Touchstone Blog Archive
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Touchstone Running Club Spring and Summer Success
The Touchtone Running Club has had an active and successful spring and early summer with members participating in all sorts of events and racking up some impressive results.
Power house TR Club member, Carol Baker recently clinched the prestigious Ruth Anderson Cup. This series of three races is sponsored by Lake Merrit Joggers and Striders (LMJS) and is named after the pioneering ultra runner, Ruth Anderson. In order to win the Ruth Anderson Cup, a runner must be (1) female; (2) at least age 50; (3) the runner with the fastest total time over the course of three grueling East Bay races which include: the Tilden Tough
Ten, the Lake Chabot Trail Challenge (half marathon) and the Dick Houston Memorial X-C Woodminster Race (9 miles). Carol met and exceeded the test on all counts and with her final victory at Woodminster on June 20th, took home the Cup.
Carol Baker
In Carol’s own words: “The races were great. Tilden Tough ten was the easiest as I am very familiar with that course. It was cold and windy as heck that day but that was OK. Touchstone had people on bikes all through race route to provide support which was awesome as I knew them all (Wendy organized that!) Lake Chabot ½ marathon was tough, long, and humid that day so it was hardest. Big hills for sure. Woodminster was intimidating but only two harsh hills (one mile long called the Woodmonster), weather was nice, and was not as hard as I thought it wouldbe.”
Needless to say the Touchstone Running Club is extremely proud of Carol!
From Left to Right: Touchstone Runners Deb Georges, Judy "Doc" Martin, Carol Baker, Tom Harrington
In addition to Carol’s wonderful accomplishment, here are a few notable mentions:
Susan Abrahamson PRs in the Oakland Marathon.
Nicole Churchill, Tom Harrington, Laura Walpert, Phil Yip all complete their first marathon in Oakland.
Deborah Georges, recently returning to the running scene, places 4th women overall at Bear Creek Half Marathon (Briones Park).
Wendy Georges competes in her 6th Ruth Anderson Ultra Marathon and wins her age group and sets a new 50 mile course record.
Judy Martin PRs on Tilden Tough Ten and finishes second in her age group.
Pat Ross finishes 3 women overall and 1st in her age group at the Oakland Running
Festival Twilight 5K- Marc Trotz finishes his first 50 mile ultra marathon at the American River 50 Mile Endurance Run.
Marc Trotz trotting along
The Touchstone Runinning Club consists of running enthusiast, many of whom spin at BIW and compete in various running events. Marc Trotz is the coordinator of the club and can be reached at marctrotz@gmail.com for further information. The next club run (known as Trotting With Trotz) is Sunday, July 18, 2010. Meet at the intersection of Spruce and Grizzly Peak (in Berkeley) at 9:00 am for an approximately 2 hour recreational run in Tilden Park (mix of trail and road). Runners are invited back to Marc’s house for brunch following. If planning to join the run, RSVP to Marc via email.
Power house TR Club member, Carol Baker recently clinched the prestigious Ruth Anderson Cup. This series of three races is sponsored by Lake Merrit Joggers and Striders (LMJS) and is named after the pioneering ultra runner, Ruth Anderson. In order to win the Ruth Anderson Cup, a runner must be (1) female; (2) at least age 50; (3) the runner with the fastest total time over the course of three grueling East Bay races which include: the Tilden Tough
Ten, the Lake Chabot Trail Challenge (half marathon) and the Dick Houston Memorial X-C Woodminster Race (9 miles). Carol met and exceeded the test on all counts and with her final victory at Woodminster on June 20th, took home the Cup.
Carol Baker
In Carol’s own words: “The races were great. Tilden Tough ten was the easiest as I am very familiar with that course. It was cold and windy as heck that day but that was OK. Touchstone had people on bikes all through race route to provide support which was awesome as I knew them all (Wendy organized that!) Lake Chabot ½ marathon was tough, long, and humid that day so it was hardest. Big hills for sure. Woodminster was intimidating but only two harsh hills (one mile long called the Woodmonster), weather was nice, and was not as hard as I thought it wouldbe.”
Needless to say the Touchstone Running Club is extremely proud of Carol!
From Left to Right: Touchstone Runners Deb Georges, Judy "Doc" Martin, Carol Baker, Tom Harrington
In addition to Carol’s wonderful accomplishment, here are a few notable mentions:
Susan Abrahamson PRs in the Oakland Marathon.
