It’s been a busy weekend for Team Nebraska Brooks. We had a large group of Good Mates show up for hills, hills and more hills yesterday morning. I covered 16 miles, others went further including Matt Schneider who covered 23 in a shade over 2 hours thirty minutes. He’ll be tough to catch at the Sioux Falls Marathon next month, as will wife Meghan, they will both be making their 26.2 debuts and are training intelligently and well. These team runs are an integral part of TNB. We all enjoyed egg casserole, black beans, brown rice, cabbage, banana bread, and rice krispie treats post run, yum! Running Freak awards were passed out.
Danielle and Vince Galvin hosted our 7th annual TNB Summer Party yesterday evening at their lovely home, a real sanctuary in the midst of West O. Over 40 mates, friends, and family gathered in fellowship and good cheer. Great food, great beer & root beer (thanks to our old buddies at the Upstream Brewing Company for the kind donation!), and great people. We took some time to recap the year thus far, that was fun and reminded me of just how special this group really is. I also announced our fall schedules, made requisite introductions, and reminded everyone that there are only 3 Rules to being on TNB:
1. You must Always compete in your TNB uniform, no matter the race, no exceptions
2. You must adore both me and Linda
3. As long as you follow Rule #1, we could care less about Rule #2
A lot of new faces mixed in with some of our veteran runners, just as it should be. It was also fun opening the party up to our friends and sponsors, TNB runs deep in the Omaha Metro.
Peter vd Westhuizen and wife Michaela were in attendance, Peter is just back from competing on the European Circuit. We had some good discussion regarding his fellow S. Africans Oscar Pistorius (“Blade Runner”), and Caster Semnaya, the ethical and moral implications and impact of both of these athletes being allowed to represent at this month’s World Championships in South Korea. Very interesting to get Peter’s take, he is a very well thought out young man.
A couple of hot items from the mailbag: Bridget Easley has announced she will be going for the 2:46:00 Women’s Olympic Trials Marathon standard at the California International Marathon in December, the last chance to qualify before January’s big date. Bridget had a breakthrough performance at Grandma’s this past June, we are thrilled for her decision to go “all in”.
Good luck to our Nicole Nelson, she starts UNMC Medical School tomorrow.
We are very pleased to announce that David Adams has joined Team Nebraska Brooks. David graduated from UNL this spring after an illustrious career including a school record 14:12.47 indoor 5000, being named the Men’s Most Valuable Runner in 2008 & 2009, and qualifying for the 2011 USA National Championships in the Steeplechase. David will be training with our middle distance corps and will be coached by Glen vd Westhuizen, Peter’s dad. With Peter back in town until next year, that group now has some real star power. Both Peter and David will be in this year’s elite field for the Omaha Corporate Cup. Add in last year’s champ Eric Rasmussen, 2010 runner up Luka Thor, Olympic Trials hopeful Cameron Cummings, a hungry Matt Pohren, and well you get the idea, Giddyup! Look for the women’s side to be just as competitive if not out to destroy the course record. Check in on David’s blog at http://davidadams3.blogspot.com , he has a legitimate shot at making the 2012 London Olympics in the steeple and it will be all of our treat to watch his progress. He is from York, NE, married to Bethany Adams, and is working in electrical engineering when he is not training his butt off.
We are also starting to look at assembling our Market to Market Relay teams. Will last year’s TNB Mixed Team’s 8:25:27 (5:58/mile) record be challenged? Can Anyone ever approach the Open Men’s incredible 7:51:46 (5:34/mile) record? We’ve got some mates that are saying yes to both challenges. I like the cut of their jib.
It is my privilege to be associated with such fine people.
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