Penn Staters In The Olympic Marathon Trials

Stephanie "Pezz" Pezzulo:  PSU Soccer and Track,    2:39:19    for   39th Place.

Tyler McCandless:        2:24:04     for 187th  87th Place.

Katie Rodden PSU 2015 299 2:54:05   Thank you John Evans!

Half Marathons Are Everywhere Now

Back in the day, the horrible, horrible Reading Pagoda Half-Marathon was the only one I ever heard about.  It was a dreadful run, all uphill the first half and all downhill the second half.  I never really ran well there, but "Noisy" Jim Clelland did win the event one year in a very good 1:07 time.

Naples, FL was the scene of a half this past weekend that attracted a couple of Nittany Lion greats.

Tyler McCandless won the Mens race  and Stephanie Pezullo placed second for the Women.

Alums In Action

Former NCAA qualifier Chris Cipro took a stab at the marathon over the weekend placing 12th in the Baltimore Running Festival Marathon. His debut at the distance was clocked in 2:53:57 which is very impressive considering he spends more time teaching 3rd graders and coaching high schoolers in Bellefonte than training these days. It will be a quick turnaround for Cipro as he is expected to race with the Alumni Team this friday at the Penn State National (more to come on that later). Also earning a 12th place finish on Saturday was former Penn Stater Stephanie Pezzullo with a 2:38:04 in the prestigious Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Hell of a run for the girl known as "Pezz". Results here for Chicago,

Looks like it was a painful final 8 miles

As Chris and Stephanie were running the streets of B'more and Chi-Town other PSU Track Alums reunited for a great homecoming tailgate and football game. Steve and Beth Shisler stopped by to stick it to the young guns in a game of stump. Concerns about the weather were unfounded as the day turned out to be gorgeous and good times were had by all. 

Half of Running is 90% Mental

Well, somebody finally tried to quantify it.  And came up with the figure of 14%.  She says 14% of running is mental.  Great!  That leaves me with just 86% to start.  With a body that's half what it once was, at best, that leaves me with being 43% of a real runner.  Maybe he's on to something? That feels about right.

But to get serious for once, I was directed to this article about one of our very own.  Stephanie Pezullo will be lacing up her shoes in her second marathon this weekend, the Chicago Marathon, and has already won.  I say that after reading the article.  And you should read it all too.

For those who don't know, Pezz was once a star on the Nittany Lion Soccer team.  When her eligibility ran out she contacted the track coaches and walked onto the distance team.  She had a good year with the Nits and her career has steadily gotten better since.

I knew just a little bit of the things detailed in the extensive article, and I already considered her a role model for overcoming adversity.  Knowing more humbles me beyond words.  Now she is near the pinnacle of my PSU Track Alumni Role Models. Her road is never really going to be downhill, but I hope the prayers and thoughts of the rest of us rabble in "The Group" always puts a little wind behind her back.  And I officially invite her to a future Coach Groves Golf Tourney/Reunion.  I'm sure Coach Groves would be pleased.

Top Finishes For PSU at B1G 10K!

Tyler McCandless finished third (first American?)  in 29:25 and Stephanie Pezz-Pezullo was first at the Second Annual B1G 10 K in Chicago this AM.  Both will appear on the B1G Network broadcast on the event at 8:00 PM tonight (7/27/13).

Tyler McCandless and Stephanie Pezz-Pezullo with the Nittany Lion.  The guy puking at the finish line was just a fortuitous bonus!

Photo by Tyler McCandless.

Lions and Tigers and One Bear

The Women Lions won the Crimson Tide Invitational in Tuscaloosa and the Men placed third. The Missouri Tigers were there too. Our man in the field Larry Mangan found some time before the Javelin competition to bring us a delightful photo of Paul "Bear" Bryant's bust with a little added PSU Track Alumni Wrist Band!  Yeah, you heard that right, Larry Mangan watched the javelin competition where his daughter Olivia Mangan threw a PR.

Paul "Bear" Bryant gets a dose of PSU Track Alumni goodness.

I'm more interested in finding out how the barbeque was in a place I've never been!



In other news, Tyler McCandless traveled to the nation's capital for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, where he was the first American in a PR 49:01.

Tyler McCandless, 8th Place Cherry Blossom 10 Miles 49:01

Addendum:  From Tyler himself, I learned of several other Lion Alums taking over Washington DC!

Patrick Murphy , and Scott Munro ran 54:20 and 54:26 respectively. Chris Pruitt in 53:32!  Stephanie- Pezz Pezzullo was 9th American in the US Championships too!!
 

I'm Not Great at Reporting Results

The PSU Women capped off a fine 2012 Cross country Season with a 14th Place Team finish at the NCAA Division 1 Championships on Saturday in Louisville.  Congrats to all!

