7/29/2023

The Elephant Run 5K

Brittany Kiehl

Finish Time:  N/A

Overall Place:  N/A

Division Place:  N/a

Brittany completed the race as a virtually.

8/12/2023

The Akron Marathon Race Series Goodyear Half Marathon And 10K

Akron, Ohio

Half Marathon

Christine Churpek

Finish Time:  1:50:29

Overall Place:  175th Place / 801

Division Place:  4th Place / 53

Holly Sholtis

Finish Time:  2:04:56

Overall Place:  359th Place / 801

Division Place:  21st Place / 46

10K

Kristi Gunyula

Finish Time:  44:15

Overall Place:  39th Place / 1054

Division Place:  2nd Place Female Masters

Roy Miller

Finish Time:  49:39

Overall Place:  113th Place / 1054

Division Place:  11th Place / 41

Asad Khan

Finish Time:  50:40

Overall Place:  128th Place / 1054

Division Place:  8th Place / 38

Mike Williams

Finish Time:  55:52

Overall Place:  243rd Place / 1054

Division Place:  13th Place / 38

Brad Hain

Finish Time:  1:10:55

Overall Place:  658th Place / 1054

Division Place:  16th Place / 24

8/9/2023

Palmetto Dunes Turtle Trot 5K

Hilton Head, SC

Scott Orlando

Finish Time:  22:29

Overall Place:  11th Place / 160

Division Place:  1st Place / 9

Race Recap By Scott Orlando:

This was my 4th time competing in the Turtle Trot 5K held in the Palmetto Dunes plantation of Hilton Head, SC.  Competing in this race has become a vacation tradition for me.  How often do you get to run on a flat compacted sand beach let alone race on one?  Heat, humidity, and wind are always factors at this race but elevation never is.  The race is offered every Wednesday in Palmetto Dunes during the summer season .  There are usually 300-600 participants each week.  My race had a smaller field of 160 participants which was probably due to the lateness of the summer vacation season.  The race benefits turtle conservation and protection organizations on the island so it is a great cause.

The morning of the race temperatures were in the high 80’s with high humidity that made it feel like the high 90’s.  The course is split in thirds with two turnaround points.  Runners are required to hydrate while crossing the mid point of the race.  Runners not hydrating can be disqualified.

I got off to a fast start finishing the first mile in about 7 minutes.  There were a lot of fast young runners in the field.  Mile 2 the heat and sun started to slow me down.  My pace slowed but so did many other runners ahead of me that I was able to pass.  The last mile I slowed down a little more in the first half but then was able to pick it back up again for a strong finish.  The last 100 meters I was lucky enough to run with a very young golden doodle puppy who broke loose from his owner and decided to chase me.  We ran side by side through the finish line where his owners finally regained control of him.  They apologized several times but I explained to them what a dog lover I am and loved having the puppy run with me.  I even took a picture with the puppy after the race.  I finished the race in 22:29 which was over a minute faster than last year.  I was 11th overall on 1st in my age division.  There are no awards at this race.

The race was well organized by Hilton Head Running Company.  All participants received nice t-shirts and lots of water at the finish.   Lots of families participate in the race as well as many walkers.  The race has a little bit for everyone and is a great vacation activity I highly recommend when visiting Hilton Head during the summer.

8/10/2023

Bill Heideman 2 Mile Cross Country Race

Finish Time 24:36

Overall Place:  96th Place / 100

Race Recap By Nancy Wardell

I completed the Bill Heideman 2 mile race in Barberton, Ohio this evening! It was a very busy event with a 5k, 2 mile, and 1 mile running option to encourage and promote the cross country season, so there were A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE RUNNING!  It was held by the Summit Athletic Running Club, so I even got to see a glimpse of Mickey! I definitely didn’t run fast and finished at 24:36, but it was another successful run in my books.

8/6/2023

CAK5K On The Runway

Canton, Ohio

Kris Engstrom

Finish Time:  18:25

Overall Place:  87th Place / 952

Division Place:  8th Place / 50

Brittany Kiehl

Finish Time:  49:49

Overall Place: 923rd Place / 953

Division Place:  37th Place / 39

Brittany also volunteered to help with packet pickup.

