Exactly three years removed from missing the three-hour marathon barrier by a mere six seconds, Newport News resident Sika Henry seemed content to focus her attention on another lofty goal – to become the first African-American female to reach the professional ranks of the triathlon.
This was on March 12, 2020. By the end of that day, life as she, and everyone else, would know it, had changed entirely.
But where others saw uncertainty, Henry saw an opportunity.
“I’ve had this goal (breaking three hours) since 2017 when I came super close and ran 3:00:06 (fourth among women at the One City Marathon). I wanted to try it again, but it never fit well with my triathlon training and schedule. My coach (Jonny Caron) mostly had me focus on the swim and bike, my (triathlon) weaknesses, in order to make me a competitive triathlete,” said Henry, whose triathlon events for 2020 began to cancel, leaving her empty-handed for competitions.
“Once COVID hit, and my triathlons were rescheduled to next year, as well as having limited access to pools, my coach and I felt like this was the perfect opportunity to try and break three hours.”
She started by running enough miles to try an even longer event, a 50-kilometer (31.1-mile) race. Her first potential race, at the Noland Trail, was canceled. In the true spirit of the loneliest runner, Henry ran the event – virtually.
“On October 11, Steven Keller paced me through a 50K. Three loops by my house. We used my driveway as an aid station.”
Henry covered the distance through Newport News and Hampton in 3:45. “I knew I was fit enough to break three hours after that. Luckily, Tidewater Striders offered a marathon!”
Henry ran an 18:23 5K to prepare for the speed work. As she notes in her blog, “Coach Jonny's instructions were to run 5:55/5:55/then all out the last mile. On a good day, I thought I could run 18:15. I just had nothing left in the tank on that last mile. Between the high run volume, and still somewhat recovering from that 50K, sub-18 was out of the question. Still, I was happy with the effort and elated that I finally got to do an actual in-person race.”
On November 21, Henry lined up with a strict mile-by-mile plan for breaking three hours, and one which essentially instructed not to run the first half of the race in about an hour and thirty minutes. Although the race started out quick, with a number of sub-six minute miles, Henry hit the midway point in 1:29:57.
Keeping with her coach’s instructions, Henry pulled a negative split, running the second half of the race faster than the first. In the end, her final time of 2:57:13 was good for third among women, seventh overall, and #16 all-time for African-American female marathoners.
Henry's own story of the race can be found on her blog site at why-i-run.blogspot.com.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roger Hopper (53:37) and Jenny Moran (1:06:26) won the men's and women's races at last weekend's Yorktown Battlefield 10-Miler.
The race was the first for the PTC since March. Locally, Williamsburg's Sorenna Jean was the lone Peninsula runner to score in the top-three, as the Jamestown graduate placed third among women in 1:11:38.
TOP OVERALL MEN
1 1 ROGER HOPPER 29 CHESAPEAKE VA 53:37
2 2 ANDRE GALLANT 22 SUFFOLK VA 56:56
3 3 DANIEL SHEAN 37 VIRGINIA BEACH VA 1:01:38
TOP OVERALL WOMEN
1 12 JENNY MORAN 42 VIRGINIA BEACH VA 1:06:26
2 25 EKATERINA AARON 22 NORFOLK VA 1:10:18
3 27 SORENNA JEAN 18 WILLIAMSBURG VA 1:11:38
TOP MASTERS MEN
1 5 TOBY WORM 47 SMITHFIELD VA 1:02:37 6:16
TOP MASTERS WOMEN
1 32 JULIE HICKS 45 VIRGINIA BEACH VA 1:14:07
As reported by Bruce Davis of the Peninsula Track Club ---
The 2020 edition of the Yorktown Battlefield 10-Mile Run was held under somewhat challenging running conditions; sunny, but windy and cold with temperatures in the low 50s at race start, but dropping during the event. 238 runners entered the 10-Mile Run for the Heart with 199 completing the 10 Mile course on the scenic Yorktown Battlefield.
Two new age group course records for the Yorktown Battlefield 10-Mile Run were set today.
For men 75-79, Louis Dwyer, 77 of Southern Shores, NC set a new age group record with a time of 1:33:03 beating out the time of 1:38:51 set by Ronald Kellum in 2019.
For women 65-69, Joey Hallock, 67 of Virginia Beach, VA set a new age group record with a time of 1:18:53 besting the previous time of 1:24:26 set by Joan Coven in 2006.
Finish line and results services were provided by the Peninsula Track Club. A copy of the results, links to pictures from the race, and listings for future road races can be found on the PTC website: www.peninsulatrackclub.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment