Wow! Another Wildflower race weekend has come and gone but this past weekend was perhaps PacWest’s finest overall performance in our 10 year history. Why? Its because BOTH our race and club team athletes absolutely DOMINATED on both days! PacWest had athletes up on the podium in all three races (Mt Bike Sprint, Long Course and Olympic Distance) including 8 overall division winners. But that doesn’t show the bigger picture. Check this out.

• 1st place in Olympic Distance Club Team Competition
• 2nd place in Long Course Club Team Competition
• 8 overall division winners
• Top-3 male and female in the Olympic Distance
• Top overall female in NEW Wildflower “Squared” (raced both Long and Olympic Distances) division
• Overall and runner up males in the NEW Wildflower “Squared” division
• 13 Top-5 podium winners (8-1st, 3-2nd, 2-4th)
• 25…TWENTY FIVE! Top-20 division finishers
• and countless PRs (Personal Records) on both days

Special congratulations to our eight (8) division winners: Sara Hunt (1st WF Squared), Michael Bisbee (1st WF Squared), Leia Fazio (3rd overall, 1st F30-34 Olympic), John Murphy (3rd overall, 1st M44-49 Olmpic), Rachel Main (1st F35-39 Olympic), Ricardo Monroy (1st M40-44 Olympic), Mohamed Lanha (1st Challenge Athlete Olympic) and Andrew Campbell (1st MTB Sprint).

Special recognition also to our Wildflower “Squared” athletes who doubled up both days. Andrew Campbell (Mt Bike/Olympic), Sara Hunt (Long Course/Olympic), Emily Childs-Lopez (LC/Olympic), Michael Bisbee (LC/Olympic), Erik Jennings (LC/Olympic), Troy Tazbaz (LC/Olympic, Greg Cohn (LC/Olympic) and Greg Tate (LC/Olympic).

RACE RESULTS

Name (Division) Finish Time (Overall & Division Place)

Mt Bike Sprint (5/5) – 804 finishers
Andrew Campbell (M30-34) 54:35 (OA 4, AG 1) Podium

Long Course (5/5) – 1,963 finishers
Jason Campbell (M50-54) 4:47:34 (OA 29, AG 2) Podium
Jay Ridgeway (M40-44) 4:56:29 (OA 56, AG 11)
Dan Foehner (M40-44) 5:06:04 (OA 85, AG 17)
Michael Bisbee (M35-39) 5:09:07 (OA 91, AG 22)
Erik Jennings (M30-34) 5:09:46 (OA 96, AG 18)
Brian Phillips (M35-39) 5:13:47 (OA 136, AG 29)
Troy Tazbaz (M35-39) 5:37:34 (OA 326, AG 58)
Sara Hunt (F30-34) 5:45:04 (OAFemale 48, AG 18)
Bill Shen (M35-39) 5:51:53 (OA 476, AG 81)
Greg Cohn (M25-29) 6:03:51 (OA 632, AG 72)
Naomi Fliflet (F30-34) 6:04:10 (OAF 79, AG 30)
PJ Gallagher (M40-44) 6:09:57 (OA 693, AG 120)
Greg Tate (M40-44) 6:22:25 (OA 833, AG 138)
Paul Williamson (M30-34) 6:28:11 (OA 906, AG 144)
Sean Sheridan (M30-34) 6:28:13 (OA 907, AG 145)
Jennifer Tate (F40-44) 6:35:29 (OAF 163, AG 26)
Tina Daly (F35-39) 7:29:41 (OAF 299, AG 45)
Warren Holmes (M25-29) swim & bike only
Emily Childs-Lopez (F30-34) swim & bike only

Long Course Relay (5/5)
Anthea Lim & Team (Mixed Open)
Nicky Barber & Team (Mixed Open)

