1998 Fred Lebow Classic 5 Miler

Pre-Race Activities

Photo 1: Stacy Creamer demonstrates how to loosen up with stretching exercises.
Photo 2: Laura Miller looks totally astonished by what Stacy Creamer is telling her. Hey, what is the secret here? Inquiring minds want to know.
Photo 3: As the team representative (whip?), Stacy Creamer has to look around and count heads. Well, nobody said that the job was all fun. Check out those neon-green day-glo gloves! But couldn't she have neon-orange instead?
Photo 4: Ah, Stacy Creamer has located another club member, Audrey Kingsley, and they wave at the ubiquitous spying eye. The most urgent question is: Where is Audrey's orange color? The world will find out when the race starts.
Photo 5: Phil Vasquez is checking his equipment. Just as important as stretching is making sure that the shoe laces are tied properly.
Photo 6: Sylvie Kimché is doing some short sprints to warm up. The most interesting part of this photograph is the race number that our club president has --- the dreaded 666! Does that make the Central Park Track Club a satanic cult?
Photo 7: Jackie Cortes and Alayne Adams are among the crowd at the starting line. The blur at the bottom of the page comes from Jackie's attempted punch at the irksome camera.

West 92nd Street (top of hill, and hence the stressed looks)

Photo 11: The amazing Charlie Stark runs with his eyes closed!
Photo 12: Phil Vasquez has a grim stoic look
Photo 13: Our "Awesome Threesome" have very different levels of intensity. On the left, Stacy Creamer has that narrow-eyed, open-mouthed ferocity; in the middle, Jackie Cortes is looking over her shoulder for that ever-present Stacy; on the right, Alayne Adams looks around and enjoys the scenery on her Sunday stroll in the park.
Photo 14: Sarah Gross is (unintentionally?) running with someone advertising Kenny.
Photo 15: Laura Miller runs in the middle of a group of men.

East 87th Street (less than 1/4 mile to the finish)

Photo 21: Charlie Stark may look like he is running hard, but he is actually too busy checking out the woman just in front of him. Before you folks howl to defend him, we must point out that we did not make this up (in fact, we never make anything up), because he said so himself.
Photo 22: New member Alayne Adams was probably quite surprised to find a photographer cheering for her in her first club race. She comes to the Central Park Track Club with some excellent running credentials(including a 2:48:56 Boston Marathon in 1996).
Photo 23: Phil Vasquez looks very relieved that this thing is coming to an end.
Photo 24: Jackie Cortes is running so fast past the camera that this picture looks like it has been enhanced with special art effects.
Photo 25: Doug Kabbash is running without club uniform --- all black and no orange. Hey, Doug, don't you realize this costs you multiple photo opportunities? The only reason that you even made it here is because of the person in the background doing the two-step dance, John Gleason.
Photo 26: Audrey Kingsley is finally photographed in orange (or something close) for the first time.
Photo 27: Sarah Gross is sprinting towards the finish. We wonder what the running analyst would have to say about her form? Her legs are crossing over, and her arms are swinging sideways. Oh, dear! It is a wonder that she hasn't fallen over!

Post-Race Activities

Photo 31: Sarah Gross has a look of exasperation. Not only does she have to pose for this photographer, but her dad is also clicking away madly with his camera. This was probably tougher than the race itself. Meanwhile, in the background, Randy Ehrlich (in purple) is talking to Audrey Kingsley.
Photo 32: Charlie Stark is enjoying the principal post-race benefit offered by the race organizers --- a cup of water.
Photo 33: Jackie Cortes, Alayne Adams and Sylvie Kimché are chatting. The first two are totally oblivious, but Sylvie is casting a wary eye on the cameraperson.
Photo 34: This is a group photo (all women and no men --- after all, this was the scoring race for the women): (top row, left to right) Sylvie Kimché, Alayne Adams, Laura Miller, Audrey Kingsley, Aubin Sullivan; (bottom row, left to right): Jackie Cortes, Stacy Creamer, Sarah Gross. You have the honor of looking at the team that finished in first place! The apparent lack of attention from the people is not necessarily due to short attention spans, but because Sarah's dad was also taking photos and people did not know which camera to look at.
Photo 35: Hello!! Okay, people, let's try again. Look over here and say "Cheese"! Yes! This is a slightly better group portrait, but some people are still looking away (her dad was understandably more important for Sarah) . But Sarah is still clinging on to the garbage receptacle for dear life!
Photo 36: Stacy Creamer, Jackie Cortes and Sarah Gross are chatting. This was a nice, sunny and warm morning, quite unusual for a winter race. Two years ago, this same race took place during the so-called blizzard of the century, and Suzanne Rohr and Laura Miller finished 1-3. Behind Jackie, Jiyon Lee is having a conversation with Sylvie Kimché.
Photo 37: Laura Miller and Stacy Creamer are followed by the camera wherever they go. Privacy? What privacy?
Photo 38: The camera documents every little act. Here is Audrey Kingsley picking up her bag from the baggage check area. Nothing is too trivial or insignificant to record.
Photo 39: Bola Awofeso is on his bicycle today. The greater significance of this photograph is the foot at the bottom right-hand corner, because it belongs to the very mediagenic Tyronne Culpepper. As this was Tyronne's only photo appearance of the day, we have to make sure that he receives proper credit. Without this mention, Stacy Creamer would have creamed Tyronne by a score of 9-0 in terms of photo appearances on this outing of the year.

Triathlete Section

This is in the middle of the winter, so that the triathletes have nothing else to do except run. How depressing it must be for them! After the race, they congregate in their own little corner and complain about the weather.

Photo 41: Ross Galitsky did not run this race, because he said that he was 'fat and lazy' after a two-week vacation. Look at the photo and judge for yourself. Fat? Not really. Lazy? Surely.

Photo 42: Aubin Sullivan caught unawares by the photographer. Can you name that expression?
Photo 43: Most people were willing to pose (as Ross did) for the camera; or, at least, did not object to being photographed (as Aubin did). But Scott Willett tried his best to avoid the inevitable. Here is the picture of him trying to hide behind his cap. There is a faint hint of a smirk underneath because he thinks that he has the upper hand.
Photo 44: But Scott Willett could not defend himself against a rear attack. Here is a picture of the back of his head. Can you count the number of hairs he has on his neck? Scott has to realize that we will not hesitate to publish photographs of everything and anything, and his childish behavior merely makes it worse for him.

Bicyclist/Tricyclist Section

Photo 31 After finding out that the triathletes got their own section on this page, Sarah Gross demanded equal rights because she rides a bicycle. Unfortunately, we have no photos of her bicycle. So instead we repeat this picture and ask you to imagine the following photograph:- once upon a time, a 4-year-old Sarah stood next to a red tricycle with the same look of exasperation because she did not want to be photographed. Evidently, she has a lifetime's practice with this particular look ...