Coaches Corner: Ready to roll @ TCM

OK, folks, the big weekend is upon us. The Impalas are about to descend upon Twin Cities en masse. KK is already on her way as advance scout and the rest of the squad will follow shortly. We've got a great weekend of activities planned starting with dinner on Friday. Saturday morning Sue J. will get the racing started in the 5K. Then Saturday evening Sarah McGowan's parents will be graciously opening their home for a pre-race pasta dinner.

It all leads up to the big event Sunday morning. The 10M'ers go off first and then the marathoners. I know everyone is fit and ready to have a great performance. You've done the work, now it's time to reap the rewards. Run smart, believe in yourself, and HAVE FUN!

I'm already looking forward to the post-race celebration Sunday night!

Tony C.

Bottoms up

There's something ironical about having to go to the bottom of the world to run up a mountain . . . or maybe it's just me. Nevertheless the Impalas own Chris Lundy made the 13 hour flight down to "Land of the Long White Cloud" for the 21st World Mountain Champs.

Chris had a great performance, finishing the 9.1 kilometer race in 45:09 and placing 18th to help lead the US team to an 8th place finish.

After that performance, let's just hope she treated herself to a glass of New Zealand Chardonnay and maybe a little pavlova.

Well done, Chris.

Jumpin' Jamba

Another jam-packed Jamba 5k this year with a sea of Impala blue and white stepping to the line. The Impalas made up most of the impressive front pack taking 5 of the top 10 spots.





The Impalas were lead by re-newed Impala, Chris Lundy (3rd - 16:53), and TCM'ers Megan D. (5th - 17:12), K.K. (6th - 17:28), Maggie V. (7th - 17:30), and Master, Lisbet (8th - 17:35!). The race was lead by recent Stanford grad (and nuptial), Sara Bei (16:14), followed by new mom Magdalena Boulet (16:24).







PRs abounded for the team, and throughout the race you could see several tightly knit groups of Impalas working together through the final sprint into Kezar.





Thanks to Friederike H. for the great picts!

Our day jobs

For the second year in a row, SF's JP Morgan Corporate Challenge had Impalas leading the pack with another champion and 3 Impalas in the top 15. Helping to keep the champion in the Impala family, Caroline, representing Genentech, crossed the finish line first in a winning time of 19:53. In one of the most challenging women's fields in many years, Caroline moved up steadily to pass Katy Hollbacher and former Stanford teammate (now Googler) Katie Hotchkiss around the 2 mile mark before running the last 1.5 miles unchallenged.

Other Impala sightings included Karen R., Irene H., and Impala-husband Mike.

Recipe for a 'one-two punch'

Fantastic Impala showing at GGP - Megan and Caroline coming over the hill and sprinting for home for a 1-2 finish. Trailing closely behind for 3rd was fellow Stanford alum Sarna "Bells" Becker. (and LL Cool J sang, "Don't call it come back!")

Impala racer and super volunteer organizer, Liz M. reports:

A big congrats to all of those who were out racing today at the GGP Open. The Impala presence was huge and our team ran extremely well with 5 in the top 8-10 (can't remember exactly)! There were many there cheering us on as well and it was incredible to have that support as a racer

And a HUGE thank you to all of our Impala/ friend-of-Impala volunteers. They were awesome. Everything went smoothly, and everyone played an important role in that. Tim was very grateful to all of you. I especially wanted to bring attention to our "star volunteer," Fredericke Haass. She was there at 6:30 to set up and she stayed until the last cone was in the truck, even after being dismissed from her duties a couple of times.

Thanks to everyone and GREAT JOB pulling together as a team-- as racers, cheerers, and/or volunteers!!

She'll be smilin' around the mountain . . .

Sally is all smiles as she has *yet another* stellar XC performance to help score for the Impalas this weekend at GGP.

Keep on Keepin' On, girlfriend!

Rulers of the empire

Saturday in Windsor, CA (that's near Santa Rosa, for those that are curious) Impalas were well represented at the Empire Open XC race. It was a hilly, rocky course--good thing we all arrived early enough to preview it with Susan B-V as our guide.

Results are not up yet, but everyone raced hard...too hard maybe.
New "Master of the Empire" Angela sprained her ankle just minutes from the finish (true to form, she finished the race before asking for some pain killers and ice to put on her swollen ankle) and Karen had a bloody uphill fall (she also toughed it out!).

Thank you to Sally for the race report and picts!

Katrina

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