Run to Win

On Saturday, June 16^th, the “Kids First” radio show on the Big Jab WJAB (1440 AM / 95.5 FM) will be featuring Pete Bottomley, Lou Luchini, and Cameron Bonsey from 8:00 am until 9:00 am. Be sure to tune in if you are in the Portland, Maine area as they discuss the New England Mile, the new father/child competitions this year, and running in general. The show is hosted by Regis Tremblay.

Dirigo running club went down to the Florida Keys this past weekend to run the Half Shells half marathon, and managed a 1-2-3 sweep.

KEY WEST — For the second consecutive year, runners from Maine dominated the Half Shell 1/2 Marathon although the change in climate was a rough transition for some.

Last year David Weatherbie, from Cape Elizabeth, was first overall and appeared to be headed for his second-straight title, but Dirigo Running Club teammate Mike Payson, from Falmouth, passed Weatherbie near the eight-mile mark on College Road and finished one-minute ahead with a 1:18:14 time to take top honors over 432 total finishers in the ninth annual event.

Peter Bottomley, also from Cape Elizabeth, made it a clean sweep with third place, running a time of 1 hour, 22 minutes and 36 seconds over the 13.1-mile course, which started and finished at Lands End Marina.

All in all, there were 9 Maine finishers in the top 50. That is not too shabby of a turn out, even without Dirigo leading the rest of the pack by almost 4 minutes.

Michelle Weiler won the women’s race in just over 90 minutes, almost 3 minutes ahead of second place Brenda Wilson.

(Sources: Race Results – KeysNews.com [registration required])

The USATF Club Cross Country Championships were this past Saturday. Linda Somers Smith of Washington won the female master’s 6k race in 22:15, leading her Asics Aggie Running Club teammates to a victory of 1 minute and 14 seconds over Club Northwest. Tracy Lokken led the Front Line Racing Team to a 1 minute and 11 second victory over Fleet Feet Racing – Boulder by finishing the 10k course in 32:44. The open races were won by Amy Hastings in 19:59 for the 6k and by Matthew Downin in 30:13 for the 10k. The Boston Athletic Assoc. and ZAP Fitness took the team awards.

Dirigo had a showing in the men’s 10k, placing 5^th. Todd Coffin (33:41) and Dan Franek (34:19) led the way, placing 12^th and 26^th, respectively. Mike Payson (35:31), Pete Bottomley (35:32), and Tom Ryan (35:44) rounded out the scoring for a total of 170 team points. Dan Dearing (37:39) and Peter Hall (38:07) also competed. Tom Ryan was 2^nd in the 50+ bracket.

In the women’s 6k, Christine Reaser was 9^th over all in 23:22.

A 24 hour monsoon saved the race from not living up to it’s “Mudstock 2007″ name, leaving the course sloppy and wet. Over 500 master’s from 60 teams lined up at the start, leading to the largest field for any USATF cross country race to date.

(Full Results – Picture)

The USATF cross country masters championship races were yesterday at Saratoga Springs in New York.

Dirigo won handily in the men’s 40-49 race, beating the Genesee Valley Harriers 48 to 76. Brian Pope of Oxford, MS won the race in 15:25, followed by Mike Payson (15:28) and Todd Coffin (15:34).

Tom Ryan won the 50+ race in 16:25; this placed him fourth with an age-graded time of 14:15.

Shore Athletics Club of NJ beat out the Finger Lakes Runners Club by 1 point in the women’s race. Carmen Ayala-Tronco won the race in 17:19 by almost 40 seconds.

From the Dirigo press release: (Click here to continue reading…)

Yesterday morning was the Craig’s Cup 5k. The race also doubled as the Maine USATF championship cross country race. The results were a little late getting up. It was an absolutely beautiful day to run, with race temperatures in the low 40s. In the sun, it was very comfortable; the breeze and the shade made it a bit chilly but not too cold to need anything to warm you up during the race. The course was very soft; there was some mud on the trails in spots but it did not stick to your racing shoes. The grass was a bit damp but not enough to get into your socks. In other words, it was a course made for a good pair of spikes.
(Click here to continue reading…)

The second of three races in the Craig’s Cup series was this Wednesday evening, September 20^th. Dirigo swept the board with the top four positions. Mike Payson, Josh Zolla, and Pete Bottomley repeated their 1-2-3 performance from the first race on August 30^th. Mike Payson dropped his time by 2 seconds to finish in 17:12, while Josh Zolla and Pete Bottomley ran 5 and 9 seconds faster in 17:50 and 17:52. Peter Hall came in fourth with a time of 19:17.

Emma Barclay beat Susan Weimer by 18 seconds to win the women’s race in 22:30.

(Photos | Race 1 Results | Race 2 Results)

The L-A 5K Bridge Run was this morning, and course records were set on both sides of the gender line. Kristen Barry won the race in 17:19 to beat the women’s 2002 record of 17:36 set by Tina Meserve, and Ethan Hemphill broke Scott Brown’s 2003 record of 15:44 by 30 seconds, coming in at 15:14. Pete Bottomley followed him by over a minute, followed closely by Paul Johnson. The second woman, Sheri Piers, was about 9 seconds behind Kristin Barry.

Full results can be seen at the Maine Track Club website. There were 294 finishers.