Results From 28th Annual Great Race of Agoura Hills on March 23, 2013

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The 28th Annual Great Race of Agoura Hills, one of the largest and longest-running (no pun intended) local running events in the Conejo Valley as well as Greater Los Angeles area, took place on Saturday, March 23rd. I was not able to make this year's race due to kid commitments but it certainly was a nice morning. Let's take a look at the top finishers in the various races that day.

Here are the stats and some of the top placing runners in this year's event:

  • Deena Kastor 5K: 1,456 finishers (652 male, 804 female) (1,409 finishers in 2012)
  • Old Agoura 10K: 1,319 finishers (493 male, 826 female) (1,639 finishers in 2012)
  • Pacific Half Marathon: 441 finishers (203 male, 238 female) (549 finishers in 2012)
  • Cheseboro Half Marathon: 913 finishers (478 male, 435 female) (1,034 finishers in 2012)
  • Kids' One Mile: 381 finishers (205 male, 176 female) (443 finishers in 2012)

In total, there were 4,510 finishers in the five races, down about 11% from 2012.

Here are the 5 finishers from each race! Visit www.greatraceofagoura.com for more details.

Cheseboro Half Marathon (Men):

  1. CAMERON ZIMMERMANN 1:22:41
  2. SHAI BIRMAHER 1:23:03
  3. MYLES COCKBURN 1:23:40
  4. KEVIN BUELL 1:24:19
  5. JAMES DAVY 1:25:55

Cheseboro Half Marathon (Women)

  1. ELAINE WOODWARD 1:31:13
  2. JENNIFER TODD 1:31:40
  3. ERIN WHARTON 1:35:28
  4. CHRISTINA LIGHTFOOT 1:35:37
  5. ANISSA FAULKNER 1:35:43

Pacific Half Marathon (Men)

  1. JEFFREY JACKSON 1:13:01
  2. TYLER TOCKSTEIN 1:14:09
  3. CAMDEN MCALISTER 1:16:32
  4. MARCUS GEORGE 1:20:43
  5. PAUL COONEY 1:26:29

Pacific Half Marathon (Women)

  1. JESSICA DOUGLAS 1:28:49
  2. RACHAEL PARENT 1:35:07 (Rachael was 4th last year in 1:39:51 - nice improvement!)
  3. MARA STEGEMANN 1:35:35
  4. GINA JOHNSON 1:36:07 (Gina was 3rd last year in 1:37:50)
  5. LAUREN PHILLIPS 1:36:31

Old Agoura 10K (Men)

  1. ISIDORE HERRERA 30:46
  2. SERGIO REYES 31:17 (Sergio was also 2nd last year in 29:49)
  3. EULOGIO RODRIGUEZ 32:09
  4. JUSTIN PATANANAN 33:28
  5. TEERTH PATEL 35:58

Old Agoura 10K (Women)

  1. LIZ CAMY-BLACKWELL 36:46 (Blackwell also won last year in 36:14)
  2. JENN BETANCOURT 41:42
  3. JENNIFER SUNAHARA 43:59
  4. GABRIELLE BRADLEY 44:47
  5. SANDRA SCHWARTZ 46:16

Deena Kastor 5K (Men)

  1. ZACK SCHWARTZ 15:14
  2. DYLAN MAJERUS 16:51
  3. JEFF WELLS 17:43
  4. RUSTY SNOW 17:45
  5. GARY BARBER 18:09

Deena Kastor 5K (Women)

  1. ANDREA MCLARTY 17:12
  2. CAROL MONTGOMERY 17:38
  3. CINDY ABRAMI 18:06
  4. OLIVIA GHAUSSY 19:22
  5. SARAH SHULZE 19:38 (Sarah is in the 11-12 age group! Way to go, Sarah!)

Kids 1 Mile (Boys)

  1. MICHAEL BARBER 5:46
  2. GRIFFIN ARCHER 5:59
  3. MATTHEW SPEER 6:04
  4. ARMAND ASLANIAN 6:12
  5. JACK MILLSPAUGH 6:19

Kids 1 Mile (Girls)

  1. CELESTE SCHREIFELS 6:20
  2. TATIANA BANI 6:40
  3. JENNA FORSTON 6:40
  4. TAYLOR NITZSCHE 6:43
  5. NATALIE NITZSCHE 6:46

You definitely need to sign up in advance for these races if at all possible, preferably by mid-December, as pricing gets pretty high as the race approaches. For example, the Old Agoura 10K is $35, already a bit on the high side, rises as high as $45 a month prior to the race. As great as this race is, that's a bit too much in my opinion. Another popular local race, the Calabasas Classic, charges $25 for the 10K up until just a few weeks prior to the event.

The half marathons are also great but if you procrastinate like me you end up paying $95 to $100, which, frankly, I won't pay for a half marathon. Just too much. The price this year was $70 prior to December 16, 2012, which is a fair price, albeit $20 higher than it was just five years ago. Hope to make it back out there next year!

