2015 ENDURrace

The team had a great time at the 2015 RunWaterloo ENDURrace!  Despite having a very large contingent at other team races this weekend, H+P still put together a very solid roster and hit some major personal bests.  Here's how we did:

Full H+P Rankings
Full Results

 

Aaron Mailman had a massive new personal best of 18:32, winning his AG and placing 4th OA.

Brian Weltzer was in next for the team with a great time of just under 21 minutes.

Don McLeod was in next with a personal best time of 20:50.

Sam Lalonde, aka Whiz Kid, posted a massive personal best of 21:01.

Paul Gonsalves was in next for the team with a great time of 22:03.

Derek Hergott posted an oustanding 5K of 22:46, a new 5K PB!

Kyle had a great debut with the team, posting a time of 25:05.

Cari and Robyn ran together to help Cari to post a massive new personal best of 25:34!

We'll be back with an even bigger roster for the 8K next week!  

#cantwontstop

H+P Athlete Spotlight: Cari Rastas Howard

It's been a while!  Time for our fourth episode of H+P Spotlight.  Today we had the chance to chat with Cari.  She's been an outstanding edition to the team ever since she joined.  With her hard work, positive attitude, and outstanding improvement (including taking almost 30 minutes off her ATB time this year!), there's no denying that Cari makes the club a better place for all of her H+P teammates.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that she has brought 3 of the first honourary H+P-ers (her two boys and dog Maggie).

Here's what Cari had to say:

H+P: When did this entire running thing start for you?

CRH: I was a “hobby runner” for years.  I would sign up for a race to motivate myself, run regularly until the race, and then stop for months and have to start over again. My first ever race was the 5km Run Waterloo EndurRace back in 2004, and my certificate for that one is still not full!  When I was on maternity leave with both my boys, I had a great jogging stroller and ran 2-3x a week, and I did my first two Try-a-Tri races at the end of my mat leaves.  But everything dropped off once I went back to work both times. Even when I previously did Around the Bay and the Scotiabank Waterfront half marathon in 2012, they were more about just doing the distances than racing, and when I didn’t sign up for anything in 2013, I didn’t run!  Joining H+P in early 2014 was part of my commitment to running as a sport, and actually training to get better at it. I’m happier when I’m running!

H+P: You have come a long way in the past 1.5 years, setting massive personal bests at literally every distance you've run.  What accomplishments are you most proud of?

CRH: The personal bests are an amazing feeling. It’s easy to PB over when I wasn’t really training, but seeing improvement over my 5 km times between April and October of last year, even though it’s smaller, feels just as good!  The two that I’m the most proud of are my 5^th place age group finish in last year’s Guelph 2 Try-a-Tri, and definitely this year’s Around the Bay.  It felt AMAZING to run the entire 30 kms of Around the Bay, especially passing the sections that I walked through in 2012.  

H+P: What types of changes have you made in your training that helped to produce this spike in performance?

CRH: For the first time ever, I’m actually “training”.  I don’t automatically skip workouts when I get busy.  Instead, I find ways to adjust or move them.  Having a coach tell me what to do makes a big difference, since I would never do intervals or speed work or hills on my own!  It also really helps to have everyone’s experience and expertise to draw on now too. Before I joined H+P, I knew nothing about proper training, had no idea what a “taper” was, or the importance of base mileage.  It’s almost embarrassing to admit how little I knew.  

H+P: H+P seems to have a reputation (with some) as being a "high performance" or elite type club.  Were you intimidated to join at all?  How did the process of getting comfortable with the group and training program go?  Were there any major challenges? 

