Huge shout out to the following Team ER members for their help at the Tallmadge Memorial 5k race put on by Ritchies Sporting Goods.

Josh Ritchie, who directed it all! Steve Bable, Ken and Karen Frankenbery, Henry Hauenstein, Ron Hudas and family, Jerry Lynch, Craig Miloscia, Wally Schlepper, Chris Schmauder, Cassie Schumacher, and Chip Wilson.

ER members who also ran…

Ken… 3rd age group time of 19:19
Chip…2nd age group time of 18:07
Henry… 13th age group time of 27:09

Tallmadge 5K- 5-28-2012

After volunteering the last 2 years and seeing what a well-run, great event it is- I put it on my schedule for 2012.

Race morning was a warm 70+ and sunny, got there early to pre run the loop and catch up with Henry & the other Team ER members- it was great to see so many team members there! Surprisingly there are more hills that you see from start/ finish line on the course, got a solid warm up, and when the gun went off, felt good. Was in the top 30, and after first mile started picking off a few people who went out too hard. I did have someone drafting me (very close!) and reason it was so noticeably, He was breathing so hard I was worried about Him sucking the Team ER jersey right off my back!! I try to never look back in a race, but after mile 2, I had to turnaround to see who the heavy breather was. He looked familiar, but He had grey hair and a grey beard- and figured He must be in my age group or close!

As we hit the top off the hill at about mile 2.75, He was stuck to me like glue. I knew the finish was all downhill, and had long ago decided I was not going to let this guy draft me all the way , then pass me at finish! I let it fly down the hill, and could slowly hear the deep breathing fade away- mission accomplished.

Mr. Heavy breather ended up pushing me to new PR of 19:19, after race was over found He had beat me in 5k I did in Strongsville earlier this year, so was happy on seeing that, but disappointed that for some reason my time was not computed on results.

I should have had 3rd in my age group, and 26th overall, out of 276 runners. A great result and great event!

Clay’s Park

A good “first of the season” race.  Swim was very calm and flat. The reservoir is only about 5 feet deep so the water had warmed up.  The start was a little confusing.  Looked some of the newbee’s didn’t get the wave concept and all started at once —  just made for more fun in the water.  The bike course was rolling hills and, with the exception of the entry way into the park, was in pretty good condition. Thanks to all the police who were controlling traffic.   The run course was just plain interesting.  The loop around the lake was OK but the road was in pretty bad shape in some spots, really had watch the footing.  All that said it was a fun day and good to see a lot of people out for the event.  (Thanks to Jim for this review)

Angelica Campos, 3rd age group, time of 1:26:16 28th overall female

Jim Dehner, 3rd age group, time 1:20:05 34th overall of males over 40

Mark Gorris, 3rd age group, time 1:00:37 6th overall of males over 40

Henry Hauenstein, 3rd age group, time 1:13:03 12 overall of males over 40

Paul Lenz, 6th age group, time 1:06:29 12 overall of males over 40

Wally Schleper …….. Cleveland Marathon was a scorcher this year. I entered the full marathon and peeled off at the split to complete the half.  2hrs 29min. Not my best but maybe my smartest.

Steve Bable ……. Cleveland marathon  4:01 58th in age group. 886 over all. Very hot.Not a good day.

JEEP DAVIS 5k Chip Wilson
Place 11 th over all and 1st in my age group.
Felt good, my time was 17:53.

Unlike triathlon where there is a finish line, races like Calvin’s 12 Hour
Challenge have no finish line, which is a little weird as no matter how
hard you push, you won’t finish any sooner. My goal for the race was 1) to
defend my age group record by doing better than I had done the year before
(207.5) and 2) to ride 215 miles.

The winds were slightly more favorable this year, but on such a flat course
at this time of year, it’s always going to be an issue. The last couple of
years, the wind had been at least 15mph out of the south, and this year,
they seemed to be about 10-15 out of the north.

The highlight of the first 50 mile loop was definitely catching Cassie’s
wheel. I was somewhat hoping she was going to do her no drafting thing,
which basically meant grabbing her wheel was a free ride. I tried to help
when she asked, but she is just so much stronger, I could only provide
minimal recovery. I probably have drafted off of Cassie for thousands of
miles, so it just seemed natural to go with her when she decided to jump.

The 2nd lap is pretty much a blur and probably the area of the race where
there is room for improvement, I was out there by myself suffering for most
of it. I know I still did this loop in under 3 hours as I finished it
about 5:20 minutes into the race.

The 3rd loop was torture, my stomach was upset, and I spent about 20 miles
unable to bridge the 1/10th of a mile gap to my friend. I literally stayed
that far behind him for 20 miles until a guy passed me, and I managed to
suffer long enough to catch his wheel and pull up to my friend. At this
point, we were about 6.5 hours into the ride, and I had about 4 minutes off
the bike. I rode with that friend for the rest of the loop. We finished
this loop around 8:10 into the race.

I was ready to throw in the towel, but my friend really encouraged me to
take a little more time off the bike and that I would start to feel better.
He allotted himself about 7 minutes off the bike, and when that buzzer went
off, I was ready to go with him. We had already discussed strategy and
opted for the 7 mile loop rather than a 4th 50. We felt that breaking up
the headwind sections would make it easier, and it seemed to be the case.
For the first 4 7 mile loops, we averaged about 18 mph. I basically gave
up eating on the bike at about mile 125 so I stopped one more time to fuel
up for the final 2 hours on the bike.

