let's hear it

[jordan]

jaron and company... let's hear how it went

[frojoe23]

Well, it wasn't the greatest. I had been battling something all week - don't know exactly what it was. I had to take Monday off and cut Thursday very short before taking Friday off as well. But Saturday, I felt okay. I didn't feel sick or tired.

Went out hard from the start - I figured that I would take a shot and see how hard I could run. It ended up being a mistake. That kind of effort just seemed not to be in there and by 2 miles, I figured I would have a hard time the rest of the way. By 4 miles, I was starting to run over 5 minute miles - didn't happen last year until mile 7. I kept trying to push but it seemed the harder I tried, the worse it got. Last mile wasn't even at marathon pace, so not the best day in the world, but I have to be happy with the time considering the week I had.

Jeremy and Dave ran great - raced each other the whole way. I think Jeremy pulled away in Cumberland somewhere. Took about 80 seconds off his time from last year. And what can I say about Dennis - boy was he unhappy! I don't know why. Another year of being top Master's runner! Tommy decided to step up and crack that 54 minute barrier while Rob was chasing down the young bucks on a bum achilles. Oh, and Justin proved that his marathon training is paying big dividends and he's ready to go with a solid performance.

[kw]

I thought everyone looked good out there on Saturday. So nice to be a part of a hometown race again. I improved my time from last year by a whole 30 seconds.

[frojoe23]

That's great! Saw you there on Saturday, but didn't get a chance to talk. It was great weather - a perfect day. I just wish the Creamery had a better flavor of the day.

[Justin]

I think the race showed a good deep group of local runners, but I was a little disappointed with the lack of out of towners in the field.

My race went ok, I had a good pacer for 5 miles and was clipping along pretty well. After 5 I was in no man's land for a couple miles and the pounding started to set in on my body, the part on me that hurt the most during the race was my feet. I kind of determined that I'm not going to wear the Hyperspeed 2's for the marathon, or probably any race over the 10k. I then had a challenge in the last mile, but I was pretty fried and let one go, but was happy to have some competition at the end to make me bring it in faster. I am excited to be making some improvements, but there's a lot of work to do to get back to where I want to be.

I was proud to see the local guys stepping it up out there. Jaron, Jeremy, and Dave ran great. Tommy surprised me the most I think. He really went for it and it paid off with a great time. Dennis looked great as usual too. Rob really showed some guts with his injury. Tom ran a very good race for a guy who usually does better at shorter races.

I think our local marathon guys should put up some solid times this Fall. First up with Jim in Baltimore, I think he'll set the tone for the rest of us. I hope to add some depth to the area marathoners for the fall and slowly improve from there.

[wvrunner]

This years GAR was more of a local event. Right now we have a strong group in our area and it was nice to see that showcased Saturday. I know Jaron wasn't pushed or completely healthy, he ran smart. He will be ready for Marine Corps, the big races bring out the best in him.

Jeremy looked great throughout the race, I think he's going to go sub-2:40 at Marine Corps. Dave is getting stronger each week and ran strong. It's good to see Justin back at it and I hope he runs well for 26.2 also. Rob ran tough, I know his achilles has been trouble and for him to jump in and run as well as he did shows his toughness. Tommy impressed also with his performance, I know he PR'ed at 15k and 5K and maybe 10k as well.

I shoulder the blame for lack of out-of-town runners. I put some time in but not as much as I could have trying to get runners to GAR. I made many contacts (DC, Baltimore, Morgantown, Hagerstown) but it seemed as though everyone had made other commitments, were injured or just taking time off.

I do have a plan for next year. Think of this; Dan's finished his collegiate career, Woody will be healthy and in town, Jordan hopefully will put GAR on his calendar and Scott may be around. If you think of those guys racing the guys we have here and how much better they will all be next year, it should be a great race.

I'm proud to be associated with the group of runners we have right now in this area (and those that are out of town but from here). The group does a fantastic job of supporting each other and maximizing every bit of running ability they have. Good Luck to everyone with the rest of your fall racing seasons.

[Justin]

Dennis, I wasn't trying to blame anybody for lack of out of town runners, it was a tough weekend this year with the Army 10 miler the same day.

Its an exciting time for area running, and it's just going to get better with these guys finishing up their college careers and hopefully moving local and contributing. Add in Woody bouncing back for another guy in there. I know I'm excited to be part of it.

I can also think of 3-5 local guys that didn't run Saturday for various reasons.

