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.