Olympic Distance (5/6) – 1,928 finishers
Mohamed Lanha (M-Phyiscally Challenged) 3:06:51 (OA 1, Div 1) Podium
Creighton Wong (M-PChlg) 4:20:38 (OA 5, Div 5) Podium
John Murphy (M45-49) 2:09:28 (OA 3, AG 1) Podium
Andrew Campbell (M30-34) 2:14:14 (OA 7, AG 2) Podium
Ricardo Monroy (M40-44) 2:19:57 (OA 19, AG 1) Podium
Trevor Niblock (M30-34) 2:21:19 (OA 22, AG 8 )
Will Colglazier (M30-34) 2:22:53 (OA 27, AG 11)
Trevor Stone (M25-29) 2:23:47 (OA 30, AG 4) Podium
Leia Fazio (F30-34) 2:27:34 (OAFemale 3, AG 1) Podium
Rachel Main (F35-39) 2:31:06 (OAF 6, AG 1) Podium
Michale Bisbee (M35-39) 2:31:35 (OA 80, AG 10)
Erik Jennings (M30-34) 2:32:56 (OA 91, AG 26)
Michael Trembley (M35-39) 2:42:21 (OA 190, AG 28)
Heidi Spector (F30-34) 2:43:32 (OAF 26, AG 7)
Shawn Brokemond (F40-44) 2:44:13 (OAF 28, AG 4)
Julie Knowles (F35-39) 2:44:25 (OAF 29, AG 7)
David Spector (M30-34) 2:45:49 (OA 229, AG 49)
Sara Hunt (F30-34) 2:45:54 (OAF 33, AG 9)
Troy Tazbaz (M35-39) 2:48:17 (OA 277, AG 41)
Greg Cohn (M25-29) 3:01:50 (OA 542, AG 41)
Greg Tate (M40-44) 3:01:51 (OA 543, AG 52)
Michelle Turner (F45-49) 3:02:46( OAF 100, AG 13)
Chris Demos (M40-44) 3:04:54 (OA 616, AG 65)
Paul Williamson (M30-34) 3:07:33 (OA 676, AG 118)
Todd Condit (M40-44) 3:09:04 (OA 715, AG 80)
Annemarie Aure (F25-29) 3:09:33 (OAF 148, AG 32)
Kassie Eckhart (F25-29) 3:09:53 (OAF 151, AG 32)
Julia Murphy (F35-39) 3:10:11 (OAF 153, AG 29)
Jennifer Venezia (F35-39) 3:11:52 (OAF 165, AG 31)
Ed Blumenstock (M65-69) 3:14:18 (OA 837, AG 6)
Emily Childs-Lopez (F30-34) 3:15:02 (OAF 195, AG 42)
Julie Williams (F45-49) swim & bike only

[Photo: Ariane Buser (far left) up on podium accepting her 5th place in W30-34 division.]

Congratulation to Brian August and Ariane Buser on their heroic efforts Saturday competing in the final full-distance Ironman St. George (Utah). (Next year the race will become a 70.3 distance only.) The weather conditions were brutal with high winds during the swim and bike which made for very difficult and dangerous conditions for many.

Both athletes showed just how tough and talented they were by posting some incredible times and places. Despite being the strongest swimmer in the field, the water conditions were so rough that Brian missed the final turn buoy and had to be flagged down by a race official boat. Despite this, Brian still was 3rd out of water and held on to finish 11th in the Men’s 40-44. Amazing.

Meanwhile, Ariane survived the swim and made it to her bike. She then proceeded to move down her competitors and was first off the bike going into the run. Showing a lot of grit and determination, she earned a podium spot with a 5th place in the Women’s 30-34 division.

Brian and Ariane, you both are an inspiration to all of us. Well done and HUGE CONGRATS!!

RACE RESULTS

Ironman St. George (1,780 finishers)

Name (Division) Finish Time (Overall & Age Group Place)
Brian August (M40-44) 10:46:15 (OA 54, AG 11)
Ariane Buser (F35-39) 12:18:56 (OA 218, AG 5) Podium

Our new BootCamp season is right around the corner and PacWest wants to give a big “Thank You” to all of our loyal bootcampers by launching the NEW PacWest “Refer a Friend” rewards program.

