PRTC Weekly: 05/28/2018 Hot Weather Daddies, Beer Mile, and More

Holiday Weekend Race Reports

Buffalo, NY: Steve Hallman and Colin McGrath scored a pair of 4th place finishes at the Buffalo Half and Full Marathon. The duo faced unusually difficult weather conditions. The temperature at the start line was 67 degrees with 80% humidity. This took a toll on the entire field. Colin summed this up nicely by reporting the day favored "Hot Weather Daddies."

Colin had planned to race the full, but dropped down to the half upon his arrival in Buffalo. He was pleased with this decision and did his best to enjoy the race. He writes, "I wanted to drop out at mile 6, but then a marathon runner I was keeping pace with kept telling me to run faster, so I sorta let him boss me around." He also says, "I was originally marked as 3rd place, but then they realized that they forgot to mark the one dude who finished ahead of me, so that was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. I missed out on getting to take home a ridiculously over-sized check."

Steve was interviewed by Colin on the drive home. His race reaction: "It sucked, but I was happy to hold onto fourth place." Steve is in great shape and set up to PR in the marathon distance when he next decides to take on the distance.

We're told that after the race Steve took a nap and Colin ate an omelet. "Then we went to a restaurant called the Anchor Bar, allegedly the original home of the buffalo wing. We spent the rest of the afternoon and ride back to Philly debating whether Buffalo is named after actual buffalo, whether the football team is named after Buffalo Bill and whether Buffalo Bill had any connection to the city of Buffalo." (He didn't).

Results
Colin McGrath: 1:12.51 (4th)
Steve Hallman: 2:37.18 (4th)

Full results here.
 

Lewes, DE: Jeff Young traveled to Delaware for Memorial Day Weekend to take on the Masser 5 Miler. He ran 29:03 to place third overall! This race is in its 25th year and part of the Seashore Strider Racing Series. The event is unique for starting and ending on at track. Plus - beach after. Nice job Jeff!

Results
Jeff Young: 29:03 (3rd)

Full results here.

Philadelphia, PA: The Inaugural PRTC Beer Mile was held at an undisclosed location on Saturday evening. Seven club members and three guests participated in the challenge. Simply explained, the beer mile is 4 x (drink a beer, run a lap). Official rules state that the beer must be at least 5% abv in an unaltered can/bottle. If one loses the contents of their stomach during the race, a penalty lap is incurred.

Ben "Taco" Nieto, was the odds-on favorite going into the event. He holds 3 of the top 6 verified beer mile times in PA state history. His all-time verified best is 5:54. Ben faced an inspired challenge from Mike Vido, but built a healthy lead during the late stages of the event to take the win. Ben had a great spring season, but placing first in the Inaugural PRTC Beer Mile has to hold a special place on his highlights reel.

Mike Vido (the organizing force behind this event) prepared for his race with passion. With an aim of taking down Ben, Mike consumed "a salad with some stomach stretching roughage" prior to the start. He carefully selected Labatt Blue as his "race beer." Mike's iron stomach held strong and he kept in contact with Ben through the early stages of the race. However, Ben's experience in this specialty event proved insurmountable and he placed 2nd with a respectable 7:20.

Margaret Vido recorded a very impressive (first time!) beer mile time of 9:01. Dietary restrictions required she consume not-quite race legal gluten free beer. She opted for 3 Redbridges at 4% abv and 1 Omission Light at 4.2%. Despite reporting a beer-mile stress dream prior to the race, Margaret achieved her goal of completing the event in less than 10 minutes. Always the competitor!

Pat McLauglin (no relation to the famed singer, Sarah) caused a stir minutes before the race when he was caught trying to "pre-vom" in a failed attempt to avoid a penalty lap. His indisputable logic behind this move was that he usually only throws up once and may as well get it out of the way. Sadly, he didn't have enough in his stomach to achieve this and lost everything late in the race. Pat completed his 5 laps and 4 beers in 11 minutes and 26 seconds.

