Sunday, June 23, 2013

Warhill Recap

By Rick Platt

A trio of competitors, two recent graduates and one coach from Williamsburg high schools, were in the men’s lead pack for most of the 3.1 miles at the 10th annual Warhill 5K Run, held Saturday morning at the Warhill District Sports Complex in Williamsburg. They sorted themselves out shortly before the finish line at WISC, with Jamestown High School ’s Andrew Richards, 18, winning in 17:08, followed by Lafayette High School ’s Kurtis Steck, 18, in 17:12, and Lafayette High coach John Piggott, 48, of Williamsburg in 17:14.

For the women in the Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix race, Mercedes Castillo-D’Amico, 55, of Newport News held off a fast-closing Emily Honeycutt, 22, of West Point , for a one-second win, 21:01 to 21:02. Third went to Susan Hagel, 40, of Norfolk in 23:07.

Both Piggott (men 45-49) and Castillo-D’Amico (women 55-59) broke race age-group records. The event was organized by and benefited the Virginia Legacy soccer team.

[Results and pictures are here. Yesterday's course was reconfigured due to a lacross tournement at the Warhill District Sports Complex.]

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Bacon Street 5K Recap

by Rick Platt

With Williamsburg being both a tourist town and the host of many high-quality athletic events, you never know who might show up in town for competition. Saturday morning at the 18th annual Bacon Street Run for Mental Health 5K at Eastern State Hospital , two women with great credentials but recent training woes, Melissa Rittenhouse of Charlottesville and Jennifer Quarles of Williamsburg , met one ascendant runner, Mercedes Castillo-D’Amico of Newport News .


That trio went 1-2-3 in the women’s overall race, with Rittenhouse prevailing by a half minute in 19:44, with six-time Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix champion Quarles at 20:17 and Virginia state 5K and 10K record-holder (women’s 55-59 age group) Castillo-D’Amico at 20:24. Rittenhouse, 37, is a three-time Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier (2004, ’08 and ’12), who traveled to Williamsburg to cheer on two Ragged Mountain Running training partners who were competing in a Saturday triathlon in Jamestown, while Rittenhouse was doing a training race at the Mental Health event.

For the men John Piggott, 48, of Williamsburg (17:11) and Todd Kessler, 30, of Newport News (17:27) went 1-2 for the 5K, held on a warm and extremely humid morning over a mostly-flat loop course on the hospital roads. Piggott (42 points after seven races) and Kessler (38 points) are also 1-2 in the 2013 Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix series.

Rittenhouse has a marathon PR of 2:43:38 (Houston 2010), a half marathon PR of 1:16:50 and a 5K PR of 17:00, but after the 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon began having troubles. As she describes it, “I had been struggling with running and having difficulty breathing last year and kept going to the doctor, and they couldn't find anything wrong. Then last August I got sick and went to the ER and they told me I had two pulmonary embolisms and was admitted to the hospital. I have been on coumadin since then and finally just got off May 1st. I am glad I finally know the answer and hope to return to competitive running again in the next year. I have been training again for the past six months and just ran Boston in 2:54, not quite what I wanted, but I am just glad I can still run, and appreciate it so much more now.” Rittenhouse, from Sheffield , OH , now teaches at James Madison University . She attended the University of Dayton , where she was runner-up in both the track 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Atlantic-10 conference championships. This was her first visit to Williamsburg .

Quarles, 41, has also had her recent troubles, and had to take six weeks off from running due to pain from the piriformis, a tight hamstring and a tight lower back, all on her left side, which woke her up at night. Still not totally healed, she is concentrating on stretching and some yoga. Quarles explained, “I ran 30 minutes on Wednesday and 45 on Thursday, then raced today. Felt great to be racing, although the last mile was hard! I'm excited to get back to running and racing but we leave for England and Wales on the 18th for two weeks so I will have more rest time. I never stretched so my muscles are really tight. Wish I enjoyed stretching like I enjoy running.”