The program is simple:

• For every friend you influence to sign up for a minimum six (6) weeks (i.e. 12 total workouts), you get 25% off the full price of your own BootCamp registration. Each friend must be new to PacWest and not an existing annual member or returning participant.
• It’s cumulative as well. That means two (2) friends equals 50% off, three (3) equals 75% off and four (4) new PacWest BootCampers means your BootCamp registration is absolutely FREE.

This is a great opportunity for you to reach out to friends, family, coworkers, etc — anyone who wants to both meet new friends and significantly improve their overall fitness.

Please remember you can bring a friend for one (1) free drop in session so they can get a feel for the program before signing up. We still have one week of Winter BootCamp left, so feel free to bring a friend to one of our workouts.

When it comes time for your friend to register, instruct them to put your name in the new “who referred you” box on the registration page and you will receive a 25% off credit toward your current or a future season.

Summer BootCamp begins on May 28 and runs thru the July 20, so start talking and let’s have the biggest turn out yet in PacWest’s bootcamp history!

Go PacWest!

CLICK HERE >> to visit our BootCamp Program section.

CLICK HERE >> to go directly to our Registration page.

PacWest was once again well represented both here at home (Pleasanton) as well as around the US (Oregon & Tennessee).

Congratulations to Dan Foehner and Vince Nguyen for their impressive performances at the 1st Annual Pleasanton Half Marathon Sunday. Dan was 12th overall and took 2nd in his age group while Vince was 41st overall and 4th in his division. Well done gentlemen!

SF member, Elaine Lee, ventured out to Sacramento to run the beautiful American River Parkway Half Marathon Saturday. She said it was really hot but still posted a great time of 2:14:52. Nice work Elaine!

Up in the beautiful Emerald Valley of Eugene, Oregon, Meredith Zaccherio, Bridget Lyons and Mary Frances Valicek competed in Sunday’s Eugene Marathon & Half. Meredith broke the infamous 4-hour marathon mark with an impressive 3:55:59 performance while Bridget crushed her previous malf marathon PR by over 9 & 1/2 minutes! Mary Francis returned from an early season injury to run a solid half marathon in 1:48:56 which was good enough for a Top-15 in her age group. Way to go ladies!!

Finally, way out back east in the country music capital of the world, Nashville, Tennessee, Downtown SF BootCamp Downtown , Michelle Sibbitt, conquered the very hot (85) and muggy conditions along with over 22K runners in just the half marathon alone! Evidently Sibbitt decided not to ‘line dance’ her way to the finish but instead posted an solid finish time of 2:06:23. Nice work captain!!

RACE RESULTS

Name (Division) Finish Time (Overall & Age Group Place)

Country Music Marathon & Half (22,277 finishers)
Michelle Sibbitt (F35-39) 2:06:23 (OA 4,759, AG 288)

Pleasanton Half Marathon (1,165 finishers)
Dan Foehner (M40-44) 1:26:13 (OA 12, AG 2) Podium
Vince Nguyen (M30-34) 1:32:52 (OA 41, AG 4)

American River Parkway Half Marathon (2,085 finishers)
Elaine Lee (F30-34) 2:14:52 (OA 988, AG 93)

Eugene Marathon (2,352 finishers)
Meredith Zaccherio (F30-34) 3:55:59 (OA 1,023, AG 75) PR

Eugene Half Marathon (3,719 finishers)
Mary Francis Valicek (F45-49) 1:48:56 (OA 582, AG 14)
Bridget Lyons (F25-29) 2:32:20 (OA 2,674, AG 241) PR

PacWest BootCamp is held entirely outdoors. This total body workout will tone, condition and strengthen. Perfect for those who want to stay in shape and are looking for a gym alternative. Great cross-training for runners, cyclists, climbers, triathletes and even skiers! PacWest offers BootCamp programs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Need a little (or a lot) more challenge in your workout or an @$$ kicking to be more precise? You need PacWest’s ADVANCED BOOTCAMP. We offer an evening class in the Marina District on Mondays and Wednesdays. Check it out!

