Run the Woodlands 5K

Five of the top 7 runners at Run the Woodlands 5K held on Saturday, March 23 were Finish Strong athletes.  Coaches Kim and Richard Mac Namee claimed 2nd and 3rd with times of 18:46 and 19:21 respectively.  Skip Moschell placed 4th in 19:23 .  Kevin Baker and Edson Jones took 6th and 7th place with times of 20:09 and 20:36.  Go team!

HARRA Spring Series 8K

The John Eikenburg Law Week 8K, the third of the HARRA Spring Series race, took place at 8 AM on March 23rd in Houston.  Much like the Bayou City Classic 10K, the race is an out-and-back run on rolling Allen Parkway, minus the downtown mile.  Very uncomfortable conditions (73 degrees at the start, 90% humidity) awaited the runners today.  Nora Wilson was first of 18 women, winning the 55-59 AG in 37:51 (7:37 pace).  Way to go, Nora!!!

HITS Tri Series Ocala Half Ironman

Finish Strong Coach Dana Lyons raced the HITS Tri Series Half Ironman in Ocala on Saturday, March 23.  Dana came in 10th overall and won his AG by nearly 20 minutes finishing in an overall time of 4:34:14.  Dana's splits were 32:31 swim, 2:25:05 bike, and 1:33:11 run. Dana's run was the 5th fastest on the course.  Congrats, Dana!

Tall Texan 70.3

Congratulations to Finish Strong's James Vultaggio, Travis Townson, and Jim Harrington for tackling the Tall Texan 70.3 Triathlon in Boerne, TX on Sunday, March 24.   The race had brutal conditions with temperatures in the 40's and constant winds between 20-40mph that resulted in a DNF rate of 32%.   However, FSR triathletes did well.

Travys Townson took 2nd in his 35-39 AG with an overall time of 5:32:41. His splits were 34:00 swim, 3:17:31 bike, and 1:37:02 run.

Jim Harrington took 1st in his 45-49 AG and 7th overall with a time of 5:29:24.  Jim's splits were 26:45 swim, 3:11:04 bike, and 1:47:48 run.

This was James Vultaggio's first 1/2 Ironman distance race and he finished in 7:08:41.  His splits were 49:24 swim, 4:01:51 bike, 2:14:01 run.   Great effort!  Congrats, Travys, Jim, and James!!

 

Podium shot of Jim Harrington - winner of his AG and 7th overall!!

 

James Vultaggio looking exuberant at the finish of his first half IM distance race!

FSR in Australia

Finish Strong Racing's Jen Anthony recently moved to Melbourne, Australia where she has successfully participated in triathlon and run races.

Jen reports, "On Sunday, Feb. 17th I participated in the Nissan Corporate Triathlon Series which was a three-person relay where we each swam 400m, biked 10km, and ran 4km.  Our team "Geo Ladies" placed third in the female category."

http://www.supersprint.com.au/media/287540/Results%20MAIN.pdf

"Then on Sunday, March 10 I ran the inaugural Australian Grand Prix 5k and was the fourth female overall and placed first in my age group."

http://www.tomatoresults.com.au/Results.aspx?CId=16&RId=28065&EId=1

Congrats, Jen!  Way to represent Finish Strong in the land down under!!

Iron Warrior Dash

Congrats to Finish Strong's Ronnie Delzer and Rhonda Rhorlich!

Ronnie was the winner of  the Iron Warrior Dash finishing the 15 mile, 26 obstacle event held on March 16 in just under 2 hours.  And Rhonda had a tremendous race and was the third woman overall!  Way to go Ronnie and Rhonda!

C Different Tri

Triathletes celebrated St. Patrick's Day on March 17 by participating in the C Different Tri in Sugarland.  Four Finish Strong athletes took part in the race with two placing on the podium.  Bryan Bandeko took 1st in his AG and Rodrigo Abascal took 3rd in his AG.

Here are their overall results:
Rodrigo Abascal  1:11:35:5  (3rd in 20-24 AG)
Sara Vanderford  1:31:01.7  (7th in 50-54 AG)
Bryan Bandeko   1:08:02.4  (1st in 45-49 AG)
Manuel Abascal   1:13:50.02 (6th in 45-49 AG)