Marin's own Brian Pilcher, 57, has earned the USA Track and Field Association 2013 Master Runner of the Year award and was also the 2012 Masters Runner of the Year as well as a three-time Runner of the Year for his age group.
In the USATF press release he stated, “It’s really an amazing honor. It is more than I could have ever imagined when I started running again seven years ago.”
Brian won his age group at seven total races in 2013, all of them part of the USA Masters Championships series. At the USA Masters 5 km Championships in Syracuse, N.Y., he graded out as the top male in the field (all ages) at an extraordinary 95.54 percent, crossing in 16:22.
To put that into context, that means you would have to run a 5 minute 16 second mile for 3.1 miles. My lungs and legs hurt just thinking about it.
Speaking of running long distances at blazing speeds, another runner in the Tamalpa Runners group was recognized by the USA Track and Field Association: Jon Olsen, 39, was named the Ted Corbitt Memorial Ultra Runner of the Year 2013.
Jon was the gold medalist at the IAU 24-hour World Championships in The Netherlands, amassing 167.568 miles of non-stop running in those 24 hours. His performance led the men's team to a gold medal finish.
Jon's other victories included the Desert Solstice 100 Miler with a time of 12:29:37, the Tahoe Rim Trail 50km with a time of 4:55:09, and the Echo Summit 50km in a time of 4:56:09.
At the Self-Transcendence 24-hour run in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Jon set a pending track and absolute 100 mile American record of 11:59:28.
So the next time you get bored of running around the track a couple of times, just think about Jon doing that 402 times... Respect.
