Want to know what’s happening with the Hopefuls? Check this page for news and updates.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A couple of our hopefuls raced in the Austin Marathon events late last month. Placing fourth in the full marathon (and first master) was Kerry Camberg, whose adventures included running with Joan Samuelson and Lance Amstrong for a ways as well as dodging a dead possum (“Only in Texas could that happen.”). And a newly betrothed Susan Loken took on the half, snagging fifth place and second master (behind Joanie). Both battled high heat and humidity, which put the kibosh on their race goals. Nevertheless, Kerry emerged with a PR and Susan came away with a comprehensive to do list for her next race.
In other news, Tamara Karrh and Lori Kingsley are focused on making final preparations for Boston next month. Julie Wankowski, back from a nagging injury, has declared herself “finally healthy on all counts” and has set aside a significant block of time for full-time training in warmer climes.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
We have two reports from the California International Marathon. The first is from Julie Wankowski, who struggled through much of the latter part of the race with the return of a hamstring problem. Still, she managed a 3:08:05, which is impressive given her hobbled state. Our other report is from Jen Hitchings, who had her own problems to contend with last weekend, yet managed to emerge with a 2:50:25 — a 1 minute PR.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Here’s a very belated update from Tammy Lifka about several things, including her struggles with injury and a freakish blood clot. I received this in late October, so it’s a bit out of date. But it’s full of interesting and useful information nevertheless.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Here’s a great article from the Sacramento Bee about the collection of fast masters women in that town, with special appearances by Jaymee Marty and Jen Hitchings, among other names you might recognize from previous Trials races. Good luck to Jen and to Julie Wankowski, both of whom will be making the 26.2 mile trip on foot from Folsom to Sacramento on Sunday!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
On Wednesday October 20 at 7PM EST a few of our hopefuls will be taking part in a live podcast The Runners Round Table. Here’s more information about the show. To listen in and submit your questions during the show, head on over to TalkShoe.com to register ahead of time. The show number is: 34812
Sunday, October 10, 2010
At Chicago:
> Jaymee Marty‘s just qualified for the 2012 Trials with a time of 2:45:09. Well done, Jaymee! You’ve worked your ass off and you deserve this!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Today was a big day for several hopefuls, where they represented at the Twin Cities Marathon Masters Championships and at the Wineglass Marathon.
Here’s what happened at Twin Cities:
> Lori Kingsley‘s race was wrecked by a badly timed dental abscess. Despite “a root canal and the works,” all was not well on race day. Kingsley opted to skip the antibiotics given their tendency to wreak gastrointestinal havoc even when not attempting to run a hard 26.2 miles. Here’s Lori’s emailed report:
“Unfortunately, my joints were inflammed and when I was running, I ached from every joint. Again, I attempted to “fool” myself into thinking it would pass. But you know the ending of that story! By the 10th mile, my muscles felt like they were on fire; I prayed and vowed to get to all my water bottles (I had my family write messages on index cards and I taped them to the bottles); so my goal was to get to the last one, which by then, was the 23rd mile. That is how I made it to the end. To tell you the truth, I was not even sure that I would break 3 hrs. I’m sure my training, faith, and determination helped will me to 26.2. Now, my body is really sick, but I’m happy that I finished.”
Despite all this, Lori still finished with a 2:51:36 and a place in the masters top 10.
> Heather May took on a course that has historically presented challenges for her and ran a solid race with clockwork-like splits. In her emailed report, she enumerates why this was a successful race:
- My goals going in had more to do with place than time, and I wanted to place in the top 10, which I accomplished.
- For the first time, I was able to run even splits there and not want to kill someone in the last 4 miles of the course.
- My time was really the best I could have hoped for given all of the signs in training (tempo runs in the 6:25-6:35 range, for example) and I was unbelievably consistent on the course.
- I kept alive my streak of running marathons in under three hours since first breaking it in 2002. And most importantly…
- After the past two years of work and then injury and surgery, I was so happy to be able to be out there and competitive, even if my time was not great.
> Tamara Karrh returned to the site of her 2009 PR of 2:40 and, as she writes:
“I had a great run. I led the pack for 26 miles and was passed by Susan in the last stretch. I am pleased with my time and the race.”
> Susan Loken proved that you can come back from some time away from high level competition — and win! Loken won her fourth masters marathon championship title and, as a bonus, received a marriage proposal at the finish line. Here’s her race report.
And at the Wineglass Marathon in upstate New York:
> Jill Howard struggled with fueling issues, but emerged with a big PR and the positive outlook that’s gotten her so far:
“The Wineglass Marathon was my first attempt to shave off crazy time in this quest for the Trials. And, was my first time to actually “race” a marathon — what a concept for me. So, although disappointing because I didn’t feel I raced my best, and was way off from my goal, I learned a tremendous amount — mostly about how to celebrate right where we are and not miss that because of where we want or think we should be. That sabotages the journey!
Offering an 8-minute PR, I finished in 3:12:50. And, although during my last 10k of pain, I had considered bailing on this Trials journey because of my very sub-par time to my expectations and now the larger mountain I have to climb in relation to qualifying time, I ended up choosing to celebrate the good and the overall experience, pressing on with determination toward the goal! Who knows now if I’ll make it, but I’m sure going to give it my all!”
Houston Hopefuls 