Team Strands.com athletes Mike Sayenko, Justin Young and Zoila Gomez raced the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last Sunday. Sayenko and Gomez both ran personal bests, placing 10th and 13th in their respective races.

In the men’s race, Sayenko earned his first-ever top ten finish in a World Marathon Majors race, finishing 10th in 2:14:30, and topping his previous personal best by over 2 minutes in the process. Sayenko was the second American finisher to the tape behind former Team Strands.com athlete Jason Hartmann.

Veteran marathoner Zoila Gomez also ran a personal best of 2:32:53, beating her pervious mark from the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials, where she placed 4th. The new best netted Zoila a 13th-place finish in the women’s race, and a third place finish among a deep field of American women, including Desiree Davila (4th overall) and 2008 Olympic Marathoner Magdalena Lewy-Boulet (9th).

USA 10k Championships–Boston, MA

Meghan Armstrong returned to the roads at the Tufts Health Plan 10k only one week after her 4th place finish at the USA 10-mile Championships. The Tufts 10k is also host to the USA 10k Championships. Meghan placed 14th in a time of 34:43.

Read both athletes full race recap on their Strands.com profile by clicking on the photo below.

Team Strands.com/Mizuno athletes Justin Young, Mike Sayenko, and Zoila Gomez will be racing the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday. They are among an elite field that race director Carey Pinkowski has called the strongest field in the 33-year history of the event.

Justin Young leads the group with 2:13:54 marathon personal best from the 2008 Fortis Rotterdam Marathon. Justin’s build-up for the marathon included two of his best finishes ever in USA Championships road races, finishing 3rd in the USA 10-Mile Championships in August (47:47) and 4th in the USA 20k Championships in September (59:45).

Team Strands.com/Mizuno teammate Mike Sayenko will be running his first marathon since a personal best and 8th place finish at the 2009 USA Marathon Championships where he ran 2:16:38. Sayenko spent the first half of the year on the track, culminating with an 8th place finish in the 10,000 meters at the USA Track & Field Championships in June.

Veteran marathoner Zoila Gomez brings a 2:33:53 personal best to the women’s field. Zoila has competed on two IAAF World Championships teams and was the alternate for the women’s marathon team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after a surprise 4th place finish in the USA Olympic Trials. She returned from the trials to run the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon and ran a 2:35:41.

Click on Justin, Mike, or Zoila’s image below to wish them luck on their Strands.com profile! Click the Team Strands.com logo for Chicago Marathon Runner Tracking.

Team Strands.com athletes Meghan Armstrong, Mike Reneau, Matt Hooley, Josh Moen, Meghan Arbogast, and Matt Downin all participated in the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon weekend in Minneapolis last Sunday. The Twin Cities Marathon hosted the women’s USA 10-Mile Championships and the men’s USA Marathon Championships, and both masters USA Marathon Championship races. Team Strands.com athletes netted three more top-ten finishes in the championships races, continuing a string of strong performances for the team in the USA Running Circuit (USARC).

USA 10-Mile Championships–Minneapolis, MN

Team Strands.com/Mizuno athlete Meghan Armstrong placed 4th in the USA 10-Mile Championships in a new personal best of 55 minutes, 20 seconds. Her fourth place finish was also her highest placing in a USA Championships race. With her performance in the 10-mile, Meghan finished a tied for 5th place overall in the USARC standings.

USA Marathon Championships–Minneapolis, MN

In the marathon championships race, Mike Reneau ran 2:16:47 and placed sixth overall. Teammate Matt Hooley placed 20th overall, finishing in 2 hours, 23 minutes, 9 seconds. With double-points in the marathon, Reneau finished the year tied for 23rd place in the final USARC standings.

In the master’s championship race, Meghan Arbogast placed third and qualified for her 5th USA Olympic Marathon Trails in the process! Meghan ran a personal best of 2:45:46.

Twin Cities 10-Mile–Minneapolis, MN

In his build-up for a fall marathon, Matt Downin claimed the overall title in the Medtronic Twin Cities 10-Mile in 50 minutes, 43 seconds.

Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational–Salem, OR

Mike Kilburg was also active this weekend, handily winning the open division of the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational. Kilburg ran an impressive 23:39 in the open division, beating the second place finisher to the tape by over 30 seconds.

