It has taken me a while to get this updated, but we had some very impressive performances this past weekend at the OBX Marathon and also at the Harrisburg Marathon. Starting with the OBX marathon, Jeff Hartney placed 66th over with a time of 3:22:04. This impressive time would have been quicker if not for bad cramping late in the race. It was still good enough to qualify for Boston. . . Jeff has already booked his trip!
Next from the RMEC came Steve Cooper with a 3:49:30. This is just Steve's second marathon, and he improved his time by more than two hours. Wow! It is amazing what a healthy Steve can do. Not far behind Steve came Scott Wingfield in 4:04:22. Scott had a strong start, but ended up with stomach issues in the second half of the race. This may have slowed him down, but it never stopped him. He still powered to the finish line giving high fives to his cheering family.Levi Moore was the next RMEC finisher. His total time was 4:35:08. Following Levi came Arthur Bennett at 5:11:39. Arthur decide to run OBX even when he knew he was behind in his training. Apparently this worked out okay, as he set a new PR by nine minutes!
Frank (Triple F) Lilley is still on his quest for 12 marathons in 2008. Despite a month lay-off he is back on track, and finished with a 5:51:21. Next stop for Frank is the Richmond Marathon. . . oh yeah, that race is tomorrow! Good luck Frank!
In the half marathon, Travis Hartney was first to finish from the RMEC, with a time of 1:51:18. Needless to say, his dad is very proud of the performance. Nipping at his heals came Eric Pate with a 1:53:03. This is a big PR for Eric he previously had run a 2:08. Tracy Hicks came in at 2:02:40, and just narrowly missed a new PR by seconds. Tampa Cooper ran a 2:28:15, and was there to welcome husband Steve when he crossed the line.
I have heard lots of great reports from everyone who ran. It sounds like the course was nice, the event was well organized, and the RMEC members had a great time hanging out together, having dinner, and being fans of the race! I hope we can at least double the size of this group when we head to the Flying Pig Marathon next May!
Other Rocky Mount Runners at OBX Marathonoers were as follows: Julian McLeod 3:46:22, and Doug Bunting 5:23:05. And in the Half: Angela Barnhill 1:48:45, Robert Thompson 1:53:32, Yvonne McLeod 2:10:59, Jonathan Vick 2:21:28, Joe Magallon 2:51:07. If you know these people please congratulate them, and encourage them to join us for some runs.
Not to be missed in all of the OBX news, is Dave Lavely. Dave joined a friend in the Harrisburg Marathon on Sunday. His finishing time alone is impressive (3:38:34). What makes it even more impressive is Dave ran the City of Oaks Marathon just seven days earlier. Nice work Dave!
Not a bad weekend for the RMEC. I must say the race was great and the weather was incredible, but the best part was actually seeing Steve Cooper finish...he looked so strong and had a look of full determination!!! I screamed for him but he looked only at the prize...the finish line!!! Steve, I do have a picture of you that I will email, its not the best because I was screaming at the same time!!! Sorry I missed everyone else at the finish!!! Arthur, that was me yelling at you while you were on the bridge!!! You looked great too!!! Great job everyone!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations for races well run! Did anyone see my friend Kelly from Raleigh? Ha!
ReplyDeleteKinnie
Tracy, that was you ? I looked back and only saw blurry cars. Thanks for the yell !
ReplyDeleteCongrats to everyone ! I too had a great time at OBX.
p.s. FFF, you are an animal !
yes Kinnie, I saw her, she was the one wearing running shoes!!! hahahaha
ReplyDeleteSorry I didn't hear you hollering for me, Tracy--you were right I was using every ounce of energy I had left focusing on getting across that finish line.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great time we had at the OBX. The dinner we attended Saturday night with about 14-15 others at Mako Mikes was a blast. We had so much fun talking with everyone.
It was an absolutely beautiful day for the races.
Arthur & Frank,
Tampa hollered for both of you too. Arthur, I believe you were on the bridge when we saw you and Frank, you were heading for the bridge when we saw you.
The post race party and band was great--they had some really good coffee there also.
Anyways, we're looking forward to the next one. Great job everybody who ran!
Thanks, Steve/Tampa. That bridge was tough. I'm glad no one saw my little cramp-n-tumble at the finish.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Frank. . .
ReplyDeleteGood Luck Frank!
Glad to hear everyone had a good race. Sounds like this was a good one to run. Congratulations!
ReplyDeletePowered to the Finish???? More liked waddled to the Finish!
ReplyDeleteOBX put on a great race, I would encourage everyone to give it a try. Do the full - by far the best parts of the course are in the 1st half of the race.