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Spotlight on Paul Bulger!

Spotlight on Paul Bulger!

Birth Date: 30 May 1961 Family: Sweetheart Pamela, Son Charlie. Many brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces Personal strengths: content in the middle of the pack, positive attitude, can be forgetfulPersonal weaknesses: Reason for joining Northstar: Friends and running outdoors beats paying a therapist Favorite running shoes: no favorites, rely on advisors Favorite place to run: dirt trails, new trail locations along waterways Running Goals: Short-term: Stay healthy enough to easily run 10 miler trail runs Long-term: Stay healthy enough to comfortably run 10 miler trail runs when I am 70 Proudest Running Achievement: Philly Marathon PR a year after ACL Typical training week, a month or two before a major race: My focus is distance and endurance, and no injuries. Speed is secondary. So I work up to running 4-5 days/week, and no more than 35 miles/week. Mix in strength training and yoga. Running idol: Meb Keflezighi, Carl Lewis Injuries: ACL years ago. These days knee and ankle ligaments flare up. Lots of arthritis in the family, so expect that is in my future. PRs: · Marathon PR: 3:32:11 · Half-Marathon PR: 1:36:37 · 25K PR: 2:05:28 · 10 Mile PR: 1:14:57 · 10K PR: 44:07 · 5K PR: 19:54 · 1 Mile PR: 6:19 Non-running Hobbies: Travel, backpacking in the mountains, kayaking Anything else interesting you’d like to share? We are fortunate to be able to run

Spotlight on Roshini Rajkumar!

Spotlight on Roshini Rajkumar!

Birthdate: Nov 6 Birth Place: Colombo, Sri Lanka Family: husband Jim; daughter friends Ally and Emmie Personal strengths: positive thinking; visualizing the long-game Personal weaknesses: staying on task with mileage, lack of patience, low tolerance for dumbasses (though I don’t know whether I’d call that a weakness) Reason for joining Northstar: community Favorite running shoes: none really Favorite place to run: Minneapolis lakes Running Goals: Short-term: get a race on the calendar Long-term: Boston qualifier Proudest Running Achievement: getting through Virginia Beach Marathon 2013 without one bathroom stop and Fargo Half 2017, which was the first race since my 2015 injury Typical training week, a month or two before a major race: solid mileage, speed work, avoiding gluten and dairy Running idol: my husband Jim Injuries: 2015 C6-C7 disc protrusion; a recent MRI says it has cleared, but I now seem to have a C3-C4 issue that I need to look into PRs: Marathon PR: 4:34:12 Half-Marathon PR: 1:59:50 25K PR: 10 Mile PR: 1:30:42 10K PR: 55:34 5K PR: 24:22 1 Mile PR: 7:25.70 Non-running hobbies: happy hour, yoga, weight lifting, eating my husband’s gourmet meals Anything else interesting you’d like to share? I am a licensed attorney who does not practice and a talk radio host

Meet the new team president!

Meet the new team president!

Hi Northstars! My name is Meghan Doherty and at our annual meeting in July, I was elected as the new President of Northstar Running. I am excited to take on this role and serve the members. I joined the club almost 3 years ago and immediately observed the community and support the team has to offer. I truly believe this team is the best in the Twin Cities for one reason – the camaraderie of all of us as members. I have had the opportunity to meet many of you throughout my time with the team. For those I have not met, I look forward to getting to know you! Over the next year, my focus will be on continuing to grow the team’s membership as well as expand our presence in the community. The Board of Directors has been working on different pieces to help with this – new team tent, social runs, advertising, team gear, etc. We will continue to look at ideas to help get our name out in the community. We have some fun things planned for the remainder of the summer leading into the fall race season. We have our first social run planned for mid-August. Stay tuned to Facebook and the weekly emails for future social run opportunities. As we head into the fall race season, we expect to have a strong presence at a number of races – Victory Labor Day Races, City of Lakes, and of course, Twin Cities Marathon weekend. Even if you’re not racing, make sure to come out and cheer on our runners! Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to serve in this new role. I look forward to growing the team together. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me or any of the Board Members with any questions, concerns, and ideas. I hope to run some miles with you soon!