CRH: I was very intimidated at first, but there was no reason to be!  I discovered H+P when I was following a few people on Twitter who turned out to be members.  I loved the philosophy of training to get better and the health benefits will come, and it’s obvious on the website that the group is open to all and welcomes runners of all ability.  But when I looked a little closer, YES, I was super intimidated by all the elite runners!  In fact, I think my first email to Sean said just that: love your attitude, but how can I possibly fit in?  (I think I used the word “slow” a lot in that first message…)  Sean responded with what I’ve come to know is his normal high level of enthusiasm and encouragement: telling me that I would be welcome, it sounded like I’d be a good fit, and to come on out and give it a try!  It took me a little bit to figure out the workouts (I still have to ask questions when Sean describes them‎), but everyone was very welcoming and encouraging right from the start.  There are definitely different degrees of running ability in the group, but no one acts as if they are better than anyone else because of that ability.  Everyone in the group respects everyone else just for showing up and doing their best.  There are lots of options to make the workouts work for you, and there were lots of people who made the effort to circle back and “pick me up” between intervals, etc.  It’s definitely training and it’s hard work, but there’s a surprising amount of fun to be had too.  H+P definitely deserves the “high performance” reputation.  But there’s nothing elite about the group’s attitude!   

H+P: What is your favourite part(s) of training with H+P?

CRH: Definitely the social aspect. I’ve met some fantastic people, made some great friends, and get to keep challenging myself to keep up with them!  It’s such a little thing, but it means so much to me to hear everyone encourage each other when we’re running past (or being passed) during workouts. I’d never really considered running to be a “team sport”, but it’s that team feeling that I really like. This winter was tough, but knowing that a whole group of people would be out there working and braving the windy cold with me was really motivating.  It’s great to have people to call up to run with outside of the H+P sessions.  And having someone to laugh with when long runs don’t go according to plan helps too! 

H+P: One of the most impressive things about you is not just your improvement, but your improvement given how busy you are in life!  Busy job, kids and countless other responsibilities- how are you able to make everything work?  What advice would you give other parents/over-committed individuals struggling to fit time for fitness?

CRH: I’m laughing at this question, I’m so glad it looks like I’m making everything work!  Life is definitely busy, but part of committing to running for me was committing to not automatically cutting it out when things get stressful. I have my kids 50% of the time and in some ways, that makes it easier for me, since I know I can fit in regular workouts when I don’t have the boys.  But fitting in extra mileage to train for longer distances was harder.  I decided that it was worth budgeting a babysitter once a week to help with that, and I try to schedule playdates for the boys at the same time whenever I can.  Hockey season was tough, getting up to have one (or both!) of them on the ice for 7 a.m. and then squeezing in a long run on my own because I missed the H+P run was tiring, so I also made time for naps!  It really does help to schedule blocks of time during the week for your

workouts, just like everything else gets scheduled.  

Other strategies: I live only 5 kms away from my office, so I’ll run to work occasionally, or I’ll try to get out for a run at lunch (having a shower at the office helps!)  The boys are too young yet to be left on their own, but I have an elliptical and my bike on a trainer in my basement and can get some cross-training in after they’re in bed or before they’re up in the morning.  Summertime is easier, because I can bring them along to hang out during H+P workouts, and they’re both getting more interested in running (or biking) along with me. I’ll run laps around the soccer field, or do stairs at the hockey arena while they practice.  Doing something is always better than doing nothing, even if “something” is walking up the toboggan hill 20 times while sledding with the kids, instead of doing a hill run.  

My biggest piece of advice is something I’m still working on: while it’s important to try to fit in training when and where you can, it’s also important to be kind to yourself.  While I don’t want to cut out running, sometimes there really is too much on my plate, and something has to give.  If I do miss a workout, I try not to beat myself up over it. Similarly, I try not to let it get to me if the dishes sit in the sink, laundry isn’t folded or my house doesn’t get vacuumed because I went for a run instead.  Fitting in fitness isn’t selfish, but I think it’s something women (moms especially) struggle with. Having a supportive partner is priceless.  ‎My boyfriend isn't a runner, but he gets my commitment to training, and would never ask me to skip a run even when things are busy.  Just the opposite: he encourages me to go, and will often have food waiting when I get back!

H+P: What drives you to find the time to continue training?  Is it health, competition, or something else?

