Women's Spring Racing Report

The women of the New Balance Prado Racing Team have been busy this spring! The ladies have participated in several road races as a team, once again displaying PRT's dominance in the San Diego running community.

On March 16, the PRT women participated in the inaugural Encinitas Mile, a unique road race challenging runners to draw on their speed over the course of a one-mile out-and-back course along Vulcan Avenue in Encinitas. Runners were divided into heats, and the PRT women participated in the Elite race, the Women's Open division, as well as the Dog Mile!

In the Elite race, speedster Gina Merchant led the team finishing third in 5:13, holding off teammate Julie Sawyer, who couldn't match Gina's powerful kick. Sawyer (5:14) was followed by Kristin Schleicher (5:18) and Hilary Corno (5:23), whose performances were even more impressive given that both women are training for much longer (marathon and half marathon, respectively) races.

The PRT Women were also impressive in the Women's Open division. Sam Espinolda snagged first place in a time of 5:35, followed by teammate Nancy DiBenedetto in third (5:44), Jordana Henderson in fifth (5:45), and Kelcie Wiemann in seventh (5:49).

The entire team was honored to be part of this new and exciting event and look forward to racing the Encinitas Mile again in 2015!

Two weeks after testing their speed in the mile, the women participated in the Carlsbad 5000. Leading the team in a time of 17:33 was Hilary Corno, good enough for third in the Women's 30-39 division. She was followed closely by Kristin Schleicher (17:35, a new PR) and Sawyer (17:36). Together, the three women combined for the fastest Women's Open team, beating out the nearest competition by over a minute (scores are calculated by taking the combined time of the three women on the team). Also in the Women's 30-39 division, Gina Merchant had a breakthrough 5K race, finishing in 18:04, a huge PR!

In the Women's 29-and-Under race, Kelcie Wiemann (19:39), Sara Sanchez (19:53), and Nancy DiBenedetto (21:12) combined for a team score earning them fifth place in the Women's Open division.

In addition to the team-focused races, many PRT women have been chasing PRs in other events. One such notable performance this winter was Hilary Corno's PR in the Carlsbad Half Marathon in January, finishing in 1:19:25, which got her fifth place overall. 

Recently, Marie Schaper went big and traveled all the way to London to run the London Marathon. Her finishing time of 2:48:55 was a seven-minute PR. She was also the top American woman to finish the race and 12th overall!

Finally, Angela Moll traveled back east to participate in the Boston Marathon and finished with a PR of 2:55:44, finishing in the top 100, not an easy task at such a prestigious race!

There are still some more spring races to come, so expect future updates on more PRT New Balance PRs!

PRT Men's Spring 2014 Season

The spring season of 2014 has seen the PRT New Balance men turn in some impressive performances so far. There have been five team-focus races: the Cardiff Kook 10K, the U-T 10-20, the Encinitas Mile, the Carlsbad 5000, and the Fast Times 5K—a range of distances in which the men have excelled and demonstrated their versatility.

The Cardiff Kook Run in February, an out-and-back course that was held for the first time entirely on the 101 Coast Highway this year, always features a quick first 5K and a challenging second half coming back north. The men were led by Eduardo Mariscal (5^th place, 32:46), followed by Daniel Farmer (6^th, 33:06), Brent Varga (8^th, 33:24), Alex Phipps (9^th, 33:41), and Andy Corman (10^th, 33:52). Team captain and Masters runner Brian Culley turned in a sub-34 10K for 11^th place, beating some of the Open men in the process.

A couple of weeks later, the U-T 10-20, a new 10-miler race primarily along the coast from Del Mar and Solana Beach down to Cardiff and back, drew a strong field of elite runners with its ample prize money. The PRT men started with the non-elite field and took all three top spots (Derek Bradley, Dan Seidel, and Andy Corman). Finishing 7^th, 8^th, and 10^th were Brian Culley, Robert Verhees, and Matt Sheremeta.

Another inaugural event, this one calling on some faster-twitch muscle fibers, was held on March 16. The Encinitas Mile featured PRT men running in four of its eight heats (Masters, Open Men, Elite, and Dog Mile). In the Masters, Robert Verhees (2^nd, 4:50), Brian Culley (3^rd, 4:55), Sean Fader (5:05), and Matt Sheremeta (5:07) all turned in strong performances. Also of note was the turnout in the Elite (sub-4:40) heat: Derek Bradley (6^th, 4:31), Mike Christman (8^th, 4:33), Alex Phipps (9^th, 4:33), and Chuck McKeown (10^th, 4:38) all beat the elite standard and mixed it up with some of the top local elite runners.

A similar scenario played out at the Carlsbad 5000, one of the premier road races of the year. Masters runner Robert Verhees ran a simmering 16:25 in the early 40+ race, and in the 30-39 age group, Derek Bradley (15:28) took fifth and ran sub-15:30, which is always impressive on Carlsbad’s deceptively difficult course. Bradley was followed by Dan Seidel (15:41) and Andy Corman (15:51). In the 20-29 division, Daniel Farmer ran with this customary aggression, and finished with a team-leading time of 15:22, while new member Thomas Whitcomb ran a very solid 15:45. Chuck McKeown PR’d in the 5K, breaking 16 minutes in the process.

The Fast Times 5K in mid-April was thoroughly dominated by the men’s squad. PRT New Balance took the first eight spots, led by Daniel Farmer, who won the race in 15:29. He was followed in short order by Derek Bradley (15:36) and Alex Phipps (15:41), and then by Eduardo Mariscal, Dan Seidel, Chuck McKeown, Brent Varga, and Charlie Frishberg. On the Masters squad, Matt Sheremeta, Sean Fader, and Joel Bernard took 14^th, 15^th, and 16^th respectively.

The next team-focus race for the PRT New Balance men will be the Scripps Ranch 10K in July, a very fast loop course around Miramar Lake followed by a screaming downhill finish.