Motivated to Succeed

Greylock Federal's Fall Foliage 5k Classic

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Location:

Pittsfield,MA,

Member Since:

Jul 02, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

 

 

  •  2006 Mohawk Hudson River Marathon (NY)
  • 2007 Vermont City Marathon (VT)
  • 2011 BPAC 6 Hour Run (NY)
  • 2011 Mind the Ducks 12 Hour (NY)
  • 2012 Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon #1 (IN)
  • 2012 Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon #2 (IN)
  • 2012 BPAC 6 Hour Run (NY)
  • 2012 Mind the Ducks 12 Hour (NY)
  • 2012 Memorial Day Marathon (MA)
  • 2012 Around the Lake 12 Hour (MA)
  • 2012 Hancock Shaker Village 50 (MA) 
  • 2012 Bay State Marathon (MA)
  • 2012 First Descents Marathon (DE) 
  • 2013 Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon #1 (IN)
  • 2013 Maple Leaf Indoor Marathon #2 (IN) 
  • 2013 Circular Logic Marathon (IN)
  • 2013 Lake Waramaug 50M (CT)
  • 2013 BPAC 6 Hour Run (NY)
  • 2013 Ragnar Cape Cod Ultra Team (MA) 
  • 2013 Memorial Day Marathon (MA)
  • 2013 Relay For Life No. Berkshire (MA)
  • 2013 Ragnar Adirondack Ultra Team (MA)
  • 2013 BayState Marathon (MA)
  • 2013 One Day At the Fair Marathon (NJ)
  • 2013 West Palm Beaches Marathon (FL)
  • 2014 Arena Attack XL Center Marathon (CT)
  • 2014 Maple City 6-Pack Marathon #1 (IN)
  • 2014 Maple City 6-Pack Marathon #2 (IN)
  • 2014 Maple City 6-Pack Marathon #3 (IN)
  • 2014 Maple City 6-Pack Marathon #4 (IN)
  • 2014 Maple City 6-Pack Marathon #5 (IN)
  • 2014 Maple City 6-Pack Marathon #6 (IN)
  • 2014 Circular Logic Marathon (IN)

 Personal Bests:

  • 400 - 1:01 (2004)
  • 800 - 2:16 (2004)
  • Mile - 5:12 (2004)
  • 2Mile - 11:27 (2004)
  • 5k - 19:44 (2005)
  • 10k 40:46 (11/22/07)
  • 15k - 1:07:40 (11/11/07)
  • 13.11 Half - 1:38:31 (12/9/07)
  • Marathon 3:59:18 (1/25/14)
  • 50 miles 11:44 (5/14/11)

Eagle Scout with Bronze and Gold Palms (2002)

Biked from Ticonderoga, New York to Old Orchard Beach, Maine in August of 2005 (Total of about 290 miles

Short-Term Running Goals:

200 miles @ 72 Hour Race in May

Under 200 #

Sub 4:00 Marathon

 

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

QUALIFY AND RUN IN THE BOSTON MARATHON.

Personal:

I am 27.  Have done 33 marathons and ultras. Really trying to get in shape to get back to running the miles I want to. I love to read and worked for four years in a bookstore. I like to keep track of the books I read. Currently I work as a 6th & 7th grade history teacher at the only charter school in Berkshire County, as well as serve as the coach for the cross country team! Been experimenting as a pescatarian (eating only fish) since August 10, 2011. 

 

Just earned my Master's Degree in Adolescent Education for Social Studies. I have the most wonderful WIFE in the entire world.. EMMA! October 16, 2010

Run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must. Just never give up! - Dean Karnazes -

We are all teachers and we are all students in this sport. - Dean Karnazes -

The simple act of putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward at an accelerated rate can be one of life's greatest - and simplest - pleasures. ~Dean Karnazes 

"Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny." - MK Gandhi 

"The marathon mercilessly rips off the outer layers of our defenses and leaves the raw human, vulnerable and naked. It is here you get an honest glimpse into the soul of an individual. Every insecurity and character flaw is open and on display for all the world to see. No communication is ever more real, no expression ever more honest. There is nothing left to hide behind. The marathon is the great equalizer. Ever movement, every word spoken and unspoken, is radiant truth. The veil has been obliterated. These are the profound moments of human interaction that I live for." - Dean Karnazes 

