Club Northwest is back at it again this time with an outstanding performance by Susan Empey. Empey ran an Olympic Trials qualifying time and a personal record at the Twin Cities Marathon. She finished in 2:45:27 which was good for 12th overall and 2nd in the masters division. Bob Brennand won his first masters championship at Twin Cities beating second place by 1 yard. Brennand was 2 minutes 7 seconds behind at mile 24!
David Cannon recently moved up to a new age group and celebrated by winning yet another 5k Championship in the 55 year old division. Cannon won in 16:14 beating second place by 20 seconds. Phil Welch had a strong showing at the Portland Marathon winning the 60's division with a 3:18:42. Welch was pleased with his performance but he stated that it was, "Almost an hour slower than back in the day.... but that's life and aging I guess." Look for Welch to be a strong competitor at the Club Cross Country Nationals in December. Karen Steen had fun winning the Wine Country Half Marathon in California with a 1:27:59 and Acy Roff took 3rd overall at the Portland Half Marathon in 1:19. Roff was also first in the master's division.
Teshome Kokebe showed his strength both on and off the roads by winning the East Side Runners 5km Cross Country Invitational and the Set the Pace for Prostate 10km in Kirkland.
Finishing out his mountain running season is CNW's Joseph Gray. Gray finished 2nd in the Elite division of the Grouse Grind Mountain Run in North Vancouver, BC. He was happy with his place and says, "I am looking forward to coming back to it next year and going for the record!"
The cooler fall air means Marathon season for many but for Club Northwest it also means Cross Country time! At the 38th annual Western Washington University Cross Country Invitational the CNW men and women held their own against some solid competition. The men's team finished in 4th with Sean Sundwall leading the team. Close behind were Brett Winegar and Kevin Murphy. On the women's side the team finished 3rd. Claudia Copeland lead the women with a second place finish. Rose Wetzel finished in 5th and Laura Mickelson came in 24th for the team. Club Northwest is getting ready for the Club Cross Country National Championships held in Seattle, WA December 10th. Look for these runners as well as others to compete well. John O'Hearn had knee surgery July 14th of this year and is expecting to be back and ready to compete at the Club Championships for the team.
.png)