Congratulations on all of the outstanding performances this weekend runners!

Click on the images below to read the athlete’s race recap on their Strands.com profile.

We are recruiting 20 enthusiastic individuals to spread the word about Strands.com in their community. We are looking for individuals of all ages and abilities. If you have been an active user of Strands.com for at least 30 days and you think you would make a good candidate, send an email to Mike Reneau. Please include your name, home location, Strands.com user name and a paragraph why you would like to be a brand advocate.

Strands.com Brand Advocates will receive a Team Strands.com singlet, technical running T, water bottle, and the opportunity to earn more Team Strands.com gear. They will be featured on the website on both the landing page and as recommended users for new registrants to follow. Brand advocates will have the opportunity to beta test new Strands.com software and iPhone apps if they choose. They will be provided with cool promotional material for community events, group runs and Strands.com user “Meet-Ups”.

Guidelines
Your participation in the Strands Brand Ambassador program is subject to the Strands.com Terms of Use and the following additional guidelines.

You must comply with the FTC guidelines relating to compensated endorsements of goods or services, 16 CFR Section 255.5. When you post or blog encouraging people to use Strands.com, you must disclose that you have received something of value from Strands. You should do this by including a link to this page (page that explains the Strands Brand Ambassador Program). You are encouraged to post positive comments about Strands.com, but you should NOT post negative comments about other sites that may compete in the same space. Posting anything that is false or misleading, about Strands.com or a competitor, is not permitted and is grounds for immediate termination from the Strands Brand Ambassador Program. Anything you write, post or tell people relating to Strands.com is user-generated Content as defined in the Terms of Use so please ensure that the Content is not illegal or offensive to the recipient.

Your relationship with Strands will be that of an independent contractor. You are not authorized to make any contracts or commitments on behalf of Strands. You are solely responsible for all tax returns and payments required to be filed with or made to any federal, state or local tax authority with respect to your compensation for participation, and Strands will not withhold or make payments for social security, unemployment insurance, disability insurance or worker’s compensation insurance on your behalf.

Full Length Guidelines

We are proud to announce that Team Strands is now accepting applications for athlete sponsorship for the 2010 calendar year.  Interested athletes should submit a running resume along with a one-page sponsorship proposal.

The resume should include, but is not limited to:

• Running Background
• Personal Bests
• Race Highlights
• Tentative 2010 Race Schedule

The proposal should highlight why you believe you would be a good brand advocate for Strands.com.  It would be helpful to include information about your level of involvement in the running community, and your “reach” online with social networking sites and blogs.  Preference will be given to athletes willing to relocate to Corvallis, Oregon, and your sponsorship proposal should indicate whether you would be willing to relocate as part of your sponsorship.

You must be willing to share your training and interact with the Strands.com community.  So, familiarity with Strands.com is a must.  If you would like to apply for sponsorship and have not yet set up a profile, please do so at Strands.com before applying.

When you have completed your application, please send an email with both documents attached to teamstrands@strands.com by December 15, 2009. We will begin notifying athletes starting January 1, 2010.

The two-time Olympian (2000, 2004) has participated in 7 World Cross Country Championships, 3 World Outdoor Track and Field Championships, as well as the World University Games and Goodwill Games.  In four of her seven World Cross appearances, she helped lead Team USA onto the podium, with team bronze medal finishes in 1998 (4km), 2000 (8km), and 2003 (8km), and team silver in Portugal in 2002 (8km).

Dryer, who has a personal best of 1:11:42 from her 2007 USA Half Marathon Championships title, was selected based on her 7th place finish at the USA 20 km Championships earlier this month.

Dryer will team up wth Amy Yoder-Begley (Portland, Oreg.), Desiree Davila (Rochester Hills, Mich.), Serena Burla (Baldwin, Mo.), and Amy Hastings of Mammoth Lakes, California.

“I am honored to be representing the US in the World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham”, Dryer said. “My goal is to help bring home a top team finish.”

The invitation came just days after Elva elected to forgo racing in the US Marathon Championships in what she says will be an effort to “focus once again on reconnecting with the shorter distances”.

