2 Months of Updates (oops!)

A lot to catch up on in the past, *ahem 2 months*, but here goes:

August 21, 2011
Run Gloucester! 7 Mile Road Race: John Rheaume (45:29), Kacey Hill (54:45)

August 27, 2011
Chamberas 6K XC Race (really 3.5 miles): Adam Malek (3rd, 18:19), Matthew Germain (19:23), Ryan Miller (19:43), John Rheaume (23:04)

September 1, 2011
Atkinson 5K Road Race: Kacey Hill (21:12), John Rheaume (21:13)

September 24, 2011
Codfish Bowl: Women's 5K - Kacey Hill (23:01); Men's 8K - Ryan Miller (29:05), Larry Fowle (31:03), John Rheaume (31:09)

October 1, 2011
Topsfield XC Festival: Women's 5K - Danielle Sargent (20:51); Men's 8K - Matt Germain (28:15), Larry Fowle (31:35)

October 2, 2011
Smuttynose Marathon: Laura Rudd (4:05:31). Her first marathon!
Apple Harvest 5 Mile Road Race: John Rheaume (3rd, 29:33), Kacey Hill (3rd female, 35:32)

October 9, 2011
Bobby Bell 5 Mile Road Race: Laura Rudd wins the race just a week after her marathon debut in 36:21! Larry Fowle finished 8th overall 32:07

October 16, 2011
Bay State Marathon: Bob Parks (2:51:51). His first marathon!
Bay State Half Marathon: Matt Germain (4th, 1:13:38)
Harvest Half Marathon: John Rheaume (4th, 1:22:08), Kacey Hill (1:44:45).

October 23, 2011
Mayor's Cup: Franklin Park 5K - Jamie Aubuchon (18:09); (Men's 8K - Adam Malek (26:20), Matt Germain (27:28), Larry Fowle (29:41)

The Week That Was

It was another epic week for the Sisu Project with 6 men's runners going up to Vermont to take part in the 100 on 100 Relay. Running for Sisu were Steve Bartholomew, Matthew Germain, Roary McCracken, Bob Parks, John Rheaume, and Andrew Gallant. Jeff Bartlett graciously drove the team transport van while Caitlyn Clark and Sumner Fletcher were present cheering the team on. SP finished fourth place overall with a total time of 10 hours, 40 minutes, and 57 seconds.



The next day, Kacey Hill ran strong at the 7.1 mile Falmouth Road Race with a time of 56:28 on the classic point-to-point course.

Congratulations to all!

Recent & Future Happenings

Things are really starting to get really active for the Sisu Project. Obviously we just completed the Yankee Homecoming races on Tuesday. The previous post featured a recap highlighting all the cool things that happened in Newburyport.

On Sunday in Providence, Kacey Hill improved her half marathon PR by running 1:56:52 at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. This was just 5 days after she ran the Yankee Homecoming 10 Miler. Nice job, Kacey!

Wednesday training runs are still happening at Winnekenni Park in Haverhill at 5:30pm. The meeting place is right near the tennis courts. Also, many SP runners do various workouts at Winnekenni at 8am on Saturdays. Even if you are not doing a workout, feel free to come by because we always start together with a few miles of warm-up. Organized Sunday long runs are getting going again. There is always the Haverhill NECC long run that departs at 9am, and a new Central Mass long run at 8am with locations TBA on the Facebook Sisu Project Page. Check it out!

Also, a relay team consisting of Matthew Germain, Andrew Gallant, Stevin Bartholomew, Roary McCracken, Bob Parks, and John Rheaume that will be running at the 100 on 100 Relay in Vermont on August 13. Good luck!

Yankee Homecoming Races

It was a great evening for running, a rare occurance at the Yankee Homecoming Races in Newburyport Tuesday evening. In all, 10 Sisu Project runners ran - 6 in the 10 mile and 4 in the 5K. In the 10 Miler, the men's team finished in fourth place. Matthew Germain (10th overall) led the charge with a course personal best of 54:54, followed by Andrew Gallant (64:11), John Rheaume (69:03), Steven Bartholomew (71:59), and Andrew McGlathery (82:53) who made his Sisu debut! Also, in only her second race in a Sisu jersey, Kacey Hill ran a strong race with a time of 86:49.

In the 5K, Larry Fowle and Nat Coughlin came in almost simultaneously with impressive times of 18:24 and 18:25 respectively. Laura Rudd won 2nd in her age group with a 20:59, and Caitlyn Clark paced sister Jane to a 21:38.

The Yankee Homecoming is traditionally a race with strong Sisu representation, and this edition of the race was no different. Congratulations to all the finishers.

Recent Grand Prix Action

Great races all around for the Sisu Project in the Gate City as Ryan Miller (20:03, 28th overall), Bob Parks (21:14), John Rheaume (23:05), and Fawn Krumpelbeck (27:21) all performed well at the Medical Center 6K.



Last week, it was almost the same group running at the James Joyce Ramble 10K in Dedham, but with Matthew Germain running instead of John. Matt ran 33:24 despite having to retie his shoe. Ryan was close behind with a time of 34:00 even. Bob and Fawn ran solid times of 36:32 and 46:33 respectively.

It is great to see our Sisu Project runners making a presence at these races. Hope to see you at the next one!

Germain Victorious in Southboro

Matthew Germain easily won the NECC 5K for Autism, which also served as an excellent fundraiser for the New England Center for Children Autism School, which Jonathan Towle, who also ran, actively supports.

For those who were not aware, Jonathan's son Andrew, who is autistic, was featured nationally in a Yahoo article and a video. Andrew was recently denied being able to run by the province of Ontario because of a bizarre eligibility rule. Check it out here!

115th Boston Marathon

3 Sisu Project members qualified and ran the 115th edition of the Boston Marathon.

How they got there

Thomas Szumita: an 8-time Boston Marathoner, he ran the 2010 edition of the race in a course best time of 2:55:21.

Stevin Bartholomew: Steve had run the Vermont City Marathon in 2008 for fun, but he went back there for the real deal in 2010 and qualified for Boston with a time of 2:55:56.

John Rheaume: With a childhood dream of someday running Boston, it finally happened with a 3:07:49 at the 2009 Philly. He improved his Boston seeding with a 2:56:39 in 2010.

How They Did

Tom improved his course best with a fantastic 2:53:08, running a very smart race. Steve, who had injury concerns and trained minimally after recovery, was happy by running 3:00:29. John had a rough day, but finished in 3:19:20 despite needing a few walk breaks late in the race.

Congratulations to our 2011 Boston Marathon finishers!

April Fools Four Mile Road Race

Ryan Miller and Fawn Krumpelbeck and both ran in the April Fools Four Mile Road Race in Salisbury, MA. Ryan finished 4th overall with a time of 21:40 and Fawn finished second in her age group with a time of 28:24. Fawn has been making huge improvements lately with a string of great races!

New Bedford Half Marathon

There was a great showing by Sisu Project runners at the very competitve New Bedford Half Marathon. Matthew Germain set a 2 1/2 minute PR with an impressive time of 1:10:58. Tom Szumita crossed the line in 1:19:26. John Rheaume also set a PR with a time of 1:23:34 with the Towles coming in with 1:24:23 for Andrew and 2:33:35 for Jonathan. Danielle Sargent was the only woman in the race for Sisu and finished very strong with 1:26:46. Congratulations to all the Sisu finishers!

Claddagh Pub 4 Miler

Congratulations to Ryan Miller (22:07) and Fawn Krumpelbeck (29:22) who both ran in the Claddagh 4 Miler in Lawrence. Ryan finished 4th overall and Fawn was the fifth woman to cross the line.

USATF Indoors / GW Birthday 10K

Matt Germain (15:34) and Ryan Miller (15:54) both ran the 5K in the USATF-NE Indoor Championships at Harvard on Sunday. Meanwhile, John Rheaume traveled down to the DC area for vacation and ran a PR 39:12 at the George Washington Birthday Classic 10K in Alexandria, Virginia.

Early February Races

John Rheaume ran in the Super 5K in Lowell on Super Bowl Sunday and finished 18th with a time of 19:13. He went on to build upon that performance six days later with a time of 31:16 at the Bradford Valentine 5 Mile Road Race. He was joined by Ryan Miller (28:49), Laura Rudd (35:43), and also in the 6K event by Fawn Krumpelbeck who ran very well with a time of 26:54 and David Sweeney (32:08). Congratulations to these five for representing SP in Bradford!

Sisu Project Points Program

We are pleased to announce that we are activating the Sisu Project Points Program!

This will go live starting February 1st. Here is the program in more detail:

Sisu Project Point Program

- 5 points are earned for any Grand Prix race
- 5 points are earned at any race in which a FULL scoring team is present
- 1 point is earned for any other race.
- All members who earn 35 points or more will receive a free team gift at the end of the year (ex. sweatshirt, long sleeve...this year it will be a short sleeve tech shirt)
- The top male and female point getter will both receive a $50 gift card to Whirlaway Sports.
- Picture must be of you in your uniform at the race. This can be taken before, during or after the race and be done via your phone, camera or a race photo company.
- Picture must be either emailed to sisuprojectrunning@gmail.com or posted to the Sisu Project Facebook page

Fudgcicle 5K

On January 8, Matt Germain won the first Fudgcicle 5K race of the season by posting a 16:57 in a tempo pace workout while John Rheaume finished 2nd with a time of 18:53.

Caitlyn Clark joined the fun for the 2nd race on January 15. Temperatures were in the low single digits! She took it easy in the harsh conditions with exactly 20:00 for the first woman while John Rheaume finished 6th in 19:02 and Matt Germain won it again in 17:14.





Only John ventured out for the January 22 and 29 editions of the race. He slipped a bit in the 3rd Fudgcicle race with a 19:21, but bounced back nicely in week #4 with a series best 18:41.



Thanks to Scott Casper for these great photos!

GBTC Invitational

Several Sisu Project members participated in the GBTC Invitational at Harvard. Caitlyn Clark finished the mile with a time of 5:05, continuing her push to get under five minutes this season. Jamie Aubuchon ran a 2:05 in the 800 meters as well as measuring 5.34m in the long jump. Ryan Miller ran in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:15. Nice work to all three athletes!

Recent Races

John Rheaume and Laura Rudd ran in the Hangover Classic 10K on New Year's Day. John finished 31st with a PR time of 39:27 and Laura finished 59th overall with a time of 42:29 which was good for first in her age group!

Caitlyn Clark ran the mile at the BU Mini-Meet the very next day despite automotive difficulties and still ran 5:05. She has been working hard to go under 5 minutes and since she as much sisu as anyone, we know she will do it!