Without Limits Charleston athletes carried their momentum from January into February. Some teammates had their ‘A’ races of the training cycle and others tuned up for goal races in March. We also welcomed new teammates in February.

At the Save the Light Half Marathon on Folly Beach, Joe Cristaldi ran his first race as a new father and met his goal of running sub-1:40 and placed 3rd in his AG. Anne Wulf ran almost a 5-minute PR with a 1:52 finish. Anne is currently training for the Wrightsville Beach Marathon in March and is on track for a big PR there after a solid first marathon in Kiawah.

 

February 6th and 7th were dates that Jon Barrows had on his calendar since he started training with Without Limits in October. The Hallucination 24-Hour Trail Run was Jon’s goal race. In his build-up he set PRs in the marathon and 50k as training runs. He worked with Coach Chris on his fitness, his running form, his race strategy, and his mindset to prepare himself for a full day of running. Not only did Jon crush his goals and exceed his expectations, he did so even though the race was cut short by the race director at 16.5 hours due to strong winds and flooding rains. Even so, Jon managed to run 85.5 miles in that shortened time and finished 2nd overall!  The event was a team affair as several teammates joined Jon as a pacer or volunteered at the race.  Congrats, Jon, the team is proud!

 

In another trail event, the Almost 9-miler Trail Run, teammate Jacci Patterson was 1st overall female.  Jacci is currently training for the Boston Marathon and is thriving in the team environment of group practices.

At the Hilton Head Half Marathon virtual training client Ricardo San Pedro took about 4 minutes off of his PR to run 1:30, place 2nd in his AG, and 17th overall! Ricardo is training for the Wrightsville Beach Marathon in March, where he hopes to run a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon.

Several teammates were in action at the MESSA 8k for H2O on Folly Beach. Coach Chris placed 1st overall, Joe won his AG, Cortez Gonzalez won his AG in his longest race ever, Harry Gregorie was 2nd in his AG, and unofficial teammate Jane Gregorie set another state record for women 80-84 by finishing the 4.97 mile race in just over 1-hour! Anne ran the race as part of her long run workout and still managed to run a pace that was faster than what used to be her 5k pace prior to training with Without Limits.

 

WOL was represented well at the Lifepoint Race for Life 5k and 10k. The course was tough with mud and soft grass, but we had top finishers in both races. Without Limits Challenger Tara Marlowe was 5th female in the 5k and Christin Newman was 1st female (and 6th overall) in the 10k! Tara is training for the Cooper River Bridge Run 10k and Christin is training for the Boston Marathon.

Here’s to more great performances in March! We will have teammates racing from the 1600m on the track up to the marathon. In addition to races, our athletes are reaching their goals of improving their form, learning about different types of workouts, living healthier lifestyles, and enjoying the journey with teammates.