Nicole Churchill, Tom Harrington, Laura Walpert, Phil Yip all complete their first marathon in Oakland.
Deborah Georges, recently returning to the running scene, places 4th women overall at Bear Creek Half Marathon (Briones Park).
Wendy Georges competes in her 6th Ruth Anderson Ultra Marathon and wins her age group and sets a new 50 mile course record.
Judy Martin PRs on Tilden Tough Ten and finishes second in her age group.
Pat Ross finishes 3 women overall and 1st in her age group at the Oakland Running
Festival Twilight 5K- Marc Trotz finishes his first 50 mile ultra marathon at the American River 50 Mile Endurance Run.
Marc Trotz trotting along
The Touchstone Runinning Club consists of running enthusiast, many of whom spin at BIW and compete in various running events. Marc Trotz is the coordinator of the club and can be reached at marctrotz@gmail.com for further information. The next club run (known as Trotting With Trotz) is Sunday, July 18, 2010. Meet at the intersection of Spruce and Grizzly Peak (in Berkeley) at 9:00 am for an approximately 2 hour recreational run in Tilden Park (mix of trail and road). Runners are invited back to Marc’s house for brunch following. If planning to join the run, RSVP to Marc via email.
Labels: Carol Baker, Marc Trotz, Touchstone Running
¶ Sunday, July 04, 2010 0 Comments
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Touchstone Runners show up for Oakland Running Festival
This weekend, eight Touchstone Runners showed up to participate in the Oakland Running Festival races, which included a 5k, Half Marathon and Marathon. And what a successful showing they made of it. Here are some of the results:
Pat Ross–Yes, our bike racer extraordinaire is no one trick pony! Pat ran the Twilight 5K on Saturday. Not only did she finish first in her division (by a country mile), she finished in fourth place among all women, practically the only grown-up keeping pace with the kids!
Carol Baker–After winning her division in the Mt. Diable Half Marathon Trail race last weekend, Carol ran a stunning road reprise to take second place in her division in the Half Marathon yesterday.
Susan Abrahamson–She was our other Half Marathon runner who after a month of being sick and unable to fully train, beat her previous best time yesterday!
Tom Harrington–Tom ran his first marathon ever yesterday and finished 183rd out of 900+ finishers. Wendy ran the first half with him including the difficult and challenging miles through the Montclair Hills and reports he looks like someone whose been racing his entire life.
Laura Walpert–Laura was the second of four first time marathon runners. In a large and competitive division, Laura grabbed a top twenty spot by placing 19th!
Nicole Churchill–Nicole, having recently turned 30, set a goal of running her first marathon in sub-4 hours. Not only did she succeed, she placed 10th in her division.
Phil Yip–Phil suffered the most of all the TRs, but finished his race, joined the ranks of marathon runners and proved himself to be the bravest of us out on the course. It’s one thing to persevere when you’re feeling good. It’s quite another to run on guts and determination. Way to go, Phil!
Wendy Georges and Troy “Punk” Windsor–Another day at the office and they’re still loving it all! "Oh yeah, and by the way, Wendy placed in the top 20 for women and won her division by 14 minutes."- Susan Abrhamson
Many thanks to El Presidente, Marc Trotz, Deborah Georges, Whitney Lee and Judy Martin “Doc” for their first rate support. Berkeley Ironworks rocks!
It was a fantastic day out there and it was great to see all of our Touchstone Runners ripping up the pavement. Susan already set the record straight on Wendy and as for Troy, well, it was a very good day at the office for him, finishing 21st in an extremely competitive age group.
Touchstone Running Club is on the move! Anyone out there who wants to jump on, drop me an email at marctrotz@gmail.com- Marc Trotz
To check out the original blog post see the Spinner Blast blog page.
http://spinnerblast.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/touchstone-runners-show-up-for-oakland-running-festival/
Pat Ross–Yes, our bike racer extraordinaire is no one trick pony! Pat ran the Twilight 5K on Saturday. Not only did she finish first in her division (by a country mile), she finished in fourth place among all women, practically the only grown-up keeping pace with the kids!
Carol Baker–After winning her division in the Mt. Diable Half Marathon Trail race last weekend, Carol ran a stunning road reprise to take second place in her division in the Half Marathon yesterday.
Susan Abrahamson–She was our other Half Marathon runner who after a month of being sick and unable to fully train, beat her previous best time yesterday!