The race will begin at 9:00 a.m. (Birmingham) on October 11, with a web cast from Universal Sports. For more information, visit the official IAAF race website.

Team Strands athlete Jason Hartmann ran away from the field in the last 5 km at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon to claim the overall title in a personal best of 2 hours, 12 minutes, 9 seconds.

Hartmann paced himself a few seconds ahead of the lead pack for much of the race, before making a decisive move to the front on Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, dropping the 2004 Twin Cities Marathon Champion Augsutus Mbusya of Kenya (2:13:03), John Njorge (2:13:26), and Joseph Mutinda (2:13:47).  It was the first marathon for Hartmann since his 2:15:27 tenth place finish in the Olympic Marathon Trials.

The win caps a strong road-racing season for Hartmann, which included a runner-up finish in the USA 25 km Championships, ninth place in the USA 10 km Championships, and a sixth place finish in the USA 20 km Championships last month.

For complete results, visit the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon results page.

Team Strands Update: USA 10-mile Championships

Team Strands athletes Mike Sayenko (48:28), Mike Reneau (48:53), and Josh Glaab (49:20) raced in the US 10-mile Championships, placing 11th, 15th and 18th, respectively.

Complete results for the 10-mile Championships are available here.

Team Strands athletes Mike Aish and Justin Young will race the IAAF World Championships Marathon tomorrow in Berlin.

Aish, New Zealand’s lone representative in the marathon, has a personal best of 2:13:21 from his victory at the 2008 PF Chang’s Rock and Roll Arizona Marathon in Phoenix.  In January he returned to Phoenix and ran a 2:15:43, placing 6th overall.  His crowning achievement for the year came with an easy victory in tough conditions at New Zealand’s Christchurch Marathon.  Aish ran 2:18:18 in spite of strong winds, snow, and hail.

Aish has competed for New Zealand at numerous championships including the World Cross Country Championships (2000, 2001), World Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships (2003, 2007), and the Olympic Games (2000, 2004).  He will be joined in Berlin by Team Strands teammate Justin Young, who will be representing Team USA.

Young was selected to the USA roster based on his breakthrough run in Rotterdam in April 2008, where he ran 2:13:52.  His time in Rotterdam was the third fastest by an American for the year.  This will the second time Young has represented Team USA — the first coming in 2004 at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, where he led Team USA with an 18th place overall finish.

He will be racing in Berlin with Team USA teammates Dan Browne (Portland, Oreg.), Nate Jenkins (Lowell, Mass.), Ed Torres (Boulder, Colo.), and Matt Gabrielson (Minneapolis, Minn.).

Check out the comprehensive men’s marathon preview, and be sure to send encouragement to Mike and Justin on their Strands.com profiles.

The race will be broadcast live on Universal Sports at 5:45 a.m. EST.

Armstrong ran 39:06 in her return to the roads, laying claim to her second U.S. Road Championships top-ten finish in her first year as a professional.  Armstrong was fifth in the Road Mile Championships in the Twin Cities last May.  Teammate Zoila Gomez, in the midst of World Championships Marathon preparation, was 31 seconds back in 12th place, and Elva Dryer ran 40:18 for 15th place in the women’s Championship race.

On the men’s side, Cele Rodriguez placed 11th overall, running a 34:07.

For complete results, visit the Bix-7 Results page.

Boston Scientific Heart of Summer 10k – Minneapolis, MN
Also active this weekend was Team Strands athlete Nicole Aish, who overcame a bout of food poisoning and still managed a second-place finish at the Boston Scientific Heart of Summer 10k.  Aish ran 34:56 on the loop course around Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis.

For complete race results, click here.

The men’s champion was Ridouane Harroufi of Morocco who narrowly defended his title over Kenyan John Yuda.  The pair ran 17:44 and 17:46, respectively.  Boaz Cheboiywo (Kenya) claimed the final podium position in 18 minutes, 2 seconds.  Complete results are available at http://onlineraceresults.com.

Team Strands Weekend Race Recap
In Duluth, Team Strands athlete Mike Reneau finished fifth at the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon.  Reneau ran 1:05:56.  Eugene Kebenei of Kenya won the half marathon title in 1:05:15.  Complete Results are available at http://www.onlineraceresults.com.