‘Early Bird’ Registration till May 18
From now till Friday, May 18, take advantage of our “Early Bird” registration period and enjoy reduced rates. But don’t wait till the last minute. Sign up today!

Please go to our BOOTCAMP program page to learn more. Also be sure to check out our new “Refer a Friend” reward program to earn significant savings off your own registration.

To register now CLICK HERE

[Photo: PacWest Pro Triathlete, Ken Rakestraw, receiving his 2nd overall award in the Men's Elite Division.]

Congratulations to all of our members who raced in Sunday’s Metro Triathlon…or shall we say, Metro Duathlon? Due to the sunny, hot conditions leading into the weekend, the water conditions at Lake Almaden in San Jose became too hazardous to host the swim. So race organizers changed the race to a duathlon (1 mile run, 40K bike, 10K run).

Well, let’s just say the opening 1-mile run leg was as blistering fast as it was blistering hot the previous day down in San Jose. Seven men ran sub-5 minute miles to start the race with a bunch more right at 5:00 flat. Are you kidding me? Wow, that’s fast!

Congratulations to our stud young pro triathlete, Ken Rakestraw, for his first Pro/Elite podium finish (2nd overall) of 2012. He was one of the sub-5 min milers at the start and then, get this, he ran his final 10K leg in 32:17. That’s an average pace of 5:12 per mile! The man can run folks! =)

Equal congrats to our elite female triathlete and San Jose Firefighter, Leia Fazio. Leia easily won the women’s elite division and was the fastest woman overall by 2:30 minutes! This is her first overall win of 2012 with many more likely to come…Not to be out done, PacWest member Naomi Fliflet, was the third overall female and easily took first in her age group division (F30-34) beating out her nearest competitor by over a 1:05 minutes. Way to go ladies!! New East Bay member, Jeff Schwing also had a solid race, taking 1st in the Men’s 50-54 division. Nice job Jeff!

We also had impressive performances by our other PacWest men – Andrew Campbell (23rd overall), Will Colglazier (28 overall), Trevor Niblock (29 overall), Trevor Stone (58 overall), Jeff Bray (84 overall), Kevin Bukata (146 overall) and Eugene Maxmilien (166 overall). Awesome performances gentlemen! Go PacWest!

Linda Bukata also raced but DNF due to a crash on her bike leg. The good news is she is OK and not seriously hurt. Get well soon Linda!

RACE RESULTS

Name (Division) Finish Time (Overall & Age Group Place)
Ken Rakestraw (M-Elite) 1:37:15 (OA 2, Div 2) Podium
Andrew Campbell (M30-34) 1:48:00 (OA 23, AG 8 )
Will Colglazier (M30-34) 1:49:22 (OA 28, AG 9)
Trevor Niblock (M30-34) 1:50:25 (OA 29, AG 10)
Jeff Schwing (M50-54) 1:54:47 (OA 53, AG 1) Podium
Trevor Stone (M25-29) 1:56:03 (OA 58, AG 8 )
Leia Fazio (F-Elite) 2:00:32 (OA 1, Div 1) Podium
Jeff Bray (M40-44) 2:00:50 (OA 84, AG 17)
Naomi Fliflet (F30-34) 2:05:20 (OA 129, AG 1) Podium
Kevin Bukata (M30-34) 2:08:31 (OA 146, AG 36)
Eugene Maxmilien (M35-39) 2:11:20 (OA 166, AG 23)
Linda Bukata (F35-39) DNF – bike crash (she’s OK)

Congratulations to all of our athletes who raced in the hot, HOT weather this past weekend. In addition to our Metro Triathlon athletes down in San Jose (Santa Clara County), we had folks racing all over Northern California including Napa, Sonoma, San Joaquin and Contra Costa Counties.

