Luck of the Irish at Shamrock

Great results posted by the RMEC this weekend at Virginia Beach. I have to start with Derek Hurdle's performance in the marathon. Derek has trained harder than I ever imagined he could over the last four months getting ready for the race. After a hot day in Chicago lead to a slower time than his goal Derek has been on a mission. Tempo runs before 6:00 am; long runs at a seven minute pace; 70+ mile weeks. . . The question is would all of this hard work pay off.

To qualify for Boston, Derek needed a 3:10. Boston lets you round down, so a 3:10:59 is considered qualifying. Derek called me soon after finishing sounding a bit frantic. He said "my watch says 3:11. Can you see the results!? I stopped it at the third mat. Which mat counts!?!?" When the results were posted, Derek saw the time 3:10:58. He qualified for Boston with one second to spare! GREAT JOB Derek! I hope all of the RMEC knows that this did not come easy, and your hard work is a great example of what you can accomplishment if you set your mind to it.

Derek's primary training partner, John Batchelor ran the first 11 miles with Derek, and crossed the half way point half a minute behind him. His finishing time of 3:20:59 was more than a 10 minute improvement over his Chicago time. Eric Pate made his marathon debut this weekend finishing in 4:20:00. Eric is training for the Flying Pig in May, and Shamrock was a training race for him. Heck of a performance for a training race!

In his first marathon since his Ironman, Cliff Amos also had a strong performance. The second half of the race looks like it took it's toll on Cliff, but he pushed through for an impressive 3:51:44. This time was the second best time Cliff has posted in a marathon. Levi Moore continues to crank out marathons, running his third in the last 12 months. This time he finished in 4:43:24. Great job marathoners!

The half marathon also had some strong performances. Robin Johnson finished is 2:35:55 and Kelly Allen was close behind in 2:46:33. This is just the second half marathon for both ladies, and they are going strong! Jeff Hartney looks like his Boston training is paying off. He ran a 1:29:52, finishing is 156th place out of 6,285 finishers.

A few others from Rocky Mount raced at Shamrock as well. Julian Mcleod ran a 1:33:53 and Yvonne Mcleod ran a 1:58:30 in the half. Marsha Lemley ran a 1:12:15 and Rod Lemley ran a 1:04:40 in the 8k.

A few more updates are coming from this weekend including the Habitat for Humanity 5k, and the "Adventures of Frank and Friends". Stay tuned!