2005 200511/24/05 - Trimble Humbles American Record Holder
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On Thanksgiving Day Thom Trimble capped his impressive 2005 season with an stunning 5K victory over American Mile Record Holder Steve Scott at the San Diego Cares 5k. While Len Goldman my be the Striders version of the energizer bunny, Thom routinely displays the greatest racing range. In 2005 he recorded PA top ten masters finishes in both the short (7th) and long (4th) series in addition to fastest Strider masters times for the shortest and longest PA road races of the year (Davis mile in 4:48.9 and Clarksburg 30k in 1:53:18). On Thanksgiving Thom turned his attention to one of the greatest American distance runners in history. The San Diego Cares 5K is a flat fast downtown San Diego waterfront course. In the first half mile Steve Scott jumped to an early 30 meter lead over Thom, not surprising considering a 13:30 5k on his resume in addition to his 3:48 mile PR. By the mile mark Thom's legs had loosen up a bit after "feeling wobbly and a bit stiff after the previous days 12-hour drive (crawling thru LA at rush hour at 5-10 m.p.h.) not to mention a few late-night beers" and he cruised by Scott. Thom steadily stretched his lead until a quick 180 turn before the finish revealed Scott a full 150 meters behind. The result: A 16:45 5K, 1st place in the masters division, 10th overall (top 2 finishers sub 15 minutes) and 30 seconds in front Steve Scott. "After the race I spoke with Steve Scott for a bit. Super nice guy, and he turns 50 soon. They interviewed him just prior to the gun going off, while I stood off his right shoulder...trying not to mug for the camera"... next year the roles may be reversed with Steve Scott trying to steal Thom Trimble's TV time! (J. Lehman & UPI Wire Reports) |
11/13/05 - Masters Wrap Up Second at Clarksburg
5 Striders Earn Long GP Comps
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The Clarksburg Country Run for 2005 was actually four different runs this year. The addition of a half marathon and the return of the classic 20 miler gave this event a good kick in the pants as far as attendance was concerned. The later-starting 5K gave spectators something to watch while the other races dissappeared into the levees. While the 30K attendance was down about 30% the runners in the other two races more than made up for it. The 20 Mile race started about 15 minutes before the 30K and half marathon, and did a short 1.5 mile loop before hitting the 30K start line. The half marathoners started later with the 30K runners. So, while the field size for the 30K was much lower, the "field density" was much improved. In past 30Ks the field would spread out and the run would get very lonely at times. However, with slower 20 mile runners to catch most of the way, and half marathoners who turned around at 6.5 miles, there were runners spread all over the place, from start to finish. Perfect weather was also on hand for this race, with temperatures in the mid-50 to low 60s for much of the race, and almost no wind. Nine Striders completed the course, giving the club full Masters, Seniors and a drop-down open team. Thom Trimble, Jeff Teeters and Tim Keenan ran together for the first couple miles, with a second grouping of Striders - Mike Maguire, Craig Whichard and Joe Schieffer - not too far behind. Super-senior champ-to-be Len Goldman was biding his time further back, just needed to finish to claim his Grand Prix title. Ironman Julios Ratti and 67-year-old Ross Franco were the final two Striders in the field. As the photos in the 30K album attest, the race was made much more interesting with all of the early-starting 20 milers, and return-trip half marathoners to pass. Thom, Tim and Jeff were hanging tough with Excelsior at the halfway point, all running just under 6:10 pace (57 minutes at halfway). Mike, Joe and Craig were about 2 minutes down, but still running in close proximity. Len was further back cursing the distance with every step. Soon after the halfway point the Striders saw any chance of a team title slip away. Jeff, who had surged ahead at sub-6 pace on the outbound leg, was realizing his pacing error by the turnaround. Tim, who came into the race with a nagging knee problem, was starting to feel the pain. Both backed off to avoid more painful alternatives. Thom, on the other hand, took advantage of the lead woman (Chris Lundy) passing their pack and joined her for the return trip (thinking..."hey,this is one way to get my picture in CTRN!:) Thom picked up the pace and negative split each of the10Ks and finished as 6th master and 17th overall in 1:53:18. Tim caught Jeff around mile 15 and the two ran in together to place 9th and 10th master in just over 1:58. With those placings Thom, Jeff and Tim earned top10 places in the year-end Long GP (4th, 6th and 7th respectively). A couple minutes later, but not quite under 2 hours, was Craig Whichard. This marked Craig's first PA road race since the Memorial Day 10K. Joe Shieffer ran a 2:01:22, nearly duplicating his time from 2004, to grab the 50-59 silver medal (90 seconds behind Lloyd Stephenson). Joe also secured second in the Senior Long GP behind Lloyd. Mike Maguire, who had not raced this long in 4 years, clocked a 2:04 after stopping to stretch at least once. Len Goldman did what he needed to do and finished the race in 2:27 as 6th super senior, and win the 2005 Super Senior Long GP Title. He made it quite clear that this was NOT his favorite distance. This was the first road race that Len has not placed in the top 2 in his age group. Not too far behind was the third scoring senior for the club, Julios Ratti in 2:32. Ross Franco, whose time of 3:44 may not seem important, but it did allow the club to score an Open Men's team with Mike and Craig. Likely a top-5 placing team at that! |
09/25/05 - Goldman is Super Senior 10K National Champ
 Masters Start
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The Strider's Len Goldman became the National Champion at 10K for the 60-69 division by winning the Heritage Oaks Bank 10K in Paso Robles. Len, who has been winning most of the races he has entered finally earned his due! Not only did Len defeat all the other supers but he also topped his own club record with an amazing 38:44. That was 11 seconds off his previouis over-60 PR (set at HP this year), nearly a minute ahead of the next super senior, and over 2 minutes up on the next PAUSATF 60-plusser!
