Tales From Medal Monday Volume 5 Chapter 4

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.

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2026 National Meet-Up at the OhioHealth Capital City Half Marathon

National Meet Up Schedule – Capital City Half Marathon Weekend (Race on Saturday, April 25, 2026 – events kick off Thursday evening!)

Follow the link below for more detailed information

April 2026 Meet Up

Official Race Info More details: capitalcityhalfmarathon.com/event-info/schedule-of-events/

Merry Mullins (MM15936) – This weekend took on my greatest challenge yet. 110 mile ultramarathon that I turned into 116 miles because well sometimes I have to do “the most”. 🤣. (Do not recommend). It wasn’t on purpose. Anyway. Glad I finished. What a time. #americanbottoms100

Awesome maniacs in Rome and Vatican City this weekend!

Medal Monday! (photos courtesy of Star Racing)

Devesh Khatu(MM10488) – 13th Oakland Marathon and #167 overall.
Play the trivia game: one or more of these are correct; one lucky person to guess the correct answer(s) will get a free running shirt. Winner to be announced March 28 🙂
A) Grabbed a goi cuon (Vietnamese shrimp roll) to go at mile 1 in Little Saigon
B ) Took a selfie at mile 10 in downtown Oakland with Ayesha Curry (NBA star Steph Curry’s Indian S.O; their non profit for kids in Oakland is a beneficiary of the marathon)
C) Contributed to the salinity of SF Bay from the Bay Bridge at mile 19
D) Guzzled down a 330 ml Hefeweizen draft beer at Jack London Square with a mile to the finish
E) Set my first full mini crossword puzzle on the run

Rachel Ross(HF6506) – 3/7 age group. My 555th half today. To God be the glory. He got me through today.

Kerri Haskins(MM1336, DA836, HF8724) – Eastern States 20 miler. Brutal day with rain, hail, wind and cold. Make the most of it 🙂

Karen Johnson Derrick(MM12489, DA3640, HF18426) – I wrapped up an amazing weekend by conquering my third round of marathoning in all 50 states at the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach – and I’m not running from the finish line photos. Jody kindly herded me to the starting line and convinced me to take on the Whale Challenge, an 8k on Saturday and a marathon on Sunday, because why not? Max kept me company throughout the whole shebang. I’ve included some snapshots from this fantastic adventure. This marathon escapade has been all about meeting incredible folks!

Eddie Hahn(MM184) – When in Rome…..Italy…my 13th foreign country marathon Lifetime 340. Awesome meeting May Chan in person. She lives in England.. (We are members of several of the same run clubs online). (She has 158 marathons finished!)

Glenn Richardson(MM14162, DA3076, HF16007) – LBL 50 miler pictures. Thank you to Chad Colson and Micki Beth Colson of Colson Photography for the pics. They always do a great job capturing the fun. The trails in the area are awesome for hiking, biking and running. Lots of nice lake views and not too technical. A great place to explore.

Luther Hill(MM9045, DA1429, HF7963) – The Pistol Ultra 100 miler – shorts
As I sit here taking my time with slow steps and two fisted recovery to mitigate what my hamburger feet feel, I had a couple of reflections.
As I mentioned in the past this was a 6 month journey that took me through all 4 seasons. Unlike training plans that get you to 20 mile runs and then within three weeks time taper you into doing 26.2 miles, this one worked up to a 50k and then 4 weeks later a 50 mile max run with a taper that took you to 100 miles. I felt like the build up and taper in this plan was more appropriate for 100k and not 100 miles. That being said everyone is different and rule of thumb really goes out the window past 50k.
With respect to individuality I kept asking myself, “when is enough”, “at what distance do you call it quits”, “at what distance does the fun wear off and what point you are left with is torture”. These were questions I have been asking myself for the past 13 years plus. I think I now have some clarity.
I think I have gotten where I call things like I see it. This means when the people at the aid stations 92 miles in ask me how I feel, I don’t sugar coat my response. Such is life and getting older.
Does this mean I am too far gone to do any else endurance wise? No, not by any means.
Before I start I just want to give a loving shout out to my bestie and love of my life Janie Grace who supported me in every step of this journey and made this weekend possible in every way (including putting up with all my crazy training) and has been my rock for the last 5 years!
Having done all 50 states marathons, a slew of Ironmans and other crazy endurance series I tackled this event head on. Race week weather was beautiful and optimal (as I write this post it is 37 degrees and snowing).
The first 50 miles was pretty much on par with my plan with my 50 miles being at 13.5 hours (12 hours done a month prior and better due to cooler conditions). Kudos to physical therapy people onsite to give a chiropractic adjustment something I definitely needed but kept putting off.
The second 50 miles were more challenging as when the sun went down temperatures dropped quickly. Fortunately hot chicken noodles and hot chocolate were in the mix. Janie worked the lucky aid station afternoon
and wee hours and unbeknownst to me wrote inspirational messages in chalk for the runners one of which was from my recently deceased mother “to keep on keeping on” as she was always known for her quirky personality and charm.
Miles 65 to 80 were the doldrums as I was in that no man’s land between the 100k and the marathon distance. Doing this on the very quiet but well lit distance in wee hours of the morning was rather challenging. Also at this time I was pushing through the pain of having blisters on both feet something new to me. Again, thanks to the wonderful foot support people at this race, my feet felt like ground beef but the pain became tolerable.
Finally the morning sun came up and warmed us all up. By mile 80 I was out of the doldrums but extreme fatigue was trying to overtake me. I wanted to lay down but felt I wouldn’t finish if I did. Thank goodness to those encouraging me – both people from my past as well as the awesome volunteers and race organizers and runners I met on the way including my 4 lady fellow runners (Cincinnati runners you rock) I enlisted on the last loop to keep me from succumbing to quitting in the event my will and determination failed me.
And just like that I was slowly limping to finish and all those feelings of why I took on this were replaced with feelings of happiness and accomplishment. I will not lie in this is the hardest endurance event I’ve ever achieved, so the feelings of accomplishment are probably the strongest I have ever felt. Congratulations to a well run event for an ultra! Thank you for making this a memorable one!

