What an incredible weekend of racing! This will for sure be a weekend many of our athletes will never forget! We had athletes race Ironman Maryland, Crawling Crab 1k/5k/half, Waterman’s Sprint Triathlon, North Carolina State Championship, the MACTC Draft legal Festival, Chimborazo CX race, Bryan Park CX, Kona Path 5k, Short Pump Mile, Peluso to the Bridge and Back open water swim race and some strong cross country results!
Ironman Maryland will go down as one of the most challenging days in Ironman history. Due to consistent storming the swim was canceled and bike course was altered while several miles of the run were submerged in ankle to knee deep water as well. Every EF athlete that started the race also finished! Charlene Wilhelm was 2nd in her age group at her Ironman debut. Tim Brown, David Fouse, Matt Kwarta, Jacqueline Bethel, Eric Glymph, Kelly Brit, Jack Martin, Jay Markiewicz, John Caldwell and Dawn Quicke had great races! Neil Burke, Rich Taylor, Scott Dixon, Marcus Carpenter, John McMurry, Lee White, Tina Shiver, Andrea Bovo, Cheryl Shaw, Emily Heyworth, Rachel Myers, and Ashley Gibbs all finished their first Ironman! We are so proud of each of you for such an incredible accomplishment and for pushing through an extremely tough race!
In the Crawlin Crab 1k, 5k & Half Marathon, Allyson Wolf did the triple taking 4th in her age group in the 5k, ran the 1k with daughter Ella (who needed no help from mom) and then finished a strong half marathon the following day. Monica Woodward did the 5k and half marathon with great results at both!
In the Waterman’s Sprint Triathlon, Coach Kate Fisher placed 4th overall and 1st masters. Bill Deaton was 7th overall, posting his best run of the season.
In the Waterman’s half, Allan Ng went a strong 5:21 which was super impressive when considering he was released to return to training only 3 months ago from a broken collarbone.
At the North Carolina State Triathlon Championship and Draft Legal Festival we had Jerry Bryant and our Liberty University team compete. Jerry had a great race in the NC State Championship. Our Liberty team had great results with Dillon Lesniak placing 20th, Tyler Figgins 21st, Tim Sosin 25th, Adam Williams 26th, Joel Brenny 41th, Madeline Griffin 70th, Isaak Hoffman 75th, Rachel Walters, 76th ,Caela Dunagan 85th, Johanna Schick 86th, Shannon Wade 91st,
In the Mid Atlantic Collegiate Triathlon Conference Draft Legal Festival Thomas Sonnery had an epic battle between 1st and 2nd just falling short by 3 seconds. Greg Schott was 7th, Sam Blackmon was 8th and Travis Fehr was 10th. Our men’s team was the top team in the race beating two of the best triathlon teams in the country, Navy (2nd at nationals) and Queens University (9th at nationals).
In the women’s race Megan Merryman raced against many of the top collegiate girls in the country, running herself to 5th place overall and possible qualification to the Women’s Draft Legal National Championship!
In Cyclocross news, Coleson Lindsay won the junior category at Chimborazo. Kaitlyn Yasnowsky raced her first cyclocross race at Bryan Park finishing mid pack in the women’s cat 4-5 race.
The Super 8 Cyclocross series kicked off this weekend with a fun and muddy race in Hyattsville, MD. We had 8 EF juniors out there racing, along with 2 EF adult athletes.
Racing in the Women’s Cat4 division for the first time, Anna Mihalovich was 11th and Sade’ Smith was 27th, despite a flat and 2 stops in the pit for wheel changes. Jenna Free was 4th in the Junior female U19 category, while Ava Larkin was 3rd and Sara Mihalovich was 5th in the Girls 13-14 division. Presley Evans had an awesome race and came in a close 2nd, finishing just 1 second behind the winner, and Mason Dove finished 16th in the 11-12 boys. Kai Dove and Coleson Lindsey were racing strong, but unfortunately suffered race ending mechanicals. Coach Anne sheehy was 6th and had her best finish and CX race ever, in the Masters females and Scott Evans came in 22nd in a huge Masters Men field!
Strong cross country races for Liam Savage, Ben Poling, Kieran Haug, Hannah Hall, and Carson Everman (who set a big PR!).
John Clarke raced the Peluso Open Water Bridge and Back 2.4 mile race and placed 9th overall!
Parker Albright is in Kona with her dad who is racing the Ironman World Championships and competed in the Kona Path 5k taking 2nd overall with a big PR.
The Endorphin Fitness youth had a super strong performance at the Short Pump Races Mile. Leading the way, Alex Tan took 5th overall with a 5:27 mile. We had several podium finishers in their age groups including Joshua Gray who won his age group, Liam Savage 2nd, Hadley Harlow 3rd, and Luke Craven 4th. Also strong performances from Andrea Rogerson (6th), Patrick Harlow (8th), Ethan Fraser (8th), Catherine Horner (9th), Stephen Tan (12th), Zoe Savage (16th), Aiden Hall (16th), Caroline Osenga (18th), Annika Rogerson (18th), Brody Savage (20th), Annelise Rogerson (24th), and Cannen Harlow (34th).
The youth team also raced week 2 of the Healthy Kids Running Series Richmond with amazing results. Brown Ukrop and Hazel Gillespie both won their age groups! Riggs Ukrop, Maddie Fisher, and Luke Craven all took 2nd with Hazel Gillespie and Patrick Harlow taking 3rd, Brody Savage in 4th, and Ellie Harlow, Ethan Wallace, and Colby Wallace in 5th. Also, strong performances by Caroline Donald (6th), Ian Henderson (6th), Jude Gillespie (7th), Hadley Harlow (7th), Zach Fisher (7th), Colby Harlow (7th), Austin Harlow (8th), Cannen Harlow (8th), Caleb Harlow (11th), Hattie Wells (12th), Sofia Avitable (13th), Lauren Donald (13th), and Emelia Avitable (25th).