Odd on favorites for 2009 RFYL GP Series
With the first race of the 2009 RFYL GP series almost here, I thought that I had better get this posted before the race actually occurred.
If you must know, I have been thinking about writing this article for a few weeks, but for one reason or another I kept pushing it off.
Going into the 2009 RFYL GP Series there are certain people that I am expecting to be favorites to win the overall and master’s titles.
Let me start with the overall people first.
For the men, Bob M. Robert M. and probably Paul M. will likely be the top three men. This based on passed performances and the fact that they tend to run the majority of the series races. Bob M. should continue to lead the pack. He tends to be tough wherever he goes and whatever distance he runs. Robert M. and Paul M should not be too far behind. Both runners are steady as rock and run consistently fast.
For a dark horse runner, Greg I. could be it. He showed great promise by closing out the ’08 season very strong. If he has been training hard through the winter, Shamrock could be his chance.
Some of the other guys like Ben H., Cody A., and Chris L. could make the individual races very interesting. Each of them is running very well and typically jump into some of the races. Another runner recently joining the TrySports Team – Dan appears to have the ability to push some of these guys. I am putting Dan down as another dark horse to run well.
For the women, I will have to admit that I don’t know them as well. My suspicions are Lori H. will be back again. However, based on early season races, I see Alana H. being very tough to beat. In a Feb 5k race, I saw that she did a 17:30 ish time which is fantastic considering that she is 11 or maybe 12 years old by now. The only female runner that could push Alana would be Megan H. Although, I think she likes running 26 more than just 3.1 miles. So if Megan comes out, it should be a good race.
Note: I got dinged for not adding in the ladies from the TrySports team in my original post so I am giving a shout out to Kylee, Val and Caitlin. I have seen Kylee running log and Caitlin has put in some good race times. Val is the newest to group, but she seems to be hanging with a fast group of ladies. I suspect she will show her speed soon. For my dark horse I am selecting Kathy to show her stuff this year. Going forward, I promise to follow the ladies race more closely.
On to the men’s masters’ ranks, I am putting Steve S at the top of the list for this year with Chaz H. close behind. Bobby A. and Peter B. could be a couple others that could jump in and grab the top prize as well. I put Steve as the odds on favorite based on his late ’08 season races and races from this spring. Steve seemed to bounce back well from his fall marathon with some fast 8k and ½ marathon times.
You are probably asking why I didn’t include my self in that list. I didn’t mainly because my status is still in flux due to my ITB. I just have not done the necessary training that I feel puts me in contention to run with these guys. My gut feeling is that it will be June or July before my knee is strong enough to take on the heavy workouts that I like doing.
For the female masters, I see Lori taking the top honors. She is the fastest female master that I have seen in Charlotte for while. At this point, I have not seen any other challenger to her.
Now having said all of this, we still have to show up and race. And, you never know who will have moved into town in the past 6 months. But by Saturday noon, we will have a good idea who the leaders out of the gate will be for the ’09 season.
If you must know, I have been thinking about writing this article for a few weeks, but for one reason or another I kept pushing it off.
Going into the 2009 RFYL GP Series there are certain people that I am expecting to be favorites to win the overall and master’s titles.
Let me start with the overall people first.
For the men, Bob M. Robert M. and probably Paul M. will likely be the top three men. This based on passed performances and the fact that they tend to run the majority of the series races. Bob M. should continue to lead the pack. He tends to be tough wherever he goes and whatever distance he runs. Robert M. and Paul M should not be too far behind. Both runners are steady as rock and run consistently fast.
For a dark horse runner, Greg I. could be it. He showed great promise by closing out the ’08 season very strong. If he has been training hard through the winter, Shamrock could be his chance.
Some of the other guys like Ben H., Cody A., and Chris L. could make the individual races very interesting. Each of them is running very well and typically jump into some of the races. Another runner recently joining the TrySports Team – Dan appears to have the ability to push some of these guys. I am putting Dan down as another dark horse to run well.
For the women, I will have to admit that I don’t know them as well. My suspicions are Lori H. will be back again. However, based on early season races, I see Alana H. being very tough to beat. In a Feb 5k race, I saw that she did a 17:30 ish time which is fantastic considering that she is 11 or maybe 12 years old by now. The only female runner that could push Alana would be Megan H. Although, I think she likes running 26 more than just 3.1 miles. So if Megan comes out, it should be a good race.
Note: I got dinged for not adding in the ladies from the TrySports team in my original post so I am giving a shout out to Kylee, Val and Caitlin. I have seen Kylee running log and Caitlin has put in some good race times. Val is the newest to group, but she seems to be hanging with a fast group of ladies. I suspect she will show her speed soon. For my dark horse I am selecting Kathy to show her stuff this year. Going forward, I promise to follow the ladies race more closely.
On to the men’s masters’ ranks, I am putting Steve S at the top of the list for this year with Chaz H. close behind. Bobby A. and Peter B. could be a couple others that could jump in and grab the top prize as well. I put Steve as the odds on favorite based on his late ’08 season races and races from this spring. Steve seemed to bounce back well from his fall marathon with some fast 8k and ½ marathon times.
You are probably asking why I didn’t include my self in that list. I didn’t mainly because my status is still in flux due to my ITB. I just have not done the necessary training that I feel puts me in contention to run with these guys. My gut feeling is that it will be June or July before my knee is strong enough to take on the heavy workouts that I like doing.
For the female masters, I see Lori taking the top honors. She is the fastest female master that I have seen in Charlotte for while. At this point, I have not seen any other challenger to her.
Now having said all of this, we still have to show up and race. And, you never know who will have moved into town in the past 6 months. But by Saturday noon, we will have a good idea who the leaders out of the gate will be for the ’09 season.
Comments
But other than that I think you have nailed it pretty well Bill.
Kathy and a few others could give Lori a good race a couple of times during the year but Lori is a picture of consistency and that usually pays off in the end.
I do know they have been putting some miles and will be racing hard. So based on this fact, I'll go back and change my posting. :)
Thanks for keeping me honest here.
Megan(The Destroyer), Kelly (decisively won both 4 milers last year), Jocelyn (always dangerous), Lori (defending champ), Alice, Ashley, Alana (the kid), Kathy as well as your new teammates at Try Sports (Kylee, Val and Caitlin) and any number of 19-20 minutes 5k runners who are improving quickly.
Exciting year ahead in the women's division. And that is just who we know about.
And, I agree all the women that you suggested. All are quite capable of running fast times.
After the Shamrock race, I may just take a closer look at the womens field for a follow up post. :)
As for you Bill, if you are in top shape we know you're at or near the top in master's and a top challenger overall as well.
See you at the 4 Miler; I'm in really fat shape and I'm looking forward to racing myself back to respectability!
- Stan.
I guess I now know that some one is listening or at least reading :)