PRT Women Winter and Spring Wrap-up

The women of Prado Racing Team have been busy since taking the Dirt Dog title at the end of fall in November. The women have been racing almost every weekend and competing in every distance from the 1500 meters to the marathon.

Winter Road Racing

Hilary Corno - PRs in both the half
and full marathons in 2013

Several of the women kicked off the winter season by competing in the Carlsbad Half Marathon at the end of January. Hilary Corno had the most impressive performance of the day, placing eighth among a stacked women's field and running her fastest-ever half marathon in 1:20:36. Julie Sawyer and Gina Merchant snagged top-15 finishes as well, in their big return to racing after both recovering from running-related injuries, finishing in 1:24:41 and 1:25:57, respectively. Kathy Falkenhagen rounded out the finishers from PRT, running a personal record (PR) of 1:34:41.

A few weeks later the team came together to show its pride for the North County running community by participating as a team in the Cardiff Kook 5K, spreading the love of running in Encinitas. The women started and finished the entire race together showing their strength as a team, whether it be pushing their bodies to the limits in training and racing or just coming together on a Saturday morning and supporting running in their local community. The team has no comment on the similarity of the dress of the Cardiff Kook on race day and the team's costumes for the race.

A week later Kristin Schleicher traded in the cupid wings for wings on her feet, and dominated the San Dieguito 5K, taking both the win as well as dipping below 18 minutes for the first time in the 5K for a PR of 17:52.

The women of PRT

Shortly thereafter, the team participated in the Coronado Valentines Day 10K, where a majority of the team showed up to compete. Hilary Corno again led the team, finishing in 36:14. Liz Johnson, who had joined the team only a few weeks before, rocked her new singlet with pride, coming in 2nd for PRT with a PR of 37:21. Kristin Schleicher and Samantha Espindola were the next runners in. Sam's time of 37:47 was a PR for her, and her first time dipping under 38 minutes for the 10K. She was followed by Caela Timinsky (who rocked a 38:06 despite feeling ill before the race), Julie Sawyer, Marie Schaper, Kelcie Wiemann, Nancy DiBenedetto, and Kathy Falkenhagen.

Kelcie Wiemann and Jordana Henderson after
a successful half marathon.

In one of the last races of the winter road racing season, several of PRT's women competed in the San Diego Half Marathon. Sam Espindola led the team, finishing in an impressive 1:23:56, good for a fourth-place finish and a new PR, on a course with a grueling uphill climb in the late miles of the race. Sam was followed by Kelcie Wiemann in 1:30:38 and Jordana Henderson in 1:31:41.

Marie Shaper and Julie Sawyer - mixin' it up in the 1500

Spring Track Season

With the start of spring, several ladies traded in the road flats for racing spikes, and began faster, shorter intervals around the track. Typically participating in open collegiate events, the women could be found racing almost every weekend on university tracks between San Diego and Los Angeles. After warming up their legs in Cerritos in a 1500 race, Julie Sawyer and Kristin Schleicher teamed up to take on the 5000m at the Ben Brown Invitational. Julie and Kristin placed third (17:34) and eighthh (17:45), respectively, each notching a PR for the event.

 In one of the most impressive track races of the season, Kristin Schleicher competed late at night at the coveted Mt. Sac Relays in the 10K. Competing at well past ten o'clock at night in a field of almost thirty runners, Kristin knocked almost thirty seconds off her previous PR in the distance to break 37 minutes and finish in 36:55.32. Not a bad way to wrap up her track season!

Gina Merchant and Marie Shaper - taking down collegiates!

A few nights later Julie Sawyer traveled up to Long Beach to participate in the 5K at the Long Beach Invitational. Also battling a large crowd on the track, Julie shaved fourteen seconds of her personal best on the track to finish 5th in 17:20.23.

Marie Schaper, Gina Merchant, and Julie Sawyer spent much of their track seasons tackling the 1500 meters, and even occasionally an 800 meter race. Over the course of the spring, the women have competed at San Diego State University, UCSD, UCLA, Point Loma Nazarene, Cerritos College, and CSU Stanislaus. Gina posted a PR of 4:47.49 at PLNU, while Marie posted her season best of 4:45.06 at UCLA and Julie posted her season best of 4:43.27 at PLNU.

Spring Road Racing

Kristin Schleicher - a PR Machine!

The spring road racing season kicked off with the world-famous Carlsbad 5000, a race that breaks the 5K race into age groups and draws competition from all over the country. Gina Merchant set the pace for the day, snagging a top-ten finish in the women's 30-39 race running 18:30. The rest of the PRT women competed in the women's 29-and-under race, with four women on the team breaking the 18-minute barrier. Julie Sawyer led the pack, finishing second with a PR of 17:30. Julie was closely followed by Kristin Schleicher (17:48, a road PR), Caela Timinsky (17:53, a PR), and Marie Schaper (17:56). Also finishing for PRT were Samantha Espindola (18:44), Jordana Henderson (18:53), and Kelcie Wiemann (19:32).

The PRT women also took first in the women's open team division, and several of its members, along with members of the men's PRT team, took second and third in the mixed open teams.

Liz Johnson - Always smiling!

Only days after PRT dominated in Carlsbad, Hilary Corno and Liz Johnson competed all the way across the country and the ever-prestigious Boston Marathon. We are grateful that these two members of our family were not harmed in the tragedy of the events that took place at the 2013 Boston Marathon. Before the chaos erupted, both women crossed the finish line with sub-3-hour performances and PRs in the marathon, finishing in impressive times of 2:54:35 and 2:57:18 respectively.

A strong pack of PRT women came out to compete in the Encinitas 5K, taking six of the top ten places. Hilary and Liz showed that despite having competed in the Boston Marathon only a month before, they had the speed and strength to dominate the 5K, coming in first and second, respectively. Liz even recorded a PR (17:43) for good measure. Following them were Julie Sawyer (17:47), Marie Schaper (18:08), Caela Timinisky (18:12), Jordana Henderson (19:38), and Kathy Falkenhagen, placing third, fourth, fifth, tenth, and nineteenth, respectively.

Samantha Espindola - PRs in both the Half
and Full Marathon!

Several members of PRT participated in one of the last big races of the spring season: the San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon and Half Marathon. Samantha Espindola was extremely impressive in her marathon debut, taking eighth place and clocking in at 3:04:34. She was followed by Jordana Henderson, also competing in her debut marathon, in 3:30:58. Kathy Falkenhagen competed in the half marathon and shaved even more time off the PR she had set earlier in the Carlsbad Half Marathon, finishing in 1:34:34.

Team Support

You may have noticed a few names missing from the above recap, but not including them in this post would not be a fair representation of the presence that certain women on this team have maintained. Whether it was because of the frustration of injury or the joy of pregnancy, at least one of these women, and usually more, were at every race cheering on their teammates. So a huge thanks to Darcy, Jenna, and Becki, proving that being a good teammate is more than just the trials of miles.