With possibly the greatest field of DEKA athletes ever assembled, the 2023 DEKA FIT Northeast race DID. NOT. DISAPPOINT. π
Let’s start with the women…
Women
The leaderboard looks drastically different after this race.
This was the first DEKA FIT of the season for the following women, and they all put up a top 25 DEKA FIT qualifying time.
- Meg Jacoby
- Vivian Tafuto
- Kris Rugloski
- Alandra Greenlee
- Stephanie Hillman
- Annie Schiller
- Carly Wopat
- Julia Ashley
- Immie Cross
These women had a previous DEKA FIT time in 2023, but improved their time in this race, and are all between places 16-34 on the 2023 DEKA FIT global leaderboard.
- Laurie Winkelman
- Bethany McChesney
- Michelle Navarro
- Janelle Teal
- Karyn Guidry
- Julie Best
Meg Jacoby Breaks World Record
In our DEKA FIT Northeast preview, we said we wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a world record go down in this race. And Meg Jacoby delivered, running a 32:27, breaking Terra Jackson’s previous record of 32:44.
Age Grouper β Elite
I want to give a special shoutout to Steph Hillman. She won her age group division at DEKA FIT World Championships last year, and her time would’ve been competitive amongst the elite women. So some saw this coming, but it was nice to see her throw down with the stacked field in this race and hold her own for 5th place.
I’ve had the pleasure of racing with Steph at a few local DEKA events here in Colorado and she’s an incredible athlete and great person to be around.
Meg Jacoby + Rich Ryan Coed Teams Record
That wasn’t the only record Meg Jacoby broke in Philadelphia this weekend. Her and Rich Ryan combined forces to set a new world record for DEKA FIT Coed Teams with a time of 25:56. They won by a minute and 42 seconds in a pretty stacked field.
Men
Dylan Scott impressed us (and surprised some) by taking the victory in 29:55, becoming only the 5th man to break the 30-minute barrier for DEKA FIT.
Nick Ryker, who’s been strong & consistent all season, took 2nd.
David Magida started slow but kept chipping away, place by place, made a move on the tank push/pull, and creeped his way up to an impressive 3rd place finish. He also took 1st in DEKA FIT Men’s Teams. I love his recap of the day here:
Jarrett Newby Set New DEKA FIT GORUCK Record
Jarrett Newby ran an impressive elite individual race, finishing in 7th place behind seasoned DEKA FIT veterans. But he then took on DEKA FIT GORUCK and demolished the old record by over 2 minutes, running an impressive 35:42 with a 30lb ruck.