7/29/2023

Burning River 100

Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

50 Mile Race

Laura Fairfax

Finish Time:  14:07:55

Overall Place:  138th Place / 200

Division Place:  10th Place / 10

100 Mile 8 Person Coed Relay

Gu-Tang Clan

Team ER Members:

Christine Churpek

Peter Heroux

Finish Time:  17:46:07

Overall Place:  7th Place / 31

Run Like A Mother

Team ER Member

Asad Khan

Finish Time:  19:13:19

Overall Place:  16th Place / 31

100 Mile 8 Person All Female Relay

Hot Mess Express 1

Team ER Member

Kristi Gunyula

Finish Time:  21:05:39

Overall Place:  2nd Place / 12

Race Recap By Laura Fairfax:

Burning River 50miles 2023 was an adventure! Started off in the pouring rain with tons of lightening and thunder. It made the course extra muddy and challenging. This only made the experience a greater accomplishment! The aid stations were welcoming, fully stocked with everything you could need. The volunteers at each station were encouraging and motivating. It was an incredible experience to connect all the trails I run so often together in one race. We have a beautiful back yard here in Ohio! Overall, I wish that the weather was dryer, but I loved this race and the experience I gained by finishing. Western Reserve Racing did an excellent job!

7/28/2023

Night Nation 5K

Cleveland, Ohio

Nancy Wardell

Finisher (Non timed running event)

Run Recap By Nancy Wardell:

I ran in the Night Nation Run 5k, Stand Up to Cancer event in Cleveland, Ohio last night! This was a very interesting run to say the least!! The music, lights, and energy were really quite spectacular to be honest, and I love how the money goes to a great cause while you’re out there running and partying! The race had us all running two laps through the inside of the Cleveland Browns Stadium where there were DJs positioned in various spots along the way! Tons of fun giveaway’s too, and some beautiful scenery with the sun setting on Lake Erie during the run!

7/22/2023

Blazing Paddles Paddlefest

Cleveland, Ohio.

6.8 Mile Race

Fast Sea Kayak Class

Scott Orlando

Finish Time:  55:28

Overall Place:  6th Place (Overall Solo Kayak)

Division Place:  3rd Place (Fast Sea Kayak Class)

Recreational Paddle Event

Nancy Wardell (Kayak)

Russ Neubert (Paddle Board)

Veronica Neubert (Paddle Board)

Paddlefest Review By Nancy Wardell:

Great morning in Cleveland at the Blazing Paddles Paddlefest 2023 event! I even had my better half with me doing the recreational portion and hit about 6 miles in our kayaks! Thank you Mickey Rzymek and Scott Orlando for the added details and information to get me there today! I was an amazing experience and loved seeing everything in action with the kayaks!

Race Recap By Scott Orlando

This was the 5th year of the Blazing Paddles Festival in Cleveland, Ohio.  What started as a paddle board only event has grown into one of the largest paddling events in Ohio for paddle borders, kayakers, and canoes.  This year was the largest field to date with over 700 paddlers.  It was announced after the event that this year’s race field set a record for the most ever paddlers on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland at the same time and place.

The event start was delayed due to log jams and heavy debris in the river from heavy storms the two previous nights before the race.  For many race organizers this probably would have postponed the event to another day or even cancelled it, but not for Mickey Rzymek!  Mickey had a fleet of barges ready on hand that were deployed to break up the log jams and debris.  When the fleet returned and was unable to break up the larger log jams Mickey went to Plan B.  With one phone call Mickey sent the 639 foot super freighter Mark W. Barker down the river to smash through the logs like they were toothpicks!  When I often speak of Mickey Rzymek working his magic at races this is exactly what I am talking about!  The Mark W. Barker cleared the river and after about a 80 minute delay we were ready to race.

