He did it! Bo wraps up Louisville Ironman


Rank Stranger Bo Lackey (2013, 14, 15) wrapped up his second Ironman triathlon today today at Louisville.  Bo gets up to lots of mischief beyond run relays - GoRuck, distance races and Ironman.  Follow Bo on Twitter @SpiritualCadre

Bo at Madison-Chicago, 2015.



Marathon viewing plan - perfection

The viewing plan I outlined yesterday worked to perfection and we were able to see our heroes at designated spots. Good work, Randy, Denise and Paul!  An exciting, inspiring day at the Chicago Marathon.



Paul Miller



Denise Meacham



Randy Meacham



Eric, Randy and Denise

Chicago marathon viewing plan

Rank Strangers Randy Meacham, Denise Meacham and Paul Miller are running the Chicago Marathon tomorrow, Oct. 10.  With 40K runners on the course and gazillion people on the sidewalks I've made charted three meeting spots.

Paul is running with an injury but like the the Meachams is determined to add to a long list of Chicago Marathon finishes.  (How bad can things really be for Paul when he has this getup in his plans:  "I’ll be wearing that bright pink shirt. I’ll have on my white visor, and I’ll have on green shoes.")

Randy and Denise estimated their arrival at planning meet-ups (Paul's timing will likely be similar to Denise's) -

	Denise	Randy
Start	7:35	7:32
3.5	8:05	7:59
11.1	9:07	8:58
23.1	10:58	10:32

26.2 + 13.1 = big day for Rank Strangers from Van#1

Jennifer Sell returned to marathoning for the first time since Boston 2012 ( Blog link ) today at Berlin.  Her Van#1 teammate from the August Hood To Coast relay, Renee Roux, ws also in action today, running the Chicago Half Marathon.

 

Renee and Jennifer at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood

 

 

Jennifer's Berlin Marathon scorecard

 

 

 

Another weekend, another Meacham marathon

The weekend before it was Randy setting a personal best, yesterday it was Denise Meacham running the Fox Valley marathon in 3:52:24. This qualifies her for the 2017 Boston Marathon (she and Randy are already in for Boston 2016).

Denise handing off to husband Randy.  Finished with
her final leg in Hood To Coast, Aug. 29.

A rare shot of the Meachams NOT racing.  On the sidewalk
in Portland, OR, hours before the start of Hood To Coast.

Denise and Randy in Van#2 before Hood To Coast.
Photographer unknown.

Dave Maze joins Rank Stranger IronMan club

Rank Stranger Dave Maze (2007) added IronMan to his credentials on Sunday in Madison, joining Holly Dowling, Martin Tagge and Bo Lackey as our iron people.

Dave Maze on the run on Sunday

Rank Strangers Randy and Denise Meacham made the trip up from Chicago to root on Randy's nephew Dave.  Their secret weapon - the dogs.

Meacham dogs are big fans of triathlon, it seems.

Personal best, Boston 2016 certainty for Randy

Early in the race - 8 laps along the Fox River

Randy Meacham set a new personal record of 3:23:05 at today's Geneva, IL BQ.2 marathon.  He also expanded his cushion for Boston from a few seconds to almost 7 minutes, all but guaranteeing a spot in the next April's race.  Wife Denise will join him.

Randy has run 4 Madison-Chicago races with the Rank Strangers, including this June's race, and was part of last month's Hood To Coast team, running hard miles out of Van 2.

Randy's old personal best was 3;23:42.  Today's race was his 55th marathon.  BQ2 is a series for runners who have met their Boston qualifying standard but want to improve their position.

On the home stretch

Yards to go

Crossing the line

Made it!

Randy explaining that it was harder
than it looked.

Randy and Denise at dawn  on race morning.  After Randy's hard
work they are both sure Boston qualifiers.  Go Van 2!

Rank Strangers to cheer on Randy Meacham

Rank Stranger and three time Boston Marathon veteran Randy Meacham will attempt to improve his 2016 qualifying position at the Advocate Dreyer Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon on Saturday, Sept. 12, in Geneva, Illinois.  

There will be a Rank Stranger cheering section at  in the Geneva race, which starts at 6:30AM.  The elite field (300 runners) is restricted to runners who...

Randy Meacham

…ran a 2013 marathon - under their 2016 Boston qualifying time.

…ran a 2014 or 2015 marathon - within 10 minutes of their 2016 Boston qualifying time.

…ran a 2014 or 2015 half marathon - at their 2016 Boston qualifying pace.

Randy will tour the loop course eight (8) times so this is the ultimate fan friendly course!

Randy's wife Denise is comfortably under the qualifying mark for 2016 Boston so she will be leading the cheering section, not on the course.

Randy has met the qualifying standard for a fourth straight Boston race but lowering his time will increase his chances of getting to the starting line (the cutoff changes based on demand for spots).

