Bowerman 5k for your birthday
The team poses with the birthday girl before the race.
Back row, left to right: Supreeth Mannava, Meagan Wakefield, Lyndsey Abt, Matilda Msall, Laura Thomas, Karl Dickman, Jack Tiggleman, Nicole Kiley, Abby Dalke, Rahul Marathe. Front row: Art Avitia, Valerie Weilert, Jordan Steelman
Written by Karl Dickman, edited by Chris Smith
On July 26, Rose City Track gathered at the Nike World Headquarters for the 14th annual Bowerman 5k. Bowerman was Rose City’s first team race, back in 2017, and the team has been returning to it ever since. Valerie Weilert wanted to race on her 40th birthday, and fourteen other Rose City members joined her. During the race they drew strength and inspiration from each other.
Laura Thomas ran 22:53.6. Laura is coming off a long stretch of illness over the summer. First pneumonia, then RSV. Laura says, “This race went pretty well considering I was coughing up blood four weeks ago.” Alejandro Fallas, one of just two founding members of the team remaining, paced his friend through a tough day.
Matilda Msall made her debut in the gold singlet, exceeding her own expectations with 20:25.9. Matilda says, “[I]t was great to race in a team atmosphere. Everyone was very supportive before and after the race.”
Rahul Marathe was returning to racing after some sickness this summer. Rahul ran 19:29.7, the fastest 5k he’s run since joining Rose City in 2021. Rahul says, “I'll definitely rave about [] how inspired I was seeing everyone crush their race and get shiny new PRs. The vibe of the race was immaculate."
Alex Rudd ran her last road race in Portland before a big move to Houston, where she will be Senior Marketing Manager for the Houston Marathon. Alex ran 19:29.3, improving her time from the Foot Traffic Flat by almost 30 seconds.
Training partners Nicole Kiley, Karl Dickman, and Jack Tiggleman signed up as a group and stuck together for the first mile. Nicole ran 19:10.0. Karl ran 18:43.2, his fastest time in over 10 years. Jack ran 18:33.5, PR by over 30 seconds. Jack says, “I'm super grateful for the peer pressure from [Karl] and LT to sign up for this race. I think that's been the best part about Rose City to me—the push from teammates to go out there and compete even when you're not so certain.”
Meagan Wakefield downplayed her readiness to race beforehand, then ran 18:32.7. Supreeth Mannava ran 18:20.5, a 20 second improvement from his previous PR at the Foot Traffic Flat. Supreeth says, “Over the past few years, I’ve found most road 5ks I’ve raced to be less deep so I usually target a certain place with time being secondary. It was nice getting to not worry and just sit in and focus on how I feel and take a run at a PR. It was even better having so many teammates within 30 seconds of me which gave me a little boost knowing we as a team were having such a good day!”
Jordan Steelman, still recovering from completing the Ironman 70.3 in Salem earlier in the month, ran 18:14.5, a 5k PR.
Team captain for the day Val was running the race on her 40th birthday. She competed in the traditional Rose City birthday singlet. In her debut in the masters category, Val ran 18:14.5, the 3rd masters woman finisher. She also lowered the RCTC masters record by nearly 2 minutes, and landed at #8 on the all-ages 5k performance list. Val says, “Fastest time since my hip surgery!!! So pumped for that 😀 Masters PR and might even be a road 5k PR overall. ALSO, please note, I beat Jordan Steelman. Haha.”
Art Avitia ran 17:58.8 in a perfectly paced race. He started with a conservative first mile, just over 6 minutes, and cut down hard in the last mile. It was a masters PR for Art as well.
Lyndsey Abt ran 17:52.7, her fastest 5k since joining Rose City a year ago. Her time moves her up to #6 on the 5k performance list. Lyndsey says, “[I]t was a very energizing race, being carried by supportive teammates and strong competition and showing across other teams! I don’t think I’ve ever felt a 5k go by as quickly.”
Abby Dalke ran 17:30.2, a PR of almost a minute. Abby set her previous PR at Bowerman a year ago. She moves up to #3 on the 5k performance list.
Cameron Peshon ran 15:31.6. Another PR for the summer, coming off his first sub-16 5k at the Lebanon Strawberry Run in June. Cameron says, “The last mile was extremely painful, but I was able to mitigate the pain by focusing on staying with the person ahead of me.” His performance puts him at #2 on the 5k performance list.
The race had a team score as well, based on the average time of the top 5 finishers on each team. Rose City finished 3rd in the women’s division with an average finish time of 18:17, behind Team Red Lizard (17:55) and Bowerman (16:59). Rose City finished 7th in the men’s division.
Rose City and the Bowerman 5k have come a long way together. Bowerman has continued to be one of the deepest and fastest 5ks in Oregon. Rose City turns out more athletes to Bowerman every year. This Bowerman was particularly special because Val created the team when she signed up to do a race on her birthday. Unlike many local races, Bowerman wasn’t designated an official team race this year. Instead, teammates signed up because they wanted to race with Val, and with each other.
Three of Rose City’s ten fastest women’s road 5ks were run at this year’s Bowerman 5k.