CRH: My kids.  I want to set a good example for them.  We did the Santa PurSuit last year as a family, and I was so proud of them! They’re starting to understand that competition isn’t just about winning and losing, but about pushing yourself to do better.  I think I’m a bit addicted to the PBs, and I’m looking forward to seeing how much I can still improve now that my baseline is a season of training.  (But I’m not going to lie, the fact that my clothes fit better when I’m training is also really motivating!)

H+P: 2015 looks like it's going to be a big season for you!  What are your big goals?

CRH: One big goal for 2015 is already behind me: Around the Bay! It was a great race for me, and everything went really well. Of course, now I’m tempted to do it again in 2016 and see how much better I can do.  Other goals for 2015 include a sub-25 minute 5 km, doing my first Sprint Triathlon, and trying to catch a few ladies in the H+P World Ranking!   

2015 ATB

The 2015 ATB road race was an outstanding event for the team.  The 5K produced two new club records, while the 30K produced many unbelievable personal bests.  Check out our team stats and Strava playback HERE.

Here are the full results:

5K:

Adam Hortian showed his fitness is coming quickly.  One of his best 5K's in recent years, Adam set a new

club record in the 5K running 15:13, placing 3rd OA.

RunnerRob had a great return from Kenya, running a new PB of 16:02 and cracking the top 10.

Steph Hortian also had a record breaking run for the team.  She ran a new H+P club record of 18:44, and placed 4th OA.

30K:

Just coming off base running mileage, Dave ran an outstanding PB (by 1:27) of 2:03:39

Mailman had one of his best performances ever.  He ran a great time of 2:04:07, a new personal best by about 4.5 minutes!

Holger came in next for the team with a great time of 2:07:43.

Battling a knee injury coming into the event, Mike still managed a very solid time of just over 2:10.

In next for the team, and our first female runner was Val Hobson!  She crushed the race, posting a 10 minute PB of 2:12, and placed 3rd in a very competitive AG at a very deep race.

Our swim coach, Emily Hunter, was in next for the team with a time of 2:15.  This was good for a 22 minute PB!

Vicki Z was in next.  She ALSO posted an outstanding PB of 2:22:07, and also managed to PB her half marathon en-route.

Tracy came in next with a massive new PB of 2:25, which also included an en-route 1/2 marathon PB!

Jonathan posted a great time of 2:26 in his first time running the 30K.

Sam Lalonde (aka Whiz Kid) posted a massive 20 minute personal best of 2:28.

Helen came in next for the team with a time of 2:31- good enough for a 16 minute personal best!

Coming back from a concussion that took him out for all of February, Justin still managed a very respectable 2:45!

Jessica R came in with a new personal best of just under two hours, a PB by 13:36!

Cari had an outstanding performance.  Despite facing numerous training roadblocks in 2015, she manged to crush her personal best by 28 minutes, running 3:16!

The Heijs ran once in February and twice in March- but they both still completed the 30K and actually came out to practice on the Monday and were still mobile!

Up next for the team: the Toronto Yonge Street 10K!

#cantwontstop

2015 Chilly Half

With our big spring team races still on the horizon (TYS10K, Boston, Goodlife), we did not specifically target the 2015 Chilly Half.  Despite that, we had a good contingent of runners who tackled the half marathon and dropped some breakthrough performances along the way.

Here's how we did:

RESULTS

Results on our team rankings page

Aaron Mailman ran quite possibly his best race ever.  Just 1 week after his PB at the ReFridgee8er

8M, he managed an outstanding 1/2 marathon PB of 1:25:19, taking over a minute off of his time from last year.  This correlates to an 18:26 5K, Aaron's best performance ever since joining H+P! 

Holger was in next for the team with a very solid 1:28:25, placing in the top 10 in his very competitive AG.

Jessica was in next for the team with an outstanding result, breaking the 2-hour mark!

Cari had an awesome race- despite being sick along with facing a number of other challenges in the month of February, she still managed an outstanding time of 2:16 (a new PB by almost 30 minutes)!