I competed in the 6.8 mile race using my Stellar S18S Multi Sport which put me in the fast sea kayak class.  Both the high performance sea kayak class and the fast sea kayak class were loaded with national and state champions.  I knew that getting on the podium would be no easy task.  The race started and we headed up river about a half mile to the first turnaround buoy.  The faster paddlers quickly all fell in line behind the leaders all trying to get an early draft off of each other.  I quickly found myself in the lead pack.  Four of us all in the same class and all paddling the same boat where in a line just inches apart drafting off of each other.  I was in fourth place and was content to stay there for the moment drafting off of the kayak in the third position.  Heading past the start area is one of the best parts of this race.  There is lots of energy and excitement from the spectators and 586 paddlers ready to start the recreational paddle event.  For the first 1.5 miles of the race or so all four of us battled hard for position staying on each others sterns drafting and looking for opportunities to make a move, but then danger struck.  The safety patrol jet ski made a rapid turn creating wake and taking out the top paddler in the high performance division.  Hansel Lucas, owner of Performance Kayak immediately yielded his first place position to assist the down kayaker.  It wasn’t long before the kayaker was back in his boat and out of harms way.  Both the down kayaker and Hansel rejoined the chase and it wasn’t long before both were back in contention.  I give a tremendous amount of credit and respect to Hansel Lucas for sacrificing his own race to help a teammate in distress,  I would have assisted as well but they were ahead of me and by the time I approached the danger was over and they were back in the race.  As this was unfolding I had been battling hard to get and maintain the third position.  I secured the third position and moved into second.  Soon Hansel was back in the hunt with the fourth place boat drafting behind him.  Hansel was pushing hard to regain lost time and he along with the kayak drafting behind him shotgunned past me putting me back into the fourth position.   I started to have a little mental laps thinking my chances for a podium finish were gone, but I kept paddling hard.  Soon Hansel was back into the second position and had separated enough from the third place kayak that he could no longer draft.  The third place kayaker slowed down and I saw my chance.  I paddled hard and fast catching and passing once again moving into the third position.  From there I paddled as hard and fast as I ever had slowly increasing my lead and gap between the kayaker behind me.  Knowing he is a strong kayaker who usually beats me I knew I couldn’t let up.  Making one of the final turns towards the finish area I took an aggressive line around the corner and suddenly found myself in a massive debris field.  Barely anywhere to even place a paddle in the water without risking breaking it off on a log.  I got nervous thinking that the slow down might open the door for the kayaker behind me to pass.  I got passed the debris and went back to work paddling with all my might through the finish to secure third place in my division and 6th place overall in solo kayaks.  As for Hansel he finished second just 40 seconds behind the winner.  I was only 1:09 behind the winner and 29 seconds behind Hansel.  My finish time was 55:28 which was much faster than last year.  The high performance kayaker that was dumped by the jet ski wake, well don’t feel sorry for him.  He recovered and went on to be the overall winner of the race.

It was fun spending time with all of my Performance Kayak friends, Team ER members Russ and Veronica Neubert and Nancy Wardell who participated in the recreational paddle, as well as all of my other paddling friends from other teams.

All participants received a nice shirt, tote bag, Carb Boom Energy Gel and a few other sponsor items.  Winners received their choice of either a logoed bucket hat or trucker cap and a mounted print of the race.  I can’t say what a great job Jim Ridge, Mickey Rzymek, Share The River, North Coast Multisports, and all of the volunteers did to put on this massive event.  If you like to paddle you need to put this event on your calendar for next year!

7/16/2023

Lake Metro Parks Pirate Triathlon

Fairport Harbor, Ohio

Scott Orlando

Finish Time:  1:20:35

Overall Place 3rd Place / 50

Division Place:  2nd Place / 7

Race Recap By Scott Orlando:

The Lake Metro Parks Pirate Triathlon is a personal favorite race that I look forward to every year.  Fairport Harbor Beach makes for a great scenic location for a race.  The race offers a standard swim triathlon as well as a kayak triathlon.  The bike and run courses are shared between swimmers and kayakers making for a larger field of participants on the course.  The biggest wild card factor of this race is always the conditions of Lake Erie.  Some years there are 3-4 foot swells while other years the water is nice and calm.  I have learned over the years of competing in this race to bring two kayaks to this race and use the one best suited to the lake conditions.  This year Lake Erie was nice and calm which meant faster less table kayaks could be used.  I chose to go with my Stellar S18S Multi Sport Kayak.  The weather conditions were humid with heavy cloud cover and temperatures in the low 70’s.

