An Excellent Start

It was a great weekend of racing for the MCRRC Competitive Racing Teams. At our debut race, the Germantown 5 Miler, we produced many terrific results. Our Open Team was led by Miles Aitken, a DC native and winner of the 2013 Bulldog 5K and George Washington Marathon. He finished fourth overall with a big surge in the final mile. Kevin Yates led the Masters Team with a time of 28:53, while Jordan Snyder finished close behind with a time of 29:09—an impressive performance after being sidelined for months due injuries. David Storper, who has just moved into the Master category,  finished with a time of 29:39. Paul Jacobson had a terrific race, finishing in 30:07. Tom Offenbacher overcame a very sore left knee and finished strong with a time of 30:21. Our co-coordinator Yukun Fung, who was recovering from a recent marathon, ran a new personal best with a time of 30:57 – a solid 24-second PR.  

The women also posted some amazing performances. Just six days after her 38th place finished in Delaware Marathon, Cindy Conant captured the second place overall in the Germantown 5 Miler, even though her feet were feeling “funky.” New to the Club, Anna Savage finished third and PRed after only sleeping two hours due to a visiting loved one from the Golden State. Before the race, she was tempted to skip, but couldn’t resist the magic of MCRRC Competitive Racing Team, and we are sure glad she didn’t skip. Lisa Reichmann finished with a time of 33:53 for first in her age group, Kellie Redmond finished with a time of 33:57 for first in age group, and Susan Joy ran well with a time of 35:59 and topped her age group as she recovers from a recent injury. Good jobs ladies! 

All the way across the county in Mercy Health 5K, Mark Neff ran side by side with Scott Koonce, a master from Georgetown Running Club, for most the way. With quarter mile to the finished, Scott surged ahead of Mark, and won by 2 seconds. 

On Sunday, the MCRRC Competitive Racing Team members Nicole Deziel and Alex Booth performed well at the Poplar Spring Run for Animals 5K in Wheaton, MD. Nicole captured the women’s title, while Alex came in fourth place, first in his age group.  

Competitive Racing Team members Courtney and Frank Perna traveled north to very hilly Chester County PA and raced in Kennett Run 10/5K Race. Courtney placed fourth overall in the open 10K and won her age group, while Frank won his age group with a time 18:03 and was the overall winner of the Power Run.

Possibly the most impressive of all must goes to Army Captain Miguel Perez, who finished Massannutten Mountain Trails 100 Miles run in 28 hours 46 minutes and 7 seconds. 

Miguel Perez

Here is what he said about his experience: “The course is actually 103.7 miles with over 32,000 ft. of total elevation change in the rocky (very rocky) single-track trails on Virginia's George Washington National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I saw the sunrise twice while running non-stop for over 28 hours in the solo division (no crew, no pacers). With this finish, all 3 of Virginia's 100-mile races are finally 'in my belt' (the finisher's award is a belt buckle), the other 2 being Grindstone and Old Dominion, which I finished last year.”

Job well done everyone!