Comprehensive Racing: Weekly Update

///comprehensiveracing

NEWS SUMMARY

Lisa “Swim-Girl” Freed has a huge success with the Danny Oats 5k charity event with 280 participants and $5,000 raised for scholarships. Hoping for 300+ next year.
JP “Super-Speedo” takes on the top Tri age-groupers in the country and lands a solid middle of the pack finish in Tuscaloosa Alabama at the USAT National Age-Group Championships.
There’s some extra pep in Artie "The One Man Party" Gray’s step as he just misses a top 10 finish (on the long course!) at the finale of the 2010 Lynn Woods Trail series. I’ve never seen him run that fast! I’ve never seen him so slim!
Warren “Flash” McPhail lead the Comp racers with 2^nd place podium and an 8^th overall at the Fantastic Nantasket Sprint Tri.
Capt P and Iron-Jay Curry take to the podium at the Vermont 50 mi MTB as Eric “Quiet-Assassin” Whewell takes to the air (more on that and the other warriors in the race summary).
Bill “Bucketlist” Morse tacks on #49 (total marathons and ultras) to the resume with the 50k (33mi) VT50. Stone Cat in November will be milestone #50.
Kurt “Power-Machine” Schmidt shows his power as he holds on with some of the best Pro1/2/3 racers in the country at the Mayor’s Cup Crit.
Denise “Strassburg” Murphy survives the heat for a PR at the Wicked half Marathon as Mighty-John sets a new mark for himself with his first Half Marathon on a hot Indian summer day.
Scott “Wooly” Wilson lands a top 20 finish to lead the Comp Cyclocross crew at Suckerbrook Cross.
More Comp race news below.

UPCOMING TRAINING/EVENTS

Bike – Salem Cycle/comprehensiveracing Group Ride is suspended for the season. Look for us starting next April for another season of riding roads.

Run – Join the Tuesday/Thursday 5:30am 5-mile runs in Salem starting at Front Street.

Swim – No swims scheduled this weekend.

UPCOMING Tri/Du/Run RACES/EVENTS (Sept):

Oct 3^rd – Mud Sweat N’ Gears Duathlon (Ashland, MA) www.firm-racing.com

October 9^th – KONA Ironman World Championships! www.ironmanlive.com (Go Tim Go!)

Oct 10^th – Du it for Haiti Duathlon (Sutton, MA) www.firm-racing.com

Oct 10^th – Chicago Marathon (Chicago, IL) (Good Luck Neil!)

Oct 17^th – Situate Duathlon (Situate, MA) www.scituateduathlon.com

Oct 17^th – Ravenswood 4.1mi Trail Race (Gloucester, MA) www.northshoretrailseries.com

Oct 31^st – FIRM Halloween Duathlon (Wrentham, MA) www.firm-racing.com

Oct 31^st – Devils Chase 6.66 miler (Salem, MA) www.bnsfitness.com

UPCOMING Cycling RACES/EVENTS (Sept):

Oct 2^nd / 3^rd – ECV Gloucester Grand Prix UCI Cyclocross Weekend (Gloucester, MA) www.bikereg.com

Oct 9^th/10^th – Providence Cyclocross Festival UCI (Providence, RI) www.bikereg.com

Oct 6^th (Wed) – The Night Weasels Cometh Cross Race (Shrewsbury, MA)

Oct 16^th - 2nd Annual Bikeman.com Casco Bay Cross Race (Portland, ME)

Oct 30^th – Canton Cup Cross Race (Canton, MA)

Oct 31^st – Applecrest Cyclocross Championship (Hampton Falls, NH)

UPCOMING CHARITY EVENTS (Comp Mission Statement, Article IV, Participate/Donate in Charitable Events)

Tune in next week. See below for last week’s summary of the Danny Oats 5k.

(do you have a race or event coming up that you want others to get interested in? Send it so I can post it!)

RACE NEWS:

SEPT 25^{TH -} DANNY OATES MEMORIAL 5K ROAD RACE AND 2.5 K WALK (BEDFORD, MA)

(The Danny Oates Memorial Race was founded to pay tribute the beloved son of Robert and Judy Oates of Bedford, MA.)

Live from Lisa “Swim-Girl” Freed the Danny Oats Memorial 5k summary, “ It was AWESOME@!!! We had 282 participants (walkers, runners and those who didn’t’ come), and added over $5000 to the scholarship fund. It was a great day, with our top Bedford finishers all being up and coming HS Cross Country stars . That said, #2 overall was a 50 year old long time participant keeping close to the heels of the HS kid in front of him and the one gaining on him from behind! The goal for next year is 300 participants, and we CAN do it!”

This weekend in September is always tough, but hopefully we can get some Comp racers out to Bedford next year for that 300 mark. Congrats Lisa on organizing another great charity event!

Sept 25^th – 2010 Age Group National Championship Triathlon (Tuscaloosa, AL)

Haven’t heard from John Peters “JP Super-Speedo) yet (rumored to be on a world Tri tour). But from the results on the race page JP did great on the national level, finishing 14^th in age of 28, right in the middle of the top age-groupers in the country. I’m sure going from New England to Alabama heat and humidity was not easy to race in. And it looks like he shipped some of that up north as the races below will note. Congrats JP on Representing Comp and New England at the Nationals!

