A Half, Two 10s, and a Tri

If you missed our group run, you missed a great one. We had over 30 runners on the roads Saturday morning going anywhere from 4-23 miles. This Saturday is the last long run before we begin our taper, so pleases try to be there. This will be a great chance for everyone to meet each other who is traveling to MCM.

Despite the big crowd at the Teeter, there were four RMEC members who snuck of for some North Carolina races. Ron Flemming, ran the Hiddenhite Half Marathon, and set a new PR on a hilly course. His time of 1:43:40 earned him first in his age group. Lucky for Ron there were no caterpillars or yellow jackets in this race.

On Sunday morning, Ashley Bass and Brian Lankford entered the next race in the Second Empire Series. The Anna's Angels 10-Miler is the longest in the series. Just a few weeks ago, both of them were racing in the Magnificent Mile, so jumping up to a 10-miler makes for some interesting training. Ashley continues his assault on the North Carolina masters, by running a 1:02:14 (6:14 pace) over the hilly course. Only seven runners later Brian crossed the finish in 1:05:14 (6:32 pace). 51 year old Ashley took 13th overall, and 2nd in the Masters Division (getting beat by a 41 year old). Brian took 20th overall, and 2nd in his age group. This is a competitive race with 379 finishers.

Also on Sunday, Dave Lavely returned to the Duke Liver Half Ironman Triathlon. This is one of the more challenging Half Ironmans you can find on the east cost. The 70 mile bike ride is a hilly course, and the half marathon run is a wooded cross country course. Last year on a very hot day (remember Ford's Colony weekend in 2008?), Dave completed the course in 6:20. This year, he crushed that time when he finished in 5:51. Dave cut time in every element of the tri, but largest improvement was the half marathon run where he shaved 16 minutes off of last year's performance.

Great job everyone!