From gravy to ham and dirt to mud to trail; the Square State Striders demonstrated dominance in all disciplines, be it running, sitting there just driving , all the way to throwing a spear at an unknown destination beyond the edge of a cropped photo. Lets hear what the squad had to say about their efforts.
Sam Wood found a way to make 100 mile ultra marathons look like a pleasant alternative option.
"I won the Spartan Race Central Florida Beast Elite (women's race). Then I quit running and became an amatuer skier.
Won the Chicago Hyrox Women’s GoRuck division. I also ran on our women’s >40 team relay & we placed 2nd. I have otherwise barely exercised the month of November
Spartan Beast Central Florida was about 14-miles of swamp/mud with both standardized obstacles (such as monkey bars & walls to scale) & ¡surprise! obstacles (such as tall grass that requires high-knee running, gators/snakes, & definitely flesh-eating bacteria). Think of a Spartan race a little like a “Final Destination“ movie where the whole premise is trying not to die. I raced for the All-Guard Endurance team winning the women’s Elite race and doing the course faster than all but 3 Elite males as well. It was great! But was it?
Congrats Sam, hope you won some antibiotics.
Gerald Romero continued his endurance feat of racing. My current hunch is that this is some sort of money laundering scheme, signing up for all these races. We're onto you Gerald! But also proud!
11/4/2023-- backcountry wilderness half marathon - lonetree 23rd overall 1:38:31 2nd place 50-11/5/2023-- canya canon 4.2 mile-- columbine trail too Helen hunt falls 2nd overall
11/18/2023-- dead horse 15k- mad moose -- 4th overall 1st master
Thanksgiving morning-- Turkey trot 5k 44th overall 1st 50-54 19:26
December 3rd-- rock canyon half marathon, Pueblo , Colorado. 10th overall , 1st-50-59 and 1st master
Honolulu marathon-- Oahu--- the merry mile-- 5:37
Honolulu marathon-- me and Kari both ate something bad the night before and we didn't feel good. I just stayed with her and we ran together. nothing competitive. time and place was irrelevant. we crossed the finish line in 6:38 and got our medals.
Sorry about the tummy troubles. And everyone else don't hesitate to contact the FBI Tip Line.
Andy Sherwood scoped out some retirement options for his PARA inheritance down in Arizona at the Nike NXN Southwest XC race.
"18:59 at sea level. Nike Southwest regional. Not bad But the best was the Strava friends I made along the way. Especially that hypochondriac/crypto bro who was right behind me. "
Adam Rich took it easy and did only , let me check my notes, 7 races in the last 8 weeks.
Here's the tape on Adam's end of year.
Ok here are the ones since November 1st:
November 4th City Park 5k 15:35 for 1st
November 12th The Great Candy Run 16:05 (3.17 miles) for 2nd
November 18th Pumpkin Pie 5k 16:04 for 1st
November 23rd Turkey Trott Rock 5k Castle Rock 15:55 for 4th, lost to three college kids...lol
December 3rd Rudloph's Ramble 5k (Cold, snowy course) 16:10 for 1st
December 9th Jungle Jog 5k (Well the course had 4-5" of snow, ice so not a fast one at all) 18:02 for 1st
December 16th Santas Dash for Cash (No money was given out!!!) 15:49 for 1st
Lars Heckman, STRAVA globetrotter, made sure to leave his Turkey trot mark where the whole world could see, in southwest Minnesota.
After satisfying myself with a Masters PR in my home park race in early November, I thought I'd hang up the carbon soles until next year. Alas, is wasn't to be, as inviting myself to crash my friends Thanksgiving in Minnesota prior to a work trip came with a condition: I had to show my stuff in a Turkey Trot he was self proclaimed chairman for. As I tried to stay ahead of the surge of nearly 1200 people in this mass start, i found myself next to some guy wearing a turkey suit. As i was pretty sure he wasn't the guy from The Athlete Special, I knew I'd never be able to look myself in the mirror if i got beat by some cosplay casual runner. With the turkey guy behind me, I could now concentrate on what i do best, paying attention to my watch. I noticed the splits were coming in much faster than I'm accustomed to and then it dawned on me... Aaaaah Sea Level... sea level sea level sea level. You can say it so many times and it just keeps sounding better. Powered through the finish in 19:05, good enough for 2nd in age group and fast enough to justify a pair of real racers. Watch your back 18's.
Fresh off a vigorous XC season, Logan Wealing and Sarah Blakeslee, decided to cross the border and to buy some steeply discounted Aleve from our number one economic trading partner.
Not a ‘race’ in the traditional sense, but we did stretch the mog’s new legs a bit over Christmas and road-tripped to Big Bend NP (~1700 miles). Got to see some gorgeous dessert scenery, hot springs, and even took a 20 second ‘ferry’ ride across the Rio Grande into Boquillas, Mexico for lunch.
Tom Caughlan (20:40), Jon Teisher (20:18), and Jeff Mohrmann (21:06), also completed the Briargate Turkey Trot.
I received the following race reports:
"Just like Colleen De Reuck, still faster than Tom."
