The Pacific Striders' team name and logo was officially retired, with an exclamation point! Running the last PAUSATF race under the Striders oak tree logo, the masters men's team won their FOURTH Christmas Relay in a row.

Under cool and rainy conditions, the Strider foursome of Steve Kraft, Rob Elia, Tim Keenan and Jeff Mann battled to the final leg against a tenacious Tamalpa squad. With a nice 4.5 point lead over Excelsior in the PAUSATF Masters Grand Prix, all the team needed to do was finish in 5th place or better to secure the 2009 Team Title. However.....the Striders OWN the Christmas Relay (at least we have a long-term lease) - having won the mens masters division the last three years, and four of the last five.

Steve Kraft duked it out with Tamalpan Brad O'Brien on the opening leg, with Excelsior's Dan Shore not far behind. Steve and Brad finished within strides of each other in aboutr 24:50 for the 4.474 mile loop. Second leg duties fell on relay-veteran Rob Elia, who took on Tamalpa's Wayne Best. Excelsior's top runner, Cliff Lentz, took the stick about a minute back. Rob (24:40) was able to open up a minute gap by the time he was done, with Excelsior pulling up on Tamalpa by leg's end.

The race looked well in hand at the midpoint, but the Striders last-minute fill in, Tim Keenan, who was recovering from a back spasm in last week's CIM marathon, was not in his usual killer shape. On the flip side, Tamalpa was ready to launch their top dog for leg 3 - Tim Wallen (5th master at PAUSATF XC Champs). It was Tim-on-Tim. Good Tim (Keenan) ran cautiously (5:55 pace) to ensure he would hold up the entire lap. Excelsior was out of bullets at this point, with team leader Tyler "I couldn't find a Fourth" Abbott filling the spot.

Bad Tim (Wallen) gnawed into the Strider lead with his 25:28 leg, leaving the Striders with a mere 10-15 second cushion going into the anchor leg. Excelsior was about 3 to 4 minutes down at this point, and the season GP victory looked good.

Anchor leg.....that was what was on Strider Jeff Mann's mind during warm up. During his warm up for the race, after driving down from Reno, Jeff felt a cramp in his calf. Despite having a nice lead on the second masters team, and a huge sofa-like cushion over rival Excelsior, the fat lady had not yet sung. To quote Leslie Neilson as Frank Drebin in Naked Gun 2 1/2 "It looks like the cows have come home to roost"....but we still had a bad calf out there to bring home!

To make a long story short, Jeff hammered through the leg at 5:30 pace and flew into the finish shoot as 8th overall team and first masters...ripping off his jersey Hulk Hogan style and doing the Lambeau Leap into the cheering crowd! Okay, I exaggerate....only 3 people were cheering.

Striders Win the Mug! Striders Win the Mug! Striders Win the Mug! The parade was cancelled due to rain.

Thom


Bill

CIM Photos

TWENTYSEVEN......the number of the day. Not only was this the 27th Annual running of the California International Marathon, but the temperature got into the mood too - as it was 27 degrees during the race. The Pacific Striders, in there last road race under that name, were out for bear.

Down 3.5 points to the evil Excelsior team after a dismal team showing at last-months Clarksburg 30K, the masters team needed to pull out all the stops and hope for a Hail Mary (rather than just hail, on this day). A half dozen over-40 Striders were on hand to give it there best shot at putting the team back in the hunt for the 2009 Grand Prix title. All seven members of the Clarksburg 30K team were back for more punishment, plus open runner Mokhtar Sharza. The roster included Thom "Here for the Free Bruch at the Finish Line" Trimble, Dwight "Don't Taze my Quads with 2 to go, Bro!" Smith, Jeff "Seven-minute Handicap" Teeters, Tim "Blisters, Cramps and Potty-Stop" Keenan, Joe "It's Only a marathon guys, Chill!" Schieffer, Bill "PowerGel, I don't need no stinkin PowerGel" Salacuse, Kenny "Who Killed my race photo?" Bright, Michael "Not Quite a Master" Singleton and Mokhtar" I never met a pace I didn't like" Sharza.