Tom Harrington–Tom ran his first marathon ever yesterday and finished 183rd out of 900+ finishers. Wendy ran the first half with him including the difficult and challenging miles through the Montclair Hills and reports he looks like someone whose been racing his entire life.
Laura Walpert–Laura was the second of four first time marathon runners. In a large and competitive division, Laura grabbed a top twenty spot by placing 19th!
Nicole Churchill–Nicole, having recently turned 30, set a goal of running her first marathon in sub-4 hours. Not only did she succeed, she placed 10th in her division.
Phil Yip–Phil suffered the most of all the TRs, but finished his race, joined the ranks of marathon runners and proved himself to be the bravest of us out on the course. It’s one thing to persevere when you’re feeling good. It’s quite another to run on guts and determination. Way to go, Phil!
Wendy Georges and Troy “Punk” Windsor–Another day at the office and they’re still loving it all! "Oh yeah, and by the way, Wendy placed in the top 20 for women and won her division by 14 minutes."- Susan Abrhamson
Many thanks to El Presidente, Marc Trotz, Deborah Georges, Whitney Lee and Judy Martin “Doc” for their first rate support. Berkeley Ironworks rocks!
It was a fantastic day out there and it was great to see all of our Touchstone Runners ripping up the pavement. Susan already set the record straight on Wendy and as for Troy, well, it was a very good day at the office for him, finishing 21st in an extremely competitive age group.
Touchstone Running Club is on the move! Anyone out there who wants to jump on, drop me an email at marctrotz@gmail.com- Marc Trotz
To check out the original blog post see the Spinner Blast blog page.
http://spinnerblast.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/touchstone-runners-show-up-for-oakland-running-festival/
Labels: SpinnerBlast, Touchstone Running
¶ Wednesday, April 07, 2010 0 Comments
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Touchstone Runners
Touchstone runners have been spotted in some very far-flung places lately.
Jean Hobler is left, wearing the Elvis glasses and Touchstone shirt.
On August 8, the anniversary of Elvis Presley's "alleged" death, Fleet Feet Chicago hosts the "Elvis is Alive 5K". Jean Hobler, a Touchstone climber, who was in Chicago for work, naturally had to run it. Jean described the race saying, "It's a very fun race (my second time running it), in large part because of the copious Elvii. That's right - people dress like Elvis: I saw mother/daughter Elvii, father/son Elvii, Elvii in red, in black, in white. Elvii with polyester and plastic hair and fabric pompadours exceeding 1 foot tall (no, I am not exaggerating). The race starts with Blue Suede Shoes ("a one for the money, a two for the show, three to get ready, now GO CAT GO!") At the end there was a beer garden and an Elvis impersonator concert! We had post-race beer and some good food, but most importantly the whole group I was with (runners and spectators) had Elvis glasses to show our support for the King."
On the other side of the continent, away from all the aspiring Elvis runners, Sacramento Pipeworks manager Vaughn Medford and his wife Kristen Venditelli (pictured above) participated in the "Common Fence Point 5 mile run" in Rhode Island. Said Kristen: "Before our trip to visit my family, we decided to commit to a 5 mile run so that we didn't back out of getting in miles while on vacation. And we are glad we did. The heat and humidity on the morning of the run was crushing. Let me say that again - CRUSHING. We joked in the car on the way that if we had not already paid our entry fees in advance, we wouldn't have made it to the start line. But once there, among fellow runners and members of the community, the excitement and adrenaline got us to the finish. The course was pretty, flat and right near the ocean. And humid. How humid could it be you may ask? It was like running in a sauna - we were DRENCHED by the end. We would have been drier had we put all our clothes on and ran around in the shower for an hour! It was a well-run event though, with a beautiful course, enthusiastic volunteers, and support from the neighbors cooling us off with their garden hoses. All-in-all, a fun way to represent Touchstone in a far away state!"
Jean Hobler is left, wearing the Elvis glasses and Touchstone shirt.
On August 8, the anniversary of Elvis Presley's "alleged" death, Fleet Feet Chicago hosts the "Elvis is Alive 5K". Jean Hobler, a Touchstone climber, who was in Chicago for work, naturally had to run it. Jean described the race saying, "It's a very fun race (my second time running it), in large part because of the copious Elvii. That's right - people dress like Elvis: I saw mother/daughter Elvii, father/son Elvii, Elvii in red, in black, in white. Elvii with polyester and plastic hair and fabric pompadours exceeding 1 foot tall (no, I am not exaggerating). The race starts with Blue Suede Shoes ("a one for the money, a two for the show, three to get ready, now GO CAT GO!") At the end there was a beer garden and an Elvis impersonator concert! We had post-race beer and some good food, but most importantly the whole group I was with (runners and spectators) had Elvis glasses to show our support for the King."
