Oct 1st Team RED - 6:30pm

Reminder: Team RED kicks off at 6:30pm from the new location of the Bears Den on Thursday Oct 1st. Routes are posted on the right hand column of this blog. Bears Den pictured behind the handsome fella.

Go Long. Go Short. Have Fun!

Fast Performances!

Congratulations to Paul Melby and Matt Schrader! Each turned in excellent results in races this weekend!

Paul PR'd in the 5K with a time of 18:34 (that's 5:58 per mile!) Matt notched a PR in the Half Marathon, nailing a 1:22:43! That's 6 minutes faster then his previous best! Way to go guys! You're cruisin'!

Good luck to those of you with upcoming marathons. Team RED members that I'm aware are marathoning this weekend include, Tom Woo, Jim Raasch and myself running the St George Marathon, while Al Jorgensen is heading to the Twin Cities Marathon. The following weekend, Paul Melby (and possibly one other) goes to Whistlestop in Ashland WI. Let me know if I missed anyone on this list.

The Show

Team RED members ran well at last weeks Mayo Open 5K. I highly recommend this race for your 2010 calendar. Results can be found at http://rochestertrackclub.com/Results/Results-Detail.aspx?resultsID=176

Extra kudos to Jim Mason and Matt Schrader, they ran this tough course less then a week after completing a grueling trail marathon! Power power power.. way to go guys!

Reminder: Tonight Team RED

Reminder: Tonights Team RED is at 6:30pm, starting and finishing at the Legion in Byron. The new Bears Den opens tomorrow, so next week we'll be back at the Den!

Thank You from Roch Half!

We received a nice Thank You card today from the Rochester Track Club's Jean Murray, one of the organizers of the Rochester Half Marathon & 5K. I thought I'd share the note here:
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Dear Tom and all the Team Red volunteers who helped us out at the Rochester Half Marathon this year.

THANK YOU!

Your beer sign elicited positive comments and good humor! It was great having you host station #2. Every runner and a lot of people heading to the farmers market, now know that Team Red is one fabulous group of people!

Thanks again.
Jean Murray
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So, from the mutual admiration society, I'd also like to add, you were awesome volunteers at the aid station! And for more admiration, you'll likely not meet a more supportive and friendly runner in Rochester, then Jean Murray (although there are many friendly and supportive, she's top notch!). Jean, along with John Shonyo organize some great group runs called Off Season Striders (OSS) on Saturday mornings. If you're interested in being added to Jean/John's distribution list, please let me know -- I've got connections and can make it happen.

fyi... Jean and I are also co-race directors of the Spring Classic 15K & 5K (hope to see you there!)

Mayo Cross Country 5K

Those who were able to join the Mayo Open had a great time! The course was a challenge to say the least. It's two loops around Eastwood golf course, complete with hills, grass, dirt and a great crowd of High School runners to offer support for the suffering. Pictured above is Tod as he approaches the finish line... a sweet downhill finish! Slide show coming soon...



Congrats to Anne for winning her age group at the Lupus Walk For Hope and 5K Trail Run on Saturday! She ran a strong pace, after her 17 mile training run! Also congrats to Mark as he ran his first race! The picture here is courtesy of Mark.

Shots from the Track

Thursday Night 5K

Hope to see you at the Mayo Open at Eastwood Gold Course this Thursday, 9/17. This is a 5K race on the same course the High School teams will race on for the Mayo Invitational Cross Country meet. Registration is from 5-5:30pm... and the race is currently scheduled to start at 6pm. Come on out and have some fun! In fact, come early and see some of the best High School runners in the state! The boys from Byron are ranked 7th in the State!

For those interested in some social time, we'll gather at McMurphy's Sports Bar following the race.

Getting Faster!

If you want to build speed, there is nothing like the track. The pics in the slideshow tell the story, it's fun! hahaha.. ok ok.. it's real hard work, but fun to test and build speed.

Axel Johnson - Passing

As some of you may have heard, Axel Johnson, age 17, passed away Friday. Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers at this time.

You can check out the May 29th post and see the slide show from the night we supported the Action For Axel fundraiser. Thanks to all of you who were available and participated, the family and organizers were very appreciative that we took part.

Do you have a need for speed? If so, Monday & Thursday are for you!

• Monday 9/14, some Team members are gathering for a track workout in Byron. If you want to join us, come to 805 1st Ave NW in Byron at 6pm on Monday. We'll run an easy pace 1 mile warmup, then roll into 400 Meter repeats at the Middle School track. Our plan is 12 X 400... however, you can start with any qty of 400 meter repeats you're comfortable with. Then we'll run a 1 mile cool down back to 1st Ave.


• Thursday 9/17 at Eastwood Golf Course is the Mayo Open (5K). This event follows the High School Cross Country meet and is open to all-comers. There is no charge for this 5K. Keep in mind, it's run on a golf course, so it's on grass, and hilly, but.. it's not like running trails, the grass is of course well groomed.

Additional Evidence

The following link provides further evidence that Team R.E.D. is on to something! Thanks to Mark Baron for sending the link to the story.

http://running.about.com/b/2009/09/03/drinkers-more-likely-to-exercise.htm

Upcoming Race Opportunities

Just wanted to post a few upcoming race opportunities! Details about these races, and more can be found on the Rochester Track Club website at http://rochestertrackclub.com/CALENDAR.aspx Countdowns to many of these are on the right hand column of this blog as well.

• 9/12 8:30am -- MMCF 5K walk/run for Blood Cancer Research. Starts at Essex park in Rochester.
• 9/12 6pm -- Chosen One Run for the Bella Adoption Foundation. This is a 5K/8K walk/run starting at the Firehall in Zumbrota.
• 9/13 9am -- Gift of Life Transplant House 5K run/walk. Starting near the Gift of Life House at 2nd St & 7th Ave SW in Rochester
• 9/17 6pm -- Mayo Open Cross Country 5K. This is a Rochester Track Club Grand Prix event and it takes place at 6pm at Eastwood Golf course.
• 9/26 8:30am -- Harvest Classic 5K walk/run and 1 Mile fun run. Located at Silver Lake Park in Rochester.

Great Run!

It was a great night for Team RED. Some people were late arriving (Wendy & Tom), but the Team waited for us! The temperature felt warm at first, but as the sun set, it cooled down perfectly!

I'd like to welcome 3 new faces to the Team, (although I again forgot the camera! so you can't see their faces just yet). Karl-Peter (KP), Rachel and Abby (that could be spelled correctly) joined us for the 1st time on Thursday. As is the norm.. one of the newbies won a gift card! Congrats Abby!

Remember, next week we'll be back at the Bears Den... and the 3rd Thursday, Sept 17th, we will move to Eastwood golf course for the Mayo Open (5K - Free Race). We can pick a Rochester location to meet for the E.D. portion of the evening.

Team RED - Sept 3rd!

Looking forward to another great night of Team RED! This week we start at 7pm from the Bears Den in Byron. Routes are posted on the right hand side. That 6.5 miler can be shortened a tad if you so choose.

A few of us are still pounding away some track workouts once a week. Our schedule seems to shift a bit week to week, but if you want to join, let us know and we'll keep you in the loop. The scheduled time and location both shift a little, it's a bit of back and forth before we agree where/when. Additionally, there is a group that meets for track workouts at the Running Room on Tuesday evenings. Please contact the Running Room for details if interested.

By the way.. the new Bears Den is progressing nicely! Should be ready by the end of this month (I think).