Running around the famous Central Park reservoir

This page is intended for visitors who are looking for information about the Central Park Track Club.  Please e-mail us if you need any more information.

GENERAL

The Central Park Track Club is a running club that was founded in 1972 by Dave Blackstone, who is still a current member.  Today, the club has close to 300 members from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, of all ages, speeds and resting pulse rates. The club takes its name from the famous Central Park in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.

MISSION

The Central Park Track Club is open to all competitive runners, of varying abilities, from all backgrounds.  The mission of the Central Park Track Club is to help all members achieve their running potential in a supportive team atmosphere.

This mission will be achieved by

• providing an atmosphere to enable the runner to set and achieve realistic long-term goals,
• providing a structured, healthy and supportive environment in which to train - specifically our high-quality coached team workouts,
• providing guidance and motivation from our coaches and fellow team members,
• providing organization for teams and individuals to compete in races and meets,
• supporting and encouraging fellow team members, particularly at races and meets,
• providing timely information on our club's workouts and upcoming team races,
• providing timely information on our club's individual and team achievements,
• providing a variety of social events to help maintain and build team spirit.

This Mission statement was written several years ago. It is interesting to note that we're now satisfying the 'timely' aspects of the mission statement at a level undreamed of when this was written - thanks to the Central Park Track Club website.

This mission statement is not the ten commandments, it is a living document. If you have any suggestions as to what should or should not be in it, or more importantly if you feel the club is not living up to this statement, please email Alan Ruben at alan@montran.com.

ACTIVITIES

The Central Park Track Club does not usually organize any road or track races itself.  In New York City, organized road running (such as the New York City Marathon) is often handled by the non-profit organization, the New York Road Runners Club. The Central Park Track Club is a member of the Club Council within the NYRRC, and competes in the team events. The Central Park Track Club is a USATF assocation team (note: our USATF club team number is #262).

In spite of its name, the Central Park Track Club is not just in Central Park nor a club for track runners.  (In fact, there is no true running track inside Central Park). The members of the club engage in anything from track sprints to ultramarathons to other non-running sports. Here is a description of some of the activities:

• Our master (40+ and 50+) track runners are one of the top teams in the nation. For example, Sid Howard holds the Men 60-64 indoor world record for the 800m with a time of 2:14.75.  We regularly participate in local, regional, national and national indoor/outdoor track events, as individuals and as relay teams. We have established (to be ratified --- if they ever get around to it) world records for age group relays. Relays are team efforts, and we presently have one of the best groups of runners together on our club.

• We usually field one of the largest teams in the New York City Marathon. Team member Fred Lebow in fact founded that race. Another team member Sheldon Karlin won this race in 1972. Other less accomplished runners (such as Fred Kolthay) have made a media career from hanging out with the lead female runners over the years.  Over the years, our members have qualified for the US Olympic Marathon Trials.

• Many of our team members come from other sports (such as swimming, crew, cycling, biathlon, triathlon, cyclocross, ...) and they run with us to improve conditioning and their running skills. Our members have performed excellently at local biathlon and triathlon races (for example, the 2001 Central Park Triathlon).

• Our club also has a strong tradition in ultramarathoning. One member Stu Mittleman set the world record for 1000 miles while running in circles in Queens and holding a six-day on-air relationship with Ted Koppel.

• ... and here are some truly crazy events that our members have raced in a variety of esoteric and exotic events --- from from the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii to Double and Triple Ironman triathlons; they ran, biked and rowed at the Spring Couple Relay; they biked the Boston-Montreal-Boston brevet; they assaulted the 11,000 feet Mount Mitchell; they went 7.6 miles up Mount Washington on foot as well as on bike; they have won many road cycling and cyclocross events; they survived in adventure races like China's Mild Seven and the New York State classic Survival of the Shawangunks...

• The majority of our runners are road runners, who race at distances from 5K to the marathon. Over the years, our teams have been consistently successful in the NYRRC and other local races. Individual team members have also been recognized with honors and awards. For example, Rae Baymiller was honored as the 1998 USATF LDR Master Female 55-59 for having set the world marathon age-group record of 2:52:14.  We also send teams out to regional races (such as the Boston Marathon, the Philadelphia Distance Run, the Vermont Marathon Relay, etc.)

WORKOUTS

Organized workouts for Central Park Track Club members take place throughout the year. On most Thursdays (except for holidays such as Thanksgiving Day), we meet at 7pm in front of the Daniel Webster statue at the intersection of West Drive and West 72nd Street inside Central Park. These workouts are fartleks through different parts of the park, varying between 5 to 9 miles in distance. The workouts are designed by our coaching staff for upcoming racing events. Usually, 30 to 60 members show up for these workouts, and they run at a pace between 30 to 45 minutes for 10K. Despite anything you might have read about this park, it is quite safe to run in it, especially if you run in groups and you exercise commonsense.

During the summer (between April and October), on Tuesdays at 7pm (earlier if it gets dark), we meet at the East River Park track oval down at East 6th Street next to the FDR Drive. These are track workouts consisting of sets that vary between 200 meters and 2000 meters for a total distance of 3 to 5 miles. The workouts are designed by our coaching staff. Usually 30 to 60 people show up for these workouts. People are divided into groups of varying ability, ranging from 7:00 minute/mile and faster.

During the winter season (between November and March), on Tuesdays, we use the indoor track facilities at the 168th Street Armory.

There are no formally organized workouts for weekends, and many people run races. Informally, some members get together for long runs (10 to 20 miles) inside Central Park on weekend mornings. If you run through the park on weekend mornings, you will come across many other members.

