Thursday June 5th is the Adrian Martinez Classic

No essay today, just a reminder that Thursday evening, June 5th, 2014 Emerson Track in Concord hosts the 6th annual Adrian Martinez classic, a festival of distance races for all levels.

Is this meet worth your while? YES!! The elite events (5000, 800, and Mile) are STACKED with talent. The Men’s Mile features Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano, fresh off his victory in the International Mile at the Prefontaine Classic, plus NCAA 1000m record holder and 3:38 man for 1500m, BU’s Rich Peters and four other sub-4:00 guys.

The women’s elite mile features former World #1 and U.S. Olympian Morgan Uceny, who just ran 2:00.29 for 800m in Waltham on Saturday. Uceny will be joined by Amanda Winslow, Violah Lagat, Angela Bizzari, former Beverly, MA-high school standout Monica Adler, and Katrina Coogan, among others

The other elite events are similarly strong. In the stacked Men’s High Performance 800m, Lowell HS and UCONN star Brian Gagnon (1:45) will face World Junior Silver Medalist Cas Loxsom, UMaine standout Riley Masters, Uganda Olympian Julius Mutekanga and Dorian Ulrey, who represented the USA at the 2009 World Championships. The women’s 800 features Geena Gall Lara, who ran on the victorious U.S. 4×800 team at the recent World Relays and seven other women who have run 2:04 or better. The women’s 5000m is headlined by 15:09 runner Amy Hastings, and eight women who have run in the 15’s.

The meet isn’t all about elite races. Also included are scholastic and youth miles, a first-timer’s mile, a masters/seniors mile, a family relay, and more.

Meet organizers have released a draft schedule for the meet (see below). The final schedule will be posted on the Martinez Classic Facebook Page by 2:00 pm Wednesday.

DRAFT SCHEDULE

5:00 Scholastic HS Miles
5:15 Youth Miles
5:35 First-Timers Mile
5:55 Masters / Seniors Mile
6:20 Men HP 5000m
6:40 Women HP 800m A
6:45 Awards Men HP 5000m
6:50 Men HP 800m A
6:55 Awards Women 800m
7:00 Women HP 5000m
7:20 Awards Men 800m
7:25 Women HP Adro Mile A
7:32 Awards Women 5000m
7:40 Men HP Adro Mile A
7:45 Awards Women Adro Mile
7:50 Family 4×400
7:55 Awards Men Adro Mile
8:00 Open Miles
8:15 Womens HP 800 B
8:19 Mens HP 800 B
8:22 Womens HP Mile B
8:28 Mens HP Mile B
Awards: Most Improved Performance Men and Women (from HP races only)
Best Performance Women and Men (from HP races only)
8:35 Meet concludes

About Jon Waldron

Running and Racing have been important parts of my life for as long as I can remember. I ran Track and Cross Country at Amherst HS, back in the day, and am proud to have been training and competing with the Cambridge Sports Union (CSU) for more than thirty years. If my bones hold out, I hope to continue for another thirty. Sixteen years ago, I began coaching, first as an Asst. Coach at Newton North HS in Newton, MA, and for the past ten years, as Head Track and Cross Country Coach at Concord Academy in Concord, Massachusetts. I've been writing about running for almost as long as I've been running, dating back to high school, when I would write meet summaries for the Amherst Record for about $0.33 per column inch. I've been blogging about running since 2005, and began blogging at "the runner eclectic" in 2014. Until recently I also had a day job, working full-time as a Technical Product Manager for Nuance Communications, based in Burlington, MA. But I am now on what might turn out to be a permanent sabbatical. Thank you for reading my blog, and please consider leaving a comment.

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