Erin Dillon takes second win in two weeks at the Monster Dash 5k

Erin Dillon was the first female for the second week in a row at the annual Monster Dash 5k, sponsored by The Athlete's Foot, Cameron Village. Erin covered the 5k course in 18:24 and gained 1000 points in the Second Empire Grand-Prix.

John Simons also competed and delivered a solid 17:47, which was good for 11th overall and third in the strong 30-34 division. This was John's third race in the series and he has an excellent shot at another top five finish. The next race of the series is Saturday, the Free to Breathe Lung Cancer 5k.

Full results from the Monster Dash 5k are here

Erin Dillon wins RRCA NC State Ten Mile Championship

Erin Dillon had a great day today on the American Tobacco Trail. The RRCA North Carolina State Championship was held there today in the form of the American Tobacco Trail Ten Miler.

Erin broke away won by a whopping one minute and thirty two seconds in an excellent time of 1:03:57. For her efforts, she won $250 and a $50 gift card. Way to go Erin!

Joe also ran a great race and finished in 1:11:58. This comes one week after he finished on the podium (for 30-34) in the Run for Healthier Babies 5k in Morrisville.

Both are preparing for the Richmond Half Marathon on November 12, 2011.

Triangle Run/Walk for Autism 5k

Erin Dillon and John Simons both ran PR's this weekend at the Triangle Run/Walk for Autism 5k. John finished 10th overall and second in 30-34 with a 17:30 and Erin was the second overall female and 19th overall in 18:17. Full results are available here. This was the second event of the Second Empire Grand-Prix Fall series. Standings after two races should be available soon. The first race of the fall series was the Magnificent Mile on September 18th. Full results for the Mag Mile are available here.

Second Empire Grand-Prix

This spring, John and Pat are both participating in the Second Empire Grand-Prix, an 8 race series where your 6 best races score. The series has a pretty cool Nascar style scoring system and so far, things have gone well with both in contention to make the top 5 overall with just 3 races to go. Also, John and his wife Kelley welcomed their new daughter Liza last month and Joe and Erin are preparing for their late April wedding. Mary Aiken is about to finish her 2nd year of law school and John and Pat have entered into a new sponsorship with The Athlete's Foot at Cameron Village. Broughton's track has been locked up for a while, but Meredith sure does have a nice one. Get ready for the pollen, here comes spring!

2010 Old Reliable Run 10k

Sunday marked the 27th annual return of a Raleigh tradition, the Old Reliable Run. The Old Reliable is the longest running road race in Raleigh and the weather was perfect for the Southeast RRCA 10k Championship. Erin and John were entered with hopes of PR's and strong showings in the championship atmosphere. They did not disappoint. Both started out great and ran strong races. John came through first with a strong 6th overall finish in a new PR of 37:01. Shortly after, Erin sprinted down McDowell for an excellent 2nd overall female finish, also in a new PR of 39:01. Both were excellent marks just a month after the Chicago Marathon. Here is a link to the results and here is a link to the News & Observer's photo gallery.

Erin accepts her RRCA SE 10k Championship Runner-Up Award

John finishes strong in 6th Overall

What a difference a year makes...

The Beat the Heat 5k in Winston-Salem on Saturday was the first time the whole team had raced together in about a year and what a difference a year makes. The 5 person team was a collective 5:01 faster than last year, an average of over 1 minute per person. That just goes to show what effective training and a collective atmosphere of camaraderie and support can do for one's running. What started as just a group of friends meeting a couple days a week at the track and at Umstead has become a nice underground group of competitive runners that has racked up countless awards and have competed at the top tier of many local, regional and national races. The next big team race will be the Chicago Marathon on 10/10/10 and I can't wait to see what everyone does!

Bromar 2009

Bromar 2010

Summer 2010 Race Pictures

John and Erin showing off the hardware at the Lighthouse 10k in Oak Island. A local artist did the artwork and framing for the awards. Great prizes for such a small race.

Erin at the finish line of the same race. She flew in under the radar at this one with a cotton shirt and trainers.







Erin coming up the first hill at the Running of
the Bulls 8k.

The entire crew after the Beat the Heat 5k in Winston Salem.

Joe at the finish line of the Beat the Heat 5k.