by Michael Stella, Director of Running

Well, a couple unfortunate things happened this past month. First, Allie Bigelow moved to North Carolina. For those of you who don’t know Allie, she was one of our fastest runners. She also brought a bright smile and colorful shoes to every workout and race. I know many of us who trained and raced with her were sorry to see her go. Let’s all wish her well in her future adventures.

Second, Ralph Gowen beat me again!  He beat me in Boston, and then again at the Fast & Furious 5K.  What’s up with that?  Is he doing squats in front of the TV at night, or maybe he gave up chocolate and red wine.  If you know his training regimen, please share it with me.  I’ll then share it with all of you.  Don’t tell Ralph though; it will be our secret.

Now for some results.

On July 17^th, several of our FMRC teammates competed in the Jail Break run to benefit Special Olympics.  We took no prisoners in this race.  Look at the results:

Jail Break 10K
Christine Brighton 1^st overall
Rosaura Tennant 1^st overall Master
Brian Collett 2^nd overall, 1^st AG
Amanda Henry 10^th overall, 3^rd AG
Frank Nolte 67^th overall, 1^st AG

Jail Break 5K
Stella Rosenfield 1^st overall Master, 4^th overall

Wharf to Wharf took place on July 24^th in Santa Cruz, and everyone from FMRC was gunning for a coveted blue wind-breaker that the race organizers bestow on the first 100 men and first 100 women who crossed the line. This is not an easy chore when you toe the line with runners from Kenya and those who competed in the Olympics.  You can’t intimidate FMRC athletes though.  Here are those who walked away wearing blue that day:

Steve Chavez  73^rd overall, 2^nd AG
Michael Parry 79^th overall, 19^th AG
Christine Brighton 17^th overall, 1^st AG
Allie Bigelow 20^th overall, 4^th AG
Tara Carriera 22^nd overall, 5^th AG
Carrie Chavez 75^th overall
Diane Batchelor 98^th overall, 10^th AG

The inaugural Fast & Furious 5K took place on August 7^th.  Although the course became a bit circuitous thanks to some hapless volunteers, we all made it to the finish line safe and sound, in plenty of time to see the bike race.  Here’s how we did:

Fast & Furious 5K
Michael Parry 1^st overall
Tara Carreira 1^st overall
Brian Collett 2^nd overall
Rosaura Tennant 3^rd overall
Sofia Mutlu 1^st AG – Youngest competitor?
Madison Chavez 1^st AG
Ralph Gowen 1^st AG
Carolyn Sanchez 1^st AG
Julie Pfeifle 1^st AG
Maggie Fillmore 1^st AG
Angel Barros 2^nd AG
Sharley Simpson 2^nd AG
Andy Frey 2^nd AG
Diane Batchelor 2^nd AG
Betsy Barsamian-Teman 2^nd AG
Linda Robinson 2^nd AG
David Haan 3^rd AG
Karna Mapes 3^rd AG
Michael Stella 3^rd AG
Tiffany Deusebio 3^rd AG
Doug Marshall 3^rd AG

I hope everyone had a great summer!