3/16/2019 Michael Homula Louisville St. Patrick’s Day 5K Louisville, OH

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3/16/2019

Louisville St. Patrick’s Day 5K

Louisville, OH

Michael Homula

Finish Time:  21:20

Overall Place:  19th

Division Place:  4th

Race Recap By Michael Homula

There was a good turnout of 298 runners given the colder temps. The course was mostly flat but there were some challenging hill sections that didn’t look like much but were sneaky tough and some 10-15 mph headwinds made the course tougher than it might normally have been.

I did not have as good a day as planned thanks to coming down with a nasty flu 2 weeks ago and missing several important training runs (those tempo/lactate threshold runs are so important for 5k races).

I finished 18th overall and 4th in my age group with a time of 21:20 (20 seconds slower than my last race a month ago).

There is much work to get done in the next several weeks to get that time below 20:30.

As always, I am grateful to run as part of Ohio Team-ER and our outstanding group of sponsors.

3/16/2019 Scott Orlando Hartville St. Patrick’s Day 5K Trail Race Hartville, OH

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3/16/2019

Hartville Trail Runs St. Patrick’s Day 5K Trail Race

Quail Hollow Park Hartville, OH

Scott Orlando

Finish Time:  24:45

Overall Place:  19 / 207

Division Place 4/12

Race Recap By Scott Orlando

This was my third year in a row running the Hartville Trail Runs St. Patrick’s Day 5K Trail Race.  I think I have returned to this race because it is always well organized, the race swag is great, and it supports a good cause.   This year the race organizers listened to suggestions of past participants and adjusted the start of the course to remove the made dash to the trail head which bottle necked most of the field for the first mile.  The new start traveled up the road farther spreading out runners before turning onto the trail head.  A much needed improvement.  Once on the trail conditions went from bad to worse.  The ground quickly changed from soft to ankle deep mud in many sections.  The thick muddy sections made for extremely difficult running conditions.  Several competitors lost shoes stuck in the mud while others fell.  I personally stopped twice to check on other runners that had fallen.  No one was going to finish with a fast time under the tough conditions.  My mind set quickly went from running hard and fast to running safe and trying to avoid injury.  This is the only trail race I typically compete in each year so I have not yet invested in trail running shoes which gave a certain advantage to anyone wearing them.  Luckily I finished without incident and lived to run another day.  For the second year in a row I finished in 4th place in my age division.  I did manage to move up from 26th to 19th overall.

3/2/2019 Ken Frankenbery Road Apple Roubaix Garrettsville, Ohio

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3/2/2019

Road Apple Roubaix 15 mile, 25 mile, and 40 mile bike event

Garrettsville, Ohio

Ken Frankenbery

40 mile bike

Finish Time:  2:35:00

Race recap by Ken Frankenbery

I did this ride last year, and loved the mix.  Paved roads, dirt roads, gravel roads, bike path, and lots of climbing through Amish country which makes for a really unique ride.

This year’s conditions were almost ideal.  35 degree’s and cloudy kept the dirt semi frozen, roads fast, and no snow.

The bike ride starts in downtown Garrettsville with a police escort out of town.

This year had over 300 riders, and I finished in 2:35, 17 minutes faster than last year.

 

2/9/2019 Gretchen Snyder, Mike Williams, Scott Orlando, and Christine Churpek. Frostbite 5K Prediction Race Munroe Falls, Ohio

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2/9/2019

Frostbite 5K Prediction Race

Munroe Falls, OH

Scott Orlando

Predicted Time:  23:55

Actual Time:  23:57

Overall Place:  2nd Place

Christine Churpek

Predicted Time:  25:57

Actual Time:  25:54

Overall Place:  4th Place

Mike Williams

Predicted Time:  25:30

Actual Time:  24:38

Overall Place:  51st

Gretchen Snyder

Predicted Time:  24:15

Actual Time: 25:14

Overall Place:  58th

Race Review By Scott Orlando

Once again the Frostbite 5K Prediction Race lived up to its name!  About 150 dedicated runners braved the cold temps that were in single digits (with wind chill) to test their skills at pacing and predicting their finish times.  Team ER had a great showing with 4 runners competing.  Christine Churpek made her Team ER race debut with style and enthusiasm finishing 4th overall just 3 seconds off of her predicted time.  I finished 2nd overall just 2 seconds off of my predicted time.  For me this is always a fun and unusual race.  Because most runner including myself tend to choose a predicted race time much slower then their normal 5K race pace, the run feels more like a big group tempo run rather then a race.  I personally had to keep telling myself to slow down in order to meet my prediction.  Terry Fox and Summit Athletic Running Club have this event dialed in and Josh at Ritchie’s Sporting Goods had the results in record time.  Everything was very well organized and planned.  A huge thank you to the volunteers that stood in the cold to help.