Spotlight on Sandy Larson

Spotlight on Sandy Larson

Birthdate: March 28, 1983… Am I really going to be 35… Birth Place: Born in St. Paul, but reside in Buffalo Family: I have a loving husband, Braden. Two kids Christian (5) and Emma (3). Lily our 8 month old yellow lab and Nora our 9 year old cat. Personal strengths: I would have to say that my personal strengths would be my determination to never give up. Personal weaknesses: My inability to get away from my regular routine. I have a bit of anxiety / OCD when it comes to this. Reason for joining Northstar: The first time I went out with group was really enjoyable. Everyone was easy to talk to and it made the 10 miles fly by. I also have couple friends that were already a part of the group and it made me want to be a part of the team. Now, I just need to get out with the group more often… (see my weakness) 🙂 Favorite running shoes: Right now my Brooks Ghost 10. I used to be a Nike girl, but I haven’t had a pair on in over a year! Favorite place to run: Anywhere. I love when I am up north at the cabin and am able to run around the lake. The only downside is all of the horsefly’s. Running Goals: Short-term: To do a sub 2 at the Rock N Roll Nashville half in April. I didn’t know I was doing the race until a few days ago so not sure if I will be able to do it, but I am going to try. Long-term: To run more marathons and improve at them. Proudest Running Achievement: Completing the TC Marathon in October. I couldn’t believe the emotional roller coaster that came with this. Typical training week, a month or two before a major race: Run every day. Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday’s twice a day. A little bit of strength training and a ton of cottage cheese. Running idol: Shalane Flanagan Injuries: None really. My IT band has given me some issues, but other than that pretty healthy. PRs: Marathon PR: 4:23:16 Half-Marathon PR: 2:02:47 25K PR: 10 Mile PR: 1:30:20 10K PR:52:46 5K PR:25:17 1 Mile PR: 8:31 Non-running Hobbies: Cooking, spending time with the family, hanging out with friends. Listening to music and running a business.

Belize Marathon

Belize Marathon

Christy Hammerstrom ran a marathon in Belize and she wrote up her race report to tell us about it. There were 43 people who ran the marathon. So, with a field that small…i actually placed in my age group. First time, ever. Pretty low key, our start line was a speed bump by the football field in the middle of the village. It wasn’t a chipped timed marathon. I didn’t realize that until I picked my packet. We did meet the race director. He has a vacation home in Placencia and spends about 6 weeks a year there. He works with his Rotary to raise money to send the village kids to high school (after 8th grade, they have to pay for school). This year he send 70 kids to high between rotary raising money and thos race. The sun came up sooner than I anticipated. I only had about 45 minutes in the dark. Had to navigate pot holes in the village, volunteers held flashlights on them. There were water stops every mile handing out anything from homemade Gatorade to coconut water to beer. You ran through the airport…literally. They had a cross arm that they would raise as you went around the airstrip. Since they didn’t have timing mats and it was an open course, each waterstop had a list of everyone running and their bib number. They’d mark you off the list and call you by name when you came through the waterstop. Just a very friendly race. I wasn’t hoping for a record time since this was the 3rd marathon this year. But, I finished feeling good about the race. Probably, the best mentally I’ve felt after a marathon in a while. I felt pretty defeated after Grandma’s and almost didn’t sign up for this.

Spotlight on Ann Davenport

Spotlight on Ann Davenport

Name Ann Davenport Birthdate 3/6/76 Reasons for joining Northstar My training partners are some of my best friends. They push me to do things I might not otherwise do and inspire me to keep moving and trying to get better. Years Running Started running in college, ran off and for about 10 years (nothing more than 2-3 miles at a time), joined a running club in 2006 and have been running regularly since that time. Personal Strengths Persistent, determined, & hopefully a supportive training partner Personal Weaknesses I can get down on myself when I don’t feel like I’m “doing a good job” or performing to what I think I should be doing. Can struggle with focusing and staying in the moment when things aren’t going according to plan. Proudest Running Achievement My 10K PR which came at the end of the HyVee Olympic distance tri. I raced well in all three disciplines & it was one of those magic days that don’t come around that often. 2018 Running Goals 1. Continue my running streak – will hit 5 years on 3/1/18 2. Build a strong winter base to help improve my running during tri season 3. Continue to swim 1-2 times per week. Weekly Mileage 30-35 during an average training period. Running days per week 7 Cross training Activities Swimming, biking Injury History Thankfully nothing chronic PRs: Distance Year Race Time 1 mile 2012 TC 1 mile 8:01:20 5km 2012 Jingle Bear 5K 26:51:42 8km 2013 Irish Run St Paul 46:17 10km 2011 2013 HyVee Triathlon Get in Gear 10K (non-tri pr) 59:11:02 1:03:31.98 10 Mile 2015 Goldy’s 10 Mile 1:34:42.10 Half Marathon 2013 Shamrock Half Marathon 2:08:39.50 Marathon 2009 Chicago Marathon 5:15:40