Its the humidity. Or, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Well the weekend if not the weather we’ve all been waiting for is upon us. So a few musings on the Lincoln Marathon and Half Marathon, and more.
In the full: I’m excited to see how Meghan Schneider does, she has had a sound training cycle, been hitting some great specific workouts, and oh by the way, is Fierce! It will also be interesting to see how our Grande Dammes do. Roxi Erickson, Natalie Jetensky, and Stacy Shaw will give the youngsters, including our Jen Viehrig, Lauren Klima, and Haliegh Riggle all they want and more.
In the men’s full I’m predicting a donnybrook up front between Team Nebraska’s Aaron Carrizales & Cameron Cummings doing battle with the Lincoln Running Company’s Tom Nichols and Eric Noel. Real Racing fans should get a real treat. Dark Horse for a top 5 finish is our mate Kyle Custer, a pedigree of wheels running his first marathon. Dustin Llewellyn has also had a great training cycle and figures to be in the mix. Hoping for a high finish for sentimental favorite James McGown too. Jeff Nielsen and Brian Wandzilak are also peaking very nicely right now. Agustin Delgado has mastered the McLatchie Method and will run great. Todd Nott is always tough in the masters ranks. A veritable sea of Red & White up front.
In the half you have to catch Matt Pohren if you want to break the tape. We also have a handful of men making their Lincoln debuts including Shain Kephart, David Bohlken, Anthony Oberle, Jimmy Dougherty, and Lee Anderson. Our TN barefoot specialist Steve Stender also has his eye on an overall win in the masters division, that would be a first to be sure, but mate Brian Bergt won’t make it easy. Debutante Rachel Carrizales will certainly be a favorite on the women’s side as will Bridget Easley. Andrea Bowen is always ready to roll too. Linda & I will be doing a final tune up for the USA Masters 25K Championships on May 12. Good thing I love to race in heat and humidity.
One thing is for sure, we won’t lament about what may have been, preferring rather to seize the morning and make it our own. We owe that much to the Lincoln Marathon, our Major Sponsor. In it to win it, forecast be damned!
Good luck to our Omaha Endurance Group members running too. Special Giddyups to Coach John Tully in the half (and his lovely wife Cindy), to Angie Ross in the full whose date with destiny was delayed one year, to Kathy Palmer whose mad dancing skills almost derailed her this year, and everyone else that has been busting it on Wednesday evenings and more.
Kelly Crawford is the hardest working guy from Omaha behind the scenes of the marathon. He has driven down and volunteered every night since Tuesday and will be working the entire weekend.
Amanda Lee, Megan Zavorka, and Matt Schneider will all be running the Steeplechase at the Nebraska Invitational on Saturday. Matt will double by running the half on Sunday and he is tough enough to finish in the top 2 or 3 to be sure.
Our mate Brian Wandzilak has a nice take on “Swag” at his blog site, www.simplesoleproject.com. Easy read to make you smile on Sunday morning.
A big thanks to Adama Anderson for his request for a brief bio on Team Nebraska. It was fun for me to reflect on the club and put together a few (right!) words, they can be found at his sweet calendar compilation of “Your Site For All Endurance Sports In Nebraska” www.NEndurance.com I hope you’ll enjoy the quick read and it will give you a primer of how and why Team Nebraska is what and where it is today.
This morning’s Geezer Run, special guest star Greg Liewer doing photographing by the way. Left to Right- Laurie Halpenny, Cindy Tully, Jody Green, Sara DeSmet (with little Chloe), Kim Kruse (with little Sienna), Coach Linda, Angie Ross, me with my new haircut, and Coach John Tully. We all are Peaking, not tapering.
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