The masters men's team placed third, but was lucky just to have a full team. Four Striders ran together for the first 5K loop - Thom Trimble, Jeff Teeters, Chatham Ross, and John Lehman, with 5th man Marcus Catlett through about 90 seconds back. Thom finally pulled away over the last mile to record a 34:55 (19th), with Jeff and Chatham 9 and 15 seconds back. Joe Schieffer ran 6 minute miles to place 9th in the very deep seniors field, and 5th PA runner. Others running for the club included Malia Dinell as the lone Strider woman, Julios Ratti and Ross Franco. The Open runners, while not participating in the National Championships, were treated to a most-unique race prize format. The race was called The Fifty-Buck 10K, and for good reason. Instead of giving all the prize money to the top finishers, which were generally out-of-towners (out-of-country actually) the prize money was RANDOMLY distributed to all finishers. Each third finishers was handed a fifty dollar bill! Not bad for just making it to the chute! |
07/10/05 - Striders Win Again at Fleet Feet Mile
Martin Speeds to Super Senior Title, Masters Men Win Again
| Fred Martin was so intent on getting to the finish line of the Super Senior mile race that he forgot to slow down on his drive over, and received a speeding ticket. The speeding did not stop once Fred traded in his wheels for racing flats, as he left the rest of the 60+ field in the dust. His time of 5:26.9 put him nearly 100 yards ahead of the next competitor, who was no slouch - the Strider's Len Goldman, leader of the PA Super-Senior Grand Prix. Fred had some unfinished business to settle from last year. He was a favorite to win the title in 2004, but his anxiousness to outrun the rest of the sexagenarians resulted in an exceedingly fast early pace (2:35 at the half) that left him carrying a piano around the second half the course, and settling for a disappointing second. This year Fred took it out a little more cautiously (2:42) and easily cruised to the title in a club record time. Len Goldman took second, with Ross Franco filling out the team. The Strider Masters team ran its win streak to two with the same five guys who took the 8K title. The tone was set for the 40-plussers early as Alan Dehlinger chose to run the "B" heat and made mincemeat of the field with a 4:53.3. This is the third time (Ignatius in 2000 and Trimble in 2004) a Strider has taken the "B" title. Fellow Reno-ite Lynn Mentzer also ran with the B's and recorded a 5:14. The Masters "A" heat was run by four others Striders who duked it out with the PA's fastest and came away with times good enough for the title. Thom Trimble, Tim Keenan and John Lehman ran together for 3/4 of a mile before Trimble pulled away to place 7th in 4:48.9. Keenan and Lehman hung tough to grab 10th and 12th place in 4:52.7 and 4:54.9. Chatham Ross rounded out the team with a solid 5:05.9 time, which proved fast enough to hold off the Excelsior quintet. The fastest time of the day, and for the club in quite a while, was recorded by new-member Steve Whitelam in the Open "B" heat. Steve, who recorded a 4:43 at the Strider Classic, was looking for a sub 4:40 and came away quite satisfied. After an opening half mile of 2:22 and sitting in third place, Steve put on the jets over the second loop with a 2:15 half mile to record a 4:37.3 and 2nd place finish in the heat. Karin Kuffle and Jessica Lilie represented the Strider women. Karin placed a solid 11th in the Masters "A" heat with a 5:57.0 and Jessica cruised in with a time of 7:14.9. The Seniors again had to score a 3-man team for the second race in a row. Bill Brusher improved on his Strider Classic time with a 5:33.8, which was good for 19th place. The "Race of the Day" Award however, went to Mike Rossi, who turned 50 just weeks ago. Mike was hoping to get under 6 minutes but ran the his best race in quite a while. He negative split the course with a 2:54 - 2:47 for a total time of 5:40.0, well ahead of his expectations. The Daniel's Training appears to be paying dividends! Ironman Julios Ratti ensured a scoring team with his time of 6:24.1. |
 Mike Rossi
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06/26/05 - Masters Get First Win of Season at Shriners 8K
Martin and Schieffer grab awards
