“Finishing this race so well has relit the fire and given me the motivation to delve into my summer training as I work toward my future goal races.“

Jaime Musgrave, Marla Smith, and RCTC coach Greg Mitchell took on the challenging Lilac Bloomsday Run 12K. This was Marla’s 31st year running Bloomsday and her first race post-partum after her second child, and she placed among the top 50 women in a very deep field. She said she’s feeling pretty happy about it and met her goal of running a decent time in comparison to her personal best.

“After the first one minute interval, I’m thinking ‘I got this. Greg is here. I’m going to work hard to show him how much strong I am and how hard I can work.’ By the end of the two minute hard interval, I’m thinking, ‘Okay that was tough, but I think I can do this?’ After the three minute interval, my mind has switched to, ‘This is so grueling, how can I possibly do two more sets?’”

On Patriot’s Day, Boston was quite literally taken by storm and Alejandro Fallas and Eric Laurel were there for all of it. On a day that could only be described as absolutely brutal with a strong headwind, endless sheets of rain, and a wind chill of 20 degrees, Alejandro and Eric put their winter training in the pacific northwest to the ultimate test.

One of the most celebrated weekends in running is upon us as the 122nd Boston Marathon approaches on Monday, April 16, 2018. Two Rose City Track Club members, Alejandro Fallas, and Fionna Fallon, will brave the notorious Northeast weather for the Boston Marathon and B.A.A. 5K.

On Saturday, April 7th, Shasta Zielke, Fionna Fallon, and Liz Anjos trekked out to McMinnville, Oregon for the Linfield Jenn Boyman Invitational. Zielke recapped her first-time experience racing the 5K on the track.

“Human finishers received a pair of socks and the dogs each received a pig ear. There is speculation that we were the first female runner with a dog to cross the line but we are still waiting on final results.“

On the last weekend of February, four RCTC teammates flew from cold and dreary Portland down to sunny Arizona for the Mesa-Phoenix Marathon and Half Marathon.

A little bit of snow and wind wasn’t enough to stop Chloe Hallyburton and Greg Mitchell from taking part in the 50th annual Zena Road Runs, the oldest road race in Oregon put on by Willamette Valley Road Runners.

On the weekend of February 3rd, Alejandro Fallas bravely took on back-to-back half marathons in Scio and Portland, Oregon.

This past weekend Dani Reese ventured up to the San Juan Islands in Washington to run the Orcas Island 25K for the second year in a row. She said she felt better and stronger than last year, took eight minutes off her previous time, and placed 5th overall woman.

Before this fall, Jaime Musgrave had never run a cross country race. By December, she had two Stumptown XC races under her belt and signed up to fly to Lexington, Kentucky with Rose City Track Club teammates Shauna Dool, Liz Anjos, and Krysta Gunvalson for the USATF Club Cross Country National Championship.

“An ice cold beer and a burger, but mac and cheese does the trick too.”

Rose City Track Club had a record team showing at the final meet of the Stumptown Cross Country Series, which also served as the USATF Pacific Northwest Regional Championship at Fernhill Park in Portland on November 17th.

The fall season is heating up with race performances by eight teammates in the last two weeks. Rose City Track Club members spanned coast to coast with appearances at the local Stumptown Cross Country Series and in the Big Apple at the New York City Marathon.

On rare occasions, runners experience that perfect race day, when it’s as if they’re floating effortlessly and clicking off splits at goal pace like it’s no big deal. Then there are the days when no matter how perfectly one prepares, something goes haywire for no reason at all.

The fall racing season has been in full swing, with Rose City Track Club taking on the Stumptown Cross Country Series in Portland, the Whee Run in Oakridge, the Rambler 120 in Canyon Lake, Texas, and a 50 mile hike along the Rogue River Trail.

On what is known as one of the most competitive weekends in fall US road racing, Rose City Track Club took the Chicago and Long Beach Marathon by storm, with six RCTC members toeing the line at their respective events.