Mark Shalvarjian & Humberto Sanchez (Pace Crew) & Rich Gust (Super Man) 

He's faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and can leap marathons in a single stride.  His name is Super Rich!   He may be 51 years old but that doesn't stop the oldest man from Club Ed running away with the LA Marathon title.  It was a great day for many other Club Ed runners list below and especially Jeff Bryant and Will Longyear who both set new personal records in the "monsoonathan".

The marathon morning started out looking very ominous with a 100% chance of rain forecasted.  However, the running gods spared the racers until about 5 miles into the race and the downpour began.  Along with the rain came a nice tailwind that pushed the runners for about 18 miles of the race.  It was a strong enough tailwind that the lead runner was on 2:04 World Record pace through about 20 miles.  The runners who were capable of powering through the quad pain induced by rain soaked running shoes and the rolling hills passed many people fading in the last 10K.

The end of the race also had its fare share of drama trying to relocate runners at the finish who were trying to sty warm.  Massage tables were crowded with runners trying to stay warm under blankets while hotel lobbies and busses housed the overflow of runners trying to prevent hypothermia.   Rich on the other hand decided that Bloomingdales (handbags) was the warmest place in Santa Monica.  Ask Rich and he can fill you in on the rest of the story.

Here are the Club Ed results below and we will update USATF as soon as they become available. 

Club Ed LA Marathon Unofficial Results 

Rich Gust 2:50

Jeff Bryant 2:56 (PR)

Will Longyear 2:58 (PR)

Bryan Johnston 3:07

Alison Atkinson 3:09

Annie Seawright 3:11

Jake Courtney 3:15

Kristin Cooley 3:17
Stephanie Norberg 3:27

John Poirier 3:48

Mike Delgado 3:40

Kevin Elliott 4:07

Trish Riley 4:23

Barb Frank 5:00

Steve Weber 6:07

See more race photos from the race thanks to Debbie Richardson who came out to support.  

What’s all this “age-graded” stuff?

You may be among the many wondering how you finished where you finished, and why that older guy or gal got a higher ranking than you in the “adjusted” performance…or perhaps, what that “adjusted” performance even means.

In the olden days (when Ed was just a youngster), race finishes were based on first, second, and third…and the rest of the pack. As running became more popular, male/female and age group awards (in ten-year intervals) were added, to acknowledge that both men and women were racing, that runners were no longer retiring when they turned 30 or 35, and to make races more engaging and competitive for a larger number of participants. As running continued to grow, most races shifted to five-year age group awards.

Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to have runners of all ages, from 10 to 80+, racing side-by-side in all kinds of distances, terrains, and times. To more objectively compare race results, “age-adjusted” or age-graded scoring has been steadily becoming more commonplace.

The idea is put everybody on the same equivalent scoring system, by adjusting race times for that given distance by race and sex (but accepting that we all begin to get a little slower as we age). Several slightly different equations are currently in use, but they all follow the same general plan: a world-class standard is established for each year of age (from 8 to 100) in every distance, so that 100% is approximately the world record for that distance and age. Your finishing time is then compared to the world-record value, and a percentage or age-graded performance is calculated.

As a rough rule of thumb:
100% = Approximate World Record
over 90% = world class
over 80% = national class
over 70% = regional class
over 60% = local class
(..and over 5% = time to go to class -- just kidding!)

Our best teammates often score in the low to mid 80s, and a few have even gotten into the high 80s or broken 90! If you’re curious how you have been doing, here’s a link to one of many age-grade calculators available on the web at RunnersWorld.com.

Good luck, and see you at the next workout! – Coach Ed

The second stop on the USATF 2011 Grand Prix Club Championships Tour was Brea CA, for the 20th Annual Brea 8K. A brisk 37 degrees welcomed the crowd for the warmup. The rolling course through the streets of Brea is to Brea what the Hometown 10K is to Manhattan Beach. Mike Cortez has run this race since he was allowed to walk home from elementary school (but he declined to provide any secret insider racing hints).

Our fearless troupe of Club Ed racers showed up and ran…and when the racing, whining, and sweating was over, we finished a respectable second place, just nine points behind the ever-competitive, ever-talented, ever-pink Janes (4189 to 4198). The overall race was won by a very speedy Daniel Rojas from Nike Team LA (24:44, a 4:58 pace). The first woman was Cheryl Smith from Huntington Beach, in 27:47 (5:35 pace).
Our scoring team(five highest age-graded performances) was Jon Megeff, Rich Gust, Debbie Richardson, Mike Spencer, and Humberto Sanchez. Thanks to all teammates who came out and raced; on to the next one!

Selected Race Results (name, time, race place, age-adjusted points): out of 2742 official finishers

1) Humberto Sanchez, 26:46,7th, 809
2) Jon Megeff, 27:19, 14th, 864
3) Rich Gust, 28:31, 28th, 857
4) Mike Cortez, 28:32, 29th, 747
5) Jeff Bryant, 29:03, 37th, 790
6) Mike Spencer, 29:08, 38th, 819
7) Will Longyear,30:06,60th, 786
8) Jonathan Hilliard, 31:26, 101st, 675
9) Bryan Johnston, 31:33, 107th, 744
10) Debbie Richardson, 32:04, 123rd, 838
11) Tamar Gamliel, 33:14, 182nd, 726
12) Dave Grethen, 34:01, 223rd,724
13) Steve Nataro, 34:22, 241st, 788
14) Karina Bird, 36:06, 316th, 713
15) Pat Wickens, 39:00, 473rd, 743
16) Ken Lathrum, 48:15, 1216th, 588