Great Competitive Moments

In the history of the Central Park Track Club, there are some singular moments of competitiveness that are forever etched into the collective consciousness.

• Bagel 10K Run (February 21, 1993): On a cold winter's day, Ricardo Granados and Rick Shaver sprinted towards the finish line in an exciting duel to the death. This great moment was captured on video and later shown to the hundreds of post-race breakfast attendees, who saw Ricardo dove for the line to finish ahead of his teammate. Final times: Ricardo Granados at 34:37, ahead of Rick Shaver at the same 34:37. Given the incongruity of the situation, Rick Shaver has had to live under a cloud of suspicion that he shoved and/or tripped Ricardo. The videotape evidence was inconclusive on this issue. Ricardo and Rick Shaver finished 4th and 5th on the team and their valiant efforts did not change the team score.

• Super Bowl 5K (January 31st, 1993): Every one of us is keenly aware that the first five finishers in NYRRC races score for the team. A finish within the top five catapults the club member into that ultimate pantheon of heroes: the annual Casey Yamazaki's EXCEL spreadsheet of club members who scored for the team that year (This writer is proud to say that the climax of his running career was an appearance in the aforementioned spreadsheet, courtesy of a fifth-place finish on a third-place team in a 5K race on a Sunday when he happened to tumble out of bed and decided to run a race for lack of anything else better to do).
  
  On a cold Sunday morning, several Central Park Track Club runners gathered to seek higher glory. At the starting time, the two mathematical geniuses Jud Santos and Casey Yamazaki did some quick mental evaluations:- there were four CPTC runners in the UNTOUCHABLE class --- Mike Trunkes (the club legend who was visiting from Colorado), Tony Ruiz (former high school cross-country champion and the pride of Puerto Rico), Peter Allen (one of the best conditioned individuals around) and Peter Downes (one of the toughest guys on the team). Jud and Casey looked at each other and stopped smiling:- those four would surely finish 1-2-3-4 and there was only one open spot left! This was serious business.

  A courageous Jud took the race out as hard as he could, and tried to keep his rival out of sight and mind. But as the finish line came into sight, the cheers from onlooking teammates --- "GO JUD! ... GO CASEY!" --- became more and more closely spaced. The Tokyo Terror was gaining on him! With one last supreme effort, Jud flew at the finish line and then collapsed in a heap. Alleluia! Praise the Lord! Jud was sure that he was ahead by a couple of inches (as virile men, or so they thought, they like to compare themselves by inches). Without a camera at the finish, we will never know for sure. Whatever the truth may be, the wily Casey continued to run through the finishing chute and turned in his bar code quickly. Final OFFICIAL time: Casey Yamazaki at 17:19, ahead of Jud Santos at the same 17:19. Remember Pearl Harbor!?

  As projected, Casey and Jud finished 5th/6th (or 6th/5th, according to the other version). The team won the race, although the titanic Casey-Jud struggle did not change anything. Being the perfect sportsman, Casey gave Jud the winner's medal, which was the standard 50¢ plastic Woolworth's toypiece pinned to a raggedy red-blue-white ribbon. For many moons afterwards, Jud and Casey were not on speaking terms on account of this episode, although they eventually grew up, got real lives (to wit, girlfriends) and learned to tolerate each other.

  

  The inseparable ones, Jud & Casey, at the 1997 Brooklyn Half Marathon

  DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN: The Lesbian & Gay Pride 5 Miler of 1997 was another team-scoring race. At the start, a quick appraisal would suggest that Roane Carey, Alan Ruben and Peter Allen were the team leaders, with the two remaining spots being open. For a while, Jud Santos was running fourth for the team, until he was successively passed by Ramon Bermo and Geoff Buchan. The dispirited Jud suffered the final ignominy of being passed in the final 50 meters by ... you guessed it ... Casey Yamazaki! As always, The Great Yamazaki was gracious when triumphant, saying "You just happened to be there and I had to do it." No comments came from the normally verbose Jud (No, he did not say, "I want his head on a stick" this time). By the way, those two finished 45th and 46th overall (6th and 7th on the team) in the identical time of 28:27. In addition, Jud had the distinction of finishing 1 second ahead of Steve Schallenkamp (Westchester Track Club), an arch-rival of our coach George Wisniewski in the good old days.

