Tim Johnson, Ironman!

He referred to it as an “unbelievable” experience. Tim Johnson, Marist Track Alum, you are an Ironman! Keep in mind that Tim Johnson was one of the greatest sprinters in Marist track history. Sprinter. As in: 60-meter dash, 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 4x100 and 4x400 relays, 400 leg of the DMR. The longest event Tim did in his illustrious career here took well under 1 minute to complete. So now, within the span of a year, Tim has completed a marathon (last fall) and now an Ironman Triathlon. Amazing!

This Sunday at the Lake Placid Ironman, Tim finished in 14 hours, 41 minutes, 24 seconds. He completed the 2.4-mile swim in Mirror Lake with the time of 1:48:27. He completed the 112-mile bike on hilly Adirondack roads in 7:34:59. He competed the 26.2-mile marathon run, also on hilly Adirondack roads, in 5:01:22. His swim-to-bike transition was 8:31; his bike-to-run transition was 8:06. Former track team captain and school record holder and good friend Molly Weeks was there to cheer him on. Truly amazing.  

Grain obtained

In my never-ending quest to take my immaturity to the next level, I continue to pummel into submission the phrase "Let's Get This Bread." My daughter Natalie just had her summer season-ending swim meet, the DUSO Championships (stands for Dutchess Ulster Swim Organization). We were all strongly encouraged to contribute an "ad" to the DUSO program. And this is the quarter-page "ad" that I took out, supporting Natalie and her team, the Hyde Park Stingrays. Neat?

Racewalkers at USATF Championships in Iowa

We were proud to have racewalkers Kayla Shapiro and Katie Miale representing our school and our program out at the USATF Outdoor Championships on Sunday morning in Des Moines. Both Kayla and Katie walked to personal-best times, although both were hoping for better and faster performances. Glad to have them out on the big stage for us once again.

USATF Championships

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Drake University

Des Moines, Iowa

10,000-meter racewalk

9. Kayla Shapiro 53:46.02

12. Katie Miale 56:35.72

Tino's Wedding: 'This is living'

Saturday was a special day. All wedding days are special, of course. But when an alum gets married -- in this case, Mark Valentino -- and so many Forever Foxes are there, it's extra extra special. Tino was a keeper. The first-ever recipient of the Gregory Salamone Memorial Scholarship. Team captain. Steeplechase record holder. Overall good guy, great student and extremely loyal to our team and our program. It was an honor to be there to see his awesome marriage to Alexis (who's dog was in the wedding party ... see below!). Butti was the Best Man and gave a great Best Man speech, centered around the phrase "This is living" (if I am remembering is correctly, and I hope I am!). Anyway, it was a great day. Here are some photos ...

Team academic honors

Our men's and women's track teams were recognized for their overall success in the classroom, with the men garnering the 14th best team GPA and the women having the 16th best team GPA among Division 1 track teams in the country. Be Better? You bet! Here's the link on GoredFoxes.com.

Mike G's ultra hike adventure in the White Mountains

Marist Running Alum Mike Guarascio (Mike G) texted and emailed me these incredible photos and this information below several weeks ago, and I'm finally getting to post it here. Some great photos and details of an all-day hike/run in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. So much awesome terrain to cover right here in the Northeast/New England ... thanks to Mike for sharing it and for being an awesome, loyal Forever Fox. Here's his report:

Here is the summary on the "Pemigewasset (Pemi) Loop" run/hike I did recently. A link with some general info: https://www.trailrunproject.com/trail/7009842/pemi-loop

I've been running with the Runner's Alley team this year, which is a local chain of running stores in NH. A couple of the more mountain/ultra/trail oriented guys offered to take a group of local runners - 8 men and 1 woman - on this 50k run/hike which loops the Pemigewasset Wilderness and hits eight of the 4k+ foot peaks. We ran what we could, and otherwise hiked at a good clip - but also took lots of breaks to regroup, refuel (I carried and consumed 2400 calories and 2L of water with a couple refills!) and rest a bit. I ended up finishing in about 10hrs30min elapsed time, and surprisingly managed some "normal paced" miles to finish up on the flat trails at the end. For reference, one of the group leaders, a sponsored trail runner, just missed the "fastest known time" for the loop last year in about 6hrs15min. Most that hike it shoot for 2-3 days and camp out. It's a really tough loop with lots of granite, serious climbs and descents that really beat up your quads - but the views are worth it! The icing on top was soaking in the cold Pemi River afterwards. I've attached some of my favorite pics from the day below. I was wearing a Marist shirt and another hiker recognized me as a "Red Fox", so that was cool!

