Jingle All The Way 8k - Race Recap

THE KWIATKOWSKI-BRANNIGAN DUO CLEAN UP, AGAIN

Race recap:

Chris K and Jeff B shared the lead with several others from the gun.  Their first mile was a casual 5:05. Miles two and three were slightly faster thanks to random surges from local Africans.  Classic Yo-Yo racing.  At the 3 mile mark, Chris K had enough of their games and surged to the lead.  Teammate Jeff Brannigan came along for the ride, but Chris would eventually gap Jeff by about 20 seconds. Chris K had a finishing time of 24:01 and Jeff Brannigan finished 2nd in 24:23. The top 5 finishers all broke the 25 minute barrier.

Local elite road-racers are becoming all too familiar with Chris' racing technique, but there's not much they can do about it.  Chris is extremely fit right now.

Edmund Burke had another great race, running 26:36.  Good for 13th place.

Another great Pacers Event.

GALLAGHER ADDS ANOTHER WIN TO 2012

Kerri's race recap:

Lining up behind Santa, I knew it was going to be a good day!

It had rained pretty heavily that morning, but lightened up by race start.  Although there was some windy stretches, I thought the weather was pretty solid for December 9th.  The race went out quickly from the gun, but I was able to keep a pretty even 5:30 until the 4th mile.  The course had a lot of turns which wasn't ideal for time but ended up being helpful in other ways.  The crowd was electric and bursting with holiday spirit!  It was a lot of fun to run with elves, reindeer, the Holy Family and (my favorite) the Christmas Story bunny pajama group!  Despite the cheery atmosphere I managed to slow down by about 15 seconds in the fourth mile, but pulled it together for an 8k personal best!

Other members of the Pacers New Balance squad finish 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 12th.

Erin Koch and Barbara Fallon Wallace worked together most of the race running times of  28:30 and 28:35 respectively. Erin was instructed by Coach Centrowitz to treat this race like a workout.

Lauren Centrowitz averaged 5:57's for the 8 kilometers, running 29:34.

And Kristi Markowicz was the first Female Master's runner in a time of 31:05.

A great all around day for the Ladies on Pacers New Balance Racing Team.

Results Here
Photos Courtesy of SWIM BIKE RUN PHOTO

Runner Profile - Edmund Burke

Meet Edmund Burke

Born: July 17, 1969

HS: Mater Dei HS, Santa Ana, CA, 1987

College: College of Notre Dame, Belmont, CA, 1991; San Francisco State University,
1995

PRs:
5 miles: 24:19 (2003)
10 miles: 49:18 (1998)
½ Marathon: 1:06:23 (2003)
Marathon: 2:21:47 (2003)

Favorite Local Races: GW Parkway 10-Miler; Alexandria Turkey Trot 5-Miler.

Favorite Local Trail: Capitol Crescent Trail

Edmund’s Story:
30 years ago, all 70 of my classmates and I (at an all-boys school in Ireland) had to run a 3-mile cross country race. Amazingly, I won. I wasn't a very good student or athlete, so when I discovered I was a halfway decent runner…I kept running! (I had never trained until a few days before the race, but after the race I ran for 120 days in a row!) That race changed my life.

Running is a generous sport. I've had the pleasure of running for Coach Centrowitz for the past 18 years (and running for Pacers for half of those years), and calling hundreds of teammates “friends.” Some highlights have been winning a Conference 10,000m in college, running a PR at the 1998 Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, and racing in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.

I’m looking forward to competing in local races this winter and tackling a marathon in the spring. The first 30 years have been fantastic – so I’m going to keep running!

Runner Profile - Kristi Markowicz

Meet Kristi Markowicz

Born:  April 23, 1970

HS:  University of San Diego High School, 1988

College:  UCLA, 1992

PRs:
800m--2:13 1988
1500m--4:31 1988
5K (road)--17:25  2003
10K (road)--36:08 2003
10mile--60:50  2010
1/2 marathon--1:20.42  2010
Marathon--3:07.16  2003

Favorite Local Race Course:  Veteran's Day 10K
Favorite Local Trail:  Capital Crescent

Kristi's Story:
I have been a runner ever since I can remember.  I come from a running family--my dad was a member of World Cross Country teams and qualified for the Olympic Trials in events from the 5K to marathon.  I spent a lot of my childhood at road races and tracks in Southern California and Northern Virginia and ran my first 10K when I was 6 years old (62 minutes!)

My real passion for running was as a track runner.  When I was 12, I ran a 2:23 800m and 4:48 1500m.  In high school, I was nationally ranked in the 800 and 1500 (5th--1988) and placed 6th in the CA Track and Field State Meet in the 800m (1988).  I also ran cross country but didn't like it as much as the track!  I attended UCLA where I ran for 2 years.  My first year went well.  I ran in the NCAA Cross Country Meet and made the PAC-10 final in the 1500.  But after a second year that wasn't as successful, I stopped competing for UCLA.

My love of running never really stopped though.  I continued to run for fitness for several years but focused on having a career (elementary school teacher), getting married and starting a family.  After my first son was born in 1999, I started road racing.  Since I had never really focused on road races, it was like a new sport for me!  And I found that I hadn't lost my speed nor competitive spirit.  So I started running longer races that in my youth I never thought I would do.  I now have four children--three boys and a girl--ranging in ages from 13 to 4.  I am fortunate to be able to stay home with them, which gives me a little more freedom and time to run than if I had to work.  My husband is a 20 year US Naval Officer, so I have been able to run on teams in Honolulu, San Diego, and now Pacers.

After spending the last year injured, I am finally getting back into racing shape.  I hope to keep racing and running as long as my body will tolerate it!  I still have the long term goal of a sub 3 hour marathon in mind, but only if my body will take it!