PR’s abound and we think we’ve got at least one Safari runner hooked! David Thierjung has transformed into the Safari’s newest “running machine” after taking on two half marathons two weeks in a row. The first one was in Rochester, MN. David was scheduled to run 15 miles that day so he ran two miles, and then finished off his long run with a half marathon! He ran his best half yet and shaved 18 minutes off his PR by finishing in 2:00:14. “I would have done much better,” reports David, “but the woman I randomly found to run with at about mile 2, stopped for about a 45 second to a one minute potty break at about 10 miles.” “Eeeek!” David is shooting for sub 2:00 this weekend in Virginia Beach. Jungle stray, world traveler and specialty marathon wine distributer Peter Gower is also heading for Virginia Beach.
Storms and blackouts rocked the city of Flint and even demolished the façade of a building, but the Crim Festival of Races went on with some solid representation from the jungle! Francine Bangs found herself in the dark, literally, after her hotel lost power the night before, but still managed to place the highest in her age group of all Safari Crim 10-Mile participants with a 4th place showing. Brenda Stoddard and Bonnie Sexton both competed for Front Line Racing Team and watched as Fred Vanhala attempted to recruit Elizabeth (E) Wright and Cristi Dedoes for the team within 10 seconds of introduction. Bonnie finished 6th and Brenda finished 13th in their age division of 422 (elite runners removed), then Brenda returned to the starting line once again, placing 4th in her division in the 5k. Cristi finished in the top 25% and landed in the top 100 at her first Crim with a 94th place finish out of 440. Elizabeth (E) Wright finished 145th out of 422 at her first Crim. By the way, Cristi Dedoes is celebrating a milestone birthday with a trip to New York, but to keep ourselves out of hot water, we won’t say WHICH milestone! E (Elizabeth) entertained her travel buddies with hilarious stories of business meeting blunders that you won’t see on America’s Funniest Home Videos. As a side note, Bonnie committed a blunder at the Sept 1 Safari Run after telling the half marathoners they should take a leisurely stroll and run their pace run 10 minutes slower than lactate threshold pace. It is reported that as of the time of writing, all Leopards and Cheetahs have returned despite the misinformation.
Back to the Crim, the Safari’s Mark Chicoine is showing some strong improvement, finishing 60th out of 504 in another very large age division. Jennifer Schmitz-Webber was in the top 25% landing 106 out of 440. Jungle stray Andy Boris finished 162 out of 346 after also spending the night in a dark hotel. We couldn’t locate her in the crowds, but Terry Vuckovich finished 276 out of 422 and Dale Wyatt finished 230 out of 550. Mike Willy finished in the top half of his astronomical age division of 612 participants, placing 300th. Rachel Wittkowski finished 226 out of 440, and then, like Brenda, turned around and added on the 5k for good measure. Congratulations to all our Safari Crim finishers!
Tim Sochor opted to skip the crowds of the Crim and run the inaugural Portland Half Marathon instead and was well rewarded. Tim set a brand new PR at 1:35:51. Congratulations Tim!
Stephanie Sabin passed on the Crim and the Kal-Haven Trail Trek to win her age division at the Hastings Summerfest 10k, finishing 2nd overall to the speedy Janet Becker. Track Coach Joe Hulsebus migrated to Allegan to run the Strides for Health 5k, winning his age division and placing 4th overall. Congratulations Stephanie and Joe!
Grace Biskie has chosen the Detroit Marathon for her very first 26.2 mile endeavor. Erica, who has also been called Rebecca and Rachel, will also be running Detroit as will Joy Bailey. Go Grace, Erica, and Joy!
Gale Fischer rests after completing one of the most wicked Dances with Dirt Legs.It’s one big jungle party! An entourage of Safari participants and strays really will be running through wild wilderness terrain next weekend at the infamous Dances with Dirt 100 Kilometer Relay in Hell Michigan along with over 300 other teams. Team Leader Mark Sigfrids, the most adventurous of all, will be doing the 50k (31 Miles) Solo run through swamps, rivers, lakes and other insane terrain! Some Teams with Safari ties to watch are Bonnie Sexton and Gale Fischers’ Come Hell, Hills or High Water We Can’t Say No, Sherry Selby’s We Don’t Need no Stinkin Bridges, and Jason Pridmore’s team of speedsters from the east side of Michigan. And we can’t forget We Can’t Get No Stinkin Signal Out Here which harbors the likes of Sherrie Mann, Susan Celestini, Monica Lynch, Tim Bredahl & Cindy Owen. Team Charmin which includes the Safari’s Rich Schau and Mark Chicoine, will have a presence, as will Katy Jackson. What to know more about Dances With Dirt? Check out the insanity at http://www.danceswithdirt.com/.