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

 The membership benefits include:

• Coaching, which includes the design and supervision of the workouts. The coaches provide time splits during the track workouts and keep company with straying or lagging runners on the road workouts. They will also patiently listen to your midnight confessions about your progress (or lack thereof). These coaches are/were world-class runners themselves. 
• Winter workouts at a specially rented indoor track facility
• Financial (partial, okay?) and logistical support for select out-of-town races
• Club functions (parties, awards, etc.)
• Participation in team events (NYRRC club team championship races, relay races, etc.) in team uniform
• Newsletters
• Cheering, as it is traditional for non-racers to show up in the park to cheer their racing teammates

Of course, the Central Park Track Club is also serviced by this web site. This web site enjoys a cult status worldwide, as there may be nothing in its class anywhere that is remotely close in terms of breadth, depth and personality.  If this is your first visit to this web site, then we suggest that you browse around, but you should be prepared to spend a long, long time.  The major features of this web site are

• Race Results for Central Park Track Club members.  Most results are culled from WWW sites and reported on a near-real-time basis (e.g. the afternoon of the same day).  You can keep track of what your teammates are doing.  These results are kept online for your review for perpetuity.
• Photo Gallery.  We have an extensive collection of digital photographs of Central Park Track Club members at races, workouts and other situations.  We have over 10,000 digital photographs, which are kept online for perpetuity.  This is a most effective way of sharing your total experience and joy of running with your  friends and relatives, wherever they may be in the world.
• You will also be able to find out much more about your teammates in terms of their values, attitudes, lifestyles, jobs, professions, goals, reading lists, etc, through various other web pages on this site.  This makes for a closely knit network of people who appreciate each other beyond just running together.

If you are interested in joining our club, please see the HOW TO APPLY page for more details.

According to the records, there are 221 fully paid members on the Central Park Track Club membership roster as of November, 1999.  This has been the club size for a few years, and is considered to be optimal in the trade-off between numerical strength and closeness.

The members range in age between 20 and 70. About a quarter of the members are female. Most of our members reside in Manhattan, some live in the outer boroughs of New York City or the tri-state area (CT/NJ/NY), and we have some out-of-town members too (California, Chicago, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Japan, France, Italy, United Kingdom, etc.).

Occupationally, the range is astonishing. Here is a list (in alphabetical order) of what comes to mind: ad salesperson, art historian, athletic coach, author, bank teller, beach bum (okay, use the euphemistic "lifeguard" label, if you insist), actor, advertising strategist, AIDS researcher, architect, attorney, biology researcher, chemist, chiropractor, computer programmer, copier machine maintenance worker, editor, emergency room doctor, fashion designer, fireman, health care consultant, counselor, investment banker, journalist, lawyer, mathematician, midwife, model, molecular biologist, motorman, movie reviewer, nutritionist, physicist, poet, policewoman, portfolio manager, probation officer, university professor, prosecutor, psychologist, public and social policy analyst, publisher, real estate broker, reporter, running coach, salesperson, sculptor, sociologist, sports doctor, sports writer, statistician, student, surgeon, teacher, trader, trainer, translator, triathlon coach, underwriter, university administrator, university professor, urologist, venture capitalist, webmaster, writer, ... One of the chief benefits with the Central Park Track Club is the opportunity of bonding with people from other walks of life (that is, where else in life can you humiliate a doctor (or whatever) by running her/him into the ground?).

In terms of race/ethnicity, the Central Park Track Club maintains a politically correct mix of multicultural diversity, as befits New York City, that most cosmopolitan of cities. Here is a list of nationalities that come to mind: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, England, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Puerto Rico (well, some may argue whether or not this is a nation), Romania, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Texas ...  We do not have an Affirmative Action program officer to recruit minorities; our diversity is achieved through our openness and friendliness.

People join the Central Park Track Club for a variety of reasons, most of them honorable:- they want to get in shape, they want to improve their running, they want to humiliate others, they want to be humiliated by others, they enjoy the experience of team competition, they want to meet men, they want to meet women, they want to be in Peyton Place, they are frustrated in life, they have no other life, ... Who knows? Who cares? Just put on your running shoes and head for the park already!

CENTRAL PARK TRACK CLUB EXECUTIVE BOARD

Each person on the CPTC Executive Board can have two types of roles. The first is as a representative of a particular running segment of the club (e.g. Men's Open Team Rep) and the second is as someone responsible for a particular administrative function of the club (e.g. Treasurer).

The functions of the representative role are as follows:

• to provide all CPTC members with someone from their particular grouping (e.g. Open Men) with someone on the CPTC Executive Board with whom to discuss any particular concerns, suggestions or training issues.
• to help in co-ordinating teams for races and relays.
• to help in organizing specific training meetings, training weekends and social events to help build team spirit.

Men's Open Team Reps — Kevin Arlyck, Jonathan Calvey, James McQuade, Chrisopher Solarz
Women's Open Team Rep — Andrea Costella
Men's Masters Team Rep — Michael Rennock
Women's Masters Team Rep — Sue Pearsall
Middle-Distance Reps — Devon Martin, Kate Irvin
Mens' Masters Track Rep — Sid Howard
Sprinter's Rep — Noah Perlis

Please take note of your representative(s) and introduce yourself to them if you are not yet acquainted.

The administrative roles (and the person filling it) are as follows:

ALAN RUBEN — President — Responsible for the smooth running of CPTC.

STACY CREAMER — Vice-President/Indoor Track Administrator — To assist the president in the smooth running of CPTC. Responsible for the processing of new member applications.

RICHARD KIXMILLER — Treasurer — Responsible for the finances of CPTC.

SARAH GROSS — Secretary — Responsible for notifying members of the CPTC Executive Board of meetings, and production of agendas and minutes. Responsible for maintaining the roster of CPTC members.