2021 Race Schedule
Results of Past Races
1/11: METAvivor 5km (local)
20:38 (6:38/mile)
Age Group: 1st of 7, Overall: 7th of 45
I found out about this race just a couple days beforehand and I decided it was a good opportunity to find out where I stood in my training. As I suspected, I had a long way to go!
1/17: Naples Half Marathon (Florida)
1:28:49 (6:47/mile)
Age Group: 2nd Senior Grandmaster (1st M70, otherwise), Overall: 74th of ~1000
I improved a lot since my race last weekend! Very happy with my finishing time.
2/5: Grandmasters Ultra 100K (near Las Vegas)
16:08:54 (15:36/mile)
Age Group: 1st Male Grandmaster (M50+), Overall: 2nd of 13
A fun and interesting run with my friend Julie Deery (who finished 1st overall). The course was 60% in Arizona, 40% in Nevada (but never more than a few feet from the border), and a single step in Utah (where there was a monument where you could stand in all three states at once).
3/6: 100 mile FKT - Philadelphia to Pottsville via the Schuylkill River Trail (local)
The Schuylkill River Trail (SRT) runs approximately 100 miles from Philadelphia to Pottsville. Atlee Burpee, Jessica Grinspan, and I were the first to run the entire length of the trail. 75% of the trail is complete, so we had to detour onto roads occasionally. Because of some navigational issues and re-routing around impassable snowy and icy sections, the run turned out to be 112 miles, and it took us 36 hours and 2 minutes. It was a grand adventure! This will be an awesome venue for a race when the trail is completed.
3/13: Looney Leprechaun 10K (PA)
50:01 (8:03/mile)
Age Group: 1st M70, Overall: 32nd of 132
USATF Mid-Atlantic Off Road race, team and age graded results pending.
I liked the course a lot - a good mix of cross country, gnarly roots, mud, and long and short hills.
3/27: Kutztown Fools Run 10M (PA)
1:10:38 (7:04/mile)
Age Group: 1st M70, Overall: 17th of 167
It’s been a couple months now since I’ve had a road race with which to assess my conditioning. It’s ultra season, so I haven’t been training for road speed, but it’s reassuring to find I’m within striking distance of decent shape. It was a very hilly course, and I think I’m still suffering from some of the after effects of my second Pfizer vaccination, so I was pleased to be close to 7 minutes per mile for 10 miles.
4/3: Long Creek 60K (VA)
7:05:20 (11:25/mile)
Overall: 23rd of 73
Great weather - sunny, 40’s, scenic coastal wooded scenery. Good prep for the Cocodona 250 coming up. Went down hard three times, but no injuries.
4/18: April Foolish 10 Hour (PA)
52 miles in 9:54:32
M70+: 1st of 9
Overall: 12th of 228
I ran a four mile loop thirteen times. Half the loop was rooty trail with a few very sloppy muddy spots, and half was park road. Beautiful weather in the 40’s and 50’s.
5/3: Cocodona 250 (Arizona)
152 miles in 73:17:12
I came up about 100 miles short, but it was a wonderful experience. I was prepared for the heat, the rugged climbs, and the distance, but the loose footing on much of the course prevented me from picking up the time I needed for adequate sleep. I could have kept on running, but not without more sleep.
5/16: Coventry Woods 10K (PA)
50:22 (8:40/mile)
M70+: 1st of 5
Overall: 31st of 103
USATF Mid-Atlantic Off Road race. Hilly, rocky, rooty - I can’t attack courses like this as I used to, alas. My primary mission now is to avoid falling, not run as fast as I can. Still lots of fun, though!
5/29: Cayuga Trails 50K (Ithaca, New York)
9:55:16 (19:10/mile!)
Overall: 117th of 140
One of my favorite races that I run every year. I have always done the 50-mile option, but this year I dropped down to the 50K because I needed to be ready for a race two days later and a much more important 50K in two weeks. I ran very leisurely, and, because of non-stop rain in the preceding 24 hours, there was mud everywhere. The creeks were very high, so the waterfalls were especially impressive.
5/31: Memorial Main Street Mile (PA)
5:51 (5:51/mile)
M70+: 1st of 8
Overall: 54th of 177
USATF Mid-Atlantic Grand Prix road race. I absolutely hate this distance, and running it two days after a 50K didn’t help! I was happy to break six minutes.
6/5: Scott Coffee Moorestown Rotary 8K (NJ)
32:42 (6:34/mile)
M70+: 1st of 13
Overall: 44th of 421
Age Grade %: 90.0, 1st of 421
USATF Mid-Atlantic Grand Prix road race.
