On the run: BCRR winter series winner Leh has his sights set on the Berlin Marathon

Wayne Fish

It’s a bit like Christmas in July.

The Bucks County Roadrunners Club’s Winter Series runners learned who won what at a ceremony in late June, and this month is a month for celebration, even if the thermometer has climbed to 100 degrees lately.

The strongest female competitor turned out to be Morgan Leh from Yardley, who ousted Brittany Debord for the crown.

For some, like Leh, participating in the series serves a different purpose, mainly because it increases her training level for the rest of the year.

Leh, who scored the most points in the popular races at Tyler State Park, already completed the Boston Marathon in April and now has her sights set on Berlin in September.

Last year she ran an impressive time of 3:18 in New York and is currently aiming for a time of around 3:10 on a flat, fast course in Germany.

Leh, 31, attributes some of her long-distance performance to the Winter Series, in which she recently took part again.

She had taken a long break and when she came back, she realized how valuable something like this can be for the entire training discipline.

“I didn’t underestimate its value because when I was doing it (before COVID), I really enjoyed it,” she said in a recent phone interview. “I guess over the last couple of years, I’ve just been looking for excuses.”

“This year my mom (Colleen, a marathon runner herself) pushed me to do the series. She promised me it would be worth it.”

And it paid off.

The Tyler Hills are notorious for humiliating runners, but Leh has set personal bests at nearly every distance, including a time of 32:28 in the Honest Abe 4.6-miler (6:46 mile pace).

“The series is invaluable,” said Leh, who works as a physician’s assistant. “The hills, the terrain, the camaraderie. Just running with other people. They push you. There are so many competitive, great runners in the club. I started seeing speeds I had never seen before.”

One of these extraordinary performances took place last February at the Gasparilla Half Marathon in Florida, where she managed to break the 1:30 mark for the first time.

“Thanks to the Winter Series, I was able to break the 1:30 mark,” she said. “It’s invaluable training that you can’t get anywhere else.”

As a bonus, former U.S. Olympic marathon champion Meb Keflezighi set the pace for the 1:30 crowd at Gasparilla, giving the two a chance to share a few ideas along the way.

“It was fun and it boosted my confidence,” Leh said. “I had seen him at the expo but didn’t realize he was running. He said he was running and I thought if I ever had the opportunity to run alongside an Olympian, this is it.”

“He’s something of an icon in the sport (he’s won both the Boston and New York marathons), so I ran with him from mile 3 to mile 11. I was close to the finish line and looked at the clock (it was 1:29.55). My parents (including dad Fred, also a marathoner) were screaming. Meb was with me most of the time and it was so cool.”

Leh has survived cervical cancer and her good health now gives her inner peace.

“Everything is still clear,” she said. “The best case scenario is that everything was done then. Hopefully all future charts will continue to be clear.”

Ethan Frank was the overall winner of the men’s series. Some of Bucks County’s fastest senior statesmen – including Joe Boyce, Bob Boland, Phil Davies and Tom Jennings – put in some very impressive performances.

The challenging hills of Tyler undoubtedly provide the conditions for everyone to set fast times in the rest of the racing calendar.

“These hills (like Big Bertha) are not small,” Leh noted. “You have to get in shape to conquer them. The beauty of the Winter Series is that it allows you to do that. You go there every week for a couple of months and your body gets used to it. Then you go to a flat course like Gasparilla and it feels like you’re flying.”

The winners of the 2023-24 BCRR Winter Series:

Masculine

Total: Ethan Frank

– 13 and under: 1. Henry Seymour; 2. Damian Manavi; 3. Ryan Sock.

– 14-19: 1. Braylen Clayton; 2. Matthew Pantalone; 3. Mason Pantalone.

– 25-29: 1. Nick Accardo; 2. Stephen Algeo; 3. Alex Smirnov.

– 30-34: 1. Logan Brady; 2. Jim O’Neill; 3. Ryan Braemer.

– 35-39: 1. Michael Hood; 2. Sam Cler; 3. Justin Nawn.

– 40-44: 1. Paul Watsko; 2. Timothy Kline; 3. Michael Sinkevich.

– 45-49: 1. Michael Karl; 2. Ryan Goldblum; 3. Jonnie Shackman.

– 50-54: 1. Vitaly Belotserkovsky; 2. Pat Donadio; 3. Kevin McKale.

– 55-59: 1. Colm Quinn; 2. Paul Lancaster; 3. Michael Haston.

– 60-64: 1. Joe Boyce; 2. Joe Haughey; 3. Jim Maze.

– 65-69: 1. Bob Boland; 2. Ray Willhoft; 3. Jeffrey Ledbetter.

– 70-74: 1. Phil Davies; 2. Ed Kastenhuber; 3. Edward Klenk.

– 75-79: 1. Tom Jennings; 2. Skip Schanbacker; 3. George Ashmore.

– 80 and over: 1. Ed Haines.

Female

Overall ranking: Morgan Leh

– 13 and under: 1. Isha Awasthi; 2. Erin Minster; 3. Haley Hopkins.

– 14-19: 1. Julianna Cosenza; 2. Jennifer Tran; 3. Sian Kall

– 20-24: 1. Colleen Quinn; 2. Holly Pantalone; 3. Rachel Ayzenberg.

– 25-29: 1. Brittany Chamberlin; 2. Maura Koehler; 3. Claire Reeves.

– 30-34: 1. Brittany Debord; 2. Mel Ely; 3. Maria Oei.

– 35-39: 1. Bronwyn Bird; 2. Susan Cosgrove; Tracy Topolin.

– 40-44: 1. Aleta Budd; 2. Kristi Wiley; 3. Lori Wade.

– 45-49: 1. Natacha Smith; 2. Jin Lee; 3. Julie Whittemore.

– 50-54: 1. Lisa Kall; 2. Jen Quinn; 3. Siobhan McHugh.

– 55-59: 1. Lisa Kuliczkowski; 2. Sharon Michaelson; 3. Maureen Harnishfeger.

– 60-64: 1. Hilary Goodman; 2. Gert Freas; 3. Angela Griffis.

– 65-69: 1. Julianne Domm; 2. Lynn Lubbe; 3. Kit Schweiker.

– 70-74: 1. Sharon Schanbacker; 2. Emily Grace.

Join our readers whose generous donations enable you to read our reporting. Help keep local journalism alive and strengthen our community.