Tuesday, December 8, 2020

2020 Dojo of Pain Invitational Marathon

An hour before dawn on Saturday, December 5, a small group of hardcore runners and volunteers gathered at Hains Point for the Dojo of Pain Invitational Marathon. The nor'easter that had dumped over an inch of rain on DC overnight had apparently exhausted itself, but it left one big puddle and howling 20 mile-per-hour winds, with gusts of over 40 miles per hour. 



The runners took off at 6:30 am, and as they rounded Hains Point and turned north, they experienced what some described as a 30-second-per-mile headwind. Some runners formed tight packs to fight the wind. Some wisely ran by effort and allowed their pace to slacken. Others said, "damn the lactic acid, full speed ahead." 


The wind took a brutal toll as the race proceeded. A number of runners DNF'ed as their paces cratered. Others decided to fight on, even as they started to record mile splits a minute or more over their goal pace. Yet a handful of superhuman runners still managed to run PRs or times within a few short minutes of their goals. 

After some dramatic back-and-forth, Austin O'Brien pulled out the win in a stellar 2:21:24, with Tyler Lyon and Blake Whalen one and two minutes back, respectively. Mike Lederhouse ran a monster negative split (after kindly pulling yours truly through the first half - see pain face below) to finish 4th in 2:26:44. 





Our own Nina Zarina took the win in a PR of 2:37:52. In better conditions, she'll be looking at low 2:30s. Ildiko Gaal, also soloed a very impressive 2:46:45 for second. 

Bobby Molson may have had the performance of the day, running 2:46:05--a monster PR for a guy who not that long ago aspired to break 3. And speaking of breaking 3, Kristen Serafin came agonizingly close in 3:00:28. 



In the half marathon, a race that was advertised only to Dojo members and our friends, Dickson Mercer of GRC and our own Jenny Paul took the wins in 1:14:37 and 1:25:11, respectively. 
Of course the biggest stars of the race were our team of volunteers who set up the course (hauling traffic cones with their Italian sports cars), handed out personal fluids to each runner, and manually timed both a full and half marathon, using three separate stopwatches in accordance with USATF rules. Also, a huge thanks to Bob Thurston, who measured our first course and then measured a new course on 24-hours notice when the National Park Service threw us a curveball. 

There has already been talk of a second edition of this race, or perhaps a half in the spring. The RD will entertain such suggestions only after he's done eating pizza and Theragunning his hamsting, which should take at least a week. 




Dojo of Pain Invitational Marathon Official Results


  1. Austin O’Brien - 2:21:24

  2. Tyler Lyon - 2:22:25

  3. Blake Whalen - 2:23:48

  4. Mike Lederhouse - 2:26:44

  5. Tyson Wieland - 2:27:08

  6. Stephen Paddock - 2:35:36

  7. Peter Falcon - 2:36:35

  8. Nina Zarina - 2:37:52 (1F)

  9. Lance Dockery - 2:44:28

  10. Bobby Molson - 2:46:05

  11. Adam Watkins - 2:46:30

  12. Ildiko Gaal - 2:46:45 (2F)

  13. Marcelo Jauregui-Volpe - 2:53:29

  14. Tim Bulat - 2:54:25

  15. Nathan Bult - 2:55:01

  16. Ed Wilson - 2:57:13

  17. Steve Monnier - 2:57:13

  18. Jon Ober - 2:59:46

  19. Kristen Serafin - 3:00:28 (3F)

  20. Michael Desmond - 3:11:56


Half Marathon Results


  1. Dickson Mercer - 1:14:37

  2. Sam Pence - 1:18:28

  3. Taylor Williamson - 1:23:03

  4. Andrew Carpenter - 1:23:08

  5. Jenny Paul - 1:25:11 (1F)

  6. Rob Olney - 1:27:18

  7. Robin Watkins - 1:27:48 (2F)

  8. Shannon Kinney - 1:28:04 (3F)

  9. Amanda Hicks - 1:32:28 (F)*

  10. Matthew Mangan - 1:39:27

  11. Michelle Behrens - 1:40:09 (4F)

  12. Camille Doom - 1:40:09 (5F)

  13. Donald Junta - 1:46:43


*Unofficial


Course Certificate Number: DC20007RT

https://www.certifiedroadraces.com/certificate/?type=m&id=710


Photos (mostly by Charlie Ban, but some by our volunteers) available here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/zujNVjsC63dJAMD6A

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Sunday, November 15, 2020

Dojo was well represented yesterday at the 11th running of the Stone Mill 50-Miler

Despite a great deal of foot-dragging by the MoCo authorities, RD Barry pulled off a great race, much to the delight of the competition-starved runners. After a crazy amount of “is that going to happen” it was a wonderful day to be involved in the running scene and see so much joy.


Ryan Johnson came in 4th overall in 7:47
Steven Andrews finished in 10:57
Rachel Greszler ran her yearly trail run to canal where Tim and the troops met her.
Kristen Serafin ran a solid 50k, before having to call it a day with an unhappy abdomen.

Bobby/Molly and Jenny/Ryan kept the RD alive, bringing breakfast and dinner

Michael, Kristen, Bobby/Molly, Jenny/Ryan, Jeff/Erica all volunteered.

Athletic Brewing provided the post-race libations. 


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Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Dojo in action at the Historic Drawbridge Half

A few members of Dojo got up very early on Saturday to drive out to the Eastern Shore for a rare opportunity to race in person at the Historic Drawbridge Half. Thick fog made for a surreal setting until the last few miles when the sun finally burned off the last of the low clouds. The race was point-to-point, and competitors started in mini-waves of ten, taking off every ten seconds. 

Jeff Redfern and Nina Zarina took the overall wins in 1:11:30 and 1:17:51, respectively. The latter was a Dojo record (albeit not quite what Nina was hoping for after her stellar 10,000 meter track race in New York a few weeks ago), and the former was a new #2 Dojo performance.


Bobby Molson also netted a huge PR of 1:18:17, which is no surprise to anyone who has seen his training lately. Julie Dickerson (1:30:15) and Molly Ritter (1:32:15) rounded out the Dojo finishers.





Like every good race, it was followed by brunch. The race was also significant as it marked the debut of the new Dojo singlets!


This will be the last tune-up for most of the team prior to the Dojo Marathon on December 5.
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Friday, May 1, 2020

Jericho Marathon 2020 Results


Jericho Marathon Results
April 12, 2020
Washington, DC
USATF Course Certificate DC1701RT   (https://www.certifiedroadraces.com/certificate/?type=l&id=DC17010RT)

Head Referee/Timer #1: Erica Fruiterman
Timer #2: Jennifer Paul
Timer #3: Ryan Aggergaard
Turnaround Referee: Barry Hauptman

Place
Name
Time
Strava Activity
1
Jeffrey Redfern
2:28:45
https://www.strava.com/activities/3288979001
2
Matthew Sarge
2:28:54
https://www.strava.com/activities/3289263961




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