I ran the Bowman Cup 5k last weekend. I came in at 23:27. Third overall KSU alumni and second in age group.

Saturday – CAK 5K – 18:36, 10th overall out of 1515. 1st age group, just behind a 10 year old girl from Tallmadge. Really good kid, and a really fast runner. My version of ‘are you faster than a 10 year old?’ – answer – NO!
Sunday – Harvest Moon 5K – Cross Country, on the grounds of Varian Orchards. Very hilly, very tough footing, and really fun. 21:28, 3rd overall. I battled a 15 yr old Jackson CC runner in the final stretch, and as you may guess, ‘are you faster than a 15 year old cross country runner?’ was also answered NO!

Run Now Wine Later

Gervasi Vineyard Canton, Ohio

October 8th

4.5 mile run

Finish time 32:33 (7:14 mile pace)

13th overall out of 601

1st place 45-49 age group

Race Review

The Run Now Wine Later 4.5 mile race held at Gervasi Vineyard in Canton, Ohio was another well organized and fantastic event put on by the fine people at RunCanton.com. The real draw to this sold out event was of course the location. Gervasi Vineyard is about as nice as it gets for any race. The course is 4.5 miles of small rolling hills and flats on the paved and gravel trails of Gervasi and the surrounding parks. The course provides just enough elevation change to challenge but not break your running spirit. The weather was a cool and comfortable high 50’s with a little wind. All runners were greeted at the finish line with a custom wine themed finisher medal. All participants received a long sleeve tech shirt and voucher for $10 of food or wine at Gervasi. Winners received custom wine glasses that were quickly filled with Gervasi’s best vintages. If you are a fan of wine and like a scenic backdrop for your running then I highly recommend this race be on your schedule for next year!

I needed to start adding some intensity into my training to prepare for Worlds coming up in November. Physically I was recovering from Nationals 2 weeks ago, but mentally just could not get motivated enough to head to the track for solo 400’s.

So Headed to Kent State for a local 5 K. Even though its only 30 minutes from my house, have never been on the college campus there. Wow- was it impressive. The sign up was held at the Rec center- a first class facility.

There were 250 + signed up- with many runners from the Kent State team, so I started farther back than normal as everyone lined up in the parking lot for the start. I warmed up on the course- and it had some hills, with a lot of tight corners, and a 90 degree turn in the parking lot for the finish.

The first mile was slight downhill- I was in maybe 30th, but looking over the runners in front of me-did not seeing any O.G.’s (old guys), so just pushed to try to pass a few runners- and not let any O.G.’s pass me.

Had a solid race- pushed hard the whole way- ended up 25th overall, first in my age group- with a 20:39. Was not my best time, but with tight course was happy, and with a hilly bike ride right after- a solid workout

Ken

Carlo: 1st Place Age Group; 21st Overall

Steve Z.: 3rd Place Age Group; 29th Overall

Mighty Moraine Man Adventure Triathlon

September 11th 2016

Portersville, PA

Finished 5th overall and first in my age division

Race Review.

The Mighty Moraine Man Triathlon is a multi sport festival held over two days at Moraine State Park in Potersville, PA. Events include Half Ironman, Olympic Triathlon, Sprint Triathlon, Duathlon and Aquabike. All triathlon distances can be completed as a standard triathlon or for the first year as an adventure triathlon. Longer events were held on Saturday and sprint events on Sunday. In total around 1000 athletes competed in the USAT sanctioned events.

I competed in the sprint adventure triathlon which was a 2 mile kayak, 14 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. The race conditions were slightly breezy, low humidity and temperatures in the low 60’s. The kayak leg was an out and back course on Lake Arthur. The bike course was on the hilly and winding roads inside the Moraine State Park. The bike course was very challenging with several long steep climbs. It was difficult to carry any speed on the downhill sections due to the sharp turns all over the course. The out and back run leg was fast, flat, and scenic as it wrapped around the shore of Lake Arthur on paved trails. Athletes were greeted at the finish line with beautiful custom medals, finisher t-shirts, and finisher towels. The swag bag at registration contained a tech shirt, water bottle, towel, running gloves, and samples from sponsors. Overall this was a very well organized race. I would certainly recommend any triathlete to put this race on their schedule for next season. They also offer a spring version of the race at the same location. Check out www.mightymoraineman.com for next year’s race dates.

Akron Marathon….. Time was 3hr 40 min. Ended up 137th/1134 OA and 17th/99 in age group.
Paul Lenz

Akron Half Marathon

Finish time 1:42:42
243 out of 3,472
190 out of 1,521 males
18 out of 196 males 45-49

Team (Got the Runs) placed in the top 7% in mixed teams and top 10% overall with a total time of 3:41:01. Also on our team was Ray Fryan of Team ER. He ran the second leg at a 6:28 pace! Gretchen

Ogden Utah -Xterra National Championships 9-17-2016

Morning was a cool 50 degrees’- but sun was out and weather map showed gradual warming. With the altitude, cold water- I opted to hang back at start- let stronger swimmers go, and not hyperventilate by starting to fast. With altitude- I was having issues getting a full breath as it was- so wanted to start slow and ease into swim-lake is at 4200 feet elevation.
I felt ok on swim- slow but steady- and avoided the kicking/punching with 350 swimmers going for a small buoy ½ a mile away (1-mile swim)

I got out of water and sprinted past several racers- then had a smoking fast transition. Hit the bike hard, was still in 50’s so with a wet thin tri suit on was shivering for first 2 miles down the road. I started passing people right away. We hit wheeler canyon and started the long climb to top of Snow Basin ski resort- just under 7000 feet

I passed people in groups, and pushed hard on the bike- the altitude felt like a bear squeezing my chest. After the canyon climb there were a few short flat sections, then the final climb to the peak- a never ending series of switchbacks. I continued to pass people, and as I neared the peak I passed another rider in my class-which I knew put me in second place. At this point my lungs were screaming, my legs were starting to cramp from 90 minutes of nonstop climbing and I knew I had 2 choices- back off the effort and take a safe second place- or continue on the pain train and try to catch 1st

I knew I was on the edge- and continuing at this pace might leave me walking on the run course. I kept pushing- and on the downhill got held up some by a few riders- but ended up finishing bike passing well over 100 riders. I made another fast transition- and headed out for the run. You leave the parking lot of snow basin- and go right up one of the ski slopes- its torture! My legs were really screaming now- begging me to slow and walk some -but I kept pushing, looking for the 60 on the back of every runner I passed, which designates 60 plus age group I was in. The final mile is all downhill, it’s a tight boulder covered trail where I took some big chances passing people. I pushed it all the way to the finish- never seeing 1st but never had a person pass me the whole day ( could just be because my swim was so bad!!)

Taking home, a National Championship would have been great but I had no regrets. I always give every race my all- but this race I pushed past my limits- and I had spent the last 18 months doing everything I could to have my best race- and it worked. Leaving with second place felt fine.

Ken