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Despite a limited turnout of Striders, the masters men's team was able to secure its first team win of the 2005 road season. The club also scored teams in the senior and super-senior division, but for the first time this year failed to have even one open runner participate. The master's women had only two of the required three members to fill out a team. Tim Keenan led the masters team for the third time in four races with his 5th place finish in that division. Tim's time of 17:16 knocked 11 seconds off his master's PR set in 2002. Chatham Ross held the team lead for just over 4 miles before getting passed by Tim with about a half mile to go. His time of 27:24 also surpassed his previous best as a master by 12 seconds. Thom Trimble and Alan Dehlinger both finished under 28 minutes as the team's 3rd and 4th scorers while John Lehman completed the team with a 28:20. The masters women were represented by Karin Kuffel who placed 18th in the masters division with a 34:22, and Malia Dinell recorded a 38:01 to pick up some masters GP points. Joe Schieffer kept himself in the thick of the Seniors Short GP with a 3rd place finish in that division. with a 29:01. He had to hold off Excelsior's Tom Berhardt and Don Paul by 4 and 9 seconds respectively. Julios Ratti (36:11) and Ken Shoop (38:01) completed the team. Fred Martin led the Supers with a 2nd place finish in that division. His time of 31:09, while just 34 seconds behind the winner, did manage to crush his previous club record of 31:34 set last year. Perry Hayden placed 3rd in that division with a 32:25 which is good enough for the #2 spot on the club record list. Ross Franco rounded out the scoring team with a 45:04. |
05/08/05 - Thirtyone Striders Get Zippy
Super Seniors Continue Dominance
 John Sun 18:01
| A record 31 Strider Pinheads showed up for the Zippy 5K in Golden Gate Park. The club was able to score complete teams in the five different divisions - masters women, open, masters, seniors and super-seniors men, with enough left over to complete a seniors "B" team. The super seniors had six men to choose from in assembling their winning team. With such deep talent they were able to drop their #2 man down to the Seniors, and still win the division. Len Goldman (18:40) and Fred Martin (19:27) went 1-2 in that divsion, with Perry Hayden placing 7th. Phil Murphy, James Buck, Ross Franco and John McDougall were the other over-60 members. Len's time tied Fred's club record set back in 2004. The Masters Women also had a plethora of depth at this race with five over-40 women (the PA requires three to score). Karin Kuffel led the contingent, placing 12th in that division with a 20:32. Malia Dinell improved on her Big Sur time to hold down the second scoring spot in 23:18 while new-member Tracy Dziedzic was the final scorer in 23:49. Ifeoma Adams set a club record for the senior division with a 25:13, with Jessica Lilie close behind in 25:23. Amy Lam was the sole open woman for the team in 26:20. The Masters Men had a VERY deep team with 11 men. Rob Elia, Thom Trimble and Tim Keenan ran closely packed through the entire race to lead the team, placing 7th, 9th and 10th, and separated by only 5 seconds. Chatham Ross, fresh off being a father for the second time, still found the legs to grab the #4 spot, just ahead of a hard-charging Jeff Teeters and John Lehman. Other non-scoring masters included a barefoot Michae Legault, Kenny Bright and Mike Rossi John, as sixth master, was placed on the men's open team, which was one of the strongest of the year. Along with John on the Open team, two actual under-40 guys contributed to the effort - Mike Singleton (17:25) and track-specialist Matt Bogdanowicz (17:27). Masters Alan Dehlinger and John Sun completed the team which placed about 5th overall. Michael Grace recorded a satisfying 20:30 for the race and then watched his mother compete in the women's 5K. The Senior men were led once again by Joe Schieffer who just got under 18 minutes to place 5th in that division. Jim Granahan, the second fastest 50-59 member, also sprinted hard to get under the 20 minute mark (19:59). Fred Martin was dropped down from the 60s team to complete the scoring "A" team. A "B" team was also scored with Julios Ratti, Nick Scotchler, Ross Franco and John McDougall. The best part about the race however was "post chute" - mountains of Krisy Kreme donuts along with bagels, bananas, yogurt and pasta to take home.
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03/05/05 - Redding or Not, Here We Come!
Striders Super Seniors Win Debut at NorCal 10 Mile
PAUSATF Grand Prix Heats Up!
