Rose City Track Club takes on TrackTown
By Thailyr Jaegersen
RCTC was out in full force this past weekend as seven members headed south in Oregon to race the Eugene Half Marathon and the Oregon State University High Performance Meet.
Eugene Half Marathon
Fionna Fallon bested her half time, finishing in 1:19:20 and earning herself 12th female and 2nd age group amongst a talented field. Reflecting on the race, Fallon said “I shocked myself given what’s been going on. I’ve struggled in every workout this past month. I finally went to check my blood and found what I feared – low ferritin and very low Vitamin D (that Oregon life). So, with the help of my support network (bae + coach to name a few) I refocused my aim for Eugene on making this race about the process and not worrying about the outcome (time). That’s what I did. I never thought about what my finishing time would be during the race and just took every mile as it came. And it turned out in my favor with a ~1 minute PR. I’ll take it…for now.”
In his first official race with RCTC, Gabe Gomez had a great performance finishing 3rd in his age group in 1:20:52. Of the race, Gomez said “Awesome to be back racing this year after an extended break. Would have liked to be a little faster but i am happy with the result considering my current fitness. Looking forward to the next one!”
After a solid buildup coming off injury, Caitlin Jacobsen ran a strong race to crush her previous half PR, finishing in 1:26:04. This put Jacobsen in the top 30 women and 7th in her age group. Post-race Jacobsen said, “I had a blast racing the 1/2 and set a new PR by over 4 minutes, running 1:26:04! Thanks for all the cheers, love and support from RCTC! “
In only her second race postpartum, Claire Wallace had a solid performance on Sunday with a 1:34:54 finish time. “For someone who hasn’t done a tempo workout in over a year, I’m very happy with my Eugene Half performance,” said Wallace. “Obsessing over shoe choice, Krysta’s ‘PUPPIES’ sign, and remembering to slightly tear open my gel before the start were the moments that I love about racing.”
Krysta Gunvalson cheering on teammates at Eugene Marathon with said “PUPPIES” sign
In her first race of the season, Emma Huston ran hard to finish 11th female and 2nd age group with a 1:18:35. “I’m disappointed that I didn’t do as well as last year,” said Huston, “but overall I’m definitely happy about the race!”
After giving a good effort despite things feeling off from the start, Lauren Ross decided to make the smart call and save what is sure to be a stellar half performance for a future race. When asked about her race, Ross said “While I got to share the roads of Eugene with a stellar lineup of lady friends, my body felt awful from the gun. When I could hardly hold marathon pace at mile 6, I decided to drop and walk back to some teammates on the sidelines to cheer and enjoy the day…rather than feel like hell while running way slower than I’m capable of.”
Oregon State High Performance Meet
Continuing to stack onto a strong racing season, Lucy Brookham took 6th place in a stacked lineup at the OSU High Performance Meet on Friday in the 1500m with a 4:39.55. “Moved the needle with a SB tonight. Still learning this crazy 3 & 3/4 lap race, still making mistakes, but enjoying the journey,” said Brookham.
Rose City Track Club racing continues this coming weekend at the Indianapolis Mini Marathon and the Lilac Bloomsday Run!
