News and Sentinel Half Marathon - Parkersburg

[baldisbetter]

Jaron rocked the house. Great job... does this mean an easy long run tomorrow?

overall
1 1 Alene Reta, 26, Ethiopia 29:52 1:02:52 4:48
47 2 Orose Valentine, 25, Kenya 29:52 1:03:24 4:50
2 3 Reuben Chebit, 25, Kenya 30:04 1:04:19 4:55
30 4 Tesfaye Girma, 25, Ethiopia 30:04 1:04:51 4:57
3 5 Steven Crane, 26, Silver Spring, MD 31:20 1:05:32 5:00
44 6 Mohamed Awol, Ethiopia 31:02 1:05:34 5:00
28 7 Lamech Mokono, 27, Kenya 30:34 1:06:31 5:05
34 8 Erick Rotich, 25, Kenya 31:02 1:06:43 5:06
26 9 Wilson Ombui Onsare, 32, Kenya 31:16 1:08:53 5:15
20 10 Jaron Hawkins, 25, Frostburg, MD 32:26 1:09:19 5:17
12 11 Josh Ordway, 28, Fairborn, OH 32:49 1:09:26 5:18
14 12 Gideon Mutisya, 41, Eufaula, AL 32:25 1:09:32 5:18
46 13 Ryan Kienzle, 22, Canton, OH 32:02 1:09:46 5:19
18 14 Jason Pyles, 27, Huntington, WV 33:00 1:09:53 5:20
50 15 Kelele Zereu, 28, Ethiopia 32:50 1:10:19 5:22


Men 20 - 29
28 7 Lamech Mokono, 27, Kenya 30:34 1:06:31 5:05
34 8 Erick Rotich, 25, Kenya 31:02 1:06:43 5:06
20 10 Jaron Hawkins, 25, Frostburg, MD 32:26 1:09:19 5:17

[kevinspradlin]

Awesome, Jaron. And $500 to boot? Hey, beats the local 5Ks any day... It's neat to see you run at your potential, pushed with a bit of competition.

And of course there's no easy day Sunday - it's back to the grind, readying for Marine Corps!

[wvrunner]

That's a super job Jaron, on a TOUGH course. It's going to be fun seeing what you and the rest of the gang do out on the roads this fall. Keep up the great work.

[woody]

Congrats Jarron that was an awesome race!!! Looking foward to the race report.

[frojoe23]

Thanks everybody. It was a decent race. I thought that I could run a little faster going in, but it just didn't happen. I selected not to taper for this race and ended up at 120 miles for the week on six days. I actually thought about dropping out at 4 miles in because the legs just didn't feel like they were there and 9 more miles did not seem that appealing to me.

The first mile was a little slower than I wanted, but it ended up being a good thing. I was pleased with all of my miles except for the 10th. The 11th was about the same time, but there is a monster hill there and I made a big move to catch two guys and hold another one off.

From two miles until 11.5, it was basically me and a Kenyan guy (ended up being a Master's runner). On all the uphills, I would pass him and then on the flats and the downs, he would come back and gap me. By about 10k, it started to change. I couldn't keep up with him on the flats or the ups. I was starting to fall into no-man's land. He was about 5 seconds or so up on me from 7 to 11. Meanwhile, I was sitting as the 3rd American. 1st American was GONE!!! But the second American was up there and I could just barely see him. He was 24 seconds up on me at 10k and probably close to a minute at 10 miles. I thought that there was no chance of catching him and I resigned myself to just hold onto 3rd position.

I knew that the pack behind me was catching up the whole time. I could here the people at water stops cheering after I came through and the interval was getting smaller and smaller. At 10 miles, I decided to take a look and see who was coming. I figured it would be Jason Pyles and was not looking forward to racing him for a spot over the last few miles. But to my surprise, it was somebody I wanted to see even less - Josh Ordway. He was first American last year and was an Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier. Granted, he isn't in the shape that he was, but to see a savvy racer like that only about 20 meters behind you, will make you a bit scared. Knowing that he was coming for the last money spot, I knew I'd have to make some sort of attempt at a move. By 11 miles, I had just reeled in the Kenyan in front of me and when I got up to his side, he picked up the tempo. It wasn't going to be easy to pass him and the tempo kept on upping as he wouldn't give an inch. We hit the bottom of the huge hill and I decided that I had to go - and I exploded. I had to get about 10 seconds of a gap on that hill. I pushed as hard as I could up and over the top and then tried to let loose on the other side. All I could hear on the way down was the slap of the Kenyan's feet. I knew the race wasn't over and I made the sharp left turn at the bottom of the hill and to my surprise about 20 seconds ahead of me was the 2nd American.

Now, I had a race other than the guys behind me. I set my sights on reeling him in. At 12 miles, there is a 90 degree left turn and about 20 feet later there is a 90 degree right. The instructions I was given when I came through this spot were "left then turn right". I guess the guy in front of me got the same instructions, but turned left, then made a 180 and turned right, then another 180 and turned back left without leaving the intersection. As he made his final turn, he glanced back and looked like a deer in the headlights - I figured he was worried about who was coming up behind and I decided that I should really start to press for that spot. I passed him about 4 minutes out from the finish line and immediately began to switch gears because I knew Ordway was closing on me and that was the real race. I remember glancing at my watch and thinking "4 minutes to go - just another repeat on the rail/trail with Dan". That really helped me hold onto that spot. I crossed the line and was excited for my new PR, but I think I could've run a little better.

Then I spend the rest of the day being sick, but that is another story....


Splits:

Mile 1: 5:18. 95 (5:18.95)
Mile 2: 10:29.65 (5:10.70)
Mile 3: 15:49.67 (5:20.02)
Mile 4: 20:41.60 (4:51.93) - downhill
Mile 5: 25:57.41 (5:15.81)
Mile 6: 31:18.21 (5:20.80) - 10k 32:26.63
Mile 7: 36:36.37 (5:18.60)
Mile 8: 41:54.2 (5:17.83)
Mile 9: 47:12.30 (5:18.10)
Mile 10: 52:32.24 (5:19.94)
Mile 11: 58:02.79 (5:30.55)
Mile 12: 1:03:33 (5:30.54) - uphill mile
Mile 13.1: 1:09:19 (5:44.56) last 1.1, so about 5:13 last mile.

[jordan]

Hey first sweet run man...

second, I think the guy that won is the guy who changes his name and has been caught with drugs a million times. Google him. What a cheat man. He got dq'd from the peachtree 10k couple years ago because they banned him but he entered under a different name.

[Justin]

Great Race Jaron, keep it up, you're rolling with the big boys now.

As far as the winner is concerned look at this: www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=975746&page=0

[frojoe23]

Yeah, I told the guys that I thought he was that drug cheat. Kind of hurts to see him go and still collect all of this money at races. Maybe he's clean now, but do it once and you're never seen in the same light again!

[frojoe23]

Also good catch on the forum, Justin. I do remember seeing that about this time last year.