Andrew and Heather Heij both had great races, running their first team race of 2015!

H+P at the 2015 Re-Fridgee-8er

One of the coldest Februaries in history?  Not a problem for H+P!  We had an outstanding 2015 team debut at the 2015 ReFridgee8er.  

There were a few major accomplishments at this race never before achieved by the team!  Here they are:

• This was the first time we have won both female and male races overall in the same weekend (Adam
  
  and Steph won the 8K, Sean and Andrea won the 8M).
• Steph set a NEW club record in the 8K (30:57) which was also a massive PB for her. 
• Adam Hortian was the first H+Per to ever break 26:00 in a team 8K, coming in only 6 seconds off his club record of 25:40.  
• The 8M team (Sean, Luke, Greg, Aaron, Dave, Nick) was the first to ever have 6 runners within the top 10 of any race.
• The 8M team has been calculated to be our 5th fastest team of all time according to our rankings system.

Now, here are the full results!

8K

• Adam Hortian won the race overall in an outstanding time of 25:46. 
• Steph came in 1st OA for females, 5th OA in a NEW CLUB RECORD of 30:57.
• Next in for the team was Jonathan Fugelsang with a massive new personal best of 34:32.  This brought him in 9th OA, and 2nd in his AG!
• Simon had a great race, but seems to be missing in the results- stay tuned!
• Paul was in next for the team in a time of 35:59, good enough to win his AG!
• Kristin Marks had a breakthrough race, running 38:44 and placing 2nd in her AG!

8M

• Coach Sean won in 45:36.
• Luke placed 3rd OA and won his AG in a new PB of 48:10!
• Coach Dyce came in 4th OA with a very solid time of 48:22.
• Nick Burt was in next for the team, finishing 6th OA and winning his AG in 50:08.
• Aaron Mailman was in 9th OA, 2nd in his AG, with a new PB of 50:39.
• Dave Rutherford was the 6th runner in for the team, the 6th runner to break the top 10, and won his AG with a great time of 51:36.
• Graham Dunn had a great return from injury, running 53:12, placing 3rd in his AG.
• Andrea was in next for the team with an outstanding team debut.  She place FIRST OA for females running 53:24.
• Emily was in next for the team.  She also had a breakthrough race, placing 2nd OA with a time of 54:49.
• Recovering from injury, Vicki came in treating this race as a tempo run.  She still managed a great result, placing 5th OA and breaking the 1 hour mark!
• Helen had a great race, taking a huge amount of time off of her personal best, and placing 2nd in her AG! 
• Don was battling a tough illness through this race, but still managed a great time of just over 1-hour.  
• Derek used the 8M as a training day- but still managed an impressive 1:04 and won his first AG medal with the team!
• Jessica had a great performance- she took 3 minutes off her
  
  PB and won her AG!

Up next for the team- the Toronto Yonge Street 10K AND the Boston Marathon!  #cantwontstop

2014 WINS

We are a club with a strong focus on enjoying the sport, and pursuing a high level of health.  That being said, when you put a bunch of people together who support each other and have a blast doing so, something funny happens: hard work transpires without realizing it, consistency becomes easier than a lack thereof, and before you know it, results begin to pile up.

You don't have to be treated like you are hardcore, or declare you are hardcore, to race like you are hardcore.  We tried to have fun, but in the process we also won.  Now, I'm not talking age group wins, personal bests, or all the other ways our team excelled this year.  If I were to list all of those, this blog post would be never-ending.  This is simply a list of ways our team won overall (or placed 2nd).

The following performances were not our primary goals, but they are something to look back at, reflect on, and be proud of.  If you are an H+Per who does not have a name on this list, well it may as well be on there.  The success of these individuals is a direct reflection of the massive family of support and inspiration that we have assembled.