 

Benn Griffin


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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Vibram Five Fingers KSO Lifetime Miles: 367.52
Vibram Komodo Sports (yellow) Lifetime Miles: 570.38
Vibram Bikilas (red) Lifetime Miles: 655.87
Vibram Bikilas (blue) Lifetime Miles: 414.89
Altra Lone Peak Lifetime Miles: 155.19
Lizzy Miles 2012 Lifetime Miles: 58.60
Vibram Komodo Sport (black) Lifetime Miles: 195.60
NB Trail Minimus (orange) Lifetime Miles: 101.74
Altra Instinct (grey) Lifetime Miles: 389.78
Vibram Bikilas (red #2) Lifetime Miles: 10.60
Vibram Bikilas (green) Lifetime Miles: 230.05
Altra Adams Lifetime Miles: 2.00
Merrell Road Glove Lifetime Miles: 46.11
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
19.600.000.00
Vibram Five Fingers KSO Miles: 16.10Vibram Komodo Sports (yellow) Miles: 3.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Race: Greylock Federal's Fall Foliage 5k Classic (3.11 Miles) 00:24:04, Place overall: 58
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
9.500.000.00

Woke up this morning to pouring rain. Went to BART to make some copies. Went running on the bike path. Did 3.10 miles in 29:30 in the rain. Felt pretty good while I was running. Saw one person walking his dog, but other than that I didn't really see anything worth mentioning.

At about 11:15 I headed up to North Adams. The race was slated to start at 12:30pm. Found a place to park to make a hasty exit from N. Adams after the race. Went and secured my bib. What a nice surprise to see the Wahconah coach again as well as to pick up my bib and see it was #92 and not #1. I walked back to the car and then went for a warm up jog of about .5 miles. Goal today was hopefully to get 26 minutes or so. Knowing that I have not done any speedwork, or any real miles for that matter, I hoped this was doable. Stretched lightly and then lined up.

 

THE START - I knew the start was downhill and that typically people start too fast. I tried to hold back and found myself near the back going down Main Street on the way out to the Curran Highway. Mile 1 is pretty downhill, with the exception of the bridge. Ended up blowing through a 7:28 first mile. Oh no! 

Mile 2 is always slower, because there is a long uphill of about 250m or so. Caught four or five people here as they started to slow. Ran through the second mile in 7:58

Third mile was just about trying to keep it together as it was all slightly uphill and then up and over the bridge again. Saw a few of my students and they waved/shouted encouragement to me. I realize now that I am a trail runner for a reason - I hate having people looking at me while running. I am too self conscious.

Add to that the fact that I was wearing a women's raincoat and it made for some nice headgames. Tried to get back into the race. Ran a 7:58 third mile as well.

Picked it up on the way into the finish line. Felt really good overall.

Don't know my place yet, as it was a small race, but hopefully in the top 100. Beat my goal by nearly 2 minutes!

 

Total Time: 24:04 Total Distance: 3.10 miles Average Pace:  7:46!

 

4:30 PM - Went running with Emm once the sun came out a bit. Harry and mom stopped by as Harry was over in Springfield visiting a campus in his college search/quest. We went around the block. Though Emm said she was taking it easy, we seemed to be steadily picking up pace as we went. My goal was just to try to hang tough and not implode. Splits were: 9:05, 8:41, and 5:55 (8:35 pace for the .7). Ran 2.75 in 23:41, good for  8:46 pace!

Note: Today was the first day I've ever run 3 times in one day. 

Vibram Five Fingers KSO Miles: 9.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
3.600.000.00

Ran with the cross country team after school. Really bummed by the low turnouts. Not really digging the fact that everyone but Chris and Dylan is not pulling the grades they should be. Oh well. Pushed Dylan on some tough .75 mile repeats out to the third bridge and back. Really pushed it in the first and second time. Teaching him how to pass with authority. Felt good. At one point we hit 4:30/ mile and 3:58/ mile. We were flying. Cooled down around the field with the team.

