11/21/2005
It started as two members of the 2L Coaching online training program deciding to run the Philadelphia Marathon as a good opportunity to motivate one another and run fast this fall, but when the gun went off Sunday morning, there were five of Lowell's athletes racing the 26.2 miles as well as coach Ladd himself.
Despite a chilly start in the 30s, the lack of wind and warming temperatures made for ideal marathon racing weather. Megan Burns (VA), Kathy Wickersham (TX), Christine Ganz (ME), Debra Rojewski (MI), and Janet Choi (DC) all set off at 8:00am in front of the Art Museum chasing fast times. By 11:00am, the first three had all crossed the finish line and all managed to run personal bests.
Megan was the first to reach the line, in 6th place overall and the first master's runner, in 2:51:06, over a minute faster than her winning time in the Marine Corps Marathon fifteen years ago! Kathy was next across the line in 2:57:10, good enough for 13th place overall, and a personal best by over four minutes. Christine also dipped under the 3:00 mark, running 2:59:26 for a 6+ minute personal best in 15th place overall and the 4th masters woman.
Lowell decided after running a personal best in Steamtown to attempt to double back and run a second fall marathon. After writing about doing two marathons within a month for a recent RunnersWorld article, he decided to experiment on himself. Struggling a bit the last 10K, he managed to finish in 10th place in a time of 2:29:56.
Not all of the racing for 2L Coaching athletes took place in Philadelphia. Recent Desales University graduate Gina Lucrezi, who is now coached by Lowell Ladd, traveled up to the USATF Fall Cross Country Championships to race for the Philadelphia Track Club. Her time of 21:48 for the 6000m course in Rochester, NY was just three seconds off her personal best which she set at the NCAA Division III Championships last fall in placing 7th.