Los Angeles Marathon "Stadium to the Sea" Course - Is It Faster Than Previous Course?

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It was a lot of fun watching the LA Marathon last Sunday. Having run my PR on the LA course "back in the day" and other solid times in the late 1990s, I was kind of curious about how fast the newer "Stadium to the Sea" course was compared to previous courses that started and finished in downtown Los Angeles.

"Stadium to the Sea" saw its first running in 2010, brought about by new owner, Frank McCourt. McCourt, widely villified as Dodgers owner, only to reap a record price for the team last year, was seen after the race with LA Mayor Anthony Villaraigoza having fun congratulating the winners of the race.

I considered signing up for the race as a last minute fun run but it was sold out. Not too many years ago you could sign up last minute for the LA Marathon, but it has gained popularity, as has marathoning in general, leaving last minute signups more of a challenge.

Did about 17 miles back here since they wouldn't sell me a last minute entry to the Los Angeles Marathon. Score a win for me!

So, about this course...is it faster than previous "loop" courses?

For the "average" runner, and by average I mean the average time for all finishers, the aggregate time for the first 3 years of the course (2013 results still not available in a manageable format) was 5:18. This compares to an aggregate average time over the previous 10 years, on various loop courses, of 5:33. (Thanks to MarathonGuide.com, my favorite website for marathon information, for this data.) This would indicate the new course is faster overall, which makes sense as the course now has a net elevation drop of 430 feet.

Something that more "competitive" running types sometimes do is compare how their time on a course would have placed them in other years. While many factors are at play in making year over year comparisons, such as weather, course conditions, the competition, it is just one of those things that we like to do.

My PR marathon time was on the 1997 LA Marathon loop course, where my 2:35 got me 35th place. That same time on average would have garnered an average place of 23 to 24 over the last 14 years, as well as over the last 4 years of Stadium to Sea. I guess when I ran the race, there was simply more competition. Last Sunday, a 2:35 would have garnered 22nd. While I'm nowhere near that kind of time today, it would be fun to go back and give the Stadium to Sea course a try. Bottom line however, is that for whatever reason, the times for non-elite age runner top 100 placer times appear to have slowed over the years.

Let's get back to the aggregate numbers. The average aggregate recent times in the LA Marathon, while 15 minutes faster than on previous LA courses, are still significantly slower than other large races. For example, the previous 5-year average times at New York (excluding the cancelled 2012 race due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy) and Chicago were 4:26 and 4:37, respectively. Those are dramatically faster than the average times in Los Angeles.

Why is this? Well, I'm guessing but I suspect that we have more marathon "walkers" and fundraisers in LA that bring the average up. Also, each year the wonderful Students Run LA charity brings 3,000 at-risk teens to the marathon, including nearly 3,200 in 2013. Nearly 100% of the SRLA high school seniors graduate high school and go on to attend to attend college. I don't know the average time for SRLA runners but I suspect it does bring down overall aggregate times to a degree.

But let's digress again. how about the overall winning times at the LA Marathon? They have definitely dropped. Prior to the Stadium to the Sea route, the average Downtown LA Loop course from 1996 to 2009 was 2:11:48. Stadium to the Sea has run for 4 years now, including the unbelievable 2:06:05 course record first-time marathon performance in 2 inches of torrential rain by Markos Geneti of Ethiopia in 2011 has been 2:09:27. Three of the four Stadium to the Sea events have been sub 2:10.

So definitely, the course has made progress, though we're still not at the level of other major U.S. courses. The average winning time at Chicago over the last six years was 2:06:39. The average winning time in New York over that period (excluding 2012) was 2:08:04. Still solidly ahead of LA...but in this case, I suspect it is because they payday at those races is substantially higher than at LA.

OK, enough of this analysis paralysis. Let's get running!

Interval Training on the Roads as an Alternative to the Track

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There's no arguing that if you're looking to improve your speed, doing intervals on the track will help. A standard 400 meter track makes it easy to run any distance in repetitive format. I prefer simple workouts like 400s at 5K or faster pace with a 200 or 400 meter jog in between.

But I don't like running on the track for various reasons. It is always challenging finding/making the time to get over to the track when it is open. Running in circles isn't particularly fun for me. And I tend to get injured on the track.

As an alternative, a few weeks ago I started to do a little stealh interval work on a local road. Starting out with only 4 repetitions from one point to another on a slightly downhill surface, I'll jog back to the start, a noticeable crack in the pavement. The finish is a sign adjacent to the road. Nothing fancy. I don't even know the exact distance (though I'd estimate it is about 450 meters).

I feel fitter already, having done this routine just once a week. I'm up to repetitions. This upcoming week will test my commitment with the Daylight Saving time change...one less hour of sleep this week!

So think about mixing it up in your own routine a bit. You'll definitely notice a difference.