  At the 1998 Frostbite Ten Miler (January 10, 1998), Jud Santos was comfortably in fourth place for the team and Casey Yamazaki was not even in the race. As Jud came into the home stretch, there was not a soul within 30 meters of him. Although he could have relaxed and cruised in, he put in maximum effort. What was he going for? Deep inside his head, he knew that the magic time to beat was Casey Yamazaki's PR of 57:39 set in 12/3/94 (yes, Jud checks Casey's PR before he leaves his house for every race)! Alas, Jud came up one second short. So even if his rival was absent, Jud was still nudged out by a nose (or whatever body part).
  
  At the 1998 Turkey Classic, Jud Santos finished seventh in his age group and Casey Yamazaki stayed home.  Clear victory?  No.   The overall female winner was Yumi Ogita, the wife of Casey Yamazaki.  On the next Tuesday, Eddie Coyle wrote in the Daily News: "Manhattanite Yumi Ogita, 37, top woman who ran a personal best of 29:49, made a last-minute decision to run the race.  She had planned to do the Philadelphia marathon.  'I woke up tired.  My daughter, Erika, 1 year old next month, was restless and had me up a good part of the night.' Her husband, Casey Yamazaki, also a runner, stayed home with Erika."  So Jud may have won a cheap medal, but Casey won the media war.

• Norwegian Festival 5K (October 14, 1995): On a nice autumnal day, the two legendary women runners Sylvie Kimché and Mary V. Rosado sailed off in this race. Sylvie was gliding towards a comfortable finish when, surprise!, teammate Mary nipped her from behind by an inch on the last step. Final times: Mary V. Rosado at 20:02, ahead of Sylvie Kimché at the same 20:02. These two finished 5-6 overall in the race, 1-2 in their age group and 1-2 on the team. (By the way, the Central Park Track Club women's team placed first with 21 points, which was 268 points ahead of the second-place team.)

The dueling masters

• Snowflake Four Miler (February 13th, 1994): An under-trained, out-of-shape Scott Kelly revealed his race plan during the pre-race rituals, "I am going to try to keep Nathan in my sight. As long as I can maintain contact with half a mile to go, I am confident that I can outkick him. I will do it even if it kills me." Scott was able to follow his race plan perfectly, with even some to spare at the end. Final times: Scott Kelly at 25:27 and Nathan Klejman 25:44. (Of course, the fact that Scott and Nathan finished 15th and 16th on the team is irrelevant.)
  
  Apparently, Scott got too smug and complacent after this great feat. Two weeks later, he was annihilated by Nathan in the Bagel 10K Run. Final times: Nathan Klejman at 39:59 and Scott Kelly at 42:31. Given his conditioning, Scott was unable to maintain contact over the longer distance. (By the way, if you have to know, Nathan and Scott finished 11th and 12th for the team this time).

• CPTC Track Workout (October 22, 1996): At the last East 6th Street workout of 1996, the last set was a 1000 meter run. Becky Chan and Anna Coatsworth were leading their group. When they espied a male fellow member coming up from behind, Becky yelled to Anna, "Don't let him pass!" When he drew even to them, Becky yelled, "Hold him off!" When he passed them, Beck yelled, "Go catch him, Anna. You can do it! You can do it!" What team support! What camaraderie! What spirit! (By the way, the fact that this was just another workout is irrelevant.)

But wait a minute here!!! All these magnificent sagas of competitive spirit were all about CPTC teammates running each other into the ground when the outcomes were completely immaterial! Hey, if you really have to vent out all that aggression and hostility, you should do it against other teams in competition:--- for example, you can go and drop-kick a New York Harrier, skin a Westchester Puma, deport a West Side Runner, urinate on a Moving Comforter, or deflate a New York Flyer. The internecine rivalry has got to stop!!!

Yet if we think hard enough, we would recognize that these intra-mural rivalries are much more memorable, since we are familiar with all of the participants. You don't think so? Take this quick quiz:- When Candy ("The Franchise") Strobach set the course record of 22:01 in 1989 for the Snowflake Four Miler, whom did she beat? I bet you don't know! Click here for the answer.

We can only hope that the legendary events listed here will inspire all of us to greater heights!