One of the problems with the 7 mile loop is that it requires some mental
toughness. At that stage of a race, it’s super easy to give yourself an
excuse to stop…I need some advil, I need more water, my behind hurts, I
need to stretch, but if you stop every lap, time is just going to get
wasted. I was pretty impressed that I only stopped once while on the 7
mile loop, after 28 miles, and that was because I just couldn’t eat on the
bike anymore. I figured if I stopped then, I would have 2 hours to go and
can ride without food for 2 hours.

As I went through for my 7th 7 mile loop, my boyfriend heard me and hustled
back on his bike to catch up to me. He had crashed on the first loop and
while he was still riding, he was disappointed with how the day went. He
ended up pulling me for a loop, which was awesome because it was definitely
faster, but I begged him to go on without me as I was already in a state of
suffering and trying to maintain 20mph for another hour and a half seemed
an unreasonable request to my legs.

The wind picked up for the last 2 7 mile loops, but as I finished my 9th
loop, the guy told me I was done as there was only about a minute left.

I ended the day with 215.5 miles, accomplishing both of my goals.

submitted by Cassie Schumacher:

Great race day at Calvin’s Challenge yesterday. It was an amazingly diverse crowd with great weather. Last year I made my own non-drafting category. I gave in to peer pressure and drafted a little this year. I did not want to explain to people for the second year in a row that my numbers were lower because I raced non-draft. Ended up with 232 miles in 12 hours. In true Jerry fashion on Friday when I saw him he told me, “go kill it!” I did my best.

Race Highlights
I did not get to the line-up earlier enough so I ended up in the middle. Turns out I was right behind Charles, a young disabled veteran, an amputee at the right shoulder. There were at least 10 guys from the Paralyzed Veterans racing team. Charles was a bad ass on the bike but because he did not have the ability to go aro he sucked up the wind like a sail. He and I worked together for the first 30 miles and when the 3rd group caught us I asked him if he would not mind if I took off and caught him at the end. He told me to go, I did. By this time we were at the back of a group of about 25-30 people. I laid it down and started a break-a-way. The 2nd group was in my sights. I was starting to slow down after a while and I heard shifting behind me; I was not sure how many people followed. I called back that I could use a little help making it to the next group, Marie came up. She was the only one who was holding my wheel. It was awesome, like old times. We got the 2nd group and never got caught by the 3rd group. After the first 50 mile loop things really got spread out and there was not much drafting. I had a awesome time the entire day and meet some really great people.

The Podium
I can’t say how proud I am of Marie. Not only did she take 1st Place in her age group, she set the AG record. I took 2nd in my age group and 2nd overall female. I told the race director again that they really need to add a non- drafting category. I am going to keep at it until he finally gets tired of me asking.

Henry Hauenstein… 1st in age group time of 2 hours 34 min, 78 overall out of 228 ….18th overall on bike.

331 Racing’s Ohio Power Series Mountain Bike Races, Stage 1 Vulture’s Knob 331 Kick Off Race. May 5, 2012 Wooster, Ohio

Christine Bowser
FINISH TIME: 01:08:42

FINISH PLACE O/A AND A/G: Finished 4th in women’s beginner category.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
I was released to mountain bike and run again the week of this race, after two operations in the last month. Going into the race, I wasn’t expecting “much” out of my body. It was my second mountain bike ride since the release, had treatment the day before and, needless to say, it was at the VULTURE’S KNOB. I just wanted to ride. And thanks to the support from several good friends, and teammate Julie Healy, I did just that.

Lined up with the beginners and pushed my way through one lap around the knob in in 1:08:42. It was a great day to ride – trail wasn’t that muddy, the temps were perfect. It was a great start to hopefully a season of improving on my mountain bike and work my way back into good shape! (Special note: thank you Dahon for coming out and pushing me through the last third of the course!)

Paul Dowd

Vultures Knob…….finish time of 1hour 39 min Sport Class 6th age group

Submitted by Ken Frankenbery

The Rust man Xterra was the very first Xterra, and is one of only 2 Xterra’s to still use the ½ Iron man distances ( 1 mile swim – 30 mile Mountain Bike – 10 mile trail run)

I have wanted to do this race for years, and made the 16 hour drive down to arrive 3 days before the race

The race is held at Lincoln Parish Park, it’s a gorgeous State park with a spring fed lake, a great mountain bike loop, and lots of hiking trails to use for run. Upon arrival, went out for a short run. It was 90 degrees, but the humidity was so bad it felt like you were at elevation. 10 minutes into the run, I was soaked with sweat, and felt like I could not get a full breath – the air was so thick you could cut it!

After a few days of getting used to heat, riding the trails, getting in some open water swims, I focused on resting and getting hydrated. Saturday’s race temp was projected to be 95 and sunny.

Unfortunately, even with a spring fed lake, water temperature was 81 degrees, so would not get to use my new wet suit.

The swim was 2 laps, I tried to pace myself, but that was a challenge in a mass start. Came out of the water in about 38th place overall, 3rd in my class, but passed 4 people in transition, one of them in my age group.

Felt strong on bike loop, we did 3 laps on a 10 mile loop. I took the lead in my class on first lap, and passed over 20 riders before the final lap. I was glad I took my full suspension Gary Fisher – to take the edge of all the rocks and roots before the 10 mile run.

I was just outside the top 10 as I went into transition 2, headed out for 3 laps of a 3.5 mile run loop. Hit the run, and sun was brutal, temp was in mid-90’s. The run loop was a mix of hiking trails, dirt roads, and fresh cut trails with 3 creek crossings. I felt good, really focused on staying hydrated, getting in calories, enduralities and continued to pick off people, finishing 6th overall, and first in my age group by over 45 minutes.

The race is a classic, and hope to make it an annual event!