After staging my bike in the transition area and my kayak on the beach it was time to race.  The horn went off and we hit the water for the kayak leg.  I got into my kayak and started to paddle.  I immediately noticed a problem with my paddle.  I had set the angle of my paddle incorrectly.  I usually set it to a 45-50 degree angle to the right but instead set it to the left.  I had to stop and reset my paddle to the proper angle.  This led to an extremely slow start.  I pushed extra hard and before long I was up to the front of the pack.  At the turnaround buoy I cut inside of a kayak in front of me that made a wider turn and made a clean pass.  I was now in 3rd place just behind the two leading kayaks.  I continued to push hard and made up a little more ground.  I hit the beach about 20 seconds behind the two leaders who were also paddling Stellar S18S surf skis.  A short run off the beach to the transition area and then it was ready for the 20 kilometer bike leg.  The bike leg starts with a short hill out of the beach area and then most of the course is pretty flat as it loops around Fairport Harbor providing scenic views of Lake Erie.  My bike leg was going fairly well.   Light drizzle was falling from the sky but wasn’t much of an issue.   I was passed by a few extremely fast participants in the swim triathlon which didn’t bother me in the least.  The final miles heading back towards the transition area the winds really picked up forcing us all to work much harder.  Mile 10 I was passed by one of the top kayak triathlon competitors.  I expected this to happen.  Traditionally he is slower in the kayak but puts up the fastest bike split in the field.  He wasn’t that far ahead of me finishing the bike leg so I thought I might have a chance to catch him in the run.  Another stop in transition and it was of to finish the race on the run course.  I was 4th overall heading out of transition.  The run course starts with the same nasty short hill out of the beach area.  In the past I have pushed hard up the hill only to spend the next half mile trying to recover from the effort.  This year I took a slower more conservative approach going slow and steady.  This helped me recover much faster and get into my pace much easier.  I was off to a good start on the run.  I moved into 3rd place passing a competitor in the first mile.  I could see the 2nd place competitor ahead of me so kept pushing hard to see if I could catch him.  Unfortunately he had too much of a lead on me and I wasn’t able to catch him.  I ended up finishing 3rd overall with a time of 1:20:35.  I was pleased with the outcome as I improved on last year’s time by 2:20. My bike and run times were both better than last year.   Overall awards were only given to the 1st place winner in the kayak triathlon.  The 2nd place overall winner was in my age division so he was awarded 1st place in the division and I was awarded 2nd place in the division.

The race is always well organized by Lake Metro Parks.  Results were made immediately available online and on a kiosk. Participants received well designed pirate themed tech shirts and finisher medals.  The back of the shirts featured the words “Oh… You Ran A Marathon?  That’s Cute!”  along with icons for a swimmer, biker, and runner.  I think they forgot about us kayak triathletes when designing the shirts because they left the kayak icon off of the back.  I am sure I will have some fun conversations with my marathon running friends when I wear the shirt around them.  You would think the distance runners and triathletes travel in the same circles and some do but most seem to be very segregated from each other with a bit of a fun rivalry.

My only bit of constructive criticism about this race is I think the awards need to be rethought.  I would prefer to see them award the top 3 overall winners of the kayak triathlon plus the top 3 in each age division which are every 10 years.  Typically the overall winners are not included in age group awards but in this case the overall winners also received an additional trophy for winning their age group.  All awards were old school trophies.  For a while the awards presented at the race were logoed pint glasses.  I see the need to mix it up but maybe go with something different than traditional trophies.

If you are looking for a great triathlon to swim or kayak with a fast bike and run course than this race is for you!

7/15/2023

Women’s 6K Festival

Canton, Ohio

Kristi Gunyula

Finish Time:  26:24

Overall Place:  47th Place / 332

Division Place:  2nd Place / 40

Christine Churpek

Finish Time:  28:39

Overall Place:  74th Place / 332

Division Place:  4th Place / 40

Cleopatra Sirnic Clifford

Finish Time:  36:46

Overall Place:  180th Place / 332

Division Place:  14th / 40

Nancy Wardell

Finish Time:  55:39

Overall Place:  281st Place / 332

Division Place:  26th Place / 29