The billing for the nationwide "BQ.2" program: 

 America’s #1 Boston Qualifying Marathon

 America’s #1 Qualifier – Over 60% of 2014 finishers qualified

 America’s #2 Fastest     – 3:34 average 2014 finishing time

In addition to his 50+ marathons and Boston qualifying achievement, Randy was part of our Hood To Coast Team.

Buffeted but not beaten

The weather was the headline, especially the wind that destroyed the tent village at the beach in Seaside, Oregon, but Rank Strangers achieved its goal (and bucket list entry) with success at the 34th Hood To Coast run relay.

Despite the terrain (hills!!) and the weather (driving wind; cold rain) we had one of our fastest times for 198 miles; Rank Strangers were 572nd out of 1048 finishers in 30 hours, 18 minutes and 19 seconds - about an 9 minutes and 11 second per mile average. A KGW.COM article from Saturday, Aug. 30, tells the weather story   Link  (http://www.kgw.com/story/news/local/2015/08/28/hood-coast-relay-starts-runners-heading-toward-seaside/71308148/ ) GOVERNMENT CAMP, Ore. -- The 34th annual Providence Hood to Coast Relay began early Friday morning with nearly 13,000 runners lacing up their shoes to head from the mountain to the beach. Little did they know they'd be running the gamut of weather conditions - high winds, heavy rain and even hail, during the 198 mile relay. The weather was tough on the 19,000 people participating in this year's event. Teams of 8-12 people took turns walking, jogging or running stretches of the relay until reaching the finish line in Seaside. "I was like, 'Wow, this is ridiculous and wet and rainy.' But it was fun," an elated Ryan Cornwell, of Portland, told KGW at the soggy finish. "A hurricane is what it felt like," said runner Erica Fitch. "There were tree branches everywhere." "Usually we're worried about being sunburned, not wind burned - right," added a smiling Alex McKinnon, of Seattle. Another runner just simply described the relay as "gnarly." The National Weather Service issued a High Wind Warning that predicted gusts up to 65 miles an hour.  Winds were later recorded as high as 90 mph. Follow link for full KGW.COM article Art on the move - first leg Rachael waiting to run off Mt. Hood Cathy Safety Office Steve and disciple, Greg Steve and Ed Jeff and Mark Renee and Jennifer Randy and Denise Eric

Rest for Van#2, hard slog for Van#1

12:30AM.  Van#2 is enjoying the hospitality of St Helens High School - hot shower, a place to stretch out (gym floor) - sobered by what we saw on the drive up busy Highway 30 from Portland.  Our teammates are out there, battling up hill on the narrow shoulder of that busy road.  There might be exciting scenery in daylight, but in the middle of the night, dreadful running conditions.  We'll take the next handoff from Van#1 near here at around 4AM.

Near night and night runs by Van#2

Van #1 raced off the mountain slopes to put the team ahead of schedule and Van#2 is holding up its end.  Photos show Denise and Eric on their first runs.

Van #1 ready for action

The race is on for other teams (the first waves went off before 6am) but our team's start time is not until 1pm.   Van #2 will spend the day in Portland and join the action in Sandy, OR for its first shift around 6pm.  And do on until 200 miles are covered and we reach Seaside, OR. Rachael's early morning photo from Mt Hood (Government Camp, OR).   Cathy's photo of the mountain. Thursday afternoon, before Van #1's departure to Mt. Hood (Mark, Rachael, Cathy, Jeff, Art, Renee, Jennifer) Van #2 breakfast on Friday morning at Shari's (where else?) (Denise, Kay, Eric, Steve, Greg, Ed, Randy)

Rank Strangers go west for "Mother Of All Relays"

After 11 years of Madison-Chicago, the Rank Strangers will make their Hood To Coast debut on Aug. 28-29.    It's an all veteran team with co-founder Mark Clear joining to drive Van#2 for the 200 mile race from Mt. Hood to Seaside, Oregon.

Van#1 - Art Saffran, Jeff Shampo, Renee Roux, Cathy Jooste, Rachael Weiker, Jennifer Sell.

Van#2 - Greg Masenthin, Ed Stojakovic, Eric Engdahl, Steve Hill, Randy Meacham, Denise Meacham.

Collectively, that's a millions of miles of run relay experience but I've got rookie jitters about taking on the largest running relay in the world. 

Think of it:  "Every year over 17,400 people race from the base of Mt. Hood at Timberline Lodge to the beach in Seaside, traversing a picturesque course showcasing every landscape Oregon has to offer."

Jennifer will cover the most miles to get to Portland, from Nuremberg, Germany.   Rachael and Cathy are coming from Washington, DC and environs and the rest of us from Chicago and Madison. 

Watch this space for updates from the road.

Photos from the Rank Stranger archives:

Rachael Weiker and Art Saffran

Cathy Jooste

Ed Stojakovic

Greg Masenthin

Jeff Shampo

Jennifer Sell

Team co-founders Eric Engdahl and
Mark Clear

Denise and Randy Meacham

Renee Roux

Steve Hill

Relationship map shows who brought whom to the
Rank Strangers.  Hood To Coast runners are highlighted.