Friday, September 16, 2011

What have our Athletes been up to: Cully Brown

Fellow nordic team mate, Cully Brown had an eventful paddling season in both slalom and wildwater this spring and summer.  His first major competition was in April at the Western US wildwater team trials where he qualified for the Junior World Championships in Opava, Czech Republic.  Then it was off to Wausau, Wisconsin for US Junior Slalom team trials shortly after the Iron horse weekend.  At that event he place 6th qualifying him for pre world competition.  He had to make a choice, so he decided to focus on wildwater and skip the pre world slalom races.  To prepare for Wildwater worlds he trained with and receive coaching from Mike Freeburn and Andy Corra two local paddling legends.  Later in June, Cully competed in the Senior national championships, winning the spring race and placing second overall to his national team coach, Doug Ritchy from the Seattle area. 
     

More DR training throughout July and it was off to Europe.  Arriving in Munich, Cully first trained in Ausburg and Paugue before heading to the world championships in Opava.  Traveling with team mates and coaches in Europe was a great learning experience for Cully.  The US team stay in a 15th century structure that had more recently been converted a dormitory for Czech college students.  Sharing the dorm where athletes for all over the world made for a great first international experience.   The race courses at worlds were relatively flat, lacking any steep drops or technical paddling which favored the bigger,  stronger athletes. 

Over all Cully's best finish was 40th place, best among the English speaking world but back from the Eastern and Western European men.  The week of racing ended with a sweet party for the teams at a super old castle the looked like Hogwart.  Awards, movies, food, drink and dancing into the night was served up to the everyones enjoyment.  If you get a chance have Cully share some of his experiences and be sure to ask him about his new Czech friend, Zuzu.



Wednesday, September 14, 2011

What have our Athletes been up to: Rachel Hampton


Two efforts in particular were significant enough to garner our first Boulder Running Company/Colorado Track and Field Cross Country athletes of the week. Those efforts belong to Rachel Hampton of Telluride and Kyle Ames of Smoky Hill.


Rachel Hampton comes from one of the most remote and, arguably, most beautiful places in Colorado. Rachel spent a very busy summer running and cross training in preparation for cross country in the fall and Nordic skiing in the winter.  According to Rachel, “My mileage was definitely a lot higher than it has been in previous summers, and I added in good strength training too”.
All of this pre-season training helped Rachel to a first place finish at the Delta Cross Country Invitational at Confluence Park in Delta, Colorado. Rachel ran the five kilometer course in 19:20, a little over a minute ahead of runner-up Natalie Anderson of Hotchkiss.
The ruggedness of Telluride’s terrain and its altitude is a tremendous strength to Rachel and her fellow runners. The remoteness of the location, however, can make it difficult to face some of the competition they will see at state.  The lack of big meets means that Rachel and her teammates will need to make every opportunity count. They are looking toward facing Nederland in October. The MileSplit community will get an early preview of this battle at the St. Vrain Invitational on Saturday.

Read the Full Article Here