March 21st Race Results

What a great day for the RMEC! With so many marathon options nearby (five by my count) the third weekend in March has become one of the biggest of the year for North Carolina. The RMEC ended up running the Tobacco Road Marathon, the Wrightsville Beach Marathon, and the Tobacco Road Half Marathon. This was one of the most successful race weekends ever for our club! Check out the results below!

To begin with, 52 year old Ashley Bass smoked his marathon debut at Tobacco Road (pun intended)! Ashley finished with a time of 2:59:34, easily qualifying for Boston, and finishing 16th place overall! This is one of the highest finishes ever for the RMEC. Michael was next across the line with a 3:21:03. With limited training this was a surprising PR by one minute. Brian Lankford was right behind with a 3:23:57. Despite a foot injury, Brian also pulled out a Boston qualifier in his marathon debut! Not to be out done, Dave Lavely finished in 3:26:52. His negative-splits performance earned him the third Boston spot from the RMEC. All four finished in the top 10 of their age groups as well.

Gerry Felton was next from the RMEC to cross the finish line. With a goal of breaking four hours, Gerry was feeling good from his training. When he turned the final corner he knew he had crushed his goal. His finishing time was 3:55:56. Next came Tracy Proctor also trying to break four hours for the first time. With some pacing help from Laura in the last mile, Tracy came in with a 3:59:34!

Laura Haynes also had a heck of a day racing the half marathon posting a strong 2:11:30. Glad she left something in the tank to bring Tracy home! John Clark (aka Teddy Cheetah), ran the Half as well in preparation for the upcoming Eugene Marathon. His finishing time of 1:41:33 placed him 103rd among the nearly 800 men running.

Kevin Boudreau and Scott Wingfield both signed up for the marathon on a whim just days before. Their main motivation was to help pace Gerry to a sub-4:00. The three of them ran most of the race together. Scott managed a 4:05:11 just two weeks after Umstead, and Kevin ran a 4:05:31 (only a minute off his PR), despite only having a 16-mile long run! Great work men! So nice to see the teamwork.

Frank Lilley likes to sell himself short when talking about speed, but don't be fooled. He is faster than he pretends. Sunday helped to prove this when he ran a 5:24:32. This is one of Frank's fastest marathon times in over two years. Not only that, Frank finished in the top 10 in his age group. Way to go Frank! You can check out Frank's race report on his blog. He also has more pictures there as well.

While the Tobacco Road group was enjoying the fruits of our labor, and celebrating the first ever sub-3:00 marathon from the RMEC. . . another race was wrapping up at the beach. Turns out Jeff Hartney and Levi Moore were both racing the Wrightsville Beach Marathon. Levi had another strong performance finishing with a solid 4:20:23. The big shock came when we found out the RMEC now has two sub-3:00 hour marathoners. Not only did Ashley break the 3:00 mark, but Jeff Hartney ran a 2:58:17 and took 8th place overall!

What a great day for everyone. This was not just about BQs, PRs, and times. This was about training partners, friendships, and supporting local racing. We all had a good time. I would highly recommend the RMEC consider the Tobacco Road race next year as a group event. The two out-and-back sections make it an ideal event to enjoy, plus the course is flat and also offers a half option. Great job everyone! Any Race Reports?

Marathon Results - Half Marathon Results