14 Penn State                  387   33   51   59  121  123  143  150          
      Total Time:  1:43:55.90                                                    
         Average:    20:47.18 

  47 #303 Perri, Tori          JR 20:21.4   33

  71 #306 Simko, Rebekka       JR 20:35.3   51

  80 #304 Ridder, Brooklyne    SR 20:38.9   59

  156 #300 Bower, Natalie      SR 21:09.7  121 

  159 #305 Rodden, Katie       SO 21:10.6  123

  180 #299 Anderson, Leigha    SO 21:21.8  143

  188 #302 Giannotti, Emily    JR 21:26.7  150

In other action, Group Friend Mike Fanelli ran his 100,000th mile at the halfway mark of the Philadelphia Marathon.  Matt Groves ran his very first marathon at the same race, wearing a PSU Track Alumni Singlet!  Not bad for a half-miler!

Stephanie Pezullo was third overall at  the Philadelphia Half Marathon and Doreen Startare McCoubrie won the Masters Division of the Philadelphia Half-Marathon.

Stephanie Pezzullo, 30, Charlotte, NC, 1:13:13
Doreen McCoubrie, 51, Malvern, PA, 1:23:22

And This is Her Second Sport!

Stephanie Pezzullo debuted in the Chicago Marathon with a rather fine 2:32:42.   Penn Staters remember her mostly as a star on the soccer team, but she completed one year of eligibility in Track as well.  She competed in the Olympic Trials in the Steeplechase with fellow Nittany Lion Bridget Franek.  Now she has switched to the marathon distance in a rather impressive fashion!

Watch more video of 2012 Chicago Marathon on flotrack.org

It's Report Day! And Should I Be Worried?

Today is the day that the current PSU Cross Country teams report for duty.  I remember those days like they were yesterday.  That first day wearing the scratchy blues and greys.  Seeing the ridiculous facial hair that had sprouted on so many of us over the summer.  Hearing the well-intended insults and ribbing that meant you were back in the fold.  It really does seem like just yesterday.  I hope each and every team member appreciates just how special these times are.  Here's their schedules.

In other news, the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Providence attracted some PSU talent on two fronts:

1. Stephanie Pezzullo won the Women's Division in 1:15:17.
2. Paul Souza and his Velveteen Playboys provided the Rock and Roll.  They rocked the crowd so well that they now have an open invitation to other Rock and Roll events. 

It's "Put Up or Shut Up" time for the 1,000 Mile Relay.  Not for the runners, but for everyone who has not donated yet.  To paraphrase Carl Spackler, "Let's give them a little for their effort."

And is someone trying to tell me something? 

Just days after volunteering to become "Captain Tim's" Third Mate on the Penn State Track Alumni Golf Chesapeake 3-Hour Tour, someone anonymously sent me these two news items!

• "Lost at Sea"
• "Blades of Death"

This Still Isn't the July 4th Post I Promised

And it looks like Benjamin Franklin is not happy with me.  I promise I'll get to it soon though.

In the mean time I'll just post a few random things of interest:

• The flying car they promised us old-timers in the early Sixties is just about ready to take off!  Insurers are really happy with it...
• An Ultra-marathon in Montana was canceled this week because snow made the course un-runnable.
• Running a Marathon in Iran might not be a real good idea.
• It turns out that IBM's "Watson" isn't very smart after all.  Who would opt for a career in medicine after cashing in at Jeapardy?
• It turns out that soccer is good for something after all!  PSU star Stephanie Pezzullo continues her running career following her successful 4-year PSU soccer tenure.

Big Day For PSU at National Championships!

There were Penn State athletes all over the track (and in the field!) today at the USATF Championships.  Previously, Karlee McQuillen placed 8th in the Javelin with her 170' 1" effort.  Laura Loht placed fourth in the Junior Javelin with a toss of 150' 8".

Three separate events had two PSU athletes in the finals today, plus Ryan Whiting adding a third "honorary" PSU competitor in the Shot Put.  Ryan, despite his Arizona State pedigree, has been training at PSU full-time.  He ended up in fourth place, making the World Championship team because Adam Nelson is returning as World Champion.  Congrats Ryan.  Joe Kovacs placed 14th with a toss of 62' 10".  Just behind him was Blake Eaton at 62' 8 1/4".

My favorite event, the 800 M, also had two PSU tracksters toeing the line.  Having negotiated the grueling plelims and semi-finals in spectacular fashion, both Casimir Loxsom and Sam Borchers placed 6th and 7th in their biggest race this year.  Nemesis Rob "Dr. Moriarty" Andrews trailed behind both in 8th.  The long college season seemed to take an obvious toll on them all in the final, but Cas especially gave it his all, running in 2nd place for the first 1 1/2 laps behind the only other college runner, Charles Jock.  Charles held on for 3rd place and a world Championship berth. Time is running out to get your "PSU is 800 U" t-shirts".

But again, PSU alum Bridget Franek out-shined them all.  Bridget's 2nd place 9:44.9 puts her on her 2nd World Championship team.  Former PSU star Stephanie Pezzullo placed 11th also.

I know I've missed a bunch.  Drop a line in the comments to set me straight!