GRAND RECAP

Some final musings on Grand Rapids: I post on the 50+ Masters Training thread on Letsrun.com. Racerdb, aka Dave Bussard, is also a frequent poster, we had never met but arranged to meet for a beer Friday night. He came up to Linda & me in the bar and asked “Are one of you Will?” Funny guy and fast, his plan was to run 5:40 pace which he did for the first 8 miles before he “crashed and burned” and slowed to just under sixes.

Dave’s roommate was Clint Verran. He is now 37, we go all the way back to the 2000 World Championships Half Marathon in Vera Cruz, Mexico. That was my first trip as a USA Team Leader and he was a young stud with the newly formed Hansons group. It was good catching up with him and reminiscing about various other races over the years, particularly the infamous “Who You Calling Holmes!!” episode at the 2002 Friehofer’s Run For Women, ask me about it sometime.

Luka Thor roomed with Ryan Bak, a 2:14 marathoner out of Oregon, a big part of the experience at these National Championships is getting to know other elites, very inspiring. Luka grew into a Man on Saturday. He pr’d through 10K and also had a nearly 5:00 pr through the half marathon point (1:04 high vs. his 1:09:30 from the Omaha Half). Real Competition, Real Racing, makes Real Men.

The Amway Grand Plaza is the most beautiful old hotel on the champs circuit and I always enjoy my time there. Thanks to Greg Meyer (last American to win Boston, 1986) for hooking Linda and me up with the digs and race entries etc. I’ve known Greg since the late 90s, he is one of the most genuinely nice guys you could hope to meet. And does more for American distance runners than almost anyone.

The City of Grand Rapids does the remarkable with the event, this year was the 35th edition. Two heats of the 5K, one at 7:00 another at 7:30. A 10K at 8:00, and then 7000 runners in the 25K at 8:20. The city shuts down the streets to accommodate, much like every other progressive city that hosts major road races. Omaha, well, we’ve got a ways to go….

I last ran the 25K in 2008, my time was 1:53:24 and I finished 21st in my age group (I was the 1st USATF finisher and that was good fodder for some). This year I ran 1:52:05, a 1:19 improvement over my younger self, and finished 11th in my age group. Linda ran the race in 2009 in 1:52:15. This year her time was a :02 improvement. We’re not getting older, we’re getting faster. And Killer Coach shows little mercy, today it was 4K repeats, and so it goes.

We met David Adams and Matt Pohren at Millard West yesterday to watch their set of 13 X 300 meters. David started the first one at 45 low, worked down through the 44s and finished with a 43 point. Matty P. right behind him, a couple of gazelles that are beautiful to behold in flight.

Congratulations to Natalie Como on her 10K USA Club National Championships qualifier at the Concordia Twilight meet this weekend. Mates Amanda Lee (11:10.58) and Megan Zavorka went 1-2 in the Women’s Steeple, and Virgil Mitchell took the win in the 110 Hurdles (14:22). Andrew Jacob and Cheto Cerda contested the 800 meters. Thanks to Coach Kregg Einspahr for letting the mates get some work in.

Luka looks like one bad ass sporting his Oakleys. It took a dozen tries before he could lose the boyish grin that reveals his true character.

Rob Duncan was up for the race too. Rob was 2nd to Peter van der Westhuizen at the 2008 Omaha Mile, running a fast 4:00.00.

Bill Rodgers and I got to catch up over some licorice sticks. He’s another of the really good guys in road racing, a legend, an icon, and an old buddy. Bill is now 64 but still remains the most gracious of ambassadors for the sport. He recalled running the Festival of Races in Omaha back when Real Racing ruled the day, something I’ve labored hard to resurrect. He asked me to pass along greetings to Chuck Cooper and Ronn Baker.