Over 125 Runners from the club rand the race. A bunch made it for the group picture at 5:45am. Not bad!
On Sunday, June 5th, the VAVi Running Club that we oversee and manage set out to complete the San Diego Rock n Roll Half or Full marathon. We had at least 125 runners complete the race. (Even 125 is a hard number to estimate but a good guess based on years of experience and could have been more.)
I’d love to track and post every single runner’s results but that’s impossible. So, after every race, I solicit feedback and results. We had a huge number of you set Personal Records (PR) and do and have done amazing things. At least 4 of you qualified for Boston (probably more for those who didn’t respond!)
- Jason Jablonski beat his goal FULL marathon time by 14 minutes! Awesome job.
- Tony Principe was so pissed from last year, he trained hard this year. Results? He slammed 23 minutes from his FULL marathon time. Oh . . . qualified for Boston with a 3:04:59 (Gotta love those “Oh yea’s . . . .” ;)
- Speaking of Boston, our resident Female Speedster, Jessica Goertz set her Full Marathon PR with a 3:00:07 to take 15th overall Women, and 3rd in her Age Division!! (Yes, that’s 3 hours and 7 seconds . . . fricken incredible, but frustratingly so too ;) She’s PR’d the race every single year since 2006 – the year she started with training with us. Oh, she won LJ Half Marathon in 2009.
- Stephanie Russell ran her FIRST half marathon and beat her projected goal, which is also an automatic PR!!
- Mitch Nodland ran on/off for last few years before joining VAVi for the first time this season. He got cramps at Fiesta (~22 miles). Then decided to finish in 3:10:08 to Qualify for Boston, with 52 seconds to spare. (Yes, it’s all true)
- Meaghan H. ran her FIRST FULL marathon and loved it so much she’s coming back again! Congrats. (I love those ;)
- Jessica Martinez ran her FIRST FULL marathon in 4:24 so got her PR!!
- Wayne Dilly smoked it with a 1:17:48 Half Marathon. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!
- Jennifer Epper got a PR at La Jolla and then decided to do her first FULL. Cranked out a 3:58 . . . jeezers!!
- Amy Kelley finished the race after being sick for last few weeks, but better – ran into her TnT coach from Virginia while on the course!
- Jules Taggart ran her first FULL marathon . . . automatic PR!!
- Lyndsey Hassett missed a bunch of the season with a broken foot, then came back to PR her FULL marathon with a 3:33:50 .. another Boston Qualifier!
- Robyn Williams never ran more than 3.5 miles before VAVi. Goal was 2:30, she killed it with a 2:14! (One of my favorite “But I’m not a runner” stories.)
- Karen Otto ran her first FULL marathon in 4:04. Awesome!
- Anne Stephany knocked out her FULL marathon in 4:20! (I think it was her first)
- Jennifer Vanoni finished her first FULL marathon. Automatic PR . . super congrats!!
- Kendra Hartman knocked 8 minutes off her FULL marathon time, setting a PR.
- Coach Yayoi Suzuki set a new PR for her half, and has cut 28 minutes from her first Half 2 yrs/4 seasons ago.
- Kristi Romine ran her 2nd FULL marathon and knocked 54 minutes off her time. Yes, 54 minutes!!!
- Ken McDonald has lost 40lbs over the last 14 months, stopped smoking and finished his FULL marathon. Congrats, Ken, on many levels.
- Pam Flagg set a new PR for her half, by 13 minutes, and 27 minutes better than her first half 2 yrs ago. Nice job on killing 13 minutes. That’s a full 1 min /mile pace cut.
- Kelly Dye set her PR in the Half Marathon!! Super job, Kelly!
- Kate M. ran her very FIRST Half with a huge smile on her face!
- Lauren W. and his sister Jessica finished their first 1/2 marathon and beat their goal by 5 minutes. Good job!
- Michelle Stabile ran her first FULL marathon in 4:13 – Sweeeet!
- David Lau finished his FULL marathon in 4:28! Another first time CONGRATS!!!
- Tony Barengo did his first Half and beat his goal for 2 hours by over 5 minutes!
- Danael Flores ran her first FULL and beat her goal by 7 minutes, coming in at 4:23. Love First Timers under 4:30!!
- Diane Sands finished her very FIRST marathon . . and already looking forward to next year!
- Jenna Perucci ran her second FULL marathon with a PR by 44 minutes!! Oh boy . . another one of those “Slammed It” times. Congrats.
- Melissa Johnson completed her FIRST ever half marathon!
- Maegan Rey set her new Half Marathon PR with a 1:58. Sweeeeet!
- And another one of our speedsters, Matt Tobey whipped out a 2:54 FULL marathon placing 10th in his division, 50th Overall (out of 8,267)
- Stacey Preston got a PR in her Full Marathon with a 4:45! Excellent
- Mike Tan got a new PR for his Half Marathon time by 4 Minutes and ran a blazing 1:34!!
- Jessica Huepper enjoyed her first season with VAVi and smoked a 1:45:47 LJ half to go onto a 3:50:02 Full Marathon. Congrats!
- Pamela Umali got stuck at a Porta Potty line for 8 minutes and still knocked out a 2:17!
- Christyn Putulowski scored another PR by finishing the Full Marathon in 4:24!
Rock on Finishers!!
And I know many of you also kicked ass and had a great time! I wish I could research more runners on my own, but unfortunately have to resort to only those who responded.
More Pictures
Enjoy more pictures from the entire race weekend:
- Pasta Dinner on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/kLRjjO
- Race Day on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/jsMQ5p
- Race Day (by Others) on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/mkhTHN
VAVi Running Club
For more information on our VAVi Running Club, visit our separately maintained website: www.vavirunningclub.com