Read on to see what the SRC Brooks team was up to this year!
Dave Kwiatkowski
Towards the beginning of July, I had a fun time volunteering at an aid station in the Cougar Mountain Trail Run Series with Alex Kylyukh! We rolled 2 full wheelbarrows of food and supplies out to an intersection on the trail and set up a table full of running goodies. There were a lot of flying bugs at our station, but we joked about it and had a blast helping the runners. When it was time to pack everything out, we zipped up and down the trails once again with our wheelbarrows, and we may have taken a wrong turn down a long hill that we had to trudge back up.
At the end of July, I headed out to Colorado with my trail friend Chris Wu to run in the Never Summer 100K. Since I DNF’d my first 100K last year, finishing this race would mean a lot to me. We spent some time getting to know Boulder and northern Colorado for a week, and then we both finished our first 100 kilometer race! Though it was a tough course, the event was beautiful, everyone was nice, and it was very well run. I had fun!
In October, I spent some time with my family in Charlottesville, Virginia, and I was also there to run in my dad’s backyard ultra, Andy’s. The course of Andy’s Backyard Ultra was marvelous with all of the autumn colors. The runners, supporters, and spectators of the race were just wonderful too. I ran Andy’s Backyard Ultra, and was the only finisher after 32 hours and 133.3 miles of running.
After this event, I traveled back to Seattle and spent some more time commuting from Bellevue to Seattle by foot and running up and down Howe Stairs in November. In December, I’ll be running the Hellgate 100K through the dark, cold Blue Ridge mountains. Afterwards, I’m sure I’ll enjoy too many holiday treats and cookies. The Seattle Running Club made 2022 a year to happily remember, and I am forever grateful for my teammates and this organization!
Jenny Easterberg
First off, I absolutely loved the long summer we had! The sun and the heat made for glorious mountain runs. It was by far the driest cross country season I have ever coached. I enjoyed mini trips to places like Lake Chelan well into October. It is always fun to represent Seattle Running Club in different parts of the state. Like many runners, I was challenged by the smoke and forced to be not only smart but also creative with my exercise. I was also grateful that many of the races I annually volunteer at took place earlier in the year, before the smoke moved in.
While beautiful, it was also the most challenging time for me regarding running. I unexpectedly lost my closest trail running companion and race partner in the beginning of October. I attempted a run the next day and found no comfort in the mountains, which is my usual place of sanctuary. I was shocked and disappointed in this, and hoped this wasn’t a new permanent reality for me. However, I persisted with my daily runs and within a couple days I was able to let the mountain air and serenity of the woods begin the healing process. This experience has also reminded me that life is short, and I have now set some solid running/race goals for myself over the next couple of years. Being a runner isn’t always easy, but overcoming challenges helps me to grow both as an athlete and an individual.
Aaron Roche
The end of the year is near! Here’s what I’ve been up to as a member of the 2022 SRC-Brooks since the last report in August.
Thanks again to Seattle Running Club and Brooks Running for presenting me with this opportunity to fulfill my potential as an athlete!
Here’s the month-by-month summary of my volunteering, training, and racing between August and November.
July through September stats. Volunteering: two events for a total of 7hrs. Training and competing: 108hrs across 921mi (1,483km).
Highlights!
- The Billy Mills Run/Walk for Life. This event hosted by the Urban Native Education Alliance was remarkably impactful. It was quite humbling to be able to leverage our role in the local running community to support the messages of suicide awareness and prevention, as well as community health and wellness.
- After having a chance encounter at a friend’s wedding and feeling empowered by my position on the SRC-Brooks team, I connected with the South Seattle scholastic running community. Members of Cleveland, Franklin, and Rainier Beach High Schools welcomed me to attend their summer cross country camp in Seward Park. Later in the summer, I started helping out as an assistant coach for the Cleveland High School cross country team.
- The Brooks Mobile Tour was in town in July and a few from our squad met up to lead group runs around Green Lake. I had a ton of fun helping local runners *and friends!* demo the new Brooks line and then lead them on a run around *LOOT LAKE!*
- Other highlights:
- Support squad captain for Anna at Race the Reserve on Whidbey Island.
- Group run leader for attendees to the PATH International Conference
- XC Season opener at the WWU Bill Roe Invite.
October through mid-November stats. Training and competing: 49hrs across 415mi (667km).
- This was a lot of *ME* time. And a lot of smoke!! Training got challenging due to the bad air in and around Seattle, so I ventured out to Whidbey Island quite a bit to get in some quality workouts leading up to the Philadelphia Marathon.
- I got engaged to my partner Anna!