On the other side of the continent, away from all the aspiring Elvis runners, Sacramento Pipeworks manager Vaughn Medford and his wife Kristen Venditelli (pictured above) participated in the "Common Fence Point 5 mile run" in Rhode Island. Said Kristen: "Before our trip to visit my family, we decided to commit to a 5 mile run so that we didn't back out of getting in miles while on vacation. And we are glad we did. The heat and humidity on the morning of the run was crushing. Let me say that again - CRUSHING. We joked in the car on the way that if we had not already paid our entry fees in advance, we wouldn't have made it to the start line. But once there, among fellow runners and members of the community, the excitement and adrenaline got us to the finish. The course was pretty, flat and right near the ocean. And humid. How humid could it be you may ask? It was like running in a sauna - we were DRENCHED by the end. We would have been drier had we put all our clothes on and ran around in the shower for an hour! It was a well-run event though, with a beautiful course, enthusiastic volunteers, and support from the neighbors cooling us off with their garden hoses. All-in-all, a fun way to represent Touchstone in a far away state!"
Labels: Elvis is Alive 5k, Touchstone Running, Vaughn Medford
¶ Tuesday, August 25, 2009 0 Comments
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Touchstone Teams Do Great At "The Relay"
Looks like our Touchstone Climbing running teams performed amazingly at The Relay recently. Here's a bit more about the race, and just how they all did!
Looks like our Touchstone Climbing running teams performed amazingly at The Relay recently. Here's a bit more about the race, and just how they all did!
The Relay (http://therelay.com) is a benefit run to raise awareness for organ donation. The Relay covers 199 miles between Calistoga and Santa Cruz and is run by teams of 12, with each person responsible for 3 approximately 10K legs. The running team: Clarence Mamuyac, Dan Weintraub, Diane Ortega, Mason Moore, Harlan Reymont, Ryan Rougeux, Scott Clark, Tina Moore, Vaughn Medford, Veronica Carrasco, Sean Wilkenfeld, Will Harris; Drivers were Kristen Venditelli and Rhonda Hurst.Congratulations everyone, what an impressive and amazing feat.
Sponsored wholly by Touchstone Climbing, "Touchstone 12" ran for 29 hours, 46 minutes and 59 seconds, mostly in the rain, coming in 36th out of 78 in Mens Open Category and 99th out of 228 overall teams - 18 SECONDS behind the Bay Area Touchstone runners "We're Keepin' R's" who placed 98th. Said Dan Weintraub: "What are the odds of us finishing 18 seconds apart (and behind) the other Touchstone team after 199 miles and nearly 30 hours of racing? Obviously a million little things here or there (and one big thing, my quads), could have swung that balance, but the real heartbreaker is that Mason was directed down the wrong street on his final leg, which cost him over a minute by the time he climbed a very steep hill and then descended to get back on course. We wuz robbed."
Mason Moore shared this story about one of his legs: "After crawling up the huge hill on my first leg and passing people and wishing them well along the way, I was feeling like a champion. I then started down the crazy decent, dodging cows, slipping and getting covered in mud and loving it. After one final little ascent, the valley and lights of the city were visible in front of me and I couldn’t help but shout as loud as I could: “WHOOO HOOOO” It was then 2 miles more of the most blazing downhill I have ever done. Something about going as fast as I could in the pitch black jumping cattle guards and never wanting it to end just filled me with tons of joy. Thank you for this, it was such a great experience; I will never forget it!"
Said Tina Moore: "I found the experience to be very inspiring. Whether we were running at full speed down the final straight-away or slowly working our way up some horrendous climb, everyone ran their hearts out. There was pain and suffering and much laughter. I'm already looking forward to our next adventure together."
The following are some one word descriptions of The Relay:
Will - punchy
Veronica - awesome
Sean - epic
Harlan - potatoes
Dan - exhilaration
Scott - incomparable
Kristen - signage (as in lack thereof)
Tina - shot wad
Rhonda - inspirational
Vaughn - teamwork
Diane - consummate
Mason - woohoo
Labels: Team Sport, The Relay, Touchstone Climbing, Touchstone Running
¶ Thursday, May 14, 2009 0 Comments
