PRTC Weekly: 09/17/2018 (Rock 'n' Roll, Slack, and More)

Race Results

Philadelphia, PA: The Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon: Philadelphia was held on Sunday morning. The weather was cooler than previous years but still hot for a long race.

Josh Hibs was first in for PRTC. He broke 70 minutes and took 25th place. He set a comfortable pace (5:20 per mile) at the start before bringing it down. Josh described the race as "toasty" and a good workout. He is aiming for the Philly Marathon this November. David Choi joined Josh in representing PRTC's men's team. This was his club debut. He completed the race in 1:13:31 good for 39th place. Welcome, David and nice job!

The women's team had a strong turnout at the race as members ready for fall marathons. Christine Ramsey, preparing for Hartford, had a difficult day but as several mentioned "made a bad day look good." Chrissie ran 1:22:29 (a good time, but below expectations!). She has had a strong training cycle and surely more enjoyable races ahead of her. Irene Kalbian was pleased to set a new personal record with a 1:22:45 and take 32nd place. She is in great shape and in position to do well at the Philadelphia Marathon later this fall. Lizzie Barret (training for the Marine Corp Marathon) also ran well. She crossed the line in 1:25:59 which was good for 43rd place. Lauren Kelly missed her goal time by about a minute. She had some self-described pacing trouble, but also is coming off of 3 hard training weeks. A good result for the circumstances! Lauren will be racing the Chicago Marathon. Allison Decker finished the day for PRTC with a 1:53:33. She achieved this while pursuing her doctorate in Physical Therapy at Temple. We're excited to have Allison joining us for more runs and races this coming fall.

Results
Josh Hibbs: 1:09:09 (25th)
David Choi: 1:13:31 (39th)

Chrissie Ramsey - 1:22:29 (31st)
Irene Kalbian - 1:22:45 (32nd) *PR
Liz Barrett - 1:25:59 (43rd)
Lauren Kelly - 1:26:01 (44th)
Allison Decker - 1:53:33 (444th)

Full results here.

Berlin, Germany: Jesús Muniz picked an excellent year to make his debut at the Berlin Marathon. We were very excited to know PRTC had representation at this race as Eliud Kipchoge set a new world marathon record at an unfathomable 2:01:39! (Read more about Kipchoge's accomplishment here)

Jesús' reports it was a "great marathon with excellent crowd support" although his race did not go exactly as planned (some right foot trouble in the 2nd half). Despite this, Jesús still managed to PR by several seconds. Great job and congrats on the new PR!

Results
Jesús Muniz: 2:53:05 (894th; 96th AG)

Full results here.

Glassboro, NJ: Paul Matuszak joined his alma mater (Rowan) for some cross country fun at the Bill Fritz / Charlie Way Invitational. He placed 5th in the 8k race with a time of 26:31. He tells us it was, "An uneventful race with a forgettable result. Lackluster by all accounts." To add some color, we understand Paul arrived with Meg and kids minutes before the start. He attended to strollers and did 3 strides before the gun went off. The race ended with Paul outkicking someone to the "fake finish line" before realizing the actual finish was 50 meters away and was repassed.

To add more color, some readers may appreciate that this event was put on by the same race director that once offered prizes from the trunk of his car at an award ceremony. Paul's advice if you ever encounter this situation: "Take the laundry detergent, even if your gut tells you the jar of salsa is the best pick."

Of note: Chris Hendry of Penn Running Club and good friend of PRTC started his fall season off with a bang at the event with 3rd place and a 26:28 finish!

Results
Chris Hendry: 26:28 (3rd)
Paul Matuszak: 26:31 (5th)

Full results here.

Slack

Some administrative news: We've created a Slack account for the club. Slack is a web platform that functions as a sort of giant group text with different channels.

Anyone who signs up will be able to share workout plans, race results, photos, and find running partners. We think this will be a simpler way for us all to communicate!

The app is easy to download and more user-friendly than our email lists (which everyone should still feel free to use). We're hoping Slack takes off and may end up replacing some of our reliance on email. 28 members have already signed up! Register for our channels here so you don't miss any of our runs/events.

Upcoming Runs, Events, & Races

Tuesday: Franklin Field for track work. Arrive at 6:15 for warmup or 6:30 for the start of our workouts.
Sunday: Long run at 9:00 AM from Lloyd Hall.

September 29th, 2018: Paul Short XC Invite (Lehigh, PA)
October 7th, 2018: Delaware Distance Classic 15k (Delaware City, DE) *
October 7th, 2018: Chicago Marathon (Chicago, IL)
October 13th, 2018: Hartford Marathon (Hartford, CT)
October 13th, 2018: Jack Saint Clair XC Invite (Philadelphia, PA)
November 4th, 2018: Cooper Norcross Run the Bridge 10k (Camden, NJ) *
November 17th, 2018: Philadelphia Half Marathon (Philadelphia, PA) *
November 17th, 2018: Rothman Institute 8k (Philadelphia, PA) *
November 18th, 2018: Philadelphia Marathon (Philadelphia, PA) *
December 8th, 2018: USATF Club XC Nationals (Spokane, WA)

* Denotes USATF Mid-Atlantic Grand Prix Event

Social Media Post of the Week