Chicago Marathon

Finish Strong's Brandon (and Colleen) Sager, Bret Strong, Andreas Grossman, and Cesar Patino had a great day at the Chicago marathon on October 13.  Brandon beat his goal time of 2:50 by finishing in 2:49:27. Andreas posted a 3:52:50.  Bret crossed the finish line in 4:23:59. And Cesar finished in 4:34:08.  Way to go!

Bret enjoys post-race support from family - Angela, Luke and Ella! Bret finished in 4:23:59

Great day for Brandon and Colleen Sager! Brandon ran a 2:49:57.  Colleen's first post-baby marathon - 4:59:09.  Very impressive!!!

Cesar Patino excels at Chicago Marathon in 4:34:08.

For more results, go to
http://www.chicagomarathon.com/participant-information/race-results/

10 for Texas

Congratulations to the 70 Finish Strong athletes who competed at 10 for Texas - 10 mile run race in The Woodlands on Saturday, October 12.  Despite the sauna-like conditions, we had a great turn-out and good results from our athletes.

Here are the results:
Race Name Ten for Texas
Race Date 10/12/2013

Aki Laine                  1:23:17
Alfonso Garcia          1:59:54
Alison Nixon          1:43:06
Arran Keith          1:14:00 (10th)
Brad Wainwright 1:58:00
Bridget Sylvester 2:22:52
Carli Fuentes         1:47:48
Carmen Kelleher 1:40:21 (6th)
Casey Clark         1:19:00
Chantal Requier 1:31:22
Charles Lussier         1:23:54
Chip Mcbride         1:36:22
Chris Weir         1:10:20 (5th)
Christine Hobeika 1:21:38 (4th)
Cindy Mcmanis         1:38:07
Claudia Sam         2:00:25
Courtney Myers 1:48:21
David Barnes         1:29:38
Deb Lyons         1:24:00 (3rd)
Ed York                 1:15:54 (4th)
Gloria Shrewsbury 1:37:24
Gordon Irving         1:34:16
Ileana Carroll         1:53:15
Jack Chapman         1:12:21 (1st)
Jeanette Hagelskaer 1:37:55
Jed Beck                 1:49:41
Jennifer Allen         1:49:28
Jennifer Heath         1:44:13
Jennifer Rowe         1:27:53
Jennifer Wertz         2:04:32
Jesse Balboa         1:17:35
Jessica Menendez 1:17:18 (9th)
Jesus Carias         1:15:47
Jim Harrington         1:18:36
John Tortorici         1:33:26
Julio Morales         1:19:37
Kari Gilley         1:24:10
Katerina Savelieva 1:40:45
Katherine Powell 2:00:04
Kathleen Crea         1:51:44
Kevin Baker         1:09:32 (5th)
Kim Bowden         2:31:00
Kristen Gohlke         1:21:02 (7th)
Kristin Collins         1:26:29
Laith Kosa         2:28:11
Leigh Jenkins         1:20:47 (3rd)
Manuel Abascal 1:41:25
Mike Flake         1:33:06
Mitchell Hall         1:44:40
Olesya Prystayko 1:11:17(4th)
Pam Meaux         1:13:12 (1st)
Paul Allan                 1:15:48
Paul Daly                 1:26:56
Phillip Deprang         1:28:13 (4th)
Pia Grossmann         2:10:21
Rip Reynolds         1:07:06 (3rd)
Ron Mccauley         1:19:14
Ronnie Delzer         2:03:00
Sara Jones              1:15:19 (4th)
Sara Vanderford 1:53:14
Sarah Pietraszek-Mattner 1:35:34
Scott Farrand          1:24:41
Sharon Free          2:12:14
Shirley Santangelo  1:44:06
Staci Palermo          1:41:00
Stephen Barrass  1:26:04
Stephen Clouthier  2:07:39
Tami Fincher          1:44:20
Tiffany Fazeli          1:40:35
Travys Townson  1:07:24 (4th)
Xochitl Carias          2:02:51


Total Females 1269
Total Finishers 2152
Total Males 883

Finish Strong's Mike Menster, Chris Weir, and Kevin Bacon running like a wolf pack!

The race begins -- Paul Daly captured on camera! 

Chantal Requier!

Jed Beck!

Karen Satterfield and Kim Bowden.

Chris Weir and Mike Menster lead the pack!

Mike Menster and  Rip Reynolds enjoy podium finishes.

Deb Lyons - 3rd in AG!

Pam Meaux claims top spot in her AG!

Rip, Mike, Dana, and Jim at the awards!

Susie Schrieber and Jim Griffis!

Pia Grossman and Jeannette Hagelskaer!

Toyota Rockwall Tri

Congrats to Finish Strong coached athlete, Becca Novelli, who competed at the Toyota Rockwall Tri on Saturday, October 5.  Becca finished 4th in the Collegiate Division.  Way to go, Becca!

Becca Novelli tearing up the course!

Monster Mash 5K

Finish Strong's Christelle Gigant, Heather Lininger, Kim Bowden, and Karen Satterfield raced the Monster Mash 5k on Saturday.  Christelle won her AG and came in 2nd overall!  Mom-and-daughter duo Kim and Heather donned their "Green Lantern" garb to go with the race theme.  Kim reported having a negative split. Way to go, gals!

Heather, Kim, and Karen pose at Monster Mash 5K!

Lifetime Tri in Dallas

Finish Strong's Michael Novelli competed in the Lifetime Tri in Dallas on Sunday, October 6.  Mike finished second in his 55 to 59 age group with an overall time of  2:25:22.  Mike's splits were 27:25.30 swim, 1:09.02 bike, and 43:25.04 run.  According to Mike, "It was a fun race!"  Any pics?

Tough Mudder

On Sunday, October 6th, Finish Strong's Steve Hardy competed in the Tough Mudder in Baytown.  It was a 12 mile course with over 30 obstacles involving lots of mud, ice water, scaling walls, and electric shock. Steve reports, "Running between the obstacles felt like running with 2 pound ankle weights due to the mud caked on the shoes.  The memorable obstacles were crawling under a wooden frame with dangling live electric probes (low amps, but 10,000 volts) and yes i got zapped.  Running through 50 feet of 35 degree ice water to my chest and having to diver under a divider mid way through. And the final obstacle of running through a 100 foot long wooden frame with lots of live wires, hay bales and mud pits.  I only got zapped once during that but never slowed down and never went down.  Took one to the jaw.  I successfully completed every obstacle except walking across a wobbly 50 foot balance beam over water with mud caked shoes.  Took over 3 hours to complete but a lot of fun.  This is an untimed event built on teamwork so the only goal is to complete the course."   Love the before and after shot below!

Steve Hardy is one Tough Mudder!

Blue Ridge Bike Ride

Finish Strong coached athletes, Kim Brown Horwedel her dad, Patrick Brown, are taking on the Blue Ridge Bike Ride.

Day 1 of Blue Ridge Ride!

Kim writes, "Day 1 went really well. I felt incredibly well prepared, although to be fair, it was a pretty easy day. Today we are heading out for a long steep uphill climb all morning. 20 miles, 3,000 feet altitude increase before lunch. So this will be the test! We are riding very nice trek road bikes, and wow does that make a difference compared to my hybrid! Dad is loving it, too, both the riding and the road bike. I see a Christmas present in his future. You really helped him a lot - this is a trip he has dreamed about for a while, and you helped make it enjoyable and successful for him. Thank you, Kim"