Cook and Gifford are Fools (For Running 31 Miles)

Tracy Cook and Adam Gifford conquered the third stop on the 2008 Florida Ultramarathon circuit this past weekend at the Fools 50K in Brooksville. Tracy placed an impressive 4th in her age group and Adam finished shortly after her. When asked about his time he stated that he would have taken 1st AG if he was a 68 year old woman. Next stop on the circuit is the Wickham Park 100-mile fun run some time in May.

YMCA RUNNERS GO WILD!! HALL GETS 1St RUNNING HARDWARE

It’s that special time of the year when romance, pollen, and the triathlon season begin to bloom. Our YMCA Runners competed in two events during the weekend of March 15: the Wildman Sprint and Olympic distance triathlons and the last race of the Hillbilly Racing Series in Melbourne, the Eye of the Dragon 10k.


WILDMAN SPRINT & OLYMPIC DISTANCE TRIATHLONS

Our Wild Men (and one Wild Woman) fought off amoebas and each other to bring home some impressive hardware and race times in the Sprint and Olympic distances.

Sprint Distance:

Sean McCormack (2nd Age Group) 1:07:33
Chris Bolfing (3rd Age Group) 1:12:19
Rachel Coursey 1:41:13

Olympic Distance:

Paul Duckett: (2nd Age Group) 1:39:34
E. J. Wunderlich (3rd Age Group) 1:42:32

EYE OF THE DRAGON 10K

The race brochure for this race described a gentle run over a “scenic causeway.” Unfortunately, the race materials failed to mention that the causeway is connected to a 1.5 mile long monster bridge buffeted by 20 mph winds that you have the pleasure of running over TWICE. Despite a difficult course and Brewer’s constant complaining, Masters Swim Champion Ryan Hall brought home her first ever running hardware. Here are the results:

Teresa Calio 3rd Overall 41:28
Ryan Hall 2nd Age Group 49:32
Kurt Brewer 1st Age Group 40:02

YMCA RUNNER SCOREBOARD: Calio Races Rednecks, Runners Face Green Monster

Saturday, March 08, 2008

26th Annual Oldsmar Armadillo 10k

Teresa Calio and Kurt Brewer continued their dominance of the “Hillbilly Racing Circuit” with impressive results from the Armadillo 10k north of Clearwater. Calio and Brewer braved 25+ mph winds and subtle reminders of “Deliverance” (voted best feature film at the 1972 Oldsmar Film Festival) to take home the only awards in the State of Florida to feature roadkill. Brewer ran a 39:06 to take 2nd overall, and Calio ran a 41:51 to take 3rd overall.

Interesting Fact: The female masters winner of this year’s Armadillo 10k once won a Richard Petty (NASCAR driver) look-a-like contest.



Jacksonville Gate River Run 15k

This lovely tour of Jacksonville’s inner harbor (known fondly by locals as the “Paris of St. John’s County”) is possibly the only race in North America that features specially trained paramedics who are placed strategically on the “Green Monster” (Hart Bridge) to ensure that participants don’t jump off the bridge from race induced frustration. True story. YMCA’s brave team of runners endured a horrific trifecta of winds, bridges, and well, Jacksonville, to bring home the following results:

Donnie McCammon 58:10 (6:15 pace)
Mike Easterling 58:12 (6:17 pace)
Sean Dishman 1:19:05 (8:36 pace)
Gregory Brown 1:00:46 (6:32 pace)
Mark Russell 1:21:42 (8:54 pace)
Amanda McCammon 1:22:51 (9:04 pace)
Hulya Atli 1:06:57 5th Age Group (7:12 pace)