Miranda Excels in Huntington Beach

On Sunday, March 11th, several TEAM members took to Central Park in Huntington Beach, California to start the outdoor season. The athletes were shooting for USA Olympic Trials standards, World Racewalk Cup standards and Olympic Standards. They couldnt have asked for better weather as it was a cool morning with no wind.

For the men we had Coach Tim, Nick and Bruno all shooting for different goals. Coach Tim was looking to get a good season opener before heading to the USA World Racewalk Cup Trials in a few weeks. He had no one to walk with so it ended up being a good tempo effort for him. He looked good and finished in 1:29:25 to easily win the race. Next was Nick who's plan was to try and help Rachel walk under the Olympic A standard which would then achieve him the Olympic Trials standard which is 1:36:00. In only his second 20km race ever, Nick showed that he had been working hard. Walking together through 10k, Rachel slowed down a bit and decided to drop out at 15km's. Nick was then on his own and cruised to finish 2nd in a time of 1:34:50, an Olympic Trials qualifier and a PR by 5 minutes. Bruno's plan was the same as Nick's but unfortunately he started to have hamstring problems and was forced to drop out at 17km's.

All of the girls came into the race with high hopes. This was Rachel's first chance to go for the Olympic A standard and with training going so well, she was excited for the opportunity. She went out on pace and felt good through 10km's but around 12k's she started feeling really tight and fell off the pace and decided to stop after 15km's. Maria's goal was to walk the first 10km's with Rachel and the boys but shortly after 5km's she succumbed to the pace and went through 10km's around 47:29. This however was a great time for her after coming off an injury throughout the winter and now makes her comeback. The big goal for Miranda was to walk under the Olympic B standard without giving too much of an effort since World Racewalk Cup Trials were 3 weeks away. She got into a great group with Erin Gray, Joanne Dow and Lauren and they all helped eachother get under the 1:38:00 mark. Looking smooth, Miranda finished in a time of 1:37:08, a PR by almost a minute and a super season opener. This bodes very well for her for the rest of the season! Lauren had planned on just walking 10km's to help Miranda and she managed to walk a 10km PR in the process, walking 48:35.

In the next pack of girls we had Little Rachel and Janelle. Both girls had the goal of getting under the Olympic Trials standard of 1:48:00. They had planned on walking together and they were off to a great start when Janelle couldnt hold the pace and Rachel had to kept plugging away on her own. Little Rachel managed to walk a huge PR and get under the elusive Olympic Trials standard walking a time of 1:47:45, a PR by around 7 minutes! Even though Janelle was off the standard, she managed to finish her first 20km race ever and walked a 1:53:37. Next up for the TEAM is the USA World Racewalk Cup trials on April 1st in Eugene, Oregon. Top 5 Senior men and women and top 3 Junior boys and girls will get the chance to represent the USA in Russia. The TEAM already has Rachel and Bruno selected to represent Canada and have high hopes that many more of their TEAMmates will join them. Stay tuned! TEAM (Thank you to Steve Shoemaker for all of the great photos!)

Trevor and Maria Take USA Indoor Titles

On the weekend of February 25-26th in Albuquerque, NM the TEAM took to the track at the USA Indoor T&F Championships. Representing the TEAM were Coach Tim, Trevor, Nick, Maria, Lauren, Miranda and Janelle. First up were the men and there was to be a new champion crowned since returning champion, Patrick Stroupe, did not participate this year. We knew that Trevor would be the top contender since he has been training at altitude in Colorado Springs since September and he would be much more prepared than the others who were coming from sea-level to the 4000 feet town. Right from the gun Trevor took the lead and pushed on from there, leaving everyone in his dust. He won the race in a strong 12:36, almost besting the previous meet record by a minute. Behind Trevor was the race for second and third between Coach Tim and John Nunn. It was almost another re-match after the USA 50km RW Olympic trials a month earlier. After fighting for a good half of the race, Coach Tim prevailed over John this time and was able to snag second place a good 10 seconds clear of John. His final time was 12:01. In his first appearance at a USA National Championship was Nick. Nick raced really smart and went out with some of the other men that had season's best close to his. He stayed with them for the first half and then took off pushing right till the end. He came very close to a new PR which he would have crushed had the race been at sea level. Nick finished in 4th place in a time of 12:35. Here is a video of the whole race: "> "> "> "> For the women, Maria was hoping to come back and win her third Indoor title in Albuquerque. Maria took the lead from the gun hoping to make the other women work if they wanted to try and beat her. She had Erin Gray and Lauren on her heals the whole way. They were off to a fast start going through their first kilometer in under 13 minute pace. The pace slowed a bit in the middle and then in the last kilometer Maria started to push again in hopes of losing the other girls. With one lap to go all three women were still together and it became a sprint to the finish. Maria and Erin broke away from Lauren and then it came down to the final stretch where Maria only slightly edged out Erin for the win. This was the closest and one of the most excited races of the Championship. Maria won in a time of 13:15.31 over Erin's 13:15.35. This was a new PR for Maria by 20 seconds! Coming in a very strong 3rd place was Lauren who fought the whole way. She finished in 13:21, a new PR by 18 seconds. Having an off day was Miranda but despite that she finished 4th in a time of 13:46. In 7th place to round out the TEAM was Janelle who finished in a time of 14:48 to finish up her indoor season. Here is the video of the whole race:"> "> This weekend finished up the Indoor season for the TEAM. Now we look forward to Outdoors starting with the race in Huntington Beach, California on March 11th. Stay tuned! TEAM