First time beer miler, Kevin Brandon, fell victim to deception and overconfidence. He got off to an unexpectedly strong start, finishing his first beer in third place and holding that position through 800m. He opted for cold Budweiser which went down far too easily. This came back to haunt him on the third beer at which point he hit the wall and was demoralized to realize Margaret had passed him. To add insult to injury, Pat falsely reported that he was on his third lap when in fact he was on his fourth. Kevin "lost the contents of his stomach" with 250m left to go and was forced into a humiliating 5th lap which resulted in a finishing time of 13:49.

Guest runner, Kylee Hansan recorded an unorthodox (estimated) 44:03 minute effort. Fresh out of Penn State (2017), she arrived at the race in near-prime beer drinking condition. Kylee adamantly denied interest in competing in the event even after the gun went off. She instead drank 4 Labatt Blue's while spectating. It was then noted that she only needed to run 4 laps to "complete" the beer mile. Despite Kylee's inability to recall the last time she had even run a mile, she responded to the crowd's pressure and gamely entered the race. This set up an epic showdown with "Delco Sus."

Susie Cirilli was arguably the female winner of our beer mile. She was the sole competitor to complete the race "by the book." Susie's weapon of choice was Labatt Blue, a favored drink from her time at the University of Vermont. Despite her predilection for Labatt, the drinks failed to go down quickly after the halfway point. She was determined not to incur a penalty lap and made every effort to calm her stomach. This included, to the amusement of the crowd, laying completely down on the track in great discomfort. Kylee's late entry into the race provided a much needed spark of competition. "Delco Sus" rallied with an admirable, but just short, attempt to chase down Kylee on the final lap.

Chris Mateer recorded a regretful DNF. He was foiled by his choice of Mountain Beer Ice which he intentionally kept warm for chugging purposes. Surprisingly, the taste of his three dollar six pack did not improve during the de-icing process. This resulted in an early exit from the race. It must be concluded that ice beer should be kept "iced" at all costs. Lesson learned. Note: Pat drank the remainder of Chris's Mountain Brew Ice immediately after his finish.

Liz Coda and Sam Diacont also ran beer mile laps (without intention of completing the event). Sam, Margaret's brother, still managed to "lose the contents of his stomach." He did so at an extremely inopportune time as Margaret unwisely approached for a friendly post-race sibling tackle. The impact and projectile required Margaret to undergo some improvised sanitary clean up. A fantastic new family memory!

Thanks to all who came out to watch this unique event including Josh, Zach, and Faye. They provided invaluable photo, timing, and video assistance. We'll surely do this again. Now it's time to focus on summer training!

Results
Ben Nieto: 6:22 (1st; Budweiser)
Mike Vido: 7:20 (2nd; Labatt Blue)
Margaret Vido: 9:01 (3rd; 3 Redbridges 4% abv and 1 Omission Light 4.2% abv) *
Pat McLaughlin: 11:26 (4th; 1 Budweiser; 3 Labatt Blue)
Kevin Brandon: 13:49 (5th; Budweiser)
Kylee Hansan: 44:00 (6th; Labatt Blue) **
Susie Cirilli: 44:11 (7th; Labatt Blue)
Chris Mateer: xx:xx (DNF; Mountain Brew Ice)
Sam Diacont: xx:xx (DNF; ???)
Liz Coda: xx:xx (DNF; ???)

* Need for Gluten Free Beer necessitated ABV less than required 5%
** Completed event out of order

Race Sign Up Reminders

The Scott Coffee Run (8k). This race is part of the all-important Grand Prix Series. We currently sit in 2nd place. This is a great opportunity to close the 14 (age-adjusted) point gap between us and Greater Philadelphia Track Club. The course is fair and does a nice job showcasing the town's neighborhoods. In prior years, many PRTC runners have been sent home with watches for placing within their age groups. Sign up here!

