T H E E X A M I N ER40 SU N DAY, NOV E M BER 1, 2009
PERSONALBEST
CYCLING
� Nov. 7: Confident City
Cycling, Nannie J. Lee Rec-
reation Center, Alexandria,
1 p.m. Half of this workshop
is in the classroom, and the
other half on the bike. Par-
ticipants will learn changing
lanes, cycling principles and
road positioning, among other
techniques. Cyclists will go
on a supervised group ride on
open streets. Info: waba.org.
RUNNING
� Nov. 7: Run for the Pie 10K,
Mountainville, Md., 8:30 a.m.
The Frederick Steeplechasers
are holding this 10K run in the
Frederick Municipal Forest.
Awards are pies. Info: steeple-
chasers.org.
� Nov. 7: Candy Cane City 5K,
Chevy Chase, 8 a.m. This is
a flat, out-and-back course
along Beach Drive and the
trails of Candy Cane City. Info:
mcrrc.org.
� Nov. 7: MCCA-Colombo
5K Race, Lake Needwood, 9
a.m. The 5K course is a loop
on rolling hills around Lake
Needwood Park in Rockville.
There also is a half-mile run
and a Wacky Fun Run. This is
a fundraiser for the Montgom-
ery Child Care Association.
Info: mccaedu.org.
� Nov. 8: GCF Race to End
Women's Cancer, Freedom
Plaza, 7 a.m. The Gyneco-
logical Cancer Foundation is
holding a half-marathon, 5K
and 1-mile walk through the
streets of D.C. to raise aware-
ness of women's cancers. Info:
gcfrace.com.
� Nov. 15: Backyard Burn
Trail Running Series, Fairfax
Station, 9 a.m. The Backyard
Burn is a series of 5- and 10-
mile trail races in Northern
Virginia. The race, to be held
in Fountainhead Park, will be
on mostly flat land and include
cinder trails, stream cross-
ings and single track. Info:
ex2adventures.com.
TRIATHLON/DUATHLON
� Nov. 15: Du It duathlon,
Manassas, 7:30 a.m. This
duathlon for newbies is a
1.4-mile run, 4-mile bike and
1.4-mile run starting at the
Freedom Aquatic & Fitness
Center. Info: triitnow.com.
HIKING
� Nov. 4: Easy Hikers, Upper
Marlboro, 10:15 a.m. The
Potomac Appalachian Trail
Club's Easy Hikers group will
lead a 5-mile hike around the
Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary.
Info: potomacappalachian.org.
UPCOMING EVENTS
By David Sherfinski
Examiner Staff Writer
Brian Boyle, profiled last week
in Personal Best, completed the
Marine Corps Marathon in just
over 4 1/2 hours last weekend
-- the second of three marathons
that he will run this month.
"It was great," he said. "It was
awesome.
"To be honest, I'm a little sore,"
he conceded.
Boyle, who has come back from
major injuries and a coma after
being hit by a dump truck five
years ago, ran in the Baltimore
Marathon earlier this month, and
headed to New York on Friday to
prep for the New York City Mara-
thon on Sunday.
He said he wouldn't recom-
mend running three marathons in
a month, but he wanted to honor
the servicemen and servicewomen
before heading to the Big Apple.
Though Boyle grew up in nearby
Welcome, Md., he never had such
a personal experience with Wash-
ington and the monuments as he
did last Sunday during the race.
He walked for much of it -- not
by necessity, he said, but to soak
up more of the experience. At the
water and aid stations, he also
paused to thank the volunteers
working the booths.
"That was a day to reflect," he
said.
He said he planned to come back
next year to run in the 35th Marine
Corps Marathon.
"The weather was good; the
people were awesome," he said.
dsherfinski@washingtonexaminer.com
`Iron heart' finishes Marine marathon, gears up for NYC
Unique sport has
riders taking a fresh
look at bike racing
By Melanie Ciarrone
Special to The Examiner
T
he word "training" is not
in mountain biker Joel
Gwadz's vocabulary.
"I like to think that
training is the `T-word,' " he said.
"Training is like homework; I never
really did my homework. If I am out
of shape, I just have to race myself
back into shape."
The 42-year-old is a mountain
biker, husband and father of two
boys who participates in a unique
form of bicycle racing called cyclo-
cross. Gwadz began cyclocross
racing about 10 years ago.
"Cyclocross comes at the tail
end of the mountain bike season,"
he said. "There can be some fatigue
and some burnout from all the time
on the mountain bike, but cyclo-
cross switches things up, makes the
bike and racing fresh again."
Cyclocross involves racing mul-
tiple laps with a modified road
bike on a course of 1 1/2 to two
miles. The course includes differ-
ent kinds of terrain and obstacles
that sometimes require the racer
to dismount and carry his bike a
short distance.
Gwadz raced in the DCCX, the
District of Columbia's only cyclo-
cross race, last Sunday, where he
came in 35th out of nearly 100 par-
ticipants in his class. He also has
participated in the Charm City
Cross Race in Baltimore, the Ed
Sander Memorial Cyclocross Race
in Buckeystown, Md., and the Kelly
Acres Cyclocross Race in Middle-
town, Md.
His workouts are his day-to-day
routines. He commutes to work on
his bike from his home in Mount
Pleasant to downtown D.C. and
often takes a post-work ride. He
also rides the Mount Vernon Trail
and Capital Crescent Trail. For
him, the races are his training.
"I am not as devoted to excel-
ling or achieving as other people,
although I play to win," he said. "At
the line when prerace anxiety kicks
in, I remind myself to just ride my
bike."
Gwadz also races in several
mountain bike races ever year,
preferring multilap relay races. His
best race this season was the Fair
Hill Classic in Elkton, Md., where
he placed first in his class. In moun-
tain biking, Gwadz usually races as
a Clydesdale, racers who are more
than 200 pounds.
"Mountain biking is good for
the soul," he said. "Racing is also
good: It's healthy for people to push
themselves."
When mountain biking, Gwadz
rides with Mike Pearce, a friend he
met through a group of mountain
bikers called the D.C. Mountain
Bike Team. Mountain biking is a
buddy activity, Gwadz said, in that
riding with someone else helps him
improve his technique. Watching
Pearce, whom Gwadz said was
"super talented on the bike," helps
him become a better rider.
Gwadz also uses his racing to
fuel a creative outlet: His blog.
Gwadzilla.blogspot.com contains
his "rants on cycling and on life,"
as well as photos from the places
his bike takes him.
"Riding a bike is my Prozac: a
post-work ride around town where
I can breathe in the season and
snap a few photographs," he said.
However, fitness is still the most
important element of cyclocross,
Gwadz said, and the fastest cyclist
wins. Cyclocross is about cyclists
fighting to pass the racer in front
and fighting to stay ahead, "even if
they are fighting for 85th place."
But balancing racing and fam-
ily is important to Gwadz, whose
sons Grant and Dean are 5 and
8, respectively. Gwadz coaches
Grant's soccer team and spends
many Saturdays at his games.
"I am not a professional racer, I
am a husband and a father ... I can't
race every Sunday. There are other
things we like to do," he said, citing
Halloween parties and fall festivals
with the kids.
"Life is a balance. If anything, life
interferes with my riding."
Mountain biker finds release in cyclocross
AP PHOTO/ELAINE THOMPSON
CATCHING UP WITH ... BRIAN BOYLE
COURTESY PHOTOS
Joel Gwadz, 42, is a mountain biker, husband and father of two boys who participates in a unique form of bicycle racing called
cyclocross. The sport involves racing multiple laps with a modified road bike on a course of 1 1/2 to two miles.

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