Grand Prix Season Underway

Posted by: Brian S-ski

In what seems like a blink of an eye, the 2010 Grand Prix season is already 20% done!  The LRRC racing teams are looking strong and, as of this writing, have 64 club members in total signed up.  That matches our year end total from 2009, which was an all-time record for greatest Grand Prix participation by one club.   So….. we need just one more person to sign up and we will break our own record!   Thank you to each Roadrunner that signed up for the Grand Prix to represent the club - Go Birds!

And now for a quick recap of the action thus far…

January 24th:  Grand Prix Race #1 - One Hour Track Run at Russellville

Yanoviak and Nichols fight the wind at the One Hour Track Run

Both the men’s and women’s LRRC teams took 2nd place at the first GP race of the year though we did have both the individual winners with Leah Thorvilson and myself (yep, the sun shines on a dog’s rear every now and then).  As would become a theme in the first four races, the wind was a factor.   At the Track Run at least, the headwind is broken up into short little segments.  Then again, the lack of head wind is just as fleeting.  Our men’s team at the Track Run consisted of Steve Yanoviak, David Williams, Joel Perez, Mark Hagemeier, Tim Steadman, Ross Bolding, Joseph Nichols, Craig Lair, Billy Shurley, Roy Smith, Andrew Kenley, Michael Harmon, David Meroney, Dave Conrad, Bill Bulloch, Dan Belanger, and Carl Northcutt.  For the women’s team it was Thorvilson, Andrea Sieczkowski, Alison Acott, Ashley Philbrick, April Rand, Eileen Turan, Alea Humes, Becky Humes, Alesa Davis, Rhonda Smith, and Coreen Frasier.

February 6th:  Grand Prix Race #2 - River Trail 15K at North Little Rock

Becky Humes sprints for the finish line in Burns Park at the River Trail 15K

The good news is the LRRC Women took first place at the 15K!  The other news is that the Men took third place.  On the positive side though, we did get Scott Anderson to sign up for the GP after the race.   Leah Thorvilson won again to lead our women’s team at the 15K: Mary Wells, Tina Coutu, Becky Humes, Alea Humes, Eileen Turan, Ginea Qualls, Lisa Alberius, Ashley Philbrick, Wyanette Traub, and Coreen Frasier.  The men’s team was me, Kevin Golden, Steve Yanoviak, Joel Perez, Greg Sorenson, Billy Shurley, Bert Sanders, Bryan Jones, Kevin Groustra, Brian Watson, David Meroney, Mark Hagemeier, Joe Nichols, Jeff Bost, Dave Conrad, Bill Torrey, DHW, Ross Bolding, Roy Smith, and Carl Northcutt.  In other words, it was another huge turnout for the Birds.  Would have been even bigger too, except so many club members selflessly volunteered to work the race: Steve Hollowell, Robert Holmes, Lisa Luyet, Dan “the Man” Belanger, Paul Ward, Alesa Davis, Linda House, Steven Preston, and Glen Mays.  Mary, Ginea and Tina also helped with registration and then ran the race too.  Andrea and I have directed the 15K the past two years and couldn’t do it alone, so again, thanks to all that helped out!

February 13th:  Grand Prix Race #3 - Valentine’s Day 5K at Russellville

LT collects some hardware

The LRRC men came through at the V-Day 5K with their first win of 2010!  The women had a good showing too, finishing 2nd to the hometown RVR crew.  Leah Thorvilson was the overall female winner, our own Justin Radke got 2nd on the men’s side and Becky Humes and Joel Perez won a Couples Award.  The women representing the LRRC at the V-day 5K were: Thorvilson, Humes, Lisa Luyet, Alea Humes, April Rand, Eileen Turan, Ashley Philbrick, Alesa Davis, Lynnette Watts, and Coreen Frasier.  The men were lead by Radke, then me, Presto, Yanoviak, Joel Perez, Tim Steadman, DHW, Mark Hagemeier, Roy Smith, Michael Harmon, Dave Conrad, Billy Shurley, Carl Northcutt and Dan Belanger.

February 21st:  Grand Prix Race #4 - Run the Line Half Marathon at Texarkana

The LRRC crew at the starting line of the Run the Line Half Marathon

2010 marks the Grand Prix debut of the Run the Line Half Marathon, and (I think) the first ever GP race in Texarkana.

Fun Fact About Texarkana that Radke Doesn’t Believe:  the name Texarkana is actually derived from three states: TEXas, ARKansas, and louisiANA.  Apparently, back in the day the entire local region was often called Texarkana.  It was so catchy that the towns adopted the name even though their location was 30 miles north of the Louisiana border.

Quick Quiz Based on the Fun Fact:  The name “Texarkana” was first coined for…

A.)  A Steamboat
B.)  An Alcoholic Beverage
C.)  Just made up by a Railroad Surveyor
Answer will appear at the end of this blog post.

Anyway… for those that didn’t make the trip, I highly recommend you put it on your to-do list for 2011.  The course starts in Texas, heads into Arkansas, crosses back into Texas, runs a bit on the actual state line, then finishes in Arkansas.  Immediately crossing the finish line you can head into an open bar with free hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta, porkchops and beer.  The finisher’s medal is actually cool too.  And once again, the LRRC Blog will be the first to break huge news: our Arkansas RRCA State Rep is working with her Texas counterpart to create some sort of Arkansas-Texas challenge at this race for 2011.  And… a traveling trophy is likely to be involved.  Stay tuned for more details.

And now the big news: LRRC swept the team titles at Run the Line!  The men won in very dramatic fashion by a single point over the River Valley Runners.  Special mention needs to go to Joel Perez who set a big PR as our third scorer and to Joseph Nichols who sealed the deal as our 4th man as he continues a strong rookie GP season.  Oh, and I guess we can give a few props to Radke who actually won the race.  Our men’s team also consisted of me, Billy Shurley, Roy Smith, and Carl Northcutt.  On the women’s side, Leah won her fourth (of 4) GP race this year.  The women’s team was completed by Tina Coutu, Becky Humes, Ashely Philbrick and Lisa Alberius.

Quiz Answer:  D.)  All of the Above?  It is actually uncertain which, if any, of these three urban legends is the original source of the name Texarkana.  Thanks for playing!