Rolek: 1:06:51!

Major, major kudos go out tonight to Mike Rolek (Class of 2008) for his sizzling, smokin’ performance at Sunday morning’s New York City Half Marathon.

Rolek ran a major breakthrough personal-best time of 1:06:51, an average of 5:07 per mile for 13.1 miles. He finished 35th overall and ninth in his age group and definitely validated his elite bib number with a representative performance.

A hearty NICELY DONE to our guy, who – it is believed, anyway – now holds the Marist Alumni records in the marathon and the half marathon.

For your numbers geeks out there, here are some stats to check out. First, courtesy of the official results on the NYRR Web site:

5km: 15:55; 10km: 32:00 (16:05); 15km: 47:48 (15:48); 20km: 1:03:27 (15:39); 13.1: 1:06:51. Most definitely a neg split effort!

And these mile splits from Rolek’s watch: 5:09, 4:55, 5:14, 5:15, 5:05, 5:12, 5:03, 5:07, 4:33 (short), 5:39 (long), 5:04, 4:56, 0:32 (for the .1, blazing!)

Hey, no matter how you slice it and dice it, it was a great, great race.

Also: While doing a very quick search of the results, the following loyal Marist Running alums signed up as MAAL (Marist Alumni Racing Team), bless your hearts! …

Joe Tarantello, Rolek’s good buddy and classmate: 1:20:10
Todd Bivona, the erstwhile sprinter now turned distance runner: 1:44:01

Good stuff.