This was a fun way to kick off summer - something different before I start more focused training for the Chicago Marathon.

Forever Foxes in Hawaii

Thanks to Annie Gould for sharing these awesome photos of her, Ken Walshak and Lizzy Peper, who were out in Hawaii visiting Christine Coughlin. All wonderful Forever Foxes, out hiking in some serious elevation and repping their old school.

MAMs at Boilermaker

Another picture (obviously post-race) from the Boilermaker, featuring Marist Running Alum Mr. Bucket ("Dave Swift") with our friends from the Middle-Aged Machines running group in Poughkeepsie. Been coaching a long time if one of our former athletes is in a group that starts with the words "middle-aged" ... wouldn't you say? Along with Bucket, here's Neil Grencer, David Osterhoudt (part of our Hyde Park Early Birds group too!), Michel Joseph and John Mckee, who turned 55 on race day. All middle-aged. And yes, all machines.

Leading ladies on the winning trail

At Sunday’s Indian Ladder Trail Run 15km at John Boyd Thacher State Park in Voorheesville (Albany County), four Marist Running Ladies held hands and crossed the finish line together in first place. In the photo, from left: Jenna Robinson, Emily Burns, Denise Grohn, Bianca Luparello. Bianca texted me the picture and said they used it as a long run so “the time doesn’t matter.” But of course, my reporting instincts had me look it up and they were all listed together at 1:23:50 (too bad they weren’t five seconds faster, for the very logical and excellent poker hand time of 1:23:45!). So great to see various generations of Marist Running together. Jenna and Bianca are proud alums; Emily graduated in May but returns for a “bonus” fifth year of indoor and outdoor track; and Denise is a rising senior captain. Excellent stuff.

Undefeated singlet!

Thanks to 2019 alum Palmer Weimann for sending me this photo from a hot and humid race this morning in Plainville, CT (Chip's Family Restaurant 5km). Palmer won the race in 16:44 despite the conditions, and got to break out his new Alumni Racing Team singlet for the first time. Fun fact! His singlet is undefeated! Let's try to keep it that way for a few more races. Along with working on his masters in accounting, Palmer is training hard for the Hartford Marathon. It's unlikely he'll win that big race but for now, his singlet is 1-0. Neat!

Boilermaker bros

This photo is a week old, but I generally don’t blog on vacation (limited Internet, and even more limited motivation to do anything other than hang out with the family). Thanks to Omar Perez for sending me this awesome photo of him, Joel Moss and Dan Hillman from the Boilermaker 15km in Utica last week. Our boys did well. Hillman, who is from Utica, ran 55:26 (5:57 pace). Big Man Moss ran 56:06 (6:02 pace) and Omar ran 56:59 (6:07 pace). Nicely done, men! Nice singlets, too!

How hot is it?

Just getting back from our yearly Lake George vacation. It ended with this heat wave! No better place to be than by a lake when the heat index exceeds 100. How hot is it? My extended family noticed. Comments like, “wow, Pete took his shirt off to go in the lake!” and “wow, Pete actually went IN the lake!” and “wow, Pete’s not even wearing SOCKS!” … followed by, “it must be hot.” Fortunately, this is a short-lived heat wave, with more moderate weather this coming week. Nice to be back home. With all window AC units running nonstop. FYI. Photo above was pre-heat wave, as you can surmise.

July 4 road race results

Marist Running Alum Dietrich Mosel (second place, 21:05, 5:16 pace) and rising junior James Moehringer (sixth place, 21:55, 5:28 pace) both ran the Bellmore 4-mile race on July 4. For Dietrich, it was his first race back after battling injury; for Moe, he used it as a hard tempo run. In other July 4 race results, Marist Running Alum Kyle Hannafin was second at the 10th annual Arielle Newman Memorial 5-mile run on Staten Island (28:31.4). Nicely done, all!

Hotter than ...

The Fourth of July weekend is coming to a close. It finally has felt like summer around here with oppressive heat and humidity, followed by severe thunderstorms. Nothing wrong with that! Growing up, I knew an older guy who used to say, “well, now that the Fourth of July has passed, summer is almost over!” While this is somewhat of an exaggeration, there is some truth to it. As I headed out the door at 5 a.m. for my usual long/slow Sunday morning walk, it was darker than it has been. Yeah, we are losing about a minute of daylight each morning. It’s not much, but at that hour it is noticeable enough to take pause and realize that soon enough, I’ll be strapping on that damn headlamp.