Prior to the start Tim , Thom and Jeff were treated to the "Elite" staging area and warming tent, set aside for....elite athletes...and we PA-comped joggers pretending to be elite. Bill Salacuse was also invited on sponsor exemption. Small talk with the Ethiopians and Russians was hard to come by, so we killed time jogging around the....elite...warmup driveway. We also made use of the 5 special...elite...porta potties, equipped with central heat and large screen TVs! (Okay I exaggerate....there were only four porta potties.

At 7 AM the starting gun went off and nearly 7,000 entrants streamed onto the course. It was still cold. Despite the slight downhill in the early miles, Teeters had backed off early race predictions by the "Online Runner Tracker" that he would hit the first 10K split in 19:05.   Hitting mile one in 6:15 and two in 12:43. Trimble and Teeters led the Strider pacing, with Smith close behind. By the 10K mark, it was Jeff out front, hitting about 6:15 pace, with Dwight then Thom about 200m back. Tim, who struggled through the 30K with a bad hammy, was taking things a bit more relaxed, as he hung to about 6:50 pace.  Kenny was shooting for a sub-3 hour result, while Bill, Mike, Joe and Mokhtar had plans to run around 7 minute pace early and see what shakes out.

Around 8 miles Tim's was surprised to find Mokhtar by his side, clicking off sub-6:50 pace, well beyond pre-race plans. Mokhtar commented that he was probably going too fast, but he felt great, and pulled away from a stunned Keenan. A couple miles later, Tim began to feel his lower back stiffen up. Not good. After stopping more than once and stretching, his back said "No Mas!" and Tim was force to drop at the half marathon mark. Mokhtar was out of sight at that point, flying through the split in a PR 1:28:21

While Tim was seeking a ride to the finish at the half way point, Kenny (1:30) Bill (1:33), Mike (1:34) and Joe (1:36) came through the half way point in fine shape. Further up the road the "Three Seniors" blasted through the 13.1 mile mark in the 1:23 range; Jeff 1:23:00, Dwight 1:23:23 and Thom 1:23:55 were first, third and fifth senior (PAUSATF) at this point. If there had been a play-by-play annoucer to cover the Strider-Excelsior masters team battle, he would have commented that the Excelsiorites had a slight advantage at this point, with their top two coming through the half in around 1:20, and their third around 1:29.

By the 20 mile mark, things had shuffled around a bit, as usually happens in a marathon. Up front Dwight (2:09:30) began to slow a bit and was passed by Thom (2:09:00). Jeff was still first for the club in 2:08:25 but also feeling a bit sluggish. For Excelsior things were not so good. While they still had a man a few minutes up on Jeff, their second master had dropped out. That would prove to be critical in the final stats.

The other Striders were having various experiences of success and failure. Kenny was still holding strong, coming through 20 in around 2:22, with Mike (2:23:30) and Bill (2:24:30) not far behind. Joe was still holding steady at around 2:29, but Mokhtar was having several bouts of leg cramps, and had slowed to 2:30 at that point; nearly 62 minutes for the last 7 miles.

At about 22 miles Thom caught and passed Jeff, and was hanging onto a small pack, hoping to maintain the 6:30 pace to the finish. Dwight closed the gap a bit on Jeff , but both were passed by pre-race Senior favorite Tim O'Roukre of Tamalpa. At the finish Thom sprinted in to break 2:49 (2:48:57) placing first in the PAUSATF Senior division, and 5th senior overall. Jeff clocked a 2:54:56 to finish 3rd in the PA, while Dwigh came in 40 seconds later in 2:55:35 ast 5th PA Senior. Those three times were good enough for 2nd in the masters division, behind a very strong Buffalo Chip team.

Excelsiors top man ran a very strong 2:44, and their second finisher was right at 3 hours. However, with the DNF of their third man, they dropped back to place about 6th in the masters category.

Kenny Bright, also a senior, was fourth man for the Striders in a solid time of 3:08, followed by 41 year old Bill Salacuse in 3:14. Joe Schieffer recorded a 3:17 to place 10th in the 55-59 division, while Mike Singleton struggled over the last 10K to finish in 3:20. Mokhtar was able to take in a load of carbs over the final miles which allowed him to finish in 3:31. Not what he had hoped for, but as he commented after the race, "A good lesson in how NOT to run a marathon". We have all been there at least once!