- The Philadelphia Marathon! This was a top five day. There’s so much to unpack from that experience that it will get its own report. Watch this space! rocheam.com/move
So that’s it for the 2022 recap! Thanks for your support this year and every year. I am continually inspired and impressed by my fellow SRC-Brooks teammates and their dedication to our Seattle running community.
Breathe. Hydrate. Eat your veggies. And Run Happy!
- Eating more is good.
As I increased my weekly mileage and training, I found it challenging to find the time to have scheduled meals, despite feeling hungry more often. Juggling my running with my work schedule was sometimes tricky. I noticed I was skipping meals, forgetting to eat, or eating unbalanced diets. As a result, I discovered that my running performance was starting to suffer. I felt sluggish and sometimes couldn’t finish my scheduled long runs and workouts. After talking with my coach, I concluded I needed to prioritize having regular and nutritious meals. Soon I found that eating more helped solve my concerns. I learned that you burn a lot of calories while running, so consuming a lot of calories becomes acceptable and even necessary. - Sleep aids muscle recovery.
As I started to run more, I felt more tired and exhausted throughout the day. I realized I needed to adjust my sleep schedule, so I started going to bed early and ensuring I got a whole night of sleep each day. This helped me feel stronger and recovered during workouts. - Journaling helps me stay consistent.
This year I started logging all of my runs daily. I note the distance and time of each run, how my muscles feel, and any other observations and thoughts. Taking time to reflect on my running regularly helped me stay more consistent. When I didn’t feel like going on my scheduled run on a given day, I had to explain it in the journal. Sometimes I didn’t have a good reason not to run, so doing this helped me stay disciplined and helped me identify and address roadblocks as they came up. - Compression socks are great for muscle recovery.
- Compression socks help with the tightness and swelling of the calves and aid with muscle recovery, especially after vigorous workouts or long runs. Nothing feels more pleasant than a pair of quality compression socks tightly hugging your calves.
Alex Kylyukh
2022 has been an excellent year for me as a runner. I met many wonderful people in the running community, discovered new running trails, competed in new running races, and became a more resilient runner overall.
At the beginning of the year, I set a goal to be a more consistent runner throughout the year. As the year is coming to a close, I’m happy to report that I have accomplished this in 2022. Of course, my training had setbacks and gaps, but I’ve learned to rebound quickly, stay focused, and be consistent. In this report, I want to share the lessons I learned.
Overall, I’ve grown considerably as a runner in 2022 and am happy with the progress. However, I also recognize there is much more growth and lessons left to be learned, which keeps me excited and motivated to make great strides.
Kristi Williams
The remainder of 2022 has been an absolute joy for me in the world of running! After a successful Cougar Mountain Short Series win this summer, I utilized the strength I built from all those mountain miles with some wins on the road racing scene. I managed secure victories in the Bill Burby 5k, San Francisco Marathon 10k, Alki Sunset 5k, Sounders 5k, and Sam 6k with the last two races first overall wins! Wow, it has been a while since I managed to earn outright victories. I owe this success to Brooks for the awesome shoes and stellar gear, my teammates for the endless encouragement, and my son Felix, for some seriously strenuous stroller runs with him in tow! After almost a year and half post baby birth, I finally find myself strong if not stronger with a new appreciation for running and those who support this endeavor in my life. After a full summer of racing, I found myself happily entering cross country season with added joy due to the prolonged summer we had well into the month of October. Nothing like cross country racing in late September with temperatures well over 70 degrees! After some strong cross country finishes at Bellingham, Woodland Park, Lincoln Park, and Chambers Bay Regional Park, I found myself signing up for USATF Nationals which I have not done since my infancy with Seattle Running Club way back in 2018. I am so excited to compete with my teammates on the infamous Golden Gate Park course and truly soak up all the energy and love for running with like minded folks!
Volunteering remains important to me and plays an important role in building camaraderie amongst fellow runners and enables me to spread the love about our amazing running club. All summer I volunteered at the Cougar Mountain Trail Series in addition to racing them! Helping make everyone’s race experience more memorable and enjoyable brings me great satisfaction. I love handing out race numbers to excited runners and prepping tasty food for those who finish. The food spread at the Cougar Mountain Series is amazing! What is not to love when eating pizza, watermelon, and even pumpkin pie! In addition to my time volunteering at the Cougar Mountain Trail Series, I spent one afternoon spreading the love for Brooks with their Mobile Tour. My time was spent helping people get fitted into Brooks shoes that exhibited their new cushioning technology and going on fun group runs. It is a blast sharing my love for running to anyone who is willing to hear and I love helping others in any way I can to help their running journey be that much better!
I want to thank SRC and Brooks for all their support and love in helping shape my running journey into one that is truly cherished. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing team and teammates whose positivity and presence makes my running journey meaningful and special.
Barrett Gray
Since the last report, I’ve run two more ultra-races in the PNW. I ran both in my bright pink Brooks Cascadias which have been the perfect complement to my often colorful running outfits. In August, I ran Backcountry Rise 50k near Mount St. Helens where I finished as the 1st female and 4th overall. The views along the course were absolutely stunning, and it was fun to test out my uphill running on this technical course.
Most recently, I ran Run the Rock 50 miler at Smith Rock State Park in mid-November and the race itself and leading up to it ended up being a bit of a rollercoaster. Three weeks before the race, I started experiencing some pain in my left hip flexor, particularly on uphills and during workouts. In hopes of being able to make it through the 50 miles, I had to limit my training to mostly easy flat runs, which was not really ideal for a trail ultra. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into the race and some fresh snow and a stormy morning made race day even more interesting. Fortunately, my hip flexor pain was pretty mild during the race, but my legs seemed to turn to cement halfway through and they struggled to get through the second half. This was my most challenging race this year given the circumstances, but it was a good experience to have to push through that challenge, and I managed to snag a spot on the podium with a 2nd place finish!
While I was unable to join SRC for cross country races due to my hip flexor, I enjoyed supporting the team while volunteering at the October Cougar Mountain race and cheering them on at the PNTF XC Championships. I always enjoy watching and supporting friends at their races when I’m not running myself. It’s been a fun year of trail racing and FKTs, but I’m looking forward to taking a little break and doing some skiing before turning my focus to next year’s races!
Trisha Steidl
I’ve been enjoying the cross country season this fall. Racing alongside your teammates is a special experience that I appreciate more as I get older as it’s the only opportunity to compete as a team.
The Bill Roe Classic was a true rust buster for me. I made a poor shoe choice, going against my gut, and paid for it. The shoes are good generally, just not the right choice for this bumpy course. I generally have a fairly competitive nature, but in this race I just didn’t care. I’m still not sure what that was all about, but the post-race frustration fueled my competitiveness going forward, so for that I’m thankful.
I scheduled my COVID bivalent booster and flu shot two days before the Emerald City Invite. I didn’t experience much in the way of side effects from either vaccine previously, but this time around it hit me. I didn’t feel bad on race day, but I also had nothing to give. All I could do was run a moderate type of effort. After the race I wasn’t tired, but during the race I could not go any faster, despite trying. It was a most odd and frustrating feeling. The biggest positive was running in a group with my teammates and encouraging one of them to go chase after the next woman ahead of us. I also, again, made a poor shoe choice. I’ve been running XC for a long time. How am I making rookie mistakes? Good grief!
I felt more in my element during the Cougar Mountain 7.6mi race – finally! I made a good shoe choice (finally!) wearing my Catamounts. I paced well, was smart with my race tactics, and ran what felt like a strong, solid race (finally!). At one point I could hear a woman closing in on me, then I heard another woman’s voice. Where did they come from? And two of them?! This got my competitive juices flowing (finally!) and made the rest of the race a lot more fun.
The last race I ran was the PNTF XC Champs at Lincoln Park. Another appropriate shoe choice (Brooks spikeless spikes FTW!) and the competitive juices flowing made for a fun day. Unfortunately, my right hip started bothering me after my workout the Wednesday before which made it difficult to move my leg on uphills and downhills during the last 1/3rd of the race. I was happy that I stayed mentally in it despite the pain and body frustration. I got to race near a few of my teammates, too, which was fun.
Next up is the Club Nationals meet in San Fran in mid-December! Hopefully by then I can get everything to come together on the same day – fingers crossed!
Outside of the XC season, I had the awesome opportunity to volunteer with a couple of my teammates at the Billy Mills Run/Walk for Life. We got to talk with Mr. Mills a decent amount and have a photo taken. It was a great event focused on suicide prevention and health put on by the Urban Native Education Alliance on the North Seattle College campus in Northgate. It was nice to connect our two communities and I hope we can connect again for future events.
Chris Hoffman
The second half of 2022 was bookended by two very different races: the hot and dry August Cougar Mountain Trail series 14.5 mile race and the snowy and cold Run the Rock 20 mile trail race at Smith Rock State Park in central Oregon.
The August Cougar race also doubled as the Pacific Northwest Trail Running Championships. As an over 50 master’s runner I really didn’t think I had much of a chance to be in the hunt for a medal, but I ran hard and was vey happy to come across the line in 3rd place in the master’s (over 40) race. I was also 1st in my age group, which was a nice little bonus!