Castillo-D’Amico at age 55 has had a great racing year. She set the Virginia state record for women 55-59 at last December’s Sentara Sleighbell 5K (20:12), and broke it May 4th at the Walsingham Academy 5K Run (20:01). She has bettered the previous women’s 55-59 state 10K record time of 42:38 three times (41:53 at Fort Eustis 10K in March, 42:26 at Monument Avenue 10K in April, and 41:40 at May’s Elizabeth River Run 10K), but only the Monument Avenue race counts, due to problems with course certification at Ft. Eustis and the ERR (where she had the highest age-graded performance of all the runners with a national-class 88.79%). Her seven-second margin behind Quarles is her closest ever to that icon. Castillo-D’Amico also broke the only Mental Health race age-group record Saturday, her 20:24 smashing the previous mark of 22:31 by Joan Coven in 1999.

There were 82 finishers in the 5K run/walk. The event was organized by and benefited Bacon Street , which started in 1971. This year the race was sponsored by Riverside Doctor’s Hospital Williamsburg, along with Colonial Sports. Race director Sandy Fagan of Bacon Street describes the facility, “ Bacon Street is a family-focused provider for families with children living with a variety of behavioral disorders. The organization utilizes evidence-based practices to attend to the whole family, and the whole-person in addressing substance abuse, mental health issues, and adolescents with high functioning autism. Bacon Street receives no funding from government sources, and is a partner with both Williamsburg and Peninsula United Ways , the Williamsburg Community Health Foundation, and Autism Speaks.”

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Bacon Street Run for Mental Health 5K Results

By Rick Platt

18th Annual Bacon Street Run for Mental Health 5K
Eastern State Hospital , Williamsburg , Virginia
Saturday, June 8, 2013
A Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix Event
Information from Rick Platt (757-229-7375, rickplatt1@juno.com)

John Piggott, 48, of Williamsburg (17:11) and Todd Kessler, 30, of Newport News (17:27) went 1-2 in Saturday morning’s 18th annual Bacon Street Run for Mental Health 5K, held on a warm and extremely humid morning at the Eastern State Hospital road course. Piggott (42 points after seven races) and Kessler (38 points) are also 1-2 in the 2013 Colonial Road Runners Grand Prix series.


Three-time Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier Melissa Rittenhouse, 37, of Charlottesville traveled to Williamsburg with several Ragged Mountain Running training partners who were participating in the Jamestown International Triathlon that same morning. Rittenhouse won the Mental Health 5K Run in 19:44, a half minute ahead of six-time CRR Grand Prix champion Jennifer Quarles, 41, of Williamsburg (20:17), coming off a recent piriformis injury and a break from training. Virginia state women’s 55-59 age group 5K record holder, Mercedes Castillo-D’Amico, 55, of Newport News was close behind Quarles in third place with a 20:24, after setting that state record with a 20:01 at the Walsingham Academy 5K Run in early May.82 finishers in 5K run/walk.

** Age group record (5-year age groups)

Men Overall
1. John Piggott, 48 Williamsburg 17:11
2. Todd Kessler, 30 Newport News 17:27
3. Stephen Chantry, 58 Williamsburg 18:17

Women Overall
1. Melissa Rittenhouse, 37 Charlottesville 19:44
2. Jennifer Quarles, 41 Williamsburg 20:17
**3. Mercedes Castillo-D’Amico, 55 Newport News 20:24

Men 19-and-under
1. Justin Adams, 15 Bohannon 19:06
2. Brian McManus, 17 Williamsburg 19:12
3. Mason Scott, 16 Williamsburg 19:37
4. Levi Rees, 16 Williamsburg 19:39
5. Paul Glass, 11 Williamsburg 23:28
6. Glenn Glass, 9 Williamsburg 28:14
7. Bryant Mansfield, 8 Cataula, GA 29:53

Men 20-24
none

Men 25-29
1. Ryan Doupe, 27 Newport News 18:37
2. Joshua Miller, 26 Williamsburg 27:55
3. Brice Jenne, 29 Raleigh, NC 29:05
4. Daniel Gunn, 29 Newport News 46:12

Men 30-34
1. Mathew Cheruiyot, 33 Williamsburg 19:24
2. Peter Grabowski, 30 Lanexa 19:35
3. Jodi Chang, 32 Norfolk 46:13

Men 35-39
1. Kyle Henneman, 37 Shrewsbury , PA 23:21
2. Robert Peters, 35 Cataula, GA 25:27

Men 40-44
1. Chris Robertson, 40 Williamsburg 21:25
2. Kevin Clauberg, 44 Williamsburg 22:09
3. David Glass, 41 Williamsburg 24:39

