Documenting the exploits of a team of runners and cyclists in Northern West Virginia

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

We’re going to need a bigger trophy case.

As has become normal, the third race of the season saw a strong performance by the 2012 Consol Energy team.  Four team members saw action Saturday morning in the General Lightburn CONSOL Energy 5K in Jane Lew, WV.  Conditions were cold, dry and clear early Saturday morning for the event, which saw runners starting out on the hill above the community center before winding though Jane Lew, turning around in front of the CONSOL Energy offices, then finishing near the Little League fields. 

Mandy Anderson and Jonathan Sheets competed in their CONSOL colors for the first time on Saturday.  As expected, Mandy was the fastest female on the race course.  Mandy set a personal record of 22:47 on her way to capturing the first Overall title for CONSOL so far this year.  Mandy has some big events scheduled later in the year and looks to be ready for them all.   

Johnny, who is normally a cycling specialist, made the trip down from Morgantown to support the rest of the team and to make his best attempt at the 5K distance.  As it turns out, his best attempt was pretty fast, landing him in third spot in his age division.  Great work from both of our first-timers! 

Mandy, Jason, and Jonathan rocking the hardware!


Joe Sheets and Jason Stewart also ran well in the race, making a smooth transition from offroad trails to pavement.  We both set personal records for the distance and finished in the top 5 in our division.  It would appear that Joe has even inspired his wife Nancy to begin training and competing, as she completed her first ever 5K in Morgantown on Saturday morning.  Nancy added to the family medal count for the year by claiming third in her age group.


Team Consol Energy Racing runners

Fellow CONSOL employee Jeff Owens also had a great race, finishing 4th overall and 1st in his age group on his way to posting one of the few sub-20 minute times on the day.  If we grow the team next season I’m sure there will be a jersey or two in his size.  Ben Hardesty also had a good performance, running a 23:50 race while smiling and shaking hands along the way.  Full results for the race can be found here.

Next week will see the CONSOL team traveling to Maryland to compete in the 9 Hours of Cranky Monkey mountain bike relay.  This will be one of the largest races of the year for the team as hundreds of riders descend upon Rocky Gap State Park to see how many laps they can post in 9 hours.  Johnny, Joe and I will comprise one team while Travis will be teaming up with two other riders in a separate division.  This is a tough race but I have a good feeling that our early season success will continue.              

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