2021 College Park parkrun #2

It's nice to have a race like this every once in a while where we show up, warm up, race, cool down, and get home before noon. Meet days are great, but we learn to appreciate fall Saturdays like this when we get them.

Thank you all for being on time, and in some cases early. We got a great warmup in prior to the race and I think that was reflected in most of our performances.

As always, in blue, I have noted all athletes who set a new PR (personal record) in the cross country 5k (3.1 mile). In red, I have noted all athletes who set a new SB (season best), but not PR, in the cross country 5k. And in silver, I have noted all athletes who set a new PCB (personal course best) for the Paint Branch Trail out-and-back 5k course.

Open Race

Here are the results for all of our athletes (143 total entries in the parkrun). The number in front of each name signifies their overall place in the race. In brackets are their first mile, second mile, and last 1.1 mile splits:

2 Jayden Keels (Jr.) - 17:24 [(1) 5:16, (2) 5:46, (3.1) 6:22] PR by 2 seconds

3 Sayid Shakur (So.) - 17:31 [(1) 5:47, (2) 5:38, (3.1) 6:06] PR by 26 seconds

4 Coach Puffett '10 - 17:39 [(1) 5:20, (2) 5:46, (3.1) 6:33] PCB by 51 seconds

6 Christopher Toomer (Jr.) - 18:39 [(1) 5:50, (2) 6:22, (3.1) 6:27] PCB by 47 seconds

7 Graham Fenn (So.) - 18:41 [(1) 5:55, (2) 6:17, (3.1) 6:29]

10 Tariq Lewis (Sr.) - 19:20 [(1) 6:03, (2) 6:24, (3.1) 6:53] PR by 25 seconds

12 Hayden Walsh (Fr.) - 19:42 [(1) 6:05, (2) 6:36, (3.1) 7:01] PR by 53 seconds

13 William Jackson (Fr.) - 20:13 [(1) 6:12, (2) 6:34, (3.1) 7:27] PR by 28 seconds

18 Desmond Holt (Sr.) - 22:03 [(1) 6:54, (2) 6:53, (3.1) 8:16]

25 Austin Boynes (Sr.) - 23:50 [(1) 7:26, (2) 8:14, (3.1) 8:10] PR by 52 seconds

26 Jacob Robertson (Sr.) - 24:07 [(1) 7:27, (2) 8:23, (3.1) 8:17] PCB by 1 minute 12 seconds

27 Brendan Dougherty (Fr.) - 24:21 [(1) 7:25, (2) 8:19, (3.1) 8:37] PR by 44 seconds

29 Andrew Righi (So.) - 24:33 [(1) 7:27, (2) 8:25, (3.1) 8:41] PR by 58 seconds

30 Jackson McCormick (Sr.) - 24:34 [(1) 7:14, (2) 8:27, (3.1) 8:53] PCB by 49 seconds

37 Ian Brown (Sr.) - 25:14 [(1) 7:26, (2) 8:18, (3.1) 9:30] PR by 32 seconds

41 Maximo Legaspi (Jr.) - 25:31 [(1) 8:15, (2) 8:43, (3.1) 8:33] SB by 1 minute 45 seconds

42 Peter Brown (So.) - 26:01 [(1) 7:16, (2) 8:50, (3.1) 9:55] PCB by 2 minutes 6 seconds

81 Carter Leecost (Fr.) - 33:17 [(1) 9:00, (2) 11:21, (3.1) 12:56]

It felt great to race again this morning. The last race I entered was on October 6, 2018 at the Glory Days Grill Invitational. I ran 17:15 on that course, which had been shortened due to rain the prior week (my time converted to roughly 18:13 for a 5k that day). Last fall I ran the parkrun course before two of our three time trials; my first one was on a long course and converted to 18:34, my second was on this exact course and I ran 18:30. The only faster 5k I've run since returning to DeMatha was at the 2017 Glory Days Grill Invitational when I ran 17:25.

One cool thing about racing today was that I got to see pretty much Jayden's entire race. He laid down a serious surge shortly before the half-mile mark and very quickly put about 25 meters between us. I managed to keep that gap under control through the 2-mile mark, and while there were times when I felt like I might be cutting that gap a bit, it never amounted to anything that gave me any confidence I could actually catch up.

Last week, Jayden's time tied him for the 51st fastest 5k time for DeMatha since at least 2000. It also pulled him into a tie with Matthew Metz '18 as the 9th fastest DeMatha cross country runner in that time span. He broke both of those ties today and is within seconds of jumping several spots on both lists.

Sayid ran a great race, negative-splitting his second mile and then closing an almost-20 second gap on me to beat me in the final quarter mile. His time today ranks #56 on the school's 2000-present 5k list and makes him the 12th fastest DeMatha cross country runner since 2000. His time also gives him the 10th fastest 5k time for a DeMatha sophomore since 2000 (five of the nine ahead of him are my own times and he's within 9 seconds of one of them).

Christopher and Graham were a little off their races today, with Chris about 30 seconds off his PR and Graham about 15 seconds off his.

It's hard to single out individual athletes when everybody puts their best foot forward in a race, but I'm really excited for Tariq. The 20-minute milestone had been lingering over his head since he hit 20:15 early in his sophomore season. Now that he's broken through, he is taking off huge chunks of time and I'm really excited to see what he's going to run in three weeks.

Hayden also deserves a special notation after breaking 20 minutes for the first time! He hit a massive PR and hopefully we can now say goodbye to the 20s forever. That's always the goal when you pass a benchmark like this. Speaking of which, William is getting very close to breaking 20, as well.

Desmond was less than 10 seconds off the season-best he set last week.

Austin ran another big PR; he's been one of the hardest workers on the JV team this season. And right behind him, Jacob was a little off from where he was last week but even on an off day he is way ahead of where he started the season after taking more than a minute off his time from our first parkrun back on August 28.

Brendan and Andrew both ran very well today and it's been fun to see them learn this distance and get a better sense of how to pace themselves through it.

Ian and Max also had great runs today. The last time Ian set a PR was on this course a little less than two years ago and now he's done it again with three more weeks to try and break 25 minutes. I'm really excited to see how he finishes his senior season. And Max is now less than a minute away from the PR he set at the WCAC Championship his freshman year, which is definitely attainable in that time frame this year.

Jackson, Peter, and Carter didn't have their best races today but they've been working hard and running well all season. I have no doubt they'll all bounce back next week.

Last but not least, I'd like to congratulate the family members who ran today's parkrun! Jackson's dad ran 27:42, which is a 47-second parkrun PR! Andrew's mom ran 29:12, which is a 2-minute 12-second parkrun PR! Andrew's two younger brothers also ran today, though Julian was the only one to get an official time from the parkrun at 30:56, a great job for his first parkrun result!

Final Thoughts

Two years ago, our top six varsity runners took off an average of 14.8 seconds from their final parkrun time of the season to their Championship time. That season, we ran our final parkrun just one week before championships. We can have the discussion about whether those 15 seconds were moreso from the extra week of training kicking in or before the course is faster or a combination of the two. The bottom line is that with three weeks left until championships, everyone should feel very confident that they can take at least that much off their times, and in most cases much more than that.

Next week we are at Gunpowder Falls State Park in the Jerusalem Mill area. I'll have information out to everybody early in the week. I will also get this week's practice schedule out ASAP. I hope to be able to have a team practice Monday for those who can attend (I know transportation can be tricky on non-school days so absences will be excused for athletes who cannot make it, though everyone will still be expected to complete the workout). I will be at a wedding in Pennsylvania tomorrow and returning Monday; I know Coach Anthony will not be able to be there on Monday so depending on Coach Hoke's availability and my ETA when I leave to return from PA, I will keep everyone updated on whether practice will occur or will have to be cancelled. I appreciate everyone working with me in this rare situation of a last-minute decision and I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

"It's very hard at the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually, you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit." - George Sheehan, M.D.