Alexis Davidson(MM926) – Walked the Rome Marathon on Sunday. 49-57F windchills and light winds. Chance of rain, but just a few minutes of drizzle. Went with one long sleeve layer on top. The course was one long convoluted loop with 6 crossings of the Tiber River. About 8K of paving stones. There were a few places with two way traffic. Strava said 464 ft elevation gain. It was my second European marathon with a large organized Hoyt group.
The first Ks had lots of stones, so I didn’t go fast. I was paranoid about tripping on them and slowed down on purpose whenever I raced on them. Splits were sub 2:43 and 5:30. A flat 220 second positive split that occurred primarily due to the locations of the paving stones. The Hoyt group caught up with me during the last 10K and it was difficult after that. They’re like Galloways, but more entitled and more difficult to pass. Really hard on constant pace participants. Uggghh! I know a lot of friends were there. #marathonmaniacs

Karen Gordon(MM12170, DA2028, HF13486) – A very meaningful San Diego Half Marathon – my half marathon #95 with Run to Remember Wear Blue running in honor of Captain Jennifer Moreno. A runner told me she prayed for strength and then saw my verse “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 and felt strengthened and blessed. Feeling grateful to receive a 2nd place division award and 14 year Legacy Club. So happy to meet Sandy Hernandez and Lauren Fried and to spend time with Karen A Flynn, Dan Delino, Bryon Solberg, and Bruce Duong 🏃🏻‍♀️♥️

Jennifer Clark (HF16743,DA3643,MM15623) – This time a full week of medals.
March 16-19 Gulf Coast series with Mainly Marathon for states TX LA MS and FL
March 20-22 Appalachian Series (1st 3 days out of seven) for states AL, GA and SC
Half #390 – #396!! Almost there to 400!

Tonisia Billups(HF10011, DA1998, MM12170) – MedalMonday… Rock-n-Roll Half (Washington, DC)

District of Columbia ✅
𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: American Direct into DCA (Reagan)
𝗛𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗹/𝗹𝗼𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴: Lè Meridian Downtown DC 🏨… easy location.
𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Metro 🚇 …
Tip: don’t purchase a day pass for the Metro on the weekend! It’s not worth it. Especially when you can tap in with you virtual wallet (Apple Pay) because trips are approx $2 on the weekend.
𝗣𝗿𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼: big but boring, maybe because I got there as they were closing, maybe 30-1hr before closing, so vendors were already tearing down!
Also note, you walk through “The Feed”, where they have ALL the fuel (Marteen, GU, Honey Stingers, Tailwind, etc), so I purchased my fuel there, after standing in line, only to realize there were vendors inside with cheaper fuel and no lines 😤 (they got me good)
𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗲: 8AM w/ lots of corrals … certainly a typical large Rock-N-Roll experience.
Note: they had port-o-potties inside the corrals!
Good 👍🏽 and bad 👎🏽! The bad is, lines were still formed as runners were being advance forward. I literally had to bust through the line, cause the runners were being nasty, trying not to let you walk through their line. As nice as I was saying excuse me, these girls bunched up, so I shoved and elbowed my way through! 😏
It was RIDICULOUS, but I wasn’t walking all the way around, and others stepped through too!
Had to reset myself🧘🏽‍♀️ #woosah 🙏🏽
Anyhow, this course gets an A(-) for the run through downtown.
They delivered on the 13.1 monumental miles, as we passed by the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Memorial Bridge, Rock Creek Park, Judiciary Square, crossing the finish line in front of the Capitol Building.
The (minus) is because I don’t like races with a different start and finish. I ended up having to walk further back to my hotel post race vs pre race (approx 1.5mi)
As for the course itself, it had a few hills, with 1 particular hill approaching mile 8 that was snatching souls! I had to walk/jog it in reverse (backwards) lol 🤣
Good course overall though to give you a little variety.
𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠: I’ve been to DC in the past so I had no real interest to spend any extra time and/or money there under this administration’s foolery 🤡 🎪 . 🤷🏽‍♀️ So it was an in and out.
Half Marathon ✅

Karen A Flynn(HF1043, DA158, MM4024) Dan Delino(MM4049, DA161, HF1058)– MedalMonday #MotivationMonday from my 225th lifetime half marathon & 14th Legacy run (15th unofficial) at the @inmotionevents #sandiegohalfmarathon on 03/22/26. Gotta love my hometown race with lots of my #sandiegotrackclub family towing the line with me & a bonus unexpected 3rd place in AG!