Anyway. It’s still summer and we still have a lot of summer left to go. We spent the morning of the Fourth at the Hyde Park Fourth of July parade – a spectacular, truly American event. I’m extremely proud of my wife, who carried the flag as part of the Hudson Valley Alumni Corps. I was proud to be the “water boy” for the flag-carrying and drum-playing group as they marched down Route 9 in their sweaty uniforms. As I squirted their necks with cold water and handed out cold water bottles, I kept repeating my same stupid line: “Geez, it’s as hot as the Fourth of July out here!” Oh. Wait. It WAS the Fourth of July. It was barely funny the first time. After the 10^th time, it was annoying and stupid – sound familiar? I was also proud to wear this Veteran Zero shirt, in support of Marist professor Tommy Zurhellen. Tommy is a Gulf War veteran and leader of the VFW in Poughkeepsie. He’s currently walking across the country, trying to average 22 miles per day in honor and memory of the number of veterans on average who commit suicide every day, as well as raising awareness for veterans’ homelessness. We are proud to support his effort and wish him well as he slowly ambles his way back to Poughkeepsie.

Katie Miale has strong race at Owego

Congrats to racewalker Katie Miale on her strong showing on a humid Sunday morning in upstate New York. Katie continues to chase the Olympic Trials standard of 1:48:00. She was ahead of pace for a while on Sunday, but the humidity got the best of her. Coach Chuck drove up to Owego (the county seat of Tioga County!) after the team BBQ on Saturday night. He was there for the 5:30 a.m. start, cheering her on every step of the way and giving astute coaching advice to others during the race; he has become quite the racewalking expert and he is a known quantity at these events! Katie beat racewalkers who are usually ahead of her and she feels she’s in the best shape of her life. She’ll continue to crank, with the next big race the USATF Championships 10km event in Des Moines in a few weeks.

81^st annual USATF 40km racewalk championship

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Owego, NY

20km event results

3. Katie Miale 1:51:57 (with km splits)

5:36, 5:20, 5:17, 5:17, 5:16

5:25, 5:30, 5:39, 5:37, 5:49

5:44, 5:39, 6:09, 5:29, 5:54

5:51, 5:44, 5:43, 5:41, 5:29

Jenn Horner wins age group at triathlon

Congrats to Marist Track Alum and former record-setting sprinter Jenn Horner for winning her age group and placing 11^th overall in the War at the Shore Triathlon in Long Branch, NJ. Jenn finished in 2:18:18, with the following splits:

600-meter swim: 8:26

22-mile bike: 1:19:28

6-mile run: 46:34

Total: 2:18:18

Her post-race text: This might be my new hobby! I had so much fun and was surprised I was still able to run 46 for the 6-mile run.

Nicely done, Jenn!

Graham at the Hoh Rainforest

Around the same time I got the text and photos from Deedy, I got this text and photo from rising junior Graham Strzelecki, who was also out West. Pretty odd coincidence, although they were in different areas of that part of the country …

Hey Pete!  How've you been man haven't texted you for a WHILE.  Here's a photo of me running in the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park in Washington that actually has a crazy story behind it.  I was about 5 miles into the run through the beautiful trail on my own until a hiker stopped me on the side of the trail and pointed to behind a tree right next to the trail.  There was a huge black bear bigger than me less than 10 feet away from me!  It started walking towards us and we started slowly walking backwards away from it until it eventually walked away from us.  I was in SHOCK and this photo was taken by my dad a couple minutes after that happened when we crossed paths on the trail.  Pretty crazy day for just a regular run.

Butti and Deedy on the Hoh River Trail

 Got the following text and photos from Deedy, who was out West with Butti (Gregg). Look forward to seeing them, and other alums, at Tino’s wedding in a few weeks:

Here's some highlights from our backpacking trip on the Hoh River Trail in Olympic National Park. 4 day, 3nights, and 40 miles. Brought Eileen (the duck) so we could slide on the snow next to Blue Glacier. Winter ain't over yet! As I write to you I'm having a beer on the deck at Squaw Mountain. Day 82 of the ski season and more to come. Stoped at Pre's Rock and went for a run on Pre's Trail on my way here. Cya at Tino's wedding, Old Man. Best, Deedy

Mt. Washington boys

Thrilled to get this photo via text of recent alums (Toner, Drew, Tanner) and rising senior captain Elias Platanias from the summit of Mount Washington, where it clearly doesn’t look or feel like summer!

Wrigley Field boys

We had a strong alumni (and friends) representation out in Chicago at Wrigley Field, where they watched their beloved (and hapless) Mets face the Cubs. The game they were at was actually a positive result for the Mets, who have been starved for good news and good vibes of late.