It started with a call and a text from Mike Nehr (class of 2002) a few weeks ago. Mikey said he was running well and was thinking of hopping in the 5k at the Armory.
Sounded good to me. Mikey assumed that we would have some modern-day Running Red Foxes in the 5k. Oddly, though, my plan calls for all the long-distance men not to bust out a 25-lapper till midseason (Terrier and beyond). This strategy is/was a bit of a departure from the past, and hopefully it will work.
Mikey told me he was hoping to run between 15:10 and 15:20, but he was also hoping for a little help from some young'uns in the red and white. I mentioned this during one of my weekly calls with Mike Rolek (class of 2008). Regular followers of this fancy blog know that Rolek had himself an impressive fall on the roads. But our boy was in shut-down mode, basically just cranking some maintenance miles before embarking on his 2010 race plan.
Rolek, of course, is never one to back down from a race or a challenge, and so he graciously volunteered to help out his fellow Alumni Racing Team pal. How cool is that? Keep in mind that Rolek entered Marist in the fall of 2004, about 2.5 years AFTER Nehr graduated. The fact that they are linked and connected is, to me, a cool thing. The fact that they would race together, two generations of Marist Running Excellence, made this old coach with a big, puffy, white beard quite proud.
It was a nice little 5k Marist Running party. Vess, Conor and Keegan hung around to cheer on their old teammate (Rolek) and their even older fellow Marist guy (Nehr) that a few of them just met. Mr. Raucci and David, of course, hung around. If there is a race with a Marist uniform in it, they generally will be there. Graciously, Coach Chuck hung out and drove us home, tanked up on a 5-Hour Energy B-Vitamin drink to stay awake, so that the bus didn't have to wait around for several hours.
In addition, Marist alum Matt Walsh, now running as a grad student at Molloy College, was also entered in the race. For the second week in a row, Walsh ran a strong PR and a perfectly executed race plan. Walsh is obviously training well, in great shape, and is getting some excellent guidance/coaching from the folks at Molloy. He finished in a monster PR of 15:49.84. His first sub-16:00.
Sorry, Walsh, I did not get splits this time around for you, but I know you ran an even-paced effort as I checked my watch during major intervals (miles and kilometer splits).
Rolek and Nehr ran a cat-and-mouse race, exchanging the lead from each other several times. Mikey faded a bit at the end but still achieved his pre-race goal of sub-15:20. Rolek? He ran quite possibly the smartest 5km of his career, closing the last 1km in 2:59. His second-place time of 15:11.57 was just a few ticks off his personal-best time. Obviously, the residual effects of his fall fitness are still in his legs. Nehr was seventh in 15:18.51, not bad for a guy pushing 30 years old with a full-time teaching job and three seasons of track/xc coaching at Syosset High School.
I'm proud of them both, and I'm proud they sported the red and white of the Marist Alumni Racing Team on this late-night 5km at the Armory.
Rolek's splits
36, 73 (37), 1:50 (37), 2:25 (35), 3:01 (36)
3:37 (36), 4:12 (35), 4:48 (36), 5:25 (37), 6:01 (36)
6:37 (36), 7:14 (37), 7:51 (37), 8:28 (37), 9:06 (38)
9:41 (35), 10:19 (38), 10:56 (37), 11:34 (38), 12:12 (38)
12:48 (36), 13:26 (38), 14:02 (36), 14:37 (35), 15:11.57 (34.57)
kilometers: 3:01, 3:00, 3:05, 3:03, 2:59.57
Nehr's splits
35, 73 (38), 1:51 (38), 2:25 (36), 3:01 (36)
3:38 (37), 4:13 (35), 4:48 (35), 5:26 (38), 6:02 (36)
6:38 (36), 7:13 (35), 7:51 (38), 8:28 (37), 9:06 (38)
9:41 (35), 10:18 (37), 10:54 (36), 11:32 (38), 12:09 (37)
12:47 (38), 13:24 (37), 14:04 (40), 14:41 (37), 15:18.51 (37.51)
kilometers: 3:01, 6:02 (3:01), 9:06 (3:04), 12:09 (3:03), 15:18.51 (3:09.51)
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