(Did we miss you?  Send us a link to your results page and we will add you to the list)

ROAD RACING

MEN

OVERALL WINS

April 26th, 2014. Guelph Avery's Bravery 5K. Robert Brouillette (18:45)
April 26, 2014. ENDURrace 8K.  Brendan Hancock (28:32) 
April 26, 2014. ENDURrace Combined  13K.  Luke Ehgoetz (47:51)
April 27th, 2014. Guelph Billy Taylor 5K. Robert Brouillette (16:03)
May 10th, 2014.  Baden 5K.- Sean Delanghe (17:20)
July 13th, 2014. Guelph Big Little trail 5K. Robert Brouillette (16:30) 
July 28th, 2014. Waterloo H+P Summer Time Trial 2.2K. Bredan Hancock (6:28)
 August 16th, 2014.  ENDURrun 10K.  Jordan Schmidt (35.49)
August 17th, 2014. Conestogo ENDURrun Marathon. Robert Brouillette (2:41:37) 
October 13th, 2014. Guelph Thanksgiving Day 10K. Robert Brouillette (34:45)
 September 13th, 2014. Wellesley Harvest Half-Marathon. Robert Brouillette (1:15:08) 
October 19th, 2014. Battle of Waterloo 23K (total)- Sean Delanghe (1:18:40)
November 23rd, 2014. Cambridge YMCA Jingle Bell 5K. Robert Brouillette(16:21)
December 13th, 2014.  Santa PurSuit 5K- Sean Delanghe (17:35)


OVERALL RUNNER UPS

February 23rd, 2014.  Re-Fridgee-8er 8K.  Sean Delanghe (27:54)
April 26th, 2014. ENDURrace Combined  13K.  Aron Mailman (49:32)
April 26th, 2014. ENDURrace 8K.  Luke Ehgoetz (29:39)
May 10th, 2014.  Baden 7M. Luke Ehgoetz (43.52)
 July 28th, 2014. Waterloo H+P Summer Time Trial 2.2K.  Robert Brouillette (6:32)
 August 10th, 2014.  ENDURrun Half 21.1K.  Sean Delange (1:16:58)
September 13th, 2014. Wellesley Harvest Half-Marathon.  Brendan Hancock (1:15:39)
September 13th, 2014. Wellesley Harvest 1/4-Marathon. Nick Burt (40:43)
Octobeber 13th, 2014. Oktoberfest 5K.  Chris Goldsworthy (18:00)
October 19th, 2014. Battle of Waterloo 23K (total).  Brendan Hancock (1:20:53)
December 13th, 2014.  Santa PurSuit 5K.  Nick Burt (19:01) 

 

WOMEN

OVERALL RUNNERS UP

February 23rd, 2014.  Re-Fridgee-8er 8M.  Gillian Willard (55:32)
May 10th, 2014.  Baden 5K.- Kailey Haddock (21:10)
April 26, 2014. ENDURrace 8K.  Jessica Kuepfer (33:12)
May 10th, 2014.  Baden 7M.  Jessica Kuepfer (49:07)

 TRAIL RACING 

MEN

OVERALL WINS

September 6th, 2014. Haliburton Forest 26K. Dave Rutherford (2:23:30)
October 25, 2014.  Horror Hill 10K.  Aaron Mailman (43:01)

OVERALL RUNNERS UP

July 5th, 2014. Creemore Vertical Challenge trail 25K.  Robert Brouillette (1:47:03)
September 13th, 2014. Muppuppy 8K.  Greg Dyce (31:54) 
October 25, 2014.  Horror Hill 25K.  Dave Rutherford (1:49:26)

 

WOMEN

 OVERALL WINS

June 8th, 2014.  Yankee Springs Trail Half. Jessica Kuepfer (1:50:08) 
July 5th, 2014. Creemore Vertical Challenge 25K. Jessica Kuepfer (2:20:20)

October 25th, 2014.  Horror Hill Trail Run 6 hour. Vicki Zandbergen (61.04K)

OVERALL RUNNER UPS

July 5th, 2014. Creemore Vertical Challenge 25K. Vicki Zandbergen (2:20:56)
July 6th, 2014.  Dirty Dash 8K. Vicki Zandbergen (40:57)