Total Time: 30:00 Total Distance: 3.6 miles Average Pace: 8:20/ mile 

Vibram Five Fingers KSO Miles: 3.60
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
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3 miles easy at practice with a couple quick 400s. Felt pretty good. Only a few kids coming to practice, but the neat thing was that we are in the paper!

 

Friday October 7, 2011

ADAMS -- Berkshire Art and Technology Charter Public School (BART) cross country coach Benn Griffin was chatting to one of his fellow coaches during a recent county meet.

"[The coach] was telling me he had a young team, only one senior," said Griffin, chuckling. "I said, ‘One senior?' I have one freshman. The rest are 6th through 8th grade. That's young!"

Competing in the very tough Berkshire County High School Cross Country League is a rugged row to hoe for any local school. At BART, it's even a little more difficult.

For one thing, the school offers only three late buses per week. With several of his runners from out of town, Griffin has to limit the team to only three


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practices a week to ensure they have a ride home.

Also, BART does not have enough property to lay out a 3.1-mile cross country trail, so the team has no home meets, although Griffin is trying to figure a way around that. He hopes that by next year, the school will be hosting a meet, although exactly where is up in the air.

Then there is the continuity issue. Griffin understands fully that he probably won't have too many junior or senior runners on his team anytime soon, if ever. This is due in large part to the rigorous academic commitments at BART with which students have to contend.

Seniors are required, for example, to take at least one college course per semester. Griffin had a senior who was planning to come out this fall, "but his college course was on Wednesday night, which is when our meets are. All he would have been doing is practicing, not competing, and he didn't think it was worth it."

There is also a team rule specifying that if a runner, for any reason, misses three practices, he or she must sit out the next meet. The runners agree that the rule is a good one.

"It fosters a commitment to the team," said freshman Dylan Quinn, the team's "elder statesman" from Cheshire.

"It keeps you out of trouble," agreed Alexis Lesure, an 8h grade student from North Adams.

So Griffin and his (very) young charges practice three times a week by running around Russell Field in Adams, and travel to every meet in which they must compete.

But there is a camaraderie among the BART runners, who say they are often encouraged by the runners from other teams on their efforts.

"People on the course sometimes encourage me," admitted 7th grader Samantha Beveraggi of North Adams, who reports she is "53 inches tall", which is 4 feet, 5 inches, for those doing the math.

"The runners on the other teams are supportive," said her teammate Morgan Covert, a 6th grade student from Adams. "Competing against them pushes you to improve."

Griffin has eight girls running and five boys. The minimum required for a school to score as a team is five runners. And for a while, he only had two boys, so the BART boys did not score in their first four meets. This week, he hopes to have all five running to enable his team to score

The girls have won two meets and hope to improve on that record in the coming weeks.

But realistically, Griffin is working toward seeing his runners improve. And most have. Beveraggi, for example, has improved her personal time by more than seven minutes since her first meet this fall. Chris Doubiago, an eighth-grader from Adams, has lopped several minutes off his personal best, as well.

Still, there is some potential here, admitted Griffin. If his runners continue to improve, and in some cases, grow a little, who knows what may happen in two or three years?

"Well, yeah," said Griffin. "If I can keep maybe half these runners for a few more years, we could have something." 

Vibram Five Fingers KSO Miles: 3.00
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
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Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
3.500.000.00

Hiked Mt. Greylock with the entire school today as part of "Mountain Day". Beautiful weather. Temp in the low 50s to high 40s with a steady wind which kept things cool. I went ahead and hiked most of the way sans clan, as my Griffin Horned Owls took off from the gun, true trail warriors, leaving their clan leader in the dust. I hiked up with Stephan and Nathan, and boy did they make me smile. I feel lucky to teach these two. Two of the things they said during our adventure that will stick with me are:

 

"Hike life to its fullest."

"Conquer what's in front of you!"

 

If we follow their words, I think we can all be successful :) 

Vibram Komodo Sports (yellow) Miles: 3.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Running MilesSwimming YardsBike Miles
19.600.000.00
Vibram Five Fingers KSO Miles: 16.10Vibram Komodo Sports (yellow) Miles: 3.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
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