Sharon Sunshine Sou(HF12101) – medalmonday. HF# 12101 Cary Greenways Tour Half Marathon Race was Sunday 3-22, located in Cary, NC. I started running this series last year and love that they offer 4 Half Marathons during the year. I hope they will add a couple of more. I came in first in my age group since I was the only one 70-74. What is great about placing is the prize is a free race for next time. There is always plenty of parking and real bathrooms for this smaller race.. I had no idea they had flexible starting times allowing people to starting one hour earlier. I saw Charlene and Victoria there at the start line. I am so happy I got to see you Charlene and finally meet you Victoria. They started at 7am and I decided to start after 7:30 am, giving me enough time to finish before 11 am, which was the race cutoff time. I lost some time here and there. Charlene took some photos of me when she saw me approaching. Thank you so much my friend. I am thrilled I crossed the finish line. I had never done 2 Half Marathons a week apart. I am still recovering from so many things right now. So, one step at a time. My tryouts for the Senior Games 10K Race, is in April, so I plan to try more speed training, but also listening to my body.

Charlene Mercer Board(HF7024), Victoria Carroll(HF16390) 151 Half Marathons
Today I had the honor of doing my 151st Half Marathon with my friend Victoria Carrol who has completed over 800 halves, yes that’s correct! Victoria has completed #820 half marathons as of today.
Victoria is such a sweet and loving person, always building others up ( always making me feel like whatever # race I’m on is so spectacular and down playing her ginormous #.
We always have such great times chatting it up and occasionally making those young policemen/firemen on our routes think they are king of the hills 😂
I also got to see my run friend Sharon, she’s another amazing runner I’ve been blessed to meet over the years.
Thank you again Victoria for sharing this day with me and I can’t wait for us to do it again.
You are such a INSPIRATION to me and I’m looking forward to our trip abroad next year🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏾‍♀️
HF#7024

Lawrence Allie(MM16034) – Did the Rome Marathon! Before and after photos

Steve Walters(MM338, DA9, HF21) – A solid 30k today at the ORRC Champoeg 30k. Even though the 30k distance is rare in racing, it’s a nice test between a half marathon and a marathon. Goal was to run between a 8:30-9:00 per mile pace. I nailed it! My fastest mile was 8:12 and slowest was 8:49 with 10k splits were 53:08, 54:21, 53:48. Pretty consistent which resulted in 16th overall, 10th male, 2nd in my age group.

Gregory Rouson(MM12723,DA2354,HF8058) -Lifetime marathon #30 and Whale Challenge #5 (8K and Marathon)…DONE!!! I won’t mince words here: This race was brutal. The temperature and humidity rose quite a bit on the back half of the marathon which slowed me down more than I was hoping it would. My only goal going into this race was to finish faster than last year’s time (which was my worst marathon finish up until that point)…and I did that by 5 minutes. I’ll take it. 👍🏾🍀 #MarathonManiacs #MM12723 #DA2354 #RunShamrock #WhaleChallenge #jandaracing #Roustance

John Shangin(MM15948) – I just finished the Virginia Beach Shamrock ☘️ Marathon. It was a really great put together and managed event! We couldn’t have asked for better weather! 55 at the start and 74 at the finish at noon! I enjoyed checking out all the statues along the boardwalk of our military personnel. This beach is amazing and I highly recommend it for an East coast beach trip!⛱️☘️🇺🇸
U.S. State completed: #27
Overall Marathon:#35
Finish Time: 4:03:03 officially

Marathon Maniacs & Half Fanatics at the Shamrock Marathon and Half Marathon March 22

Heidi Marie Hammond(HF18098) – Late to post this but I finally was able to get a race this year! 3.21 day so I did 13.1 miles for Luke! I’m so thankful to have Luke and his family in my life. Through the ups and downs we have supported each other. I’m so blessed to have pushed through half #136 with Luke in my heart and with the help of my friend Randy Riley despite being sick and the stress from my dad being in the hospital. I Run4 Luke

Patti Randall Krebsbach(HF629, DA99, MM2584) – A quick trip San Diego to pace GovX San Diego half. A little humidity, hills, and great people make for a fun adventure!

Natalie Passmore(MM16145) – OKIE Half in Muskogee, Oklahoma today! “Easy as Pie” on this Pie Day 3.14! 2nd Place Overall Female

Eric Tunquist(MM16044) – Marathon #114 in beautiful Barcelona, Spain! ❤️ 🇪🇸!

Marathon Maniacs & Half Fanatics at the Zydeco Marathon/Half Marathon in Lafayette LA.

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Photo and Post Credit Marathon Maniacs/Half Fanatics; Facebook Pages, Instagram Pages, threads pages and the individual members listed above.