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"The Older We Get, The Faster We Were!" This common Aggie-Master pre-race chant could pretty much apply to our new Striders Super Seniors team, except replace the "were" with "are" in our case. It was the debut of the Pacific Striders Road Super Seniors team, and they entered the PA fracus with style, by easiliy winning the 3-man team event going away. With temperatures in the mid-70s by the finish, the trio turned in some of the best times for the club for the 60-and-over 10 Mile Despite Len Goldman's first loss as a 60-plusser, the team went 2-3-9 to outpoint the usual Super Suspects Tamalpa and WVJS. Len, who rarely ventures beyond the safety of a 10K commented after the race "You told me about the hills, but you said nothing about the temperature and wind!" Len made a last-minute decision to run the race after learning of the participation of at least two other supers - Phil Murphy and new member Perry Hayden from Reno. The Men's Masters team had to settle for second with an incredibly tightly bunched scoring team. Despite the team consistency, they were unable to make up for Excelsior's 1-2-3 punch, including winner Dan Nelson in an amazing 53:01 under very warm conditions, with temperatures in the upper 70s. Excelsior sacrificed their senior team by dropping their 2nd man to allow the masters to win. Fred Zalokar lead the Strider masters parade into the chute with a 59:04, good for 8th master. The Striders then proceeded to place 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 16th in the over-40 division. Thom Trimble, Alan Dehlinger, Lynn Mentzer and Tim Keenan made up the scoring team, all with times between 59:16 and 60:46, which were quite impressive considering the low-80s by the finish! The Senior team had to make do after being stripped of its 60+ members. Fortunately we had 4 guys listed as 50-something to fill out a full team. Joe Schieffer, led that age-group through 8 miles before being passed by Excelsior's Lloyd Stephenson. With temperatures in the mid-80s many runners had a tough time over the last two uphill miles. Also scoring on the Seniors team were Jim Flanigan (9th), Julios Ratti and new-member Ken Shoop from Reno. The Strider Open team may have been one man short of grabbing a possible 4th place finish. Mike Singleton lead the team with a 61:31 and was followed closely by Jeff Teeters and Kevin Bruson. Fletcher Lesley, the teams 4th scorer was holding 6-minute pace through about 6 miles before pulling up with a bad foot, and walked in. Temperature in the high 80s may have also played a part in Fletchers demise. He took a bullet for the team and walk-jogged the remaining 4 miles to give the open team a chance. Temperatures were reportedly in the low to upper 90s... |
01/09/05 - Striders Second at Cal 10
Goldman Sets New 60+ Mark
 Rob Elia 56:43
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The kickoff race of the 2005 PAUSATF Road Series caught the Striders under the weather, both figuratively and literally. Half of the team was either snowed in up in Reno, injured, or sick. Nonetheless, the 2004 Masters Mens' Grand Prix champions were able to rally the forces and put a solid masters and seniors team out on Mathews Road. We also had 2/3rds of a masters womens team, and a mostly-drop-down open men's squad. The early-week predictions of rain proved only marginally right, as modest on-and-off showers, light winds and moderate temperatures greeted the starting crowd of 400. Nearly every team in the PA was represented including about 17 Striders. Karin Kuffel and Christine Chapon both made a run at the sub-70 shirts and came up just short. Karin placed 10th in the masters in 70:54, while Christine was a few places back in 71:20. Len Goldman had a great day. Not only did he win the super-seniors division but he also crushed the existing Strider over-60 record by over EIGHT minutes. While Len was over two minutes up on the next PA Super, he was only a mere 13 seconds up on a 66-year old Don Ardell, best selling wellness author and 39-min 10Ker from St. Petersburg, FL. Joe Schieffer led the seniors squad with a 2nd place finish in that division, earning a sub-60 shirt en route. Joe's time of 59:36 was only 12 seconds off his club record which he set last year. Steve Freitas was the third scoring senior on the team behind Len in 66:31, while Jim Granahan (67:51) outlegged Doug Butt (68:56) for the final scoring spot. Excelsior took the 50+ title, while WVJS were 3rd. The fastest Strider of them all, and first man on the masters team was Rob Elia in 56:43, which placed in 7th in the over-40 and #9 on the Strider masters alltime list. Jeff Teeters (58:25) finished just in front of Thom Trimble (58:41) to grab the second best time of the day, while Fletcher Lesley also earned a sub-59 shirt with his 58:56. John Lehman rounded out the scoring team in 61:09, earning his sub-30 shirt at the turnaround, then reportedly giving a bear a ride on the way back. The masters team placed second behind Excelsior The most exciting finish of the day had to be the Strider's youngest runner of the race - Michael Singleton. Mike had to put on the afterburners over the last 200m to just nip under the sub-60 time for the fabulous t-shirt. His time of 59:59 earned every stitch of that shirt (not to mention his 5:41 last mile!) |