[davetreber]

I'm not Jaron or any of our fast runners...would love to hear their stories.
For now, reflections on October 4th's GAR will come from me.
The 27th running of the Great Allegany Run, Saturday, October 4, 2008, remained a successful event, thanks to many people and organizations:
Lee Fiedler and the City of Cumberland, with both financial and human resources to make this event go well.
All of the crews of police, VFDs and EMTS who served all along the course.
Mountaineer Radio Club for communications, including getting that exact second of the start up in Mount Savage while we are on the downtown mall.
George Nolan, the best deputy director an event could have.
Belt Construction for providing 232 safety cones.
Ed Mullaney and all the Downtown Cumberland Business Association made the event shine on the Mall. The doughnuts from M&M Bakery and coffee from Mark's Daily Grind are very popular with our runners.
BSA Troop 42 in Frostburg worked a water stop.
Paul Yockus was our official starter in Mount Savage.
Dave Teter and the Masonic Temple in Mount Savage allowed runners access before the 15K.
Robert Hall and George Nolan wore many, many hats in volunteer support. George was up at 1 am getting the mile boards, tables, and water in place, and then set up all the cones.
Darrell Cavey, Kevin Spradlin and team from Tri-State Runnur for their great articles of the race, as well as GAR pictures on line at www.tristaterunnur.com.
The YMCA is our designated charity, and they also stepped forward in transporting the 15K runners to Mount Savage and directed the two-mile walk. We couldn't have done it without Shelley Minnigh and all the crew at the YMCA. A special treat race day was that Brian Held, who I’d worked with on this race in years past, came back from Kentucky where he is now a Y director, to run this race.
Vance Ishler and the Allegany County Commissioners authorized official use of the Allegheny Highlands Trail in the walk.
Gene and Chris DeHaven at Arts-n-Letters champion the GAR amongst downtown sponsors, as well as design the shirts, mugs and awards for all the entrants.
Future rock stars John and Sam Treber loaned their sound system for the awards ceremony.
Chap Richardson stood at the 5K turnaround to make sure every runner knew exactly where.
Mike Kamauff helps us at the registration tables each year, and is organized and ready to serve, both Friday night and early Saturday morning, and then throughout the race. Sylvia McCort, Randy Lowe, Amy Kiddy, Amy Patton, Will Brodie, Glenn and Anita Robinette, and Karen Treber are among the volunteers who help the GAR run smoothly.
Randy Buckle and McDonald's, for cups, cookies, orange drink and an eagerness to help out any way they could.
James Moreland and Lainey Bernstein covered our race for Washington Running Report and there is a nice article at www.runwashington.com.
Holiday Inn was gracious in their place being invaded by a swarm of runners.
Julie and Bob Courtney donate and set up the Shaklee Energy Drink for runners post-race, always the first stop for the runners after their endurance was tested on the roads.
All of the citizens who adjust their schedule to cheer on runners or wait for them to clear toward driving between Mount Savage and Cumberland, especially in the Narrows.
The following companies in our area supported the GAR – Trozzo, Lowery, Weston & Rock; Joe’s Viaduct Restaurant; First People’s Community Federal Credit Union; AES Warrior Run; Carl Belt, Inc.; McDonald’s; Western Maryland Health System; Hartley's Pizza; CBIZ; Phenix Technologies; Manhattan/Banana Leaf; Egle Nursing Home; The Law Office of Glenn Robinette, LLC; State Farm Insurance/Denny Delaney; Downtown Dollar; Manhattan Golf Gallery; Walsh, McCagh & Kellogg; Pyzano’s; Foxcraft Home Improvement; Braddock Medical Group; Standard Bank.
Thank you for your support of the Great Allegany Run. Proceeds from the GAR benefit social service programs of the YMCA.
Many others could be cited who put the “Great” in the Great Allegany Run. We want to make it better next year, among the details I am thinking about now are more volunteers out on the course, especially for traffic control at the start, and to incorporate any feedback I hear from the runners. Thank you, and see you at the 28th running of the Great Allegany Run, Saturday, October 3, 2009!

Dave Treber
Executive Director
[e-mail]

[davetreber]

Oops, I wrote this a while back and cut and pasted it in and am now reading lots of good postings on the GAR from our runners. Thanks for all your comments. Best wishes to all our runners at MCM and all the Fall races.

Dave

[kevinspradlin]

How much did the YMCA get from this year's race?

[777k]

Hawkins, Mickey and Ruckert all score fastest 15k times for best of 2008 in Washington running report results!!!