6/13: Caumsett 50K (NY)
3:56:43 (7:37/mile)
M70: 1st of 3
Overall: 23rd of 44
USATF Road 50km National Championships
IAU World Record
6/19: Mohican 100 (OH)
31:35:32 (18:52/mile)
M70: 1st of 1
Overall: 98th of 103
I had to have been a little depleted from the 50km six days before, and the course (four loops) was a bit harder than I was expecting. Adding to that handicap, I got lost on the first lap which cost me 45 minutes and 3 miles of energy. On the second lap I fell hard three times. On the third lap, I was really starting to get tired and I fell behind the cutoff pace. The last mile of the third loop was run in a thunderstorm. However, I made the 3rd loop cutoff by five minutes and back out I went. Despite all the signs of my imminent demise, I rallied and I not only made up the 25 minutes I was behind, but I gained an hour on top of that. Since I now had a good buffer, I walked quite a bit of the last seven miles just to be on the safe side from more falls. Finishing in less than 32 hours gave me the Western States qualifier I need for the lottery later in the year.
7/2: Afton 50km (MN)
5:37:26 (10:52/mile)
M70: 1st of 3
Overall: 34th of 147
I ran this race with my older daughter Erica. Since it was her first Ultra, she hoped I would help pace her to a finish. However, she very soon realized that I was just so much dead weight, and she quickly left me way behind, finishing almost an hour ahead of me in 4:48:09 - good for first female and fourth overall.
7/6-10: Adventure Run in Yosemite Backcountry
With friend Julie Deery and younger daughter Hilary. Organized by Aspire Adventure Running. Daily runs of approximately 25 miles. Outstanding scenery, of course. The routes were a little more rugged than I was expecting, so there was a lot more hiking than running.
7/22-25: USATF Masters Outdoor Championships (IA)
10km: 41:57, M70: 1st of 6
5km: 20:49, M70: 1st of 7
2km Steeplechase: 9:21, M70: 1st of 6
Triple Jump: 7.96m, M70: 3rd of 6
8/13: Bigfoot 200 (Washington)
DNF at mile 127
This race was a lot different than when I completed it in 2017. It was hot, the air was hazy from the west coast fires, and there were lots of trees blown down on the course. The heat alone was perhaps a six hour handicap. Not a big deal for elites, but a severe problem for we back of the packers. Then there were the trees. It took me 15 minutes to navigate my way through the first one. It was like a combination of playing a game of Twister and solving a maze problem. Watch the Trailer
8/27-28: Hood To Coast Relay (OR)
30:14:44 (9:12/mile)
M60+: 6th of 9
Overall: 419th of 867
A team of twelve 70+ runners kicked some young butt during the 199 mile race. Unfortunately, I strained a hamstring during my 3rd leg, and it seems likely to curtail my racing season.
9/19: Hook Or By Crook 12k (NJ)
DNF
USATF national championship race. I hoped that my hamstring injury would stay quiescent long enough for me to set a new national 12k record, but I stopped immediately when it started hurting after a mile and a half.
10/3: London Marathon
5:37:56 (12:54/mile)
M70: 126th of 163
Overall: 31,023 of 35,876
I traveled to London not expecting to run the race. My daughter Hilary was running, so at least I could cheer her on. Since I was there, I then thought I could at least start the race and see if could make it to the eight mile mark, where my wife would be waiting for me. When I got there, my hamstring injury still wasn’t hurting (I was running very slowly to guard against that), so I continued on. My hamstring never did hurt, but my abdomen and groin got very painful. At the half marathon mark, I was not only hurting, but I ran out of gas. It was quite the trudge to finish the race. Five and a half hours, my worst ever marathon time by over an hour. Hilary, on the other hand, had her best ever marathon finish of 3:15:59. Later in the day, my older daughter, Erica, ran the Twin Cities Marathon in 3:38:59 for her marathon PR. Two out of three isn’t bad!
10/11: Boston Marathon
3:30:02 (8:01/mile)
M70: 2nd of 145
Overall: 5,421 of 15,382
Eight days after my awful London performance and no additional training possible. I have no way of explaining how I managed to run a time of 3:30 with my hamstring getting worse every mile. I really wanted to extend my streak of four straight age group wins, but I came up 30 seconds short. I’ll just have to start a new streak next year.
10/17: Delaware Distance Classic 15km (DE)
DNS
10/30: Tyler Arboretum 10km (PA)
DNS
11/13: Richmond Marathon (VA)
3:20:40 (7:39/mile)
M70: 1st of 12
Overall: 374th of 3451
All my injuries decided not to show up, and I managed to avoid running low on gas until a couple miles to go. I needed to run better than 3:21 to guarantee a spot in the 2022 World Age Group Championships to be held next year in London, so mission accomplished.