As I woke up to fresh snow and cold temperatures and I knew the Run the Rock race was going to be a challenge. I had thrown my micro spikes in the car at the last minute, but I really wasn’t mentally prepared for the weather. I took a deep breath at the starting line and focused on maintaining a consistent pace. The race unfolded without any big surprises, except for what felt like and endless (and ridiculously steep!) hill at mile 17. I recovered from that and was able to bring down my splits over the last few miles to finish 3rd in my age group. I was hoping for a better time but considering the conditions I was pretty happy with the results.
As the club’s trail work coordinator, I wrapped up the year with a final work party in October, where we cleared the Cougar Mountain racecourse trails ahead of the year’s last race. I really enjoy this type of work and signed up to do it again next year. I’m also excited about a serving on the SRC Board as the Brooks Team Manager.
All in all, 2022 was a rewarding year. I was able to get back in shape after a cardiac ablation to address my atrial fibrillation, performed reasonably well at my races, and volunteered at several events. I also found my new favorite Brooks shoe, the Caldera 16. I wore them on several long trail runs and raced in them the second half of the year. They kept my feet happy and my legs feeling fresh. What more could I ask for!
Katelen Miller
Trails and Cross
This summer-turned fall season was all about racing on trails and staying injury-free. On 9/10, I raced the Middle Fork Trail Run 22-miler as a speedy training run for my upcoming 50k. I secured 1st place female (among 4 women total) and 3rd overall. The Perpetua Coast 50k was the year-end goal race I trained for all summer. I finished 10th overall, 4th female, and just 30 seconds away from the 3rd place female. It was a beautiful sunny day along the coast, cliffs, and forested trails.
Club Cross Country Season: I’m fortunate to have made many of the cross country races this season with the Seattle Running Club (SRC) Team. Our first race was on 9/24 at the WWU Bill Roe Classic in Bellingham. I raced in the Hyperion Elite 3s and finished out with a new 6k personal record (PR) by ~65 seconds and was the 2nd female for SRC. Next was the Emerald City Open on 10/8 at Lower Woodland Park. I’d just finished my 50k a week prior, so I biked out to cheer on our women’s team, who all ran strong! On 10/30 I raced the Cougar Mountain 7.6 Mile (cross country edition). I beat my prior PR by ~4 minutes, placed 2nd female, and didn’t roll an ankle. At the PNTF Championships on 11/6 at Lincoln Park, I raced really hard alongside SRC teammate Katherine, got coated in mud, managed a ~15 second PR, and placed 2nd female for SRC. I planned to run the Regional Championships on 11/19 but I got sick and my lungs weren’t well enough to race. Now I’m healing up for a strong race at the National Club Cross Country Championships in San Francisco this December.
Throughout this season I also volunteered weekly as a coach with the Highline High School Cross Country Team. Several of the junior and senior runners at Highline were my former cross country athletes at Sylvester Middle School, where I teach and coach. It was a heartwarming reunion for us to run together again. It brought me a lot of joy knowing these student athletes are making positive life choices and are continuing to build community through running. The team started off with minimal training, but over the season, student athletes increased their stamina, felt comfortable with more miles and performed really well in their races!
Adam Hewey
The second half of 2022 was an interesting experiment. I did not have any races on the calendar and was mostly running for the joy of running. I took my Brooks Launches out for casual weekend runs along the coast and on commutes to work and back a few days a week. My fitness and endurance slowly slipped away. Then I heard about Puerto Vallarta 50K by UTMB!
Game ON!
50K race in Mexico starting at the beach, going up into the jungle, past Agave fields and back to the beach the same week as Halloween, Day of the Dead and my birthday! I had NO excuses to pass up this race.
I had 10 weeks to get my 54 year old body back into race shape. I slowly built milage and intensity. I crammed for the test. I felt heavy, slow and sweaty. I went from 8-16 miles a week to seventy miles per week over the course of my training. I stayed healthy. I stayed focused. I skipped XC with Team SRC because I needed to follow my plan.
October 29 I was at the start of my first ever race in Mexico. Me and 700 excited runners. I was planning on a conservative 6 hours for the race. The race had other plans. Hot, crowded, crazy jungle footing, humidity, wild parrots, cool plants, awesome volunteers. I hit the halfway point in 4.5 hours! The heat got to 95 degrees with 88 percent humidity. I hydrated like a champion and didn’t dance with Mr. Bonk or Lady Nausea. I dragged my carcass back to the beach in 8 hours and 20 minutes. I proudly wore my Team SRC/Brooks kit. I love representing SRC/Brooks at international races. My decision to wear the Brooks Cascadia 16s was spot on.
The rest of 2022 will be more volunteering, more running for fun and possibly I’ll jump into a shorter race or two now that I’m fit.