🦃 Your monthly dose of all things Harriers 🌽

November 2022

Announcements

For this month’s newsletter, we start with a special announcement. Please welcome the newest member of our Harriers coaching crew: Alyssa Hodenfield! Besides her positive energy, Alyssa brings a great background in group coaching and strength training to our team’s leadership. Some of you have already seen her leading tempo workouts this summer. She apparently already has a higher Google Review Rating than that guy who normally leads it. We’re lucky to have you, Alyssa!

As we head into the holiday season, you might think we’d just slow down, take it easy, maybe catch up on a season of Sexy Beasts on Netflix. But we’ve got a lot to take us to the end of the year: the November Social and Sunday Runday this week and all the holiday-themed fun for December. The last official workouts are the week of December 5th and we’ve got plenty of hijinks to follow (psst! hey you, yeah you, sign up for the holiday party today!).

Finally, it’s jacket season. If you’d like to order your Harriers jacket, see the links below for men’s and women’s specific styles (thanks to Zach for organizing again).

Let’s go to the tape…

Upcoming Runs and Fun

Wednesday Social - Nov 9th, 6:00 pm - OBC Sloan’s

Join us at Odell Brewing Company’s newest outpost on Sloan’s Lake. The location features some special brews and great pizza list for dinner.

Sunday Runday - Nov 13th, 9:30 am - Coal Creek Trail

This month we head to Erie and the Coal Creek Trail. Enjoy the miles with brunch to follow at Echo Brewing & Pizzeria.

Mile High United Way Turkey Trot - Nov 24th, 9 am

In its 49th year, this is the big turkey of Thanksgiving races in Denver. A number of Harriers are doing it this year. If you’re looking for a good burn before all the eating, it’s hard to go wrong here.

Have some new ideas or want to host a future Sunday Runday this year? contact Ben.

Future Perfect (Upcoming Things)

Holiday Party - Dec 10th, 6pm - Renegade Brewing

RSVP HERE. Come celebrate another amazing year of running with the Harriers! The festivities start at 6 pm and go until we close the place down. We’ll have the entire brewery reserved for us, including the indoor and outdoor spaces.

Attire... let's call it fun & dressy. It's not often that we have a chance to get all dolled up, so let's take advantage. Leave the brewery bro hoodies at home. (Of course, holiday sweaters are always en vogue!)

Food and drinks... Like last year, food will be pot-luck style. Once we get our registrations mostly set, we'll email you back and ask you to bring a side, main, or dessert. Drinks are on us! This year, besides Renegade's finest brews, we'll have some wine and other non-beer options (and some non-water N/A options too).

Dancing... The back brewing area will be setup as a dance space.

Holiday Lights Run - Dec 15th, 6:30pm - Milk Market

Throw on your Santa hats and holiday sweaters for a meandering and festive yog around downtown. We’ll meet at the Milk Market, run to all the lights, then gather back at Westbound & Down’s new outpost on the Dairy Block.

12 Laps of Trackmas + Breakfast - TBD (December)

We’re bringing back the “12 Laps of Trackmas”, a holiday track running and strength workout. This time, with breakfast to follow! Stay tuned for details.

Kudos

We start off on home turf, with the second running of Boulderthon, a 5K-10K-Half-Marathon extravaganza that finishes on Pearl St. in downtown Boulder. It was warm, it was sunny, it was hilly. But we had quite a crew of Harriers hitting the courses. In the marathon, a big congratulations to Tyler Fenton, Chris Connor, and Brigitte Hodge. This was Brigitte’s first marathon; not too shabby with a BQ and 4th overall for the women. The half featured Lexi Guttilla, Brad Plunkett, Annie Rehage, Alicia Grove (3rd AG), and Ross Tremblay (2nd AG). Well done. We’ll be hearing from some of them later, as this was a very literal “warm up” for upcoming races. Last - but fast! - was the 10K, with Ryan Distefano, Patrick Haneberg, and Andrei Safontchik all representing with solid races.

