Astell to Compete in Tahoe

Brian Astell will be racing the National Xterra Championship in Tahoe this coming weekend. Brian has been putting in some very tough training and it’s been paying off. Based on a series of championship events, Brian it currently ranked 9th in the nation and will be competing against the best in the country. For those not familiar with Xterra, the event consists of roughly a 1 kilometer open water swim, followed by a 20 mile mountain bike ride, and ends with a 10 kilometer trail run. The event can be down right grueling. The Mountain Championship in Ogden UT, for example, included a net gain of over 7,000 feet on the mountain bike portion alone (keep in mind the race was above 5,000 feet altitude). This race will conclude the point series and determine the final rankings.






-Vince

Mire Sets PR for Half Marathon

On September 16th Run Smart Project athlete Lisa Mire set a personal best on a very tough course. Lisa traveled from Charlotte to the mountains of Western North Carolina, to race the Asheville Citizen-Times Half Marathon. Averaging 7:30 per mile, Lisa crossed the line in 1:37:53. The race was part of a build up Lisa has been working on to prepare for the SunTrust Richmond Marathon, on November 11th. Lisa summed the race up in just a few words, stating “I felt good, but I hope Richmond isn’t quite this hilly.” Richmond should feel flat indeed.

Client Sets Personal Best For Half Marathon

Representing her hometown of Brooklyn, Denise Fergus competed in the Philadelphia Distance Run (13.1 miles) this past Sunday. It was Denise's second half marathon ever and she ran out of there with a new personal best by 8 and a half minutes. Denise's PR going into the day was 1:37:58. She was 67th female overall in a time of 1:29:28.

Congrats Denise!!! This is exactly where she needs to be to accomplish her goals for the Philly Marathon in November.


Coach B

Run S.M.A.R.T. Flexes

Denise Fergus was seen showing off her Run S.M.A.R.T. physique at the Ocean to Sound relay this weekend in Long Island. She averaged 6:43 for her 6.4 mile split. Denise is gearing up for the Philly Distance run next weekend.

Good Luck...

Coach K

Tina Reine Sets New PR For 4 miles

This morning in Central Park, Tina Reine competed in her first 4 mile race since she started working with The Run S.M.A.R.T. Project. This has been Tina's first year running and training for road races. When she came to us back in April her goal was to qualify for the NYC marathon. Her training pace for a 3-4 mile run at that time was roughly 9 minutes per mile. She has qualified for the marathon this November and today at the Fitness, Mind, Body, Spirit Games, Tina averaged 7:58 pace finshing in 31:53 for 4 miles.

You can view her results here on the New York Road Runner's site.

Tina's last 4 mile race was this past January where she averaged 9:30 pace. The progress keeps rolling on...

Coach B

ZAP Fitness Runner 4th at USA 20k Championships

I wanted to give an ex-teammate a shout out today. Joe Driscoll of ZAP Fitness Reebok (pictured far left in pretty yellow), an ex training partner of Dan, Vince and I, had an amazing race at the USA 20k Champs in New Haven this past weekend. Joe was one of only 5 men to break 60 minutes for the race. He finished 4th in 59:54, 1 minute and 31 seconds faster than last year. You can read about the race here on USATF's web site.

Full results are here.

Way to represent the Blackberry Valley my friend! See you in New York this fall.