Sept 25^th – Wicked Half Marathon (Salem, MA)

Saturday was a hot humid Indian summer day for a half marathon. And with a course that was lacking water, support and a lot more at the finish, the runners had to dig hard to finish this one off. Dig hard is just what the Comp runners did as Denise “Strassburg” Murphy pulled off a hard fought 1:56 PR run to the wire, and Mighty-John Young , with a little help from his friends, completed his first ever half marathon run in 3:11, just off his goal. With the lack of water and water stops, this race took a lot out of all the runners. To keep herself moving and motivated, Denise sang to herself tunes of Eminem and Black Eyed Peas. For Mighty-John it was true grit and toughness, and the support of his friends (Andrea Barlow, Nancy Hatfield, and someone I’m forgetting) that ran along side him for encouragement in the final miles that gave him that adrenaline push we all need to close out a race. Congrats Denise and Mighty-John on some hard fought battles.

Sept 26^th – Vermont 50k & 50 mi Ultra Run (Windsor, VT)

The VT50 (Vermont 50 mile mountain bike and 50mi/50k Ultra Run) was a mud bowl in 2008 and 2009, and was a dust bowl in 2010. Unlike past years, this year had no water for weeks leading up to the race which allowed for some hard pack trail and a whole lot of dust and loose gravel footing for tire/foot. The race topped 500 runners for the first time ever and boasted a bike field of near 900. The race started in the pitch black pre-dawn and finished on the slopes of Ascutney Mountain. For Bill “Bucklist” Morse who had competed in the run previous years, the conditions were great and led to an impressive 6:35:00 50k run, good for 5^th in age and his 49^th completed marathon/ultra run. Hello Stone Cat trail marathon on Nov 6^th and no. 50! On the bike side, the Comp Tri road riders had to switch up the training for some trail riding over the past 5 weeks, which turned out to be just enough for the VT50 as Capt P, Capt Elmo Ironmuppet Maw, Iron-Jay Curry, Dan Super-Cooper, and Eric “Quiet-Assassin” Whewell all finished in the upper half of the field and age groups with times between 5.5 hours and 7 hours. Capt P and Iron-Jay also added some hardware to the Comp team as we took to the podium for 1^st Masters and 3^rd Veteran, respectively. All agreed, this 50 mile ride that included 8,900 feet of climbing and screaming trail descents, was nearly as challenging to the body as an Ironman, although a little lighter on the hamstrings and a lot more harder on the upper body, as fingers, hands, forearms, shoulders, traps, as they were screaming and cramping by the end of this 50 mi ride. Eric added a little extra body trauma to the list as he failed to negotiate a loose turn on a downhill, hit a tree, launch 6 ft down hill into a ditch onto his head and back. Fortunately teammate Dan Cooper was right behind to help pull Eric back up on trail, clear his mind, and get Eric back into the race. Nutrition is tough in this race as its near impossible to eat on the fly, and who wants to stop? Although like an Ironman (9,000 cal), fueling was essential as we burned near 7,000 cal to finish this race. The race did have several well stocked aid stations if you took the time to visit them. All agreed this ride rocked, the people were great, the trails were great, the scenery was fantastic at the top of climbs, and the company of other Comp riders……….priceless. Thanks Steph Cooper for support!

Sept 26^th – Mayor’s Cup Criterium (Boston, MA)

For all that witnessed and supported the Mayor’s Cup Criterium, they were not disappointed by the efforts of Comp’s Kurt “Power-Machine” Schmidt. With some of the best crit riders in the country going for $40,000 in prize money the competition was fierce and Kurt was right there in the hunt for the entire race, finishing in 39^th of 100 riders. Now that’s impressive! Now that’s power! Big Kudos to Capt Jen for coordinating volunteers and boasting the Comp name.

Sept 26^th – Funtastic Nantasket Tri #2 (Nantasket Beach, MA)

Warren “Flash” McPhail was Fantastic at Nantasket as he closed out his 2010 Tri season with an 18:21 5k run finish for a 51:06 time, good for 2^nd on the podium and 8^th overall of 468 tri racers!. Joining Flash was Seth Hanapole, and this Tri was not his last of the season as he gears up for Ironman Florida in November. Seth had a strong overall race finishing in an impressive 59:03 for 44^th overall and 4^th in age. Nantasket was a return to the multisport racing for our Hotlanta rider, Jordy Wetzel. I believe it was his first in 7 or 8 years but you wouldn’t know that from the results as he pulled off a 49^th overall and 6^th in age with a 59:29 finish. Fantastic results for our Comp threesome!

Sept 26^th – Suckerbrook Cyclocross (NH)

Suckerbrook Cross, as Matt “Lean-Mean-Machine” would probably put it (since he thinks of every cross this way) was a red-line sufferfest test of the cardio system (and tire condition) as a few riders dropped with blown tubes and tires. This race is the season opener for most and the fields were packed with nearly 100 riders in all categories. In the CAT3 race, Carey “Carebear” Murphy, typically a top 10 finisher had to settle for a mid pack finish at 43^rd after blown tire had him carrying the bike to the pit for repair and back on the course. In the CAT4 race, Scott “Wooly” Wilson continues to impress with his second top 20 finish in as many starts with a 15^th overall, followed by tough guy Matt Garceau at 63^rd and former captain Todd Crumb in 76^th of the 100 starters. To add further punishment, Todd Crumb jumped into the next race the CAT3/4 Masters along with friend-of-Comp, Shawn McCarthy. Todd was able to climb up to 68^th position in his second attempt of the day, while Shawn suffered a bigger “blow” than Carey as his tire split that led to the tube extruding and blowing, leading to a DNF with no spare on hand. Congrats to all on a fine effort.