Marine Corps Marathon / MCM 10K / Niagara Marathon 2014 Results

Lots of big results to report.

History will record MCM as an unseasonably warm day with big winds, but we had some great performances out on the course yesterday.

Chris Pruitt continues to astonish. This year, he moved up to Maryland, started a new career, and endured the ups and downs of Penn State football. Training largely solo, cranking 12 mile tempos alone in pre-dawn hours at the local track, Pruitt put together the best single season in Dojo history, setting new records in the 10k, 10 mile, and half marathon. He capped off a fantastic season with a 7th place finish at MCM, running 2:31 and topping a lot of guys who have considerably more time to focus on their training. Pruitt's 7th place is the highest finish ever for a Dojo runner, besting his 8th from a year ago.

We had three PRs yesterday, with Jenny Paul, Jim Moore, and Miguel Perez running faster than ever before.

Jenny ran great late, and unleashed her inner ferocious competitor, chasing down runner after runner up until the very finish. She clawed her way to a top 30 finish (29th woman), running a 3 minute personal best (3:12:20).

Jim Moore elevated his fitness to another level this season, putting together a fantastic stretch of training after healing up a broken toe. It is a testament to how far he's come that a big PR at 2:57:08 (102nd overall) seems like just a stopover to even bigger things. I've done long runs with Jim where he's pushed me to the very limit, and I've personally witnessed the things he's done in workouts, so I have no question he is going sub 2:50 pretty quick.

Miguel Perez has done a handful of workouts with us, so either this means even a few workouts can have magical effects, or the guy is just really talented. Miguel ran a 49 second PR on his way to a 2:51 marathon (52nd overall). Fortunately, I convinced him to join our JFK team in November. The scary thing is, I think he is even better as the distances get longer...

I found out Rob Wolfe was running the night before the race, but I should have figured he'd be running, since he always seems to turn up and perform well at MCM. This year, Wolfe ran 2:51, good for 57th overall at 6th in his age group (which, I believe, gets him an age group award).

Drew Killian showed some guts yesterday, running a 3:00:12. Like Jim, I have witnessed firsthand the strides that Drew has made this season.  He ran a big racing schedule this season, racking up impressive bests at the mile, 5k, 10k, and half marathon.  A relevant data point is that Drew finished in 132nd overall this year, whereas the identical time in last year's race would have resulted in a 280th place finish. Tough conditions!

Stephanie Selmer looked (and by the accounts I heard, felt) great through the halfway point, but wisely pulled the plug after it was clear things were not working quite right. Hoping for a quick recovery so she can flex her speedy talents soon!

Ryan Johnson's breakout season continued at the MCM 10k. Ryan ran 34:22 for 6th overall at the MCM 10k, as one of his final tuneups for Richmond. To borrow a phrase from Clubber Lang, I've got one prediction for anyone who finds themselves running next to this guy at Richmond: Pain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSPNQ82Sq4E

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Marine Corps Marathon wasn't the only racing happening this weekend. Last, but certainly not least, Judy headed up to the Niagara Marathon this weekend. Judy, like Miguel, only has started up workouts with the group, but she has some wheels. She finished as the second overall woman, running a near even split en route to a 3:01:16! I believe this is a big PR for Judy. Great result!