Athlete Race Recap: Bath Duathlon, Chambersburg Half Marathon, St. Patrick's Day Triathlon, New Bedford Half Marathon, & Syracuse Half Marathon

With the passing of the Vernal Equinox, it is officially Spring and race season is here! Nine Full Circle Endurance athletes raced all over the world this weekend!

• Bath Duathlon - Bath, United Kingdom
• Chambersburg Half Marathon - Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
• St. Patrick’s Day Triathlon - Keller, Texas
• New Bedford Half Marathon - New Bedford, Massachusetts
• Syracuse Half Marathon - Syracuse, New York

Bath Duathlon - Bath, United Kingdom

On Saturday, March 19, 2022, Rachel Andrew ventured out for the Bath Duathlon! This was Rachel’s first multisport event this year, and since the weather has been uncooperative to-date, it also happened to be her first outdoor ride of the year!

Rachel made some upgrades to her bike and was excited to test them out.  She had solid runs on either side of the bike and remarked that the entire event was “a lot of fun”!  The bike course was rather technical, but Rachel was comfortable and confident after a couple of loops, so she got to make the most of her new lighter wheels and tubeless tires!

Congratulations on such a great day, Rachel!

Chambersburg Half Marathon - Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

On Saturday, March 19, 2022 Carolyn Classen returned to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania to run the Chambersburg Half Marathon! Carolyn has run this race each of the three years that I’ve been coaching her. Oddly enough when compared with other races during the COVID-19 Pandemic, this race has been held on-time in mid-March each year. It’s been a fun way for us to chart Carolyn’s training and progress during our time working together.

On Sunday morning, Carolyn was doing the Sunday crossword, and saw a very telling clue in the puzzle.  She took this as a sign that the day was going to go well.

And go well it did!  Despite other fast runners in the field being 2-3 minutes slower year-over-year, Carolyn was only one minute slower year-over-year.  This is important to note because even though she was slower, this is a case where the numbers do not tell the entire story.  Numbers must be given context; even on the same course, the conditions of the day can play a massive role in how the entire field runs.  And Carolyn was faster-than-average compared to the rest of the field; she finished second in her age group while feeling strong the entire race.

Congratulations, Carolyn!  That Sunday crossword was very clairvoyant, indeed!

St. Patrick’s Day Triathlon - Keller, Texas

Jacquie Craggett raced her first triathlon of the year on Sunday, March 20, 2022 when she completed the St. Patrick’s Day Triathlon in Keller, Texas!

This was a sprint distance triathlon that featured a 300-meter pool swim, a 20-kilometer bike course, and a 5-kilometer run course.

Jacquie had a GREAT race and finished second in her age group!  She also finished in the top 37% of all female finishers and in the top 55% of ALL finishers (male and female combined).  Jacquie is a Masters athlete in the 65-69 age group who finds SUCH joy in moving her body and in racing.  Folks, all I can say is this: I want to be like her when I grow up.

Congratulations, Jacquie!

New Bedford Half Marathon - New Bedford, Massachusetts

Emily Resciniti ran the New Bedford Marathon in New Bedford, Massachusetts on Sunday, March 20, 2022!

This was a B-Race for Emily; we were using this as a check-in race as she builds to a full marathon later this Spring.  I’m so happy to say that everything came together SO NICELY for Emily in this race!  She paced herself well so that she could finish strong and she really dialed in on some pre-race and mid-race nutrition/hydration strategies that paid off well for her.  All-in-all, this was a great day and massive confidence booster for her marathon in just a few weeks’ time!

Congratulations, Emily!

Syracuse Half Marathon - Syracuse, New York

The Syracuse Half Marathon returned to Syracuse, New York for the first time since 2019 on Sunday, March 20, 2022! After three long years without this fan-favorite race, those of us local to Syracuse were very excited to welcome it back!

This race sits really well in the racing calendar for those of us who live in Upstate New York; there aren’t a lot of other longer distance running races at this time of year in this region due to our weather, and this race in particular gives Upstate New Yorkers motivation to train through our long, snowy, and cloudy winters.  Syracuse gets only about 32% of the sunlight possible during the Winter, so having something to look forward to like this can be a real mood-booster after months in the literal gray!

Five Full Circle Endurance athletes were racing this race this weekend: Lisa Crockford, Natalie Metz, Dawn O’Shaughnessy, Lindsey Stasko, and Tami Stone. All of them but Tami were using this race as a C-Race - a supported training run - for other goals they have later this season. All five of them did deploy a run/walk method in this race, which served them all well.

Lisa and Natalie ended up having some mid-race adversity that they had to manage (in the form of their bodies starting to rebel against them), but they each modified their plan, managed what they had going on by using the tools they had in their Athlete’s Toolbelt, and were able to finish the race strong.

For Dawn, this was a confidence-boosting race as she builds back up to longer distances of running.  For Lindsey, this was a chance to try a new-to-her race strategy as she builds toward her first-ever IRONMAN this season.

Tami had a strong, steady, and consistent race.  She missed her time goal by two minutes, but her execution was GREAT! 

All of these athletes have so much to be proud of.  Congratulations, Lisa, Natalie, Dawn, Lindsey, and Tami!