Mayor's Cup registration is open. We are aiming to secure our third straight title. Mayor's Cup is a friendly competition among Philadelphia-based running clubs. The event is very popular within our local running community. 32 unique clubs are slated to vie for the cup this year. It's best to sign up early for this one as fees rise closer to the race date of August 11th. Our club password is BullsEyeRed (cap sensitive). Race transfers are allowed if you are unsure of which event to do. Let us know you plan on racing one of the events here.

PRTC Pole Plogging Fundraiser and Brunch
 

It’s hard to miss all the illegal signs posted on poles, traffic signs and trees throughout the city.  Not only do they look unattractive, but as they wear out and detach, they end up on the street’s as litter. No bueno.

PRTC is hosting a Pole Plog Run and Brunch on Saturday June 9. As part of the City of Philadelphia Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet’s Illegal Signs Roundup, PRTC will get $0.50 for each illegal sign we remove, up to $250 (or 500 signs) to remove illegal signs posted in the right of way throughout the city. Bueno!

Here’s how it works. Four groups will meet up for an easy run in 4 city neighborhoods (You can choose any of the 4). We will collect illegal signs as we go, then meet up for bRUNch in West Philly afterwards. PRTC members and friends are invited. The more, the merrier!

Date: Saturday, June 9

Time: 9am

Place: Choose one of the 4 city-wide meeting points (Brewerytown, The Loft District, West Philly, South Philly) Meet-up points listed below.

Distance: Easy 5-8 miles, depending on the starting point. Lots of starting and stopping.

Brunch: West Philly immediately following the run. Restaurant, TBD. Meet at 43rd & Baltimore

Goal: 500 signs!

Neighborhood meet-up points and run leaders:

Brewerytown: Kevin B - 822 N Pennock (Between Brown and Parrish)

South Philly: Kylie P - 20th and Washington

West Philly: Chris M – 43rd & Baltimore

Loft District: Dynise B – 13th & Callowhill

Consider bringing a light backpack.

 Please remove only illegally placed signs, such as those found on:

• Utility poles
• Streetlights
• Traffic or parking signs or devices, including any post to which such signs or devices are attached
• Historical markers
• City-owned trees or trees in the public right-of-way
• Please do not remove any “Lost Pet” posters.

We encourage you to post photos on social media as you “plog.” Please use these hashtags:

#PRTC, #Diadora, #PhillyRunner, #CleanPHL and tag photos (@phillyrunnertc @phillyrun @diadoraofficial @CleanPHL)

Let us know if you have any questions! Please RSVP so run leaders have an idea of who is showing up.

Read more about illegal signs in Philly: http://cleanphl.org/illegalsigns/

Read more about Plogging, the Swedish-created notion of cleaning up litter while running: http://tinyurl.com/y9um5tjh

Social Media Post of the Week

Upcoming Runs, Events, & Races

Tuesday: 6:30 at Lloyd Hall for an easy club run or workout. Email list with workout ideas if desired. We will be at Lloyd Hall until we regain access to Franklin Field when Penn's fall semester begins.

Sunday: Long run at 9:00 AM from Lloyd Hall

June 9th: PRTC Illegal Sign Clean Up Fundraiser: 9 AM

June 2nd, 2018: Scott Coffee Run (Moorestown, NJ) *
August 11th, 2018: Mayor's Cup (Philadelphia, PA)
August 26th, 2018: The Philly 10k (Philadelphia, PA)
September 9th, 2018: Main Line Run (Wayne, PA) *
September 29th, 2018: Paul Short XC Invite (Lehigh, PA)
October 6th, 2018: Jack Saint Clair XC Invite (Philadelphia, PA)
October 7th, 2018: Delaware Distance Classic 15k (Delaware City, DE) *
November 4th, 2018: Cooper Norcross Run the Bridge 10k (Camden, NJ) *
November 17th, 2018: Philadelphia Half Marathon (Philadelphia, PA) *
November 17th, 2018: Rothman Institute 8k (Philadelphia, PA) *
November 18th, 2018: Philadelphia Marathon (Philadelphia, PA) *
December 8th, 2018: USATF Club XC Nationals (Spokane, WA)

* Denotes USATF Mid-Atlantic Grand Prix Event