Friday, August 28, 2009

Printcasting?

"The company, Printcasting, has a Web site on which anyone can put together a magazine featuring their own blog posts or articles and items from blogs and newspapers that have registered with the site. Advertisers can place ads in the publications. Readers can print a copy of the magazine or view it online or on a mobile device. Printcasting, which is backed by an $837,000 grant from the Knight Foundation’s program to find digital models for local news, hopes to attract new readers and advertisers to print publications. Dan Pacheco, the senior manager of digital products at The Bakersfield Californian newspaper, who founded the start-up, says reducing the costs of producing magazines is the way to bring them back" Complete article can be found on the New York Times website HERE.

I started using the service earlier this year (15 weeks ago) and think it is a great idea. I even made a webzine for every high school in town and made feeds for each too. Now others can use my feeds to create their own magazines as well. Most of school's are called "School Name" High Noise. For example, checkout Stockdale High Noise HERE.

Now I just started these without any idea of anyone would read them but I guess someone did because I sort of made the New York Times, "About 250 magazines have been created since Printcasting was introduced in March. A runner in Bakersfield blogs about high school track teams and then prints his posts to hand out free at meets." Once again, I made a national publication but did not get named directly.

A few years ago, Rolling Stone writers came to town and wrote an article on Ed Jagels and the Lords of Bakersfield. I got interviewed at Dagneys for an afternoon and ended up getting mentioned briefly. I was referred to as a record store owner who put out shirts and stickers with the "Lords of Bakersfield" and "Ed Jagels Hates Me Too" on them. They did not mention Andy Noise either.

But anyways, at least I sort of got mentioned. This week I got to have a meeting with "Dan Pacheco, the senior manager of digital products at The Bakersfield Californian newspaper, who founded the start-up." We talked about printing my AndyNoise.Com webzine and distributing it at the Wolf Pack Invite. So if you have content for me to publish or want to place an ad checkout Printcasting.


A magazine built by Printcasting!
AndyNoise.Com

Monday, August 24, 2009

A Nice Return

The overall winner of the BTC Summer Series is my long time friend, retired Bakersfield Police Detective Steve Humphreys, who recently moved back to town and has started running again. A decade ago, Steve was running 17 minute 5ks and sub three hour marathons.

Now that he is back in town, he hopes to get back into the age group action soon. The 50 plus here in Bakersfield is a quick bunch with Carl Hatley recently joining Bruce Deeter and Cregg Weinmann who are all still capabale of sub 20 5ks.

Steve overtook Chevelle Reese (Ridgeview Fr) in the points race in the final event of the series. Mike Christian moved up into third with a 7th place finish in the last race and bumped me into 4th.

1 Steve Humphreys 7 11 11 29
2 Chevelle Reese 13 12 7 28 32
3 Mike Christian 17 17 7 41
4 Paul Anderson 5 128 14 25 44
5 Jeri Shea 26 99 4 20 85 50
6 Robert Scales 6 24 84 25 55
7 John Wilson 2 97 8 45 55
8 Joel Morentin 29 16 62 12 57
9 Veasna Sok 45 9 5 59
10 Keri Tesch 14 66 4 84

Complete Results HERE.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

The Fastest Women of the BTC Summer Series 09

Until the final run, Brooklan was the top women runner. She did not run the last event and a couple of newcomers took the top two spots. Both Celis and Glassey are from Riverside JC and are now running for CSUB.

Coach Boyles should be happy because four of his ladies are in the top ten and his assistant coach and former Roadrunner was the fourth fastest this summer.

Liberty's Barton had the fastest high school time at 21:33

1 Arianna Celis 20:21.0 19 (CSUB)
2 Casey Glassey 20:28.3 19 (CSUB)
3 Brooklan Rosales 20:56.0 24 (Centennial/BC/Wyoming)
4 Kate Patrick 21:03.0 23 (CSUB)
5 Lina Nunez 21:14.0 21 (East/CSUB)
6 Cecilia Lopez 21:17.0 17 (North/CSUB)
7 Molly Hummel 21:24.0 25
8 Ashley Barton 21:33.0 16 (Liberty Jr)
9 Lori O'Lin 21:37.0 32
10 Esthefani Perez 21:52.0 14

The Fastest Men of the BTC Summer Series 09

The top ten men are a who's who of local high school running. All these times are quite good when you consider how hard the course is, the heat and having to weave through all the slower runners at the end of the race.

