The Winners of the LRC Trials $200,012 Prediction Contest
by LetsRun.com
July 22, 2012
*If you played in the contest and want to check your scores you can do so here.
With the conclusion of last Friday's Monaco meet, the track and field world is now just waiting for London.
Before we head off to London it's time to celebrate the winners of the LRC Trials Prediction Contest.
The LRC Trials Prediction Contest came down to the wire. In the end, we had a three way tie for first, and Mike Wolf of Dekalb, Illinois, came out on top on the second tiebreaker (number of 2nd placers picked correctly). As a result Mike wins $250 in gift certificates.
The World Famous Prediction Contests always bring out the best of the great LRC community. Let us tell you a little about our winners.
Our overall winner, Mike Wolf claims "I just got lucky for sure," but we don't believe him. He says he enters most of the LRC contests and he has been coaching cross country and track at DeKalb High school for 14 years. A former DIII runner at Illinois Wesleyan University in the mid 1980's, Mike still runs 5-6 times per week.
Danny Kung ended up in second place on the tiebreaker and gets a $100 gift certificate as a consolation price. A former all-conference decathlete in college, Danny also has some distance credentials as in high school he competed in the North Bay League in California when athletes like Sara Hall, Kim Conley, Julia Stamps and Jake Arnold were competing. The former head coach at La Jolla High School, Danny even sent an athlete to run in college at Cornell under LRC founder Rojo. Now a middle school PE teacher, he also coaches soccer and XC in Vista, Ca.
John Sadlik, a law student at NYU, also tied for first in the contest. From the Chicago area, John's Naperville North High School team got third in the state his sophomore year. The next year John was edged at the regional race by non other than NCAA star Chris Derrick. John is now doing marathons and hoping to get in shape to match his high school 5k pr of 15:30.
John said, "I still vividly remember Galen Rupp getting kicked down by Matt Withrow (who was a god to me at the time) at footlocker nationals in 2003. I think that was the moment I truly fell in love with the sport. Even though Rupp out-kicked Lagat in the 5k at the trials, I can't help but think he still remembers the pain from that high school race."
19 year old Ben Wach is the other big winner in our contest as he won the TrackTalk.net group, which had the largest number of new participants in a contest. As a result Ben gets a $250 gift certificate.
A self-confessed running nerd (aren't we all), Ben says, "Running is absolutely my passion." Ben has been dealing with a lot of injuries but hopes to run at SUNY Geneseo this year.
Everyone below finished in the top 10 and get a $100 gift certificate. Check our their cool stories:
- Andrew Benford, an 8:39 steeplechaser and second team all-American at the University of Richmond. He was on the first Richmond XC team to make NCAAs.
- Scott Rodilitz, who has finished in the top of one of our marathon prediction contests in the past, and has been doing some work with Jay Johnson and the Boulder Running Camps this summer.
- 25 year old engineer Bryan Murphy who is making a comeback in running.
- Dan Hocking, who made the NCAA XC meet while at the University of New Hampshire. Now a Postdoctoral Researcher, he's in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park researching the effects of climate change on salamander populations. He also has a coaching service with his wife, Northeast Running Services.
- Michael Farmer, a 26 year old auditor with a big 4 accounting firm, who ran at Missouri State University until the program got the Title IX axe. Michael ran at Notre Dame as a grad student and got his butt kicked everyday. He was at the Trials, coaches a few high schoolers online and says, "Thanks to running I have met a lot of amazing athletes and great people, and I plan to be involved in the sport in some fashion or another for as long as I live."
- Doug Cowles, a 38 year old from Minnesota, who works in social services. Doug does a weekly prediction contest for downthebackstretch.blogspot.com so he had an unfair advantage.
- Brad Dsida, a 23 year old coach at Dominican University outside of Chicago.
And finally there is Jared Wong who was our random winner of a $100 Gift Certificate just for playing in the contest.
Thanks to everyone who played. Stay tuned to LetsRun.com as our Prediction Contest for London is coming soon.
*If you played in the contest and want to check your scores you can do so here.
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