Donnie Cowart traveled back to the Armory to compete in the men’s open 1500m at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational held in New York, New York. Cowart was aggressive early on and sat right behind the rabbit for the first half of the race. Once the pacer stepped off the track, Donnie led the rest of the race until Brian Gagnon passed him in the final 100 meters. Cowart’s second place time of 3:41.73 bested his previous record of 3:43.56 set last year outdoors at the North Carolina A & T Meet. A video of the meet can be found below, skip ahead to 3:54:30 to see the race.

Results: 2012 NB Collegiate Invitational

Video: New Balance Collegiate Invitational – Saturday Afternoon

Donald Cowart traveled to New York, New York to compete at the Great Dane Classic held at the Armory. The race was fast and competitive this time of year, with the top four under 4:05 and less than a second and a half between them. Cowart was leading until the final straightaway but was passed at the end, finishing in 2nd in a time of 4:02.92. This race was a great rust buster for Donnie and prepares him well for another competitive mile at the Armory in two weeks. Results can be found below.

Results: 2012 Great Dane Classic

Louise Knudson and Melissa Rittenhouse toed the line at the Olympic Marathon Trials held in Houston, Texas. Although  Knudson and Rittenhouse had subpar days on the road, both gutted it out and finished the best they could on that day. Louise finished in 2:49:00 for 114th place and Melissa crossed the line in 2:49:40 for 120th place. For Rittenhouse this was her third appearance at the Olympic Marathon Trials, a very impressive accomplishment showing consistent excellence for over a decade. For Knudson this was her first trip to the trials and a positive experience for the coming years. Congratulations to both women for hitting the standard and representing RMR well in Houston.

Results: 2012 Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials

Donnie Cowart, new RMR harrier Kent Pecora, Lee Gabler, Louise Knudson, Melissa Rittenhouse, Julia Webb, Sallie Ford, and Ann Mazur all competed in Richmond, Virginia this past weekend.

Cowart (left) takes home the victory

Cowart, Pecora, Gabler, Knudson, and Rittenhouse toed the line in the HCA Virginia 8k. Cowart hit the final straight away neck and neck with Julius Kogo and battled him all of the way to the line. Cowart was able to hold Kogo off in the end by the slimmest of margins (officially 22:56.20 to 22:56.26) to get the win. This was another big PR for Cowart as he ran 23:25 in the same race last year for 5th. Kent Pecora, making his RMR debut, ran an 8k PR of 24:32, good enough for 10th place. Lee Gabler, who was also making his RMR debut, finished 14th overall in a time of 25:28. Knudson and Rittenhouse, both of whom are training for the marathon Olympic Trials in January, ran personal bests. Knudson finished in 28:57 and Rittenhouse finished in 29:59, placing 7th and 8th respectively.

Webb, Ford, and Mazur competed in the McDonald’s Half Marathon. Webb and Ford ran solid races, placing 4th and 5th overall running 1:20:17 and 1:20:40. Mazur, competing in her second half marathon, ran 1:23:22, good enough for 7th place overall.

Last but not least, two integral members of the RMR family competed in the SunTrust Marathon. RMR distance coach Dana Thiele ran her first marathon “post-Alex” and placed 10th overall in a time of 3:06:13. RMR ball class and yoga expert Heidi Johnson was able to overcome numb and burning feet and still qualify for Boston, running 3:38:11. Results for all three races can be found below.

Results: 2011 Richmond 8k, Half and Full Marathon

Cowart (left, USA) down the stretch

Donnie Cowart donned the red, white, and blue and represented the USA at the Pan American Games held in Guadalajara, Mexico. With the heat, humidity, and altitude, the race became a tactical affair with five guys in contention for the win with a lap to go. Cowart held back a bit then turned it on in the final 200. Cowart came up just a bit short of medaling, finishing 4th in 8:49.97, just 0.24 seconds behind 3rd. Donnie will now take some down time before he begins his build up for the Olympic trials next summer. Results and video of the race can be found below.

Results: 2011 Pan American Games

Video: Pan Am 3000m steeplechase

Julia Webb, Sallie Ford, and Ann Mazur traveled to Boston, Massachusetts to compete in the TUFTS Health Plan 10K for Women. It was unseasonably warm for this race, with temperatures in the mid 80s for the noon start time. With the potential of fast times burned up by the heat, the RMR women focused on placing well as this race was the USA Women’s 10K Championship. Webb finished 33rd running 37:01 and Ford stopped the clock in 37:38 for 39th. Mazur had a strong last mile pacing five women to place 43rd and finished in a time of 38:06. Results can be found below.

Results: 2011 TUFTS Health Plan 10K for Women

Charlie Hurt and Sarah Breevoort toed the line at the Chicago Marathon on a warm fall day in Chicago, Illinois. Both RMR harriers ran their first half marathon intelligently but struggled the second half of the race as temperatures rose throughout the morning. Hurt finished in a time of 2:36:39 for 120th place and Breevoort finished in 3:03:47, good enough for 118th place. Results can be found below.

Results: 2011 Chicago Marathon

After the race (Webb, Ford, Cowart, and Mazur left to right).

Donnie Cowart, Sallie Ford, Julia Webb, and Ann Mazur traveled to Lynchburg, Virginia to compete in the Virginia 10 Miler and the Virginia 4 Miler. Ford ran the 10 Miler, finishing in 61:54 and beating her time from last year by 30 seconds. Even though Sallie cramped up a bit midrace, she was able to pass three women in the last two miles up the infamous farm basket hill and finished 7th overall (2nd American) in the highly competitive field.

Cowart, Webb, and Mazur competed in the 4 miler which started only 7 minutes after the 10 miler. After weaving through the 10 mile crowd, Donnie was able to pull away comfortably and win the race in 19:44. Julia and Ann ran well and placed 1st and 2nd overall (3rd and 4th overall counting the men). Julia ran 23:27, only 16 seconds off the course record, and Ann ran 23:55, dipping under six minutes per mile on the tough four mile course. Results can be found below.

Results: 2011 Virginia 10 and 4 Miler

Cowart (crouching behind the flag) celebrating with Team USA

Donnie Cowart was selected to represent the United States at the Great North City Games in Newcastle Gatehead, England. Cowart competed in the road mile with USA teammates Bernard Lagat and Kyle Miller. Cowart placed 6th in 4:14.19. This race came after some downtime for Donnie as he is currently gearing up to compete for the USA again at the Pan American Games (October 14th-30th) in the steeplechase. Team USA ended up winning the competition 7-3 over Great Britain. Full results with a recap of all events can be found below.

Results: 2011 Great North City Games

Seth Hutchinson, Thomas Adam, Sarah Breevoort, and Ann Mazur traveled to New Haven, Conneticut to compete in the US 20k Championships. With warm and humid conditions, the focus of the race was more on place than time. Adam placed 25th overall, running 1:07:53. Breevoort also placed 25th female, finishing in a time of 1:19:20 and Mazur ran 1:20:48, good enough for 30th female. Hutchinson battled some injury issues and ran easy the second half of the race. Results can be found below.

Results: 2011 New Haven Road Race 20k/USA 20k Championships