Cesar took the crown as the fastest of the fast and Baker was the fastest high school runner.

1 Cesar Mireles 16:25.0 19 (Golden Valley/BC)
2 Robby Baker 16:37.5 16 (Ridgeview Sr)
3 Ryan Lucker 16:59.0 22 (Stockdale/CSUB)
4 David Bacus 17:02.3 24
5 Eddy Lee 17:16.0 22 (CSUB)
6 Alex Garcia 17:23.0 17 (Ridgeview Sr)
7 Curtis Kelly 17:28.0 15 (Stockdale So)
8 Roberto Quintero 17:29.0 18 (Golden Valley/BC)
9 Andrew Ariey 17:36.7 18 (Drillers/Cal Pol SLO)
10 Zach Holt 17:39.0 17 (Drillers/Holy Names)

A Good Finish

The last Handicap run was a tightly bunched one. There were 86 runners under the 30:00 tape time and over 50 came in within a minute of each other.

Chris Emmett (North Sr) came in 4th overall in a time of 21:47/27:28 and finishing in 11th, was a former North Higher, Steve Humphreys who ran 27:35/28:00.

Steve is now a retired BPD officer and is looking to challenging our fifty plus runners in the near future. Steve also helps me daily at my running camp. Behind Steve was yet another North High Star, Kaylee Moyer (So.) came in 14th in a time of 25:08/28:25. Kaylee is expected to be one of the top runners in town this fall after having a very good freshman year at North.


In 18th place, former Driller Michael McCarthy (San Jose State) ran 18:35/28:34 which was a very good time for him. Behind him a bit were a couple local cross country coaches. Taft's Barry Jameson came in 27th in a time of 25:22/28:52 and in 29th Ridgeview's coach Adam Setser ran 20:43/28:54.

Adam was just behind his freshman runner Chevelle Reese who was the overall points leader after 5 races and may have kept her lead with a low score of 32. In this final race, 85 runners beat their PR for this year's series. In 32nd, Sarah Scrivano (BHS Jr) ran 27:35/28:58 and her team mate Sarah Baker was in 37th with a time of 22:52/29:02.

Recently minted 50 plus age grouper Carl Hatley came in 39th with a time of 20:49/29:08 and was just a couple places ahead of one of my running camp athletes. Kim Nance came in 41st in a time of 33:10/29:11 and was just in front of 12 year old Andi Condi who had a nice PR before heading back to Quatar with her family. She ran 23:41/29:17 and was cheered on by her older brother Tyler who is recovering from his injuries at the Howlin' at the Moon race.

Shoe guru and another nifty fifty athlete, Cregg Weinmann came in 47th in a time of 22:11/29:20. His real time was just a second slower then Jonathan Wykoff's 58th place finish. Wykoff's wife Kari also picked up a season PR with her 80th place finish in a time of 31:28/29:51.

Quite a number of our local speedsters busted season bests at this last race too:

  1. David Van Matre (Driller/CalPoly SLO) ran 19:01.
  2. Ariel Hurtado (Highland/BC) ran 21:04.
  3. David Bacus ran 17:02.
  4. Oscar Fuentes (East/Cal Poly SLO) ran 17:47.
  5. Ryan Lucker (Stockdale/CSUB) ran 16:59.
Just finishing outside the 30 minute time were:
  1. Andrew Ariey (Driller/Cal Poly SLO) ran 17:38
  2. Zach Holt (Driller/Holy Names) ran 17:42.
All in all there were 216 returning runner at this event and 18 first time runners. Included in those first timers were:

  1. Jerrid Lewis (Ridgeview Sr) who was the valley champ in the 800 this year. He ran 22:00.
  2. Lori Sundgren (North/CSUN) who is one of my running campers too. Her husband coaches cross country and track at Shafter. She ran 29:33.
Do not forget the pizza party!

September 2 Summer Series Pizza Party - Papa O's Pizza at 4750 Coffee Rd. (near Hageman) from 6:30to 8:00 pm. All participants of the summer series are invited. Awards will be distributed. Pizza and soda paid for by the BTC!!!! Look at the Flyer for more info.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

A Special Guest

The Summer Series is probably my favorite local race, of course it is six races and that makes it unique. Plus the handicap part of the event makes it a lot of fun. Runners who never see each other in races get to literally bump into each at these events.

When the clock counts down to 30 minutes, hundreds are streaming to the finish line. Young, old, slow, fast, male or female, everyone is trying to get to the line before the horde over takes them.

Before the race and after the race, this diverse group mingles much more at the summer series then any other race. Before the event, I got to a chance to a very special guest. Tyler Condie (photo) was sitting near the water tents with his family around him and his dog. He was there to support his sister Andi and it was good to see him.

Less then a month ago, Tyler was hit by a car at the Howlin at the Moon and he looked really good. he had scars on his knees and a steel rod in one but no casts or bandages. Amazing when one considers he was hit by a car going 40 plus miles and hour. I told him and his family (they are going back to Quatar), to please keep in touch and I fully expect him to run in another race in the near future.

Since I had no chance of improving my overall standing in the series, I decided to shoot the starts and the finish instead of running and shooting the event. While shooting, I got to talk to Coach Setzer (Ridgeview) and we spoke about my Bakersfield Distance Project club.

Fall practice for my youth team will begin very soon. More then likely, it will be on Tuesday and Thursdays before my running camp practices at Yokuts Park in the evenings. Plus we will meet with my running camp on Saturdays.

To join, you will need to join the USATF and be born in 1991 or earlier. Youth competitions typically take place in two-year age divisions. These age divisions provide young athletes the opportunity to compete with other athletes of similar ability. When you join please indicate that you are a member of the Bakersfield Distance Project (USATF Club # 46-0902.

We will be training for the qualifying cross country meets that are held in Novemeber. This year's National Championship will be held in Reno,CA. BDP athletes will also compete in their local school events and some local road races as well.

I also got to talk to Shafter's coaches and North's, both are looking forward to the upcoming season. Another coach that is really excited for the cross country season to start is CSUB's Robert Boyles who picked up a couple gals from Riverside and North High that should be great additions to an already strong vetern squad.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Top Series Times Were Posted in Race 5

As the series goes on fewer and fewer improve their times. Hence fewer finish before the 30 minute mark. In race five, only 48 of 172 (28%) returnees did. Where in race two, 129 of the 169 (76%) ran faster. Sandbagging the first race is part of the reason for the difference but the weather comes into play too. Hopefully the weather will be good for the last race and there will be a lot of PRs.

In race five, Michael McCarthy (Driller 08/San Jose State see photo) came in 16th overall with a 20:01/28:46 time and right behind him was local musician Jenny Gia (aka Jenny Angel) in a time of 30:41/28:46.9.

Not to far behind them was Robby Baker's (Ridgeview Sr, who has second best time in series this year) mom Danette, who came in 29th in a time of 32:41. She just held of what will be a preview of this year's cross country season. Tijerra Lynch (Ridgeview Jr) and Sarah Baker (Bakersfield Jr) came in 32 and 33rd.

These two are the defending league champs in their respective leagues in 2008 and are odds on favorites to repeat. They often go head to head in track invites and do the same in cross country invites.

Today, Tijerra ran 24:31/29:20 and Sarah ran 23:50/29:23 for the 5k but look for both of them to be going under 19 minutes perhaps by seasons end. Tijerra lead her team to a valley title (division 3) last year and looks to repeat and do better at state. Sarah is in the super tough division one but looks to snag one of the individual berths this year to state.

