20 Tales From Medal Monday Year 2 Chapter 1

Medal Monday brings many stories of achievement for our members. Here are recent stories from the Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics, as told by you, as posted on the Marathon Maniacs/Half Fanatics Facebook pages.

Maniacs/Fanatics at Go Short, Go Long, Go Very Long Race Series in Tulsa, Oklahoma January 21, 2023

Jorgina Sanders (HF16456) -Half #84 completed

Michelle Cox (HF17353) – 1st #medalmonday of 2023 🏃🏻‍♀️Half 102✅ The Rose Bowl Half in Pasadena, CA is a pretty good race. Plenty of aid stations and good crowd support! I would do again if I was in the area. I had an awesome weekend with some amazing friends from Jr High; it was definitely a good time!

Exhausting day, but half 102 is in the books🏃🏻‍♀️🏅This Half really tested me, but it really was a good race! I met Ruby’s husband Erik who was pacing the 1:45 group and saw them on the course and they were looking good! This race had lots of support on the course and crowd support was good! Course was a little hilly, but weather was perfect and the rain stayed away. I would totally recommend this race. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, pizza, wine and #DerryGirls Susan FitzGeraldErik Ekblad Ruby del Rio-Ekblad

#skirtsportsambassador #procompressionambassador #rosebowlhalfmarathon #childhoodfriends #keepmoving #cookiejar

Pascal Radley-(MM2051) – Completed lifetime marathon #424! I was gonna start calling this my new home town marathon as I now live 10 miles from the start line. But Rock n Roll is eliminating the full from this event starting next year…the half lives on.
Oh, and my first marathon of 2023. I’ve been slacking 😂

Jolanta Thorburn- ( HF18464) – State 22/50 and Lifetime Half Marathon no. 35 in the books✔️ Charleston, South Carolina thanks for the sunshine, but we could have been better without the freezing wind! 🤣💨 Regardless of the weather it was so much fun to run 2023 Charleston Half Marathon with friends I met through running! Surf City USA Marathon Half is next! #50before50
#irunthestates
Polska Running Team
50 States Half Marathon Club
Half Fanatics

John Shangin- (MM15948) -Last chance Marathon- Bellingham, Washington state

Clyde Shank (MM1383) – Finished the Allen Double New Years Day marathon temps started out in mid 50’s with a strong breeze out of the south. Temps ramped up into the mid 70’s with some cloud cover which helped kept us a little bit cooler. Kelly joined us for the last loop bringing us some great energy and conversation. Another Great marathon from Libby and wonderful medals!!!

Gina Forestieri (HF18136) -Well I Did it! Started the year with a halfmarathon and a new state #26 Overland Park Kansas… Hangover Half (no, I was not hung over I was asleep by 8:30 last night in the hotel) You don’t know how many times I almost drove off and said forget it before the race started. I definitely am not going to run for the next two weeks I need to give my lower body a rest for sure. It started out 36° but I can’t believe what a gorgeous sunny day it was and it was a super nice path…ended up being 13 minutes faster than yesterday’s half, but I felt this one much worse… I do have redemption for my November trip where I missed out on my 2 races due to getting sick last time.

Patti Randall Krebsbach (HF629, DA99, MM2584) – Rock n Roll Arizona Half weekend complete! It was kind of like running in the PNW today. 🌧️ ☔️

Rachel Ross (HF6506)

Rose Bowl Half- From today’s Rosebowl Half in Pasadena. I twisted my ankle sometime after the second half and my heart rate kept soaring so I did quite a bit of walking, but I finished my 380th half. It was fun to see several friends and to wish Robert Manon congratulations 🎉🎊🎈 on his 500th half marathon!

Randy Brinkley (HF4373, DA2381, MM12764)

Half Marathon State #30.
Half Marathon Total #123.
It’s in the books.

Steffen Schneider (MM4148) – LAKE MEAD 1/2 Marathon, Boulder Beach, NV. Perfect cool weather made for a great Saturday morning Event, at one of my favorite running trails. Even faster than I’d anticipated. The Harbor House restaurant at the Marina is always a great reward.

Mary Miller (MM14657) – Congratulations Mary Carolyn on another marathon complete! & another spot on the podium (3rd place in age)!

Congrats to Robert Manon (MM6700, DA431, HF18410) for successfully completing his 500th lifetime half marathon!!

Amy Seagroves (HF18410, DA3652, MM15648) – Finished Half #68 state #35 Daufuskie Island Half in South Carolina. Logistics for this race are a little complicated since you need to take a ferry but there was a beautiful sunrise on the ferry to the island. Race day was cold at the start but perfect running weather (at least for me coming from Western NY. It may have been cold to those from warmer climates). The course is nice and flat though there are a few sections of packed dirt. Nothing technical though. Course is quite scenic especially the last couple miles. I saw horses, dolphins and some cool birds. One minor complaint is I would have liked a few more aid stations and porta potties on the course but no other complaints. The medal is a really, nice huge medal with a sea turtle design and lots of food at the finish line including veggie burgers. Also makes a fun trip as you can go visit both Hilton Head and Savannah. I’d recommend this one.

Katy Fetzer (HF8306) Half Marathon #71 is in the books. Of course my headphones died as I was running down Harlem Hill into the finish😑

Micheal Watson (HF18526) – medalmonday This week was the Vero Beach Half Marathon in Florida. Two weekends, two Half Marathons! Next week is the Hot Chocolate 15k in Atlanta.

Jackie James (HF17621) – Hey fam❤️25k is done just in time before the cold rain/wind! First race to kick off #2023 My personal best on a 25k so far!! 50k runners were out crushing the pavement in beast mode. This is what we do #runfamily Enjoy your Saturday!

Tc Mattoon (HF18537) – Well I did it. The 2023 Dopey challenge. All 48.6 miles (over 4 days with 2:40 am wakeups). I can now officially call myself a marathoner and a Dopey. A year ago I ran the 5k, 10k and half at Marathon weekend at Disney. I went to Epcot and watched the Marathoners do their last mile and face timed my best friend so she could see the runners and costumes. We saw a shirt that said “Friends don’t let friends do Dopey (alone)” and I said ya know we could do this next year. It took a little more convincing but she was in. It has been a hard year of training. We have been DONE so many times. We have injured ourselves pushing our bodies to new limits but even though we had to train separately we pushed each other, encouraged each other, and we finished together.

Kevin Gonzalez (HF613, DA413, MM6572) – First #MedalMonday of 2023!! Half Marathon #192 completed yesterday at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. A definitive World Class Event worth the experience!!