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Phoenix Half Marathon

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Location:

North Ogden,UT,U.S.

Member Since:

May 23, 2010

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

5K- 14:58, 10K- 31:05, 1/2- 1:06:47 Marathon- 2:23:29

3rd- Park City Marathon 2008

3rd and 4th Ogden Marathon 2010; 12'

5th, 3rd, and 7th- Utah Valley Marathon 2011;14'; 16'

9th, 3rd,11th, 8th, 5th, 8th St. George Marathon 2010, 11',13',14',15'16'

2nd- Deseret News Marathon 2015

1st- SandHollow Marathon- 2016 (CR***)

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

2024 POTENTIAL RACES

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.

                                                                          -Helen Keller

              

 

Personal:

Married to Nikki we have 4 children. Jaerdan, Korver, Grady and Lyla McKell

Head XC/Track Coach at Weber High

Graduated from Weber State with a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Athletic Therapy.

 

 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 257.46
Race: Phoenix Half Marathon (13.14 Miles) 01:09:43, Place overall: 6, Place in age division: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.900.0013.140.0016.04

2.90 mile warm

Race

Headed down to Phoenix with Ken and Riley to nail a rust buster race. Weather was ideal, 39 degrees with slight tailwind. 

Headed to the start line and saw some local Utahns. Sasha, Benjamin, Mike Hardy. Then right before the race got going Ben Bruce came strolling up to the line. Which was pretty cool too actually meet him for a second. 

Gun went off and a lot of guys shot out of the gait and found myself in 10th to 11th pace! I stayed pretty conservative and gradually built into the pace that I wanted to hit for the run. Mile 1 I came through around 5:14 which was right where I wanted to be. By mile 2 I caught Benjamin and he attached on to me for the mile. Around 3.5 he was still tucked behind me. So I turned and told him he is more than welcome to draft off of me but he better hop in front for a bit and return the favor for me. He took the lead for about a half mile and then faded and I didn't see him again. 

Mile 5  Steve Chu from Colorado came up on me and we worked together until mile 8. He put in a little surge and I couldn't respond. Legs felt like they were getting tired so it seemed. Around mile 11 nothing really changed breathing and leg wise. I realized that I actually had some left in the tank.  Closed the last 2 mile in a 5:19; 5:13. Came through the finish in 6th place; 1:09:43; 5:19 avg/mile.

I am happy with the effort since I really didn't know what shape I was in. Also nice to see a sub 1:10 on an honest flat course. Really excited to start hitting the concrete phase of Half training and to improve upon this time. 

Congrats to Riley for hitting a PR. He is going to be a beast come April. Excited to see what he can do. 

Splits for race- 5:14; 5:11; 5:13; 5:16; 5:19; 5:15; 5:24; 5:22; 5:18; 5:24; 5:28; 5:19; 5:13.

GoMeb Speed 3 Boston 2 Miles: 16.05
Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Burt on Sat, Feb 25, 2017 at 21:35:07 from 70.176.85.97

Nice job, Ben. The other Ben stayed at my house last night and got bad sleep. So you can thank me for that.

From RileyCook on Mon, Feb 27, 2017 at 09:45:18 from 172.58.32.39

Such a fun trip and race Benny Van! Keep building on this and that spring half marathon is going to be pretty!

From steve ash on Mon, Feb 27, 2017 at 12:13:14 from 67.2.93.37

Great performance Ben. I can't even daydream that fast. Sounds like you all had a good time.

From jtshad on Tue, Feb 28, 2017 at 13:31:03 from 141.221.191.225

Congrats on a stellar race and time! Man you are running strong, keep it up!

From Ben VanBeekum on Tue, Feb 28, 2017 at 13:38:43 from 67.128.146.68

Thanks for the comments guys.

@Riley- Congrats on a stellar race man. So excited for your season coming up.

@Steve- You make me laugh! You are one of the reasons I kept running all these years. Always wanted to be like the original FRBs. Look up to you, Paul, Jon, Cody, Holt, Fielding. What a great group of guys!

@Jeff- Thanks so much. Helps that I have a crazy training partner that is super competitive and always expects the best out of me. Also a crazy Irish coach that blows my mind with workouts!

From SpencerSimpson on Wed, Mar 01, 2017 at 11:35:28 from 50.200.13.114

Great report and photos Benny! MIH

From Mike M on Thu, Mar 02, 2017 at 06:36:15 from 168.213.5.107

Wow, really excellent race report. Congrats on the early season success! Must have felt nice running at that temperature after a couple of miles.

From Ben VanBeekum on Thu, Mar 02, 2017 at 09:24:36 from 159.212.71.25

@Mike- Thank you. Keep killing it on the miles. You are running so well right now and seeing awesome steps in fitness.

@Spencer- I miss you man! Movie night soon!?! Tell your wife I said hello ;-) You the man!

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