No fall update is complete without some marathon major results. This year’s Chicago crew enjoyed good racing temperatures and a festive homecoming for a couple of them. Allister Laurel and Yu Wu each completed their second marathons in as many months, with Yu grabbing a nice BQ. Also on the BQ train were Shawn Laursen (PR) and, in her debut marathon, Courtney Ackerman, who threw down an amazing 2:47 finish. And the hits just kept coming this weekend. Kevin Nguyen aced a sub-60 PR performance at the Army 10-Miler in DC. Danielle Schoenthaler booked her second post-partum race PR this year, taking the San Jose Rock & Roll Half in 1:28 (and 2nd in her age group). Vinny Samson went back to Central Michigan to defend his 4-man alumni team’s 5K title.

Next we check in with Harriers OG Alex Parulis and his signature race, the Suffer Better 25K Trail Race in Staunton State Park. Don’t call it a comeback (…again). He’s been here for years. Alex took a top 5 finish at this year’s edition, and has won it before.

Back to the roads, we visit Detroit: The Motor City, Motown, the 313. A trio of Harriers redefined what “Hitsville USA” means. In the half marathon, we had great finishes from Jack Oldham and Vinny Samson. Jack powered through his first-ever half and Vinny blasted out a 1:15, good enough for 3rd overall and 1st in his age group in the US-edition of the race. Erika Sweigert Nava capped off an amazing season of training and racing, booking a PR and BQ in the marathon. We literally held the start of Sunday Runday until her result came in!

Back in Denver, Nicole Polemitis used the Day of the Dead 10K in City Park as a test run for her upcoming half. We’d say she passed that test, winning the race! While we’re talking about scary 10Ks, high fives to Ben Galick who posted a blazing pace at the Monster Dash in Westminster. This race was so scary, they ran an extra 2K! (Yeah, the course was actually a 12K).

Two weeks later, Nicole headed to Indianapolis and threw down a huge half marathon PR, finishing in 1:28. Amazing! In the full Indy, Dom Castanoli and Yu Wu got to experience all 26.2 of the wind and rain. It was a tough one, but they battled to strong finishes. Yu, in an apparent bid to run every marathon in the US this year, grabbed another BQ in case he needs an extra. Then he flew to NYC the next day… this time, just to watch!

The big battle of the elements was this year’s NYC marathon. On a good day, this is not an easy course. But add record heat and humidity? Well, it was a tough one. Congratulations to our warriors: Ross Tremblay, Brad Plunkett, and Allison Torpey (who still grabbed herself a nice BQ in all this heat).

And finally, back home. Congratulations to Jess LaGreca for her finish at the Backcountry Wilderness Half Marathon in Highlands Ranch. Last year’s race went very well for her, too.

Know some others who deserve kudos? Have some great pictures to share? Proud of the race you just did? Let us know! Email us and tag @coloradoharriers in your instagram posts. Seriously, y’all need to stop being so humble.

Top Gear

We’re ordering jackets! If you want one, order directly below. You’ll pay through Custom Ink and it will be delivered to your home.

• Women’s Jacket Order

• Men’s Jacket Order

We’re replenishing our stocks of singlets, long sleeves, and hats. $35 each. If you need gear, let us know. 5th Anniversary pint glasses are also making the rounds. Pick up your free one at an upcoming Harriers social event. We’ve also got iron-ons! Add the Harriers logo and H to your own favorite tops or bottoms.

Coaching Notes

Resources & Deals

Training. The Colorado Harriers website is chock-full of resources, including guidance for warm-ups and strength training, our complete training plan, and a race and events calendar. Check it out.

10% off at Running Warehouse. Colorado Harriers members always get 10% off orders at runningwarehouse.com. Just use code COHARRIERS when you check out.

Need Gear? Shoot Joe an email with your size and we'll coordinate a hand-off.