Athlete Race Recap: Eastwood 5-Mile Run, Marine Corps Marathon 50K (Virtual), & The Great New York State Half Marathon

This past weekend saw three Full Circle Endurance athletes racing - all in Syracuse, New York!  However, even though they were all racing in the same city, they actually raced three different events!

• Eastwood 5-Mile Run - Syracuse, New York
• Marine Corps Marathon 50K - Syracuse, New York (Virtual)
• The Great New York State Half Marathon - Syracuse, New York

Eastwood 5-Mile Run - Syracuse, New York

On Sunday, October 17, 2021, Jean Carnese took to the streets of Syracuse, New York for the Eastwood 5-Mile Run!

This race is a lovely one, as it takes runners on a tour of the charming neighborhood of Eastwood.  It has a fair amount of elevation gain for a 5-mile road running race, but runners get to have lovely views of the changing fall colors as they navigate the ups and downs of the course.

Jean ran the race with her husband Joe (together, we call them The Carni).  Joe finished 4th in his age group and Jean finished 7th!

Way to go, Carni!

Marine Corps Marathon 50K - Syracuse, New York (Virtual)

Lisa Crockford had a big day in Cambridge, Maryland last month when she became an IRONMAN.  However, Lisa’s big goals didn’t end with IRONMAN Maryland; for her next goal , she set her sights on the Marine Corps Marathon Trifecta, a challenge that has athletes running all three events of the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) weekend: the 10K, the Marathon, and the 50K.  Runners are permitted to spread out the events and run them on the dates of their choosing between October 1, 2021 and November 10, 2021.

The Marine Corps Marathon was cancelled and changed to a virtual event this year, which gave Lisa and I a bit more flexibility as to when she would complete each race distance.  This past weekend, she tackled the first of the three events: the 50K!

Lisa mapped out a great course to cover the 31 miles needed for this race.  The weather changed pretty significantly this past weekend in Syracuse, but Lisa didn’t let that stop her.  Out she went into the elements, ticking off each mile.  Her dear friend Wendy (who drove all the way to Maryland to surprise her last month!) was there to crew for her and to cheer her along - even in the driving rain!

Lisa finished those 31 miles feeling strong and good!  This is a marvelous accomplishment seeing as how she is only four weeks out from her IRONMAN finish.  We’ve been managing her recovery very diligently, and that patience paid off for her this weekend.

Way to go, Lisa!  Now, onto the next MCM race!

The Great New York State Half Marathon - Syracuse, New York

Another IRONMAN Maryland finisher - Rebecca Dottolo - also raced this past weekend, logging an incredible result along the way!  Rebecca raced The Great New York State Half Marathon on Sunday, October 17.  This race used to be known as The Empire State Half Marathon, but has since been rebranded and now includes an all-new course in which runners loop all of Onondaga Lake in Syracuse!

Rebecca encountered the same rainy, blustery conditions that Lisa did in her virtual race, but like Lisa, she persevered and ended up with an amazing result - THIRD place in her age group and a personal record (PR) for the half marathon distance by NINE minutes!

Like Lisa, Rebecca and I have been managing her recovery from IRONMAN very intentionally.  As part of this, we only decided a couple of weeks ago that this distance and type of race was a good choice for her at this point in the season.  Rebecca’s fitness has increased exponentially this year, so it's wonderful that she was able to achieve this result on top of her other successes this year.

Congratulations, Rebecca!