Now that a lot of the Fairfax County running gang was back together at the Monroe Parker Invitational, Albert Velikonja decided to see who had done their homework over the summer.
A mile and a half in to Burke Lake’s 2.98-mile course, he surged, and looked around to see how it all shook out.
My first ultramarathon was supposed to be the North Face 50K in September of 2009.
My actual first ultra was the Rosaryville 50K that July. Then the Catoctin 50K in August. Then The North Face 50K in September.
To hear Tom Brumlik tell it, Albert Velikonja approaches an August time trial with the same intensity as he does a state championship final.
“It was pretty evident from the first lap last year that he was going to be pretty good,” Brumlik said of the now-senior, who was trying cross country after a moderately successful sophomore track season.
Name: Stephanie Balaconis
Self-described age group: Female 31-40
As a freshman, Jenny Schilling’s Heritage Pride jersey never fit quite right.
Riley’s Rumble’s reputation is forged on its heat, hills and humidity. The annual half marathon in Germantown and Boyds, Md. markets itself as a masochists’ dream, with a roughly 170 foot climb in mile 12 to extinguish many runners’ hopes of a fast time. And, as part of the Montgomery County Road Runners’ Club’s series of low-key races, it is both budget-friendly and bereft of awards, Until now. This year, Race Director Ida-Lina Diak toyed with awarding giant novelty oversized checks to the winners of the half and 8k, only to have them made out for $0. In the end, she and assistant race director Melanie Mollica settled on the amount of 1 million Strava kudos, which, unfortunately, have a cash value of 1/1,000,000th of a cent.