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2006 champion repeats in 15K as Klamath Union senior wins 2-mile
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| H&N photo by Andrew Mariman Champion Damian Baldovino kicks down the home stretch at the 29th annual Lake of the Woods 15K run. |
June 3, 2007
LAKE OF THE WOODS - At times, the Lake of the Woods Run has been jokingly referred to as the Leonard Hill Invitational, in honor of the 17-time champion and local road racing legend.
Damian Baldovino is starting to stake his own claim to the 15-kilometer contest.
Baldovino, 40, earned his second consecutive victory Saturday in the 29th edition of the race, completing the course in 52 minutes, 23.99 seconds to defeat Neil Olson by 2:28.
Start easy, finish strong
“Today, the plan was just to go out real easy and build up to a really good pace toward the end,” Baldovino said. “I knew it was gonna be warm, so I just thought, ‘Well, I'd better save a little bit.' ”
The Lakeview native slipped about two minutes off his pace from last year's victory, but the key in a race this early in the season is to work into better shape for the longer runs that come later in the summer.
“I like this run because it shows you where you're at for a really hard, hilly run. It kind of tells you where your weaknesses are,” Baldovino said. “Today, I just noticed generally that my turnover wasn't real fast on the downhills. I was actually pretty comfortable on the uphills. I didn't struggle too bad.”
For Baldovino and many of the other road racers, the plan from here is to increase the mileage logged each week. Baldovino said he currently is running about 30-40 miles per week, and that number will rise toward 90 over the course of the summer.
One number that did increase Saturday was the temperature.
As the race started, the temperature was about 65 degrees, which is considerably warmer than usual. During the race, many people didn't notice.
“I don't think the heat at the Lake of the Woods Run is a big factor because it's so shady,” Klamath Union head cross country coach Rob Coffman, 36, said. “If you've done hydration, I don't think it's a big adjustment.”
The relative heat showed its effects as competitors crossed the finish line and took a dip in the lake, which once again provided a scenic backdrop on a sunny morning.
“It's beautiful. Lake of the Woods is one of my two favorite spots on the earth,” Coffman said. “You can see the lake from a lot of (the run). There are a lot of distractions.”
KU runner shines in 2-mile
If Saturday's race marks the start of the summer training season, then the Klamath Union boys cross country team should be excited for the fall.
KU junior Austin Goebel, who has taken things easy since last month's district track and field meet, defeated 136 other runners in the two-mile race with a time of 12:31.48.
“It's a good way to start the season,” Goebel said. “My goal was just to kind of see how it felt. I started out pretty strong and just kind of held onto it.”
Goebel, who said he has run twice in the past three weeks, was in the race for a training run. But training wasn't the only thing on his mind.
“I wanted to win the race,” he said.
In addition to Goebel, there were several runners at the top of the standings who will enter the KU program this fall. That's reason for optimism for Coffman.
“It's exciting,” Coffman said. “Serious training won't come for about another month, but it's nice to see they're willing to come out and exercise, have fun.”
- By Josh Petrie
LAKE OF THE WOODS - At times, the Lake of the Woods Run has been jokingly referred to as the Leonard Hill Invitational, in honor of the 17-time champion and local road racing legend.
Damian Baldovino is starting to stake his own claim to the 15-kilometer contest.
Baldovino, 40, earned his second consecutive victory Saturday in the 29th edition of the race, completing the course in 52 minutes, 23.99 seconds to defeat Neil Olson by 2:28.
Start easy, finish strong
“Today, the plan was just to go out real easy and build up to a really good pace toward the end,” Baldovino said. “I knew it was gonna be warm, so I just thought, ‘Well, I'd better save a little bit.' ”
The Lakeview native slipped about two minutes off his pace from last year's victory, but the key in a race this early in the season is to work into better shape for the longer runs that come later in the summer.
“I like this run because it shows you where you're at for a really hard, hilly run. It kind of tells you where your weaknesses are,” Baldovino said. “Today, I just noticed generally that my turnover wasn't real fast on the downhills. I was actually pretty comfortable on the uphills. I didn't struggle too bad.”
For Baldovino and many of the other road racers, the plan from here is to increase the mileage logged each week. Baldovino said he currently is running about 30-40 miles per week, and that number will rise toward 90 over the course of the summer.
One number that did increase Saturday was the temperature.
As the race started, the temperature was about 65 degrees, which is considerably warmer than usual. During the race, many people didn't notice.
“I don't think the heat at the Lake of the Woods Run is a big factor because it's so shady,” Klamath Union head cross country coach Rob Coffman, 36, said. “If you've done hydration, I don't think it's a big adjustment.”
The relative heat showed its effects as competitors crossed the finish line and took a dip in the lake, which once again provided a scenic backdrop on a sunny morning.
“It's beautiful. Lake of the Woods is one of my two favorite spots on the earth,” Coffman said. “You can see the lake from a lot of (the run). There are a lot of distractions.”
KU runner shines in 2-mile
If Saturday's race marks the start of the summer training season, then the Klamath Union boys cross country team should be excited for the fall.
KU junior Austin Goebel, who has taken things easy since last month's district track and field meet, defeated 136 other runners in the two-mile race with a time of 12:31.48.
“It's a good way to start the season,” Goebel said. “My goal was just to kind of see how it felt. I started out pretty strong and just kind of held onto it.”
Goebel, who said he has run twice in the past three weeks, was in the race for a training run. But training wasn't the only thing on his mind.
“I wanted to win the race,” he said.
In addition to Goebel, there were several runners at the top of the standings who will enter the KU program this fall. That's reason for optimism for Coffman.
“It's exciting,” Coffman said. “Serious training won't come for about another month, but it's nice to see they're willing to come out and exercise, have fun.”
- By Josh Petrie
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| Longtime power settles for fourth and a great view during the race |
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Bill Hoffman wrote on Apr 10, 2008 10:07 AM:
" Long live Matt Miles! He was the "Billy Kilmer" of Semi Pro Football: tough, gritty, fiery leader, winning mentality. I will never forget this "young gunslinger", he made this league better for being in it.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Hoffman
CO Stampede, #45 "
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Hoffman
CO Stampede, #45 "
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