Ryan Kirkpatrick cruised to a 15-second vistory in 14:52 at the Sailin Shoes 5k in Colorado Springs—missing the course record by only 4 seconds.

Team USA’s Kami Semick (Bend, OR) finished first overall in the Women’s race with a time of 07:37:23, and teammates Devon Crosby-Helms (Seattle, WA) and Meghan Arbogast (Corvallis, OR) finished 07:59:17 and 08:04:28 respectively.

Both Kami and Meghan are local Team Strands runners, and you can discover out how they prepare for upcoming races by checking out their training logs on Strands.com.

Meghan’s tip of the week…get regular massage therapy. Massage is a great tool to keep you healthy and running faster than ever. Massage therapy keeps your muscles supple and strong by promoting blood circulation, elasticity, flexibility and relieving stress from both workouts and everyday life. And did I mention; it feels great!

A quick note: after your first session of massage you may not feel like normal, your legs may feel “heavier” than usual. However, with continued therapy you will see the results you are looking for, namely an increase in work capacity and faster times.

Think massage therapy would be too much of a burden on your wallet? Think again. Search online or the phone book for a local college offering massage therapy. Students are always looking for volunteers on which to hone their skills. And it is great for you because you get a person who is enthusiastic about what they are doing and usually at a deeply discounted price. I personally have tried many different massage therapists and can say without a doubt that Suzie, a student at St. Paul College, gives the best massages. In an hour’s time my legs go from tired and sore to feeling refreshed and ready for my next workout.

Massage is just one little piece in the puzzle of becoming the best runner you can be. People often emphasize the importance of a great workout, but you shouldn’t forget that recovery from workouts is equally as important.

Aish led the field through most of the race, with help early from Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Andrew Letherby.  The pair brought the field through 5 km in under 16 minutes, but a strong headwind, hail and occasional snow drifts saw them slow from Jack Foster’s national record pace (2:11:18) to the more modest SBS Christchurch Marathon course record (2:15:12) pace.  They came together through the half at 1:07:28, but by mile 18, Aish was out in front alone – forging ahead and extending his lead to a decisive 4-minute margin before claiming a win in his first marathon on home soil.

“It wasn’t a great day to run fast out there,” Aish is quoted in release from the marathon.  “And to be honest, we sort of gave away the records at about 20 km.  I felt good, and the support on the course from spectators was awesome, but the wind was just too tough today.”

In second place was Australian Paul Martinico finishing in 2:22:50, and rounding out the podium was defending champion Rowan Hooper at 2 hours, 24 minutes.

Complete results are available at the SBS Christchurch results page.

Team Strands Weekend Race Recap

At Freihofer’s Run for Women in Albany, Team Strands athlete Elva Dryer placed 18th in 16 minutes, 42 seconds.  This was Dryer’s first race since a 12th place Boston Marathon finish (2:38:50).  For complete results, visit the Freihofer’s results page.

In the Reebok Grand Prix, Meghan Armstrong finished 11th in 16:25.53.  The race was won by Linet Masai (Kenya) in a surprise victory over Beijing gold medal winner and world 5000 meters record holder Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia).  Complete results are available on the Grand Prix results page.

Team Colorado teammates Fernando Cabada and Edwardo Torres finished 13th and 17th, respectively, giving the trio a total of 42—just 5 places shy of 3rd place Kenya.  Ethiopia won the overall team title, with a strong run from men’s champion Tilahun Regassa (28:17) and runner-up Tadese Tola (28:36).  Team USA placed third in the team competition. For complete results, visit the Bolder Boulder elite men’s results page.

Team Strands athletes Josh Glaab and Ryan Kirkpatrick raced the Citizen’s Race at the Bolder Boulder — with finishing times of 30:58 and 31:18, respectively.  Glaab was third overall and the first American finisher in the citizen’s race.

Also this weekend, Team Strands athlete Matt Downin was runner-up at the Ridgeline Ramble in Eugene, Oregon.  Downin was edged by brother Andy for the 10 km title.

Team Strands athlete Justin Young has been selected to represent Team USA at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin this August.

Young was selected based on his breakthrough run in Rotterdam Marathon last April, where he ran 2:13:52. His time in Rotterdam was the third fastest by an American in 2008.  This will the second time Young has represented Team US, the first coming in 2004 at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, where he led Team USA with an 18th place overall finish.

He will be racing in Berlin with Team USA teammates Dan Browne (Portland, Oreg.), Nate Jenkins (Lowell, Mass.), Fernando Cabada (Boulder, Colo.), and Matt Gabrielson (Minneapolis, Minn.).

The 12th IAAF World Championships will take place in Berlin from August 15 – August 23.  The men’s marathon is scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 22.

For a complete schedule of events and more information about race, visit the Berlin 2009 web site.

Zoila Gomez was selected based on her fourth place finish at the 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon where she surprised the field and ran a 1.5-minute best of 2:33:53 – highlight video here.  Gomez also represented Team USA in the 2007 World Championships Marathon, and was third in the 2006 US Marathon Championships where she ran 2:35:26 on a tough Twin Cities course.

The Adams State graduate was an 11-time All-American and six-time NCAA champion at distances ranging from the mile to the 10,000 meters.  Capping her outstanding collegiate career was the 2004 Collegiate Sports Award for the Division II Athlete of the Year.

When she’s not training, Gomez spends much of her time with community outreach programs—teaching English as a Second Language classes to unschooled youth, speaking to local clubs and schools and working with youth in after school programs such as In the Arena.

The 12th IAAF World Championships will take place in Berlin from August 15 – August 23.  The women’s marathon is scheduled to take place on Sunday, August 23.  For a complete schedule of events and more information about race, visit the Berlin 2009 web site.

Check out her training log on Strands.com and see what it takes to represent Team USA.

Hartmann, a Grand Rapids native, gutted out a 1:16:14 finish in pouring rain and strong winds—matching his highest-ever US Championships placing with the second-place finish this weekend.  In 2006, he was runner-up in the US Half Marathon Championships.

Dan Browne (Beaverton, OR) pulled away from the men’s field near mile 13 and extended his lead to 16 seconds over Hartmann before finishing at 1:15:56, to claim this third 25 km title (2003, 2004, 2009).  Browne now has 14 national road titles. Fasil Bizuneh of Flagstaff was third, Ryan Sheehan (Rochester Hills, MI) fourth, and Josh Eberly (Gunnison, CO) fifth.

Watch the post-race interview with Jason Hartmann below:

Complete results are available at the River Bank Run web site.  Addiitonal race coverage is also available at RunTheRoads.com.

Hooley won the marathon by nearly 8 minutes in his first overall marathon title.  He ran a new personal best and course record of 2:18:38 in the process.  The second place finisher, Chad Worthen crossed the finish at 2:26:36 after local 2:18-marathoner John Lucas dropped out late in the race.

Jason Pyles placed second overall, running 1:11:48 in the half marathon and Marian was third overall in the women’s race with a new best of 1:21:57.  Visiting Team Strands masters athlete Paco Ribera of Spain, led from mile 3 of the half marathon until he was directed onto the marathon course, where he fell out of contention after running a mile on the wrong course.  Ribera was a 2:12-marathoner during the 90′s and ran 1:08 in Madrid as a masters athlete earlier this year.

Photo: Amanda Smith, The Eugene Register-Guard

For complete marathon and half marathon results, please visit the Online Race Results.  Another recap of the race is also available from the Eugene Register-Guard.

Strands is pleased to announce and introduce Team Strands!

With gear support from Puma Running, Strands is excited to be one of the few non-running company or shoe-store sponsors of runners on the national and world class level. Team Strands currently includes a handful of Olympians, Pan American Qualifiers, NCAA All-Americans, and USATF road-race circuit finalists. Many of them have been running for Team Strands for over a month now, and you can become a fan or catch up with their latest victories on the Team Strands Facebook group.

Team Strands is led by Matt Downin and is currently comprised of 25 runners, but there will undoubtedly be more added to the roster as we continue to grow. All of the runners have been using Strands.com to log their training and preparations for upcoming races, and you can find links to their training logs from the Team Strands page to discover how they train, and see where they’ll be competing next.

A couple of articles have already been generating some buzz about Team Strands, including an interview with Matt Downin on Track Shark.