The Blood Singing

Jon Stillman's personal blog

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About Me

I’m Jonathan Stillman. This is my personal website, intended to be primarily for posting notes on my personal activities and interests.

I am an active competitive runner and cyclist as well as an accomplished equestrian. I’m also an avid reader, a classical musician, and a computer scientist. Professionally, I have spent the past 30 years in various aspects of the world of software and computer science, and may occasionally post thoughts on that area here.

Since this is a reboot of my personal page,  I’ve provided a bit of a recap of my recent races below. I’ve been a competitive runner for the past 16 years or so, after a long hiatus from running. My distances span a wide range, typically 5k to marathon distances. I’m regionally competitive, and have qualified for and competed in both the NYC and Boston marathons.

2008 Vermont City Marathon. Beautiful course, on my way to a 3 hour and 22 minute finish.

2008 Vermont City Marathon. Beautiful course, on my way to a 3 hour and 22 minute finish.

I came back to cycling as well, during one year (2007, I think) when I was injured and couldn’t run competitively for much of the season. I re-ignited my love of cycling, racked up a ton of miles and fed my competitive drive by racing in time trials. I’ve since kept up with cycling even in years when I was competing heavily in distance running. I first tried my hand at mass start road racing in 2010 at Tour of the Battenkill, where, perhaps with a bit of beginner’s luck, I managed a podium-worthy 5th place in my division. I’ve subsequently done a bit more road racing each year.

On the podium for Men's Cat 5 45+ in my first Tour of the Battenkill (and my first mass start road race). With my friend Jim Conley on the right.

On the podium for Men’s Cat 5 45+ in my first Tour of the Battenkill (and my first mass start road race). With my friend Jim Conley on the right.

2013 was a year of throwing myself at some cycling disciplines that were totally new to me, and I had a blast! After a couple of rides on a mountain bike in 2012 I decided to bite the bullet and learn how to ride where there wasn’t a road. I went from purchasing my first mountain bike early in 2013 to competing in one of the most challenging and famous MTB endurance races, the Leadville 100, where I managed to win a coveted belt buckle with a bit of time to spare. It was a memorable event for me, both in the preparation and the event itself. The Vermont 50 MTB race was another memorable experience for me last year, a lot closer to home, and a LOT closer to sea level!

With teammates at the finish of the 2013 Leadville 100 MTB race.

With teammates at the finish of the 2013 Leadville 100 MTB race.

That probably should have been enough new experience for me for one year, but a few of us in HRRT got the cyclocross bug last fall as well. I had a blast with that! I know I’ll be doing a lot more of that, and I’m also branching out a bit from that with an effort to spend more time riding and racing on dirt roads, cow and tractor paths, etc., on a cyclocross bike, and exploring the limits of where it makes sense to ride that type of bike.

Running through the obstacles at the Bethlehem Cup CX race, Fall 2013.

Running through the obstacles at the Bethlehem Cup CX race, Fall 2013.

Race Results 10/12 – 4/14

stockade-athon-2012

2012 Stockade-athon

Running (age group graded as a regionally competitive runner, distances primarily 5K to marathon)

Stockade-a-thon 15K
November 11, 2012
2nd in age group (55-59) with a time of 1:04:08 (6:53 pace) among 1639 finishers
This is a fairly famous race that attracts runners from quite far away.

Troy Turkey Trot 10K
November 22, 2012
1st in age group (55-59) with a time of 40:17 (6:28 pace) among 1036 finishers
This is also a regionally respected race that has a long history and a big draw.

HMRRC Winter Series #1 (3 mile)
December 9, 2013
19:23 (2nd in Men 55-59 age group, 9th overall)

First Night Saratoga 5K
December 31, 2012
21:29 (3rd in Men 55-59 age group)

HMRRC Hangover Half Marathon
January 1, 2013
1:42:10 (4th in Men 55-59 age group)

First Night Saratoga 5K
December 31, 2013
21:55 (5th in Men 55-59 age group)

2013Brinkerhoff2

2013 Brinkerhoff Race #2. I’m toward the left in the black helmet. Lots of teammates nearby!

Cycling (this was a “throw yourself at new things” year (MTB and CX))

Road:

Trooper Brinkerhoff Memorial Race Series
Mixed Cat 4/5, 36 miles

#2, March 30th, 2013: 34th of 61 finishers
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Tour of the Battenkill
April 5, 2014
(64.5 mile race on a hilly mix of dirt and paved roads.)
Men 55+ Cat. 5: 6th place.

Finishing my first MTB race, the 2013 Wildcat 100k.

Finishing my first MTB race, the 2013 Wildcat 100k.

MTB:

Wildcat 100k
May 11, 2013
(~70 miles of mixed trails, lots of very technical singletrack, lots of mud!)
Finish time of 7:43:59, 5th place among Masters Men 50+ category. This was my first MTB race.

Wilmington-Whiteface Leadville Qualifier
June 16, 2013
(~65 miles of mixed trail/jeep trail/road, lots of climbing and 3 singletrack sections)
Finish time of 6:14:28, 5th place in Men 55-59 category.

Leadville Trail 100 MTB race
August 10, 2013
(103 miles of hell :)). Epic race, my goal was to finish in under 12 hours (max time to still get the belt buckle), made it in 11:19:51.54, 39th in age Men 55-59 age group.

Vermont 50 Trail Race
September 29th, 2013
(50 miles of mostly singletrack on and around Ascutney Mountain Ski Resort in Vermont.)
Finish time of 6:54:00 in Men’s Sport Category, Age group 55-64, 470th place of 839 participants, 17th of 29 in age group.

Wicked Creepy CX

Wicked-Creepy Cyclocross Race, Bennington, VT. Singlespeed race (in which I was roundly schooled by some very strong CX racers!).

Cyclocross:

Adirondack Cyclocross (NYCross Series)
September 22, 2013
Men’s Cat 5: 5th of 14 (on a singlespeed)

Cross on the Farm
October 5, 2013
“B” race: 8th of 20

Saratoga Spa CX (NYCross Series)
October 20, 2013
Men’s Cat 5: 10th of 18

Wicked Creepy Cyclocross (NYCross Series)
October 27, 2013
Men’s Cat 5 Elite: 5th of 16
Singlespeed Elite: 16th of 16.

Bethlehem Cyclocross Cup (NYCross Series)
November 20, 2013
Men’s Cat 5: 7th of 14

HRRT TimeTrial Series
October-November 2013
(10 mile ITT on rolling hills, 6 races)
Typically placed between 2nd-4th place in fields usually between 20 and 50 racers of a wide range of experience.

Comments

  1. heather rizzi April 22, 2014 - 11:04 am

    Nice work!

Comments are closed.