy the scenery and wave to the finish camera before entering the chute.  Unlike Zippys, the wind was of the tail variety on the outbound trek, and in your face coming back.   The fact that the road-impaired marathon was to start at the same location, made the start logistics a bit more cumbersome (not to be confused with a bit more cumber buns).  Many 5Kers found themselves up to 2 miles from the start, rather than the usual spitting distance to the chalk line.  

 

Nuff whining.  Okay, maybe a bit more.  Big Sur is typically about 30 ticks slower than the zippy Zippy, especially if one is not accustomed to steep plummets down drainage ditches, and awe-inspiring yet ankle-twisting sea-side dirt roads.  The one-eighty just before the 2 mile mark is bad enough, let alone you then had to negotiate the steep hill back into the wind heading home.   I will leave the part about the snow out at this point;  (i.e. dis no track meet baby)

 

With that said, it comes as no surprise that a few of the Strawberries finished the race looking as though they ate cranberries.  No be happy.  Times measured with a calendar, if you asked them.  But not all was a loss.  A select few berries (like those $2 single strawberries you buy around Valentines Day!) had a nice effort despite all the rubbish mentioned before.   Tom Haxton again smacked down the coast's best punishment to record a 15:42.  Not only good enough for 6th place, but more notably one place better than his Zippy finish and EXACTLY 30 seconds slower.  Wud I tell ya?  Huh?   On the nearly-Senior side of things, Tim "I think I Keen" Keenan threw down a near-3rd-place finish in the masters div!   He was actually 4th, but nearly 3rd sound so much more.....medally.  Tim threw down a gnarly 17:19, which was a mere 24 seconds off his Zip time.  Dude's got sand legs!

 

Running is a team sport.  The fall back chant of those individuals who had, how you say..."poopy"...races.  You know who you are!  Team players!  Oy oy oy!   David Yu said he stunk the place up, despite the high wind, running only 16:24.  It wasn't all that bad, at just 11 seconds over that 30 second "pride" limit.   Keith Gilmore actually had the second best over-under time of the group, when compared to Zippys.  His 18:04 was only 26 off his 17:38.  Sweet!  Oh, and don't be around this guy with 200m to go.  Won't be pretty for you.

 

The masters team, after Tim, included Jeff Teeters, whose 18:45 was the biggest pant load of the team.   A full minute plus off his stellar 17:36 effort the week before.  Bad Jeff, no biscuit for you!  Following Jeff were the amazing Tres Miguels, who, as I will get to later, saved the frickin day....Plus One!   Mike #1  - Singleton dove for the line to beat 19 minutes.  His 18:58 being 50 clicks off last week.   Mike Maguire, who shows up more for the food and wine, ran on two bad knees and a so-so bottle of Cab the night before, ran a 19:41, while the third Michael - Mr. Plummer - posted a time resulting in a 7:11 pace.   When queried about his race, Plummer retorted "Where the F was everybody!?"  (I added the "F" part for drama).

 

Deeeeespite all this terrible news.  The masters were able to rise to the occasion and grab victory from the gums of defeat.  They won! Won as in One!  Numero uno.  Ten points.  Gold medal,  Mucho dinero.  Shorter ride home.  You get the point.   The "just show up baby" tradition of victory by being less worse than the other teams.   High ...three baby!  The well earned victory moves the mature berries into first place in the GP.  Awesome.  Who needs the stinkin $2 fancy Valentines berries?

 

To make things even less worse, the open amigos also scored a full team.  With the three guys mentioned way up there in paragraph five (yes, it seems so long ago!) Bill Brusher, at almost 60, coming off chemo and running with a bad Achilles, along with Ross Franco - 72 and going strong - provided the open boys with a 5th place title, along with the accompanying prize money (TBD).

 

For our next act, we are going to win the Open Women's division at the Marin 10K with two women, a couple of androgynous guys and a squirrel.  Go Berries!

4/26/11 - Berries Hop to It at Zippy 5K

The PA Short Grand Prix kicked off 2011 with the annual running of the pinheads.   The scheduling of this year's event laid a big egg with those who have strong Easter traditions.  While not quite the church verses state quandary, the church verses race issue may have contributed to a few no shows. 

The Berries were well represented in the old hare division, but were a little short in the bunny category - scoring a strong masters team but needing to hunt for a few scoring members in the open category.   The Strawberry bunnies (what, no chocolate?) include Tom "Jack Rabbit" Haxton who flattened this Easter trail in a solid 15:12 to take 7th overall and only 19 seconds off the winning time.   David "Fluffy Bunny" Yu was 23rd overall in 15:43,  Jack "Dye My PR" Wallace with a PR 16:25 and  Keith "Floppy Ears" Gilmore completing the trio in 17:38.

For the old hares, it was a close 1-2-3 for the Berries top three;  all sneaking in under 17 and placing 5-6-7 in the masters division.   Jeff "Hop to It" Mann hit the line 16:50, with Darrin "L-Eggs" Banks (16:54) and Tim "Peeps" Keenan (16:55) close behind.   The fourth man for the club was Bill "Jellybeans" Reed in 17:23, with seniors Barry "Cotton Tail" Smith and Jeff "Jelly Has-Bean" Teeters right on Bill's tail in 17:31 and 17:36.

Other masters finishing, and scoring for the Open bunnies, included Chris "Cuddly Ducky" Dodge (17:55) and Mike "Bun buns" Singleton (18:08).  If your eyes are not rolling yet, keep reading...

Those not fortunate, or fast enough, to score on the bunnies or old hare teams included Dan "Green Plastic Grass" Sivollela in 18:15;   Alan "Easter Basket Case" Dehlinger (18:38) and Thom "Bad Ham-String" Trimble in 19:23 (hand timed).

No animals or personal records were threatened in this event, which saw the masters men take home a Silver egg, with the open bunnies settling for something around 7th place.  In keeping with the no holiday is too good for racing, the Marin Memorial Day 10K will indeed by held on Memorial Day.  However, rumors that WVTC will one-up Excelsior and Tamalpa by placing the Christmas Relays on Christmas day, are not yet corroborated.

Photos