Men 45-49
1. Paul Pelletier, 47 Williamsburg 18:46
2. Gary Rauchfoss, 46 Williamsburg 24:52
3. Bradley Smith, 47 Chesterfield 30:48

Men 50-54
1. David Dempsey, 50 Chester 20:40
2. Andrew D’Amico, 52 Newport News 21:58

Men 55-59
1. Will Murray , 57 Williamsburg 20:13
2. Wyatt Cutchins, 57 Newport News 21:12
3. Gary Honeman, 58 Westminster , MD 23:55
4. Jim Gullo, 58 Williamsburg 25:54
5. David Lewis, 55 Gloucester Point 26:33

Men 60-64
1. George Carrigan, 64 Williamsburg 22:35
2. Rick Platt, 62 Williamsburg 22:46
3. Ed Irish, 63 Williamsburg 26:24
4. Jimmy Blount, 62 Williamsburg 28:24
5. Robert Garcia, 63 Williamsburg 29:44

Men 65-69
1. William Sharer, 66 Williamsburg 24:56
2. Randy Hawthorne, 67 Williamsburg 26:40
3. Robert Wilson, 65 Toano 26:48
4. Larry Arata, 68 Williamsburg 28:21

Men 70-and-over
1. Richard Maruyama, 71 Yorktown 29:51
2. Chris Scheiderer, 72 Williamsburg 34:39

Men Walk
1. Tom Gerhardt, 62 Chesapeake 31:12
2. Bob Curtin, Jr., 60 Hampton 41:02
3. John Strassberger, 69 Williamsburg 45:39

Women 19-and-under
1. Shannon Crist, 16 Lanexa 31:50

Women 20-24
none

Women 25-29
1. Kelly Jenne, 28 Raleigh, NC 29:16
2. Karen Grabowski, 29 Lanexa 29:57
3. Courtney Harwood, 29 Gloucester 32:43

Women 30-34
1. Jami Brayton, 31 Williamsburg 23:23
2. Holly Klenk, 33 Williamsburg 28:58
3. Hazel Ebalo, 30 Newport News 32:25

Women 35-39
1. Nicole Carson, 39 Williamsburg 20:59
2. Jeanette Primich, 36 Williamsburg 23:54
3. Michelle Peters, 39 Cataula, GA 24:13
4. Sarah Love, 36 Yorktown 44:11
5. Annie Wallner, 37 Newport News 44:17

Women 40-44
1. Elizabeth Ransom, 40 Toano 21:31

Women 45-49
1. Debbie McLaughlin, 47 Williamsburg 20:46
2. Terri Lensenmayer, 45 Williamsburg 38:03
3. Amy Colley, 47 Williamsburg 38:04

Women 50-54
1. Laura Shannon, 50 Williamsburg 23:24
2. Sheri Mann, 51 Yorktown 23:45
3. Christine Schaffner, 50 Yorktown 24:23
4. Norma Phillips, 52 Williamsburg 25:12

Women 55-59
1. Rose Crist, 58 Lanexa 23:51
2. Harriet McCoy, 58 Toano 24:56
3. Thea Ganoe, 55 Hampton 25:35

Women 60-64
1. Louise Sharer, 61 Williamsburg 25:39
2. Patricia Travis, 62 Williamsburg 27:58
3. Brenda Mitchell, 62 Williamsburg 28:40

Women 65-69
none

Women 70-and-over
1. Joan Coven, 72 West Point 25:55
2. Ann Manciagli, 77 Williamsburg 40:36

Women Walk
1. Nancy Kravitz, 59 Williamsburg 37:25
2. Sylvia Garcia, 60 Williamsburg 40:47
3. Martha Gullo, 60 Williamsburg 40:56
4. Peggy Lewis, 57 Gloucester Point 45:33
5. Mary Rauchfuss, 53 Williamsburg 47:01

Unclaimed Awards – If you were not able to pick up your race award at the awards ceremony, those awards will be brought to the next Colonial Road Runners race, the Warhill 5K Run on Saturday, June 22nd at the Warhill District Sports Complex in Williamsburg . CRR entry forms at www.colonialroadrunners.org, or at Colonial Sports ( 513 Prince George St. , Williamsburg ). Or contact Rick Platt by email at: rickplatt1@juno.com, to arrange pickup of your race award.