With only the Christmas Relays to go, the Strider Masters Men are 4.5 points up on Excelsior for first place.

Mokhtar

Kenny's and Michael's Photos Not Available yet.

For the fourth year in a row, the Pacific Striders Masters Men have dominated the team division at the PAUSATF Half Marathon Championships. The Strider team of Dwight Smith, Thom Trimble, Tim Keenan, Jeff Teeters and Fletcher Lesley scored a 20-minute victory over runner-up West Valley Joggers and Striders. With the win, the Striders moved into first place in the Masters GP, a half point ahead of Excelsior.

Unusually warm and muggy weather made the warmup easy, but slowed times somewhat.  The usual temperatures, which typically ranged in the mid-40s to low 50s, was about 20 degrees higher this year.

Dwight placed 2nd in the seniors category with a club record time of 1:17:55, shattering the old record by over 2 minutes. Thom was 4th senior in his first PA race in that division. Dwight leads the Long GP with the 30K and CIM remaining. Tim Keenan moved into 2nd place in the masters Long GP, with Trimble now 4th and Teeters 11th.

The Striders "Open" team of Michael Singleton, Bill Salacuse, Alan Dehlinger, Cal Massey and dad Rick Massey snagged the $50 third prize in that division. Rick had to be coaxed to finish the race to ensure a full 5-man squad.

Ross Franco (71) continues to write the club 70+ records with his 2:40:37 time.

Strawberry Canyon Track Club members who participated in the race included 2nd place finisher, Sam Robinson (1:10:29), David Yu (7th, 1:11:35) and Nathan Leefer (11th 1:13:27). With a couple more guys, they had a good shot at taking down WVTC for the win.

Team Results

Individual Results

MASTERS MEN
1 Pacific Striders 6:45:08 15 Points ($135)
Dwight Smith, 51 1:17:56
Thom Trimble, 50 1:20:02
Tim Keenan, 48 1:20:29
Jeff Teeters, 50 1:22:43
Fletcher Lesley, 53 1:23:58

2 West Valley Joggers & Striders 7:05:16 13.5 Points ($55)
3 New Balance Excelsior 7:40:27 12 Points
4 Buffalo Chips 8:06:39 10.5 Points

Mike

While the Strider team was struggling to score five healthy guys, the Marin Memorial Day 10K spotlight was on the Senior Men. Excellent racing conditions greated the field of over 500 runners. A large percentage of the PAUSATF's best masters and seniors were present, including most all of the top 10 from the Zippy 5K. For much of the race it was the same foursome who led both the Zippy 5K and Big Sur 5K - Chris Schille, Jeff Hongo, Jeff Mann and senior Brian Pilcher. At Zippys it was Schille taking the win by a step. At Big Sur it was Jeff Mann's turn to grab the victory by the slimmest of margins. This time, the extra 5K allow super-senior (as in Amazing Senior, not 60+) Brian Pilcher taking the masters title with a jaw-dropping time of 33:12. Schille was second in 33:19, with Hongo third. Pacific Strider Jeff Mann was in the mix early, but like 2006 back spasms forced him to drop out midway through the race.

The Strider's Dwight Smith also showed that fast does not end at 50, by not only topping the club senior record, but demolishing it. His time of 35:17 was 27 seconds under the previous club record held by Joe Schieffer since 2004. Prior to Joe breaking the record, it stood for an amazing 10 years, and was set by David Taylor in 1994 at 35:54.

Dwight ran most of the race in second place, which is actually like first place if you don't count Pilcher. But, another Tamalpa senior was shadowing him most of the way and passed him in the last mile to claim second in 35:12. Dwight placed as the number two master on the Strider team, which was led by Rob Elia's 34:29 (9th 40-49). Nearly-seniors Jeff Teeters and Thom Trimble (both 49.9) were stilllll recovering from Boston, or injuries thereof as they provided the 3 and 4 times for the squad. Joe Schieffer placed second in the 55-59 division, filling out the 5-man masters team.

Men's Photos