On Saturday, East Bay members Tuan Ha and Lynette Scott raced in the Mt. Diablo 50K and Double Dare Duathlon respectfully. Despite the pressed sun and heat of the day Tuan muscled his way through the hot, dusty trails to the finish. Meanwhile up in Sonoma, Lynette not only returned to racing after knee surgery she completed her first ever race on a bike! Congrats you two!

On Sunday, SF member, Aimee Bosch, crushed her previous 5K personal best by over 6 minutes posting an impressive 24:33 at the Napa Silverado 5K up in Calistoga. She gives partial credit to her participation in our Downtown BootCamp program! With that kind of improvement we’ll take the credit! = ) Go PacWest!

Last and definitely the dirtiest, congrats to East Bayers Sean O’Neill, Greg Melville, Jim Fordham and Bridget Lyons for completing the Survivor Mud Run NorCal 2012 in Lathrop, CA. I had asked to have them take a photo of them all muddy (see above)…man, did they oblige or what! LOL! Awesome photo. Congrats on the race and for sharing guys. Fun stuff! We should get more of our bootcampers doing these kind of races. Who’s in?

RACE RESULTS

Name (Division) Finish Time (Overall & Age Group Place)

Double Dare Duathlon, Sat 4/21 – Cloverdale, CA
Lynette Scott (F25-29) 1:41:29 (OA 125, AG 11)

Mt. Diablo 50K, Sat 4/21 – Walnut Creek, CA
Tuan Ha (M35-39) 9:26:55 (OA 73, AG 6)

Napa Silverado 5K, Sun 4/22 – Calistoga, CA
Aimee Bosch (F30-33) 24:33 (OA Female 8, AG 3)

Survivor Mud Run NorCal 2012, Sun 4/22 – Lathrop, CA
Greg Melville (M35-39) 52:14 (OA 633, AG 52)
Sean O’Neill (M35-39) 59:33 (OA 1,142, AG 97)
Bridget Lyons (F25-29) 59:34 (OA 1,145, AG 128)
Jim Fordham (M40-44) 1:21:31 (OA 3,354, AG 170)

[photo below: Tuan Ha during Mt Diablo 50K]

[Start of 116th Boston Marathon in town of Hopkinton. Photo credit - Associated Press]

Congratulations to our athletes who raced under very brutal (hot and windy) conditions in the 116th Boston Marathon yesterday. Temperatures at the start in the small rural town of Hopkinton were in the low 80’s and rose into the 90’s by late morning. Definitely not Bay Area weather. Ouch!

PacWest veteran runners, Mark Pietrofesa, Kevin Gay, Mike Kloepfer and Diane Perun did their best to overcome the difficult conditions. In fact, the race organizers gave the option to all runners the day before the race to defer their race entries to next year given the projected conditions. Over 4,300 opted for next year leaving just over 22,000 of the original 27,000 registered to compete. Nearly 2,300 athletes were reported to have received some level of care during and/or after the race.

Fortunately for us, all of our athletes including PacWest member and bootcamp captain Kevin Bukata’s girlfriend, Lindsay Johnson, safely finished the race. However, their finish times are reflective of how difficult and dangerous it was out there as all of them are extremely fast runners.

Way to gut it out guys. We are all so proud of you!