A couple others that got in before the 30 minute mark were Lina Nunez (CSUB) in 21:14/29:43, Robert Quintero (Golden Valley/BC) 17:29/29:51 and his former Bulldog teammate Cesar Mireles who had the fastest time of the series with his 16:25/29:41 clocking. David Bacus (recent 2:52 marathoner) ran 17:22/29:57 and a local running fixture here in town, Klaus Benamy-Hackel ran 23:27/29:53.

The fastest women's time of the day was recorded by CSUB's Judith Mata. She flew by me at the bottom of the bike path but her 18:56 might be off some. If her time is accurate, it is a really good time and is two minutes faster then former leader Brooklan Rosales. But with the often confusing start times and the heat, her time might be wrong. If it is dead on she is going to have a really good second season for the Roadrunners.

This 5th race brought out 25 new runners to the series and there were a number of current or former high school runners in their mist. Former Driller John Purcell ran 22:16, East High's Charlie Zaragoza ran 23:25, Monica Guzman (Garces Sr.) ran 23:56.

It was also good to see valley 4 x 400 champ Matt Turkington (Centennial Sr) having a go at the much longer distance with his girlfrien Jorey Braugton (Centennial Sr). He ran 31:40, she runs cross country for the Golden Hawks.

Last but not least, Andie and Chan Condie ran 24:24 and 2431 on their first time out on the course. Andie is 12 I believe and is looking forward to running some meets in Eygpt soon. Her father works in Quatar and the whole family has lived there for the past six years. His wife went to South High and they came back to Bakersfield for a month or so and boy did they have a visit.

After only being back in the states for a week or two, the family entered the Howlin at the Moon race. Andi, Dan and another daughter had a good race but their brother Tyler DNFed (did not finish). He ended up in the ER after getting hit by a car on Calloway. The good news is he is recovering from his injuries and will be joining his family back in Quater soon.

I had only known this family through a couple emails earlier this summer but now I have spoken to them at several of our local running events. They are a great family and have handled this accident with such grace and dignity. I hope to hear from them in the future and I beat tyler will be out there finishing that next race.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

She Got Me

With one race to go it looks like I can not get higher then second. Chevelle (photo), who I believe will be running for Ridgeview this fall has a pretty low score of 32 points for the lead. The complete overall standings are HERE.

Many in the top ten have used up their handicaps so more then likely a challenger to the top spot will be someone who doesn't have three races completed yet. The last race of the series is usually tightly packed at the finish so it makes it hard to place high. The top ten overall will get awards at the pizza party on Sept. 2 (details below)

1 Chevelle Reese 13 12 7 32
2 Paul Anderson 5 128 14 25 44
3 Jeri Shea 26 99 4 20 50
4 Keri Tesch 14 66 4 84
5 Greg Tesch 27 10 49 86
6 Brad DeWitt 15 3 80 98
7 David Riel 10 42 169 49 101
8 Lisa Manzano 50 23 33 86 106
9 John Wilson 2 97 8 107
10 Joel Morentin 29 16 62 107
11 Robert Scales 6 24 84 114

September 2 Summer Series Pizza Party - Papa O's Pizza at 4750 Coffee Rd. (near Hageman) from 6:30to 8:00 pm. All participants of the summer series are invited. Awards will be distributed. Pizza and soda paid for by the BTC!!!! Look at the Flyer for more info.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Team in Training 5 Kilometer Memorial Run


Team in Training 5 Kilometer Memorial Run
Bakersfield, California
August 1, 2009 - Results HERE.


Robby Baker (Ridgeview Sr) continued his winning ways Saturday with a 16:29 clocking with David Bacus in second in a time of 16:55. The Van Matre's were out in force with older brother David running 18:36 and his 13year old sibling Scott continueing to improve with a 22:38.

Steve Dirkse came in 4th overall and won the 30 - 39 age group in a time of 18:45. Cregg Weinmann won the 50 - 59 and ran a 20:33 for 6th place overall.

The fastest women was Kristina Jordan (29) who ran 22:05 for 9th overall.