ULTRA RACING 

MEN

OVERALL WINS

January 18th, 2014.  Beast of Burden 100M. Steven Parke (17:40:35)
September 20th, 2014. That Dam Hill 12H. Steven Parke (122.047K)

OVERALL RUNNERS UP

Janurary 6th, 2014.  Run4Kids 6 Hr.  Steven Parke (64.64K)
May 24th, 2014.  Sulpher Springs 100M.  Steven Park (18:07)

  WOMEN

 OVERALL WINS

May 7-13th, 2014.  EMU 6 DAY Ultra.  Charlotte Vasarhelyi. (734K- New Canadian Record)
July 26-27th, 2014.  Montour 24 Hour Ultra.  Charlotte Vasarhelyi (170K)
August 2nd, 2014.  Epic 8 Hour Adventure Race. Jessica Kuepfer.

 CYCLING

MEN

 OVERALL WINS

March 23th, 2014.  Runny Nose 34K.  Bill Frier (1:28:22)

OVERALL RUNNER UPS

September 14th, 2014.  Centurtion C50 90K.  Sean Delanghe (2:23:27)

TEAM WINS

February 23rd, 2014.  Re-Fridgee-8er 8M Open (Ahmed, Luke, Aaron, Nick, Gill)

Feburary 23rd, 2014.  Re-Fridgee-8er 8K Open (Sean, Dave, Brendan, Greg, Mike)

April 12th, 2014.  ENDURrace 5K Open (Luke, Mike, Aaron, Holger, Nick)

April 13th, 2014.  Toronto Yonge Street 10K Open (Sean, Rob, Brendan, Ahmed, Jordan)

April 26th, 2014.  ENDURrace Combined (Luke, Aaron, Nick, Vicki, Dan)

April 26th, 2014.  ENDURrace 8K Open (Brendan, Luke, Nick, Aaron, Jessica)

June 15th, 2014.  Waterloo Classic 5K Open (Aaron, Steph, Kailey, Gill, Holger)

June 15th, 2014.  Waterloo Classic 10K Open (Rob,Greg, Ahmed, Chris, Dave)

August 17th, 2014. ENDURrun Relay (Sean, Ahmed, Jordan, Brendan, Greg, Rob, Luke)

October 19th, 2014.  Oktoberfest 5K Open (Ahmed, Jordan, Greg, Dave, Gill)

October 19th, 2014.  Oktoberfest 10K Open (Nick, Aaron, Emily, Sam, Speedy)

December 13th, 2014.  Santa PurSuit 5K Open (Sean, Nick, Aaron Vicki, Mike)

The win is not why we do it.  We do it to enjoy the hunt.  And enjoy it we did.  See ya in 2015 other guys.  The hunt is on!

 #cantwontstop

2014 Santa PurSuit

Well, the 2014 season has come to a close for the team!  We finished it off with a bang at the 2014 Santa PurSuit.  Here's how the team did:

Team Results:

H+P ended ended up winning the event by over 7 minutes average/5K.  RESULTS.

Individual Results (CLICK):

Sean won the race in 17:35

Nick Burt battled hard, and placed comfortably in 2nd place OA with a time of 19:01

Aaron Mailman had a strong race for the team, placing 4th OA, winning his AG with a time of just under 20 minutes

Vicki was the first female in for the team, placing 4th out of all H+P-ers, and 3rd OA for women in a time of 22:18

Michelle and Nicole were in next for the teams with very solid finishes well under 26 minutes

Mike Hewitson was 5th for the team in the official results, finishing in 26:36.

Laura Hewitson was chasing her husband down, finishing in 26:45 and winning her category!

Jessica came in just behind Laura, placing 4th in her category!

Despite not running very much at all in the last few months, Will still managed a Santa PB of 34 minutes!

Andrew and Heather Heij both ran together and had a blast coming in 8th and 9th officially for the team.

Cari and Sam both ran with their kids in the 3K run!  They also both managed 2nd place in their category, nice work!

Onwards to 2015!