Trying new things at Portland Track Summer Series
Left to right: Adam Edgerton, Valerie Weilert, Ashley Althaus, Supreeth Mannava, and Brooks Barth come off the starting line of the 1500. Photo by Matt Parker.
Written by Karl Dickman
On July 10, Rose City Track Club gathered at Roosevelt High School in the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland. They were there to compete in the third Portland Track Summer Series meet. A total of 14 athletes raced, many of them in multiple events. Most of them were stepping out of their comfort zone in some way, trying a new event or returning to it after some time away.
No one competed in more events than Brooks Barth, who did all five individual events and entered a relay. Brooks says, “Going for the full boat of events was a fun challenge to set between training for races. What's more, doing that with another person to inject some competition and camaraderie made it all the better. Can't recommend enough!” Brooks’s childhood friend Andy Fleming joined him in doing the full boat.
The first event on the track was the 2000 m steeplechase, in two heats. The barriers were set to 36 inches in the first heat and 30 inches in the second. Supreeth Mannava and Jordan Steelman were the first men in Rose City history to attempt the 36 inch barriers. Both were making their debut in this event. Supreeth debuted in 7:58.86 and Jordan in 7:45.74.
In the second heat, Brooks and Andy opened up their competition with a win for Brooks, 7:41.72 to 8:00.85. Meagan Wakefield and Talia Staiger competed in the second heat as well. Meagan ran 7:59.05 for second place and Talia ran 7:54.34 for the win. Both of them beat the team record set by Chloe Hallyburton that had stood since 2018. Talia says, “All of us in the heat were a little nervous since it had been a long time since most of us did something like this, but it ended up being so much fun, especially since I got to do it with Meagan. It definitely was a bit awkward getting over the water jumps but as the laps went by it grew less scary.”
The next event was the 100 m dash. Andy evened up the score in the full boat competition, beating brooks 14.71 to 15.14. Karl Dickman made his debut in the event at 14.42. David Clark ran 12.85, achieving his goal of sub-13. Rose City strength coach and masters sprint phenom Will Jenkins ran 12.49. Will says, “Your ability to trust when you can't see the outcome is what makes you unstoppable.”
After the 100 came the 1500 m run. Andy pulled ahead of Brooks, beating him 5:01.25 to 5:06.74. More Rose City athletes competed in this event than any other that night. There were six, including Sara Bea Myre with 5:31.64 and Supreeth with 5:23.75. Valerie Weilert ran 4:52.48 for second place, and Ashley Althaus ran 4:49.47 for the win, paced by teammate Adam Edgerton. Ashley says, “I get nervous for these short track events because they are out of my road marathon experience and I have no idea what I’m doing, but they are so much fun and [I'm] always happy I did them after. I think I did my running career wrong starting with the marathon. [I’m] enjoying the shorter workouts and distances.” Ashley’s mark moves her up to #2 on the RCTC all-time list in the 1500.
The other sprint of the night was the 400 m dash. Sara Bea and Val both doubled in with the 1500 and ran it with little rest. Sara Bea ran 76.22. Val ran 64.37, the third-fastest women’s time of the night, and won her heat overall. Val says, “I’d like to share how appreciative I am for the summer series meets—that’s it’s a great way to get on the track in a low-pressure and fun-filled environment. It’s important to have these opportunities for young and old to test themselves—it gets us back to the root of why we are out there without the obstacles of cost, travel or entry standards. I’m so glad to be healthy and able to test myself with other Rose City teammates. The support and cheering is unmatched!!” Brooks tied up his competition with Andy heading into the final event, winning the 400 66.62 to 67.52.
The final individual competition of the night was the 3000 m run, featuring 5 Rose City Athletes. Brooks ran 10:41.75, losing his final head-to-head with Andy, who ran 10:39.79. Andy finished the night with the overall win in the full boat, 3-2. Sam Nishi paced Bradley Parks to a new PR. Bradley ran 9:56.59, his first time under 10 minutes. After pacing in the 1500, Adam raced the 3000 in earnest and ran 9:40.28. Dave ran 9:28.21. Dave says “The 3k was never going to be a race for me, as I’ve been taking time down for the past 3 weeks. I decided to jump in and run a steady pace as a way to break the ice and get back into some workouts.”
The meet concluded with a sprint medley relay, 100-100-200-400. RCTC fielded two teams, the first ever to compete in this relay format. Supreeth, Meagan, Bradley, and Talia ran 2:09.60. Brooks, Andy, Dave, and Adam ran 2:03.20. Dave says, “How can one not take the chance to grab a baton? Always a good time!”
Summer Series Meet 3 was a fun event filled with exciting individual performances, teammates working together and drawing strength from each other. In addition to competing, Rose City team members supported the running community by volunteering at the meet. Thanks to race director Lauren Ross and volunteers Carsen Moon, Kirk Sutherland, Andrew Wilson, Laura Thomas, Kendall Bergeron, and Matilda Msall. Thanks as well to Portland Track for hosting the meet.
Catch Rose City on the track again at the final Summer Series meet, July 31 at Grant High School.
Several Rose City members shared narratives of their race day on the blog. Read more about Supreeth Mannava’s steeplechase debut, Sara Bea Myre’s approach of demystifying competition through racing, or Bradley Parks’s quest for sub-10 in the 3000 m run.