RACE RESULTS

Name (Division) Finish Time (Overall & Age Group Place)

Mark Pietrofesa (M45-49) 3:37:27 (OA 3,705, AG 401)
Diane Perun (F40-44) 3:54:02 (OA 7,286, AG 288)
Mike Kloepfer (M55-59) 4:02:22 (OA 9,129, AG 297)
Lindsay Johnson (F18-39) 4:49:39 (OA 16,671, AG 3,502)
Kevin Gay (M50-54) 4:51:45 (OA 16,899, AG 1,529)

Congratulations to all of our athletes who competed in the inaugural HITS Napa Valley Triathlon Series this weekend. The race was staged at beautiful Lake Berryessa. PacWest had over 10 athletes compete in three different races: Sprint and Olympic distances on Saturday and the Half Ironman on Sunday. Collectively as a team, PacWest had some very impressive performances and brought home a ‘pile of hardware’! =)

Quick summary:
- 1 woman in Sprint Top 10
- 2nd overall male in Olympic Distance
- 5 men in the Olympic Distance Top 20 (2, 7, 13, 16, 19)
- 1 woman in Olympic Distance Top 5
- 2nd overall female in Half Ironman
- 7 age group 1st place awards

RACE RESULTS

Name (Division) Finish time (Overall & Age Group Place)

Sprint Distance
Michelle Turner (F47) 1:27:28 (OA 32, OAF 10, AG 1) Podium

Olympic Distance
John Murphy (M47) 2:09:09 (OA 2, AG 1) Podium
Trevor Niblock (M32) 2:15:17 (OA 7, AG 1) Podium
Will Colglazier (M31) 2:19:16 (OA 13, AG 1) Podium
Ricardo Monroy (M41) 2:20:43 (OA 16, AG 2)
Jay Ridgeway (M43) 2:24:16 (OA 19, AG 2)
Kelly Hansen (F27) 2:30:27 (OA 29, OAF 5, AG 1) Podium
Anne Thilges – Swim only

Half Ironman
Rachel Main (F35) 5:44:12 (OA 20, OAF 2, AG 1) Podium
Jeff Schwing (M49) 5:47:14 (OA 22, AG 1) Podium
Leishia Woolwine – Swim only

Congratulations to East Bay Member, Noah Morrison, for his overall win at Benicia Run for Education 10K. He crushed the course and competition with a blistering 34:29 (5:34/mile pace) and new personal record. 2nd place finisher ran a 35:39. He is on a serious roll folks. Way to go Noah!

Meanwhile much earlier in the morning, East Bay Member, Brian Thompson, was on his family’s European vacation in France and decided to “jump in” and run the Paris Marathon. FYI, Paris has become one of the largest marathons now with over 32,890 finishers Sunday…wow! Brian [pictured here at the base of the Arc de Triumph.] cruised the course in a solid 3:30:57. Congrats Brian!…but remember take it easy on the wine and cheese out there! ; )

Finally, back here at home, PacWest had a very solid showing of members racing in the Presidio 10. The race was either a 10 miler or 10K. We had members in both and all ran some impressive times. Congrats to everyone! Next year, be sure to send us some race photos please!

Great weekend of racing all. Go PacWest!!

RACE RESULTS

Name (Division) Finish time (Overall & Age Group Place)

Benicia Run for Education 10K – 4/15
Noah Morrison (M30-34) 34:29 (OA 1, AG 1) Overall winner

Paris Marathon – 4/15
Brian Thompson (M40-44) 3:30:57 (OA 6,343, AG 2,356)

Presidio 10-Miler – 4/15
Richard Martinez (M40-44) 1:02:19 (OA 6, AG 2)
Matthew Johnson (M30-34) 1:07:06 (OA 36, AG 10)
Naomi Fliflet (F30-34) 1:12:03 (OA 78, AG 7)
Meredith Zaccherio (F30-34) 1:28:56 (OA 457, AG 56)
Jim Fordham (M40-44) 1:35:43 (OA 627, AG 44)
Michelle Sibbitt (F35-39) 1:36:03 (OA 634, AG 45)
Linda Aiello (F35-39) 1:37:35 (OA 675, AG 52)
Bridget Lyons (F25-29) 2:00:42 (OA 952, AG 134)

Presidio 10K
Niel Marcussen (M35-39) 55:12 (OA 318, AG 36)
Greg Melville (M35-39) 58:40 (OA 489, AG 46)