1998 Snowflake Run

PRE-RACE ACTIVITIES

Photo 1: Tony Ruiz has his game face on. I would not want to mess with this man.
Photo 2: For this photo of Bola Awofeso, we were particularly impressed with how wonderfully his clothing colors mesh with the greenery in the back.
Photo 3: Ramon Bermo shows the group how to change shoes. If you think that this is a trivial matter, you should check with Alayne Adams. She brought extra shoes in a bag, and when she took them out, she found that she had two left ones.
Photo 4: John Taylor offers a shoulder for a teammate to lean on. Yes, your teammates are good for something once in a while.
Photo 5: Ramon Bermo has a patent on this special warm-up exercise --- hop on one foot while taking the long pants off. We do not recommend that you try this on your own, as you may sustain serious injuries.
Photo 6: The race was delayed and rescheduled repeatedly. There was nothing to do but stand around and talk, as Audrey Kingsley, Alayne Adams and Sylvie Kimché are doing.
Photo 7: Of course, an alternative would be to pose cooperatively with the web photographer, as Sarah Gross does here.
Photo 8: This is the very familiar sight of Stacy ("Elastic Woman") Creamer doing her stretching exercises.
Photo 9: Ross Galitksy is going through an animated explanation with Fasil Yilma. What seems to be the problem? Well, as you can see, Ross has no race bib. He claimed that he left it at home, but we are inclined to think that he was too cheap. He promised to send documentary evidence, but we have not seen anything so far. Ross ran the race without a number, and he wants to tell you that he ran right next to Thomas Pennell and he should therefore be credited with the same time. Since Thomas was nowhere listed in the NYRRC results, the mystery deepens, as expected with anything associated with the Ross Galitsky.
Photo 10: Marty Stanton is a permanent fixture at the Snow Flake Run over the years, with his video camera. Here, he is recording the back of the head of Tim Robinson. We are glad that he shares our priorities too.
Photo 11: Candy Strobach, record holder for the Snow Flake Run (22:01), is here with her entire family to support the team. Her son Eric is in the stroller, and her husband is that annoying cameraman Marty.
Photo 12: Candy Strobach chats with unaffiliated local elite runner Barbara Remmers.
Photo 13: Somebody in a Central Park Track Club uniform is committing a misdemeanor among the bushes next to the roadway. Quick, where are the cops? This is a major offense against the quality of life in this city.
Photo 14: Lucy White, Julie Denney and Thomas Pennell say hello to a friend.
Photo 15: Lucy White wonders where everybody else get their club uniforms, because she has yet to get one after being with the club for years.
Photo 16: Larry Glazer leans over to hear Tim Robinson's words of wisdom.
Photo 17: Self-described professional photographer Laura Miller wanted to get into the act. So here is the picture that she took of two non-racers who are currently out with injuries, using our digital camera. Well, Laura, here are some hints: (1) never shoot into the sun because of refraction; (2) please get the lens cleaned first!
Photo 21: Marty Stanton asserts the superiority of his videocamera over our digital camera. He said, "I've got sound!" Well, here is another person who misunderstands the power structure in media --- it is not what you have to say, it is where you publish it. Marty, the only ones who will get to listen to those sounds are just you, your wife and your kid.
Photo 22: Norman Goluskin jogged by to watch the race start. He said that he was still sore from the 60K race last week, but that it was certainly an experience to remember.
Photo 23: Audrey Kingsley got brand new Asics Magic Gel Racers, and hoped that they would carry her faster.
Photo 24: Stacy Creamer and Alayne Adams are chatting in the front row of the start line. In front of them is Jean Chodnicki from the Warren Street Athletic Club.
Photo 25: Audrey Kingsley and Laura Miller both have bright, bright orange tops.

MEN'S RACE, 400m to Finish

Photo 31: Here is the man from Italy, Carmine Petracca. He is one of the few people who ever thanked us in person for posting his picture on the web. The rest of the world seemed to be much less articulate, and typically react only with groans, moans and facial contortions. (Addendum: Sorry, I was wrong. Someone did say, "I can't believe you did that to me.")
Photo 32: Ramon Bermo heads towards the finish line. Somewhere behind him, just a few measly seconds behind, is Jud Santos. Jud would finish sixth on the team, and spent the rest of the morning muttering, "I am useless. I am useless. I am useless." Yes, Jud, that is what you are. I mean, your archrival Casey Yamazaki was not even in the race. And so what if you were sick this week? So was everybody else. Maybe the problem here is your pre-race meal --- whereas you had been doing well with your Spam (tm)/polish sausage/knackwurst superman meals over the past few weeks, this time you had a vegetarian meal at that yuppie place Zenith instead. We recommend that you switch back to some wholesome food for your next race!
Photo 33: Charlie Stark and Victor Osayi are neck to neck. Hey, guys, you are on the same team. You don't have to kill each other. Victor would finish one second ahead of Charlie, but both were edged by another teammate Randy Ehrlich (not in picture) credited with the same time as Victor.
Photo 34: This is a marvelous picture of Rick Shaver. (No! We are not being facetious!) This picture shows what serious running is all about.
Photo 35: Tyronne Culpepper had another 'off' race. Whilst this was a whopping PR given his lack of significant previous 4 Milers, he should have done better based on his other recent forays at other distances. His built-in excuse was that this was not a 400m sprint, like his famous Millrose relay leg.
Photo 36: Edwin Fajardo came up to us afterwards and told us that he is now engaged. He proposed to Janice Lyons on an airplane en route to Barbados. He is obviously on cloud nine now. So are his partying days over?
Photo 37: Sid Howard keeps the sprint lively too.
Photo 38: Phil Vasquez must have been running the Snow Flake Run for as long as we can remember.
Photo 39: Bola Awofeso said that he was disgusted with his performance, because he was even slower than last year. Our recommendation is for him to get off that bicycling thing if he wants to be a real runner (unless he wants to be Ross Galitsky).
Photo 40: And here comes Frank Schneiger!

WOMEN'S FINISH, 400m TO THE FINISH

Photo 44: Alayne Adams was our first finisher. This is only her second race in the park, and she had to endure any number of people offering her pacing strategies and advice this week. She was happy with her race time (23:30), which exceeded her expectations.
Photo 45: This is our Air Creamer, completely airborne.
Photo 46: Audrey Kingsley commits a cardinal sin: looking at an opponent rather than concentrating on her own race. Audrey, just look straight ahead and make believe that this is just two laps left at The Armory track! Still, Audrey set a PR in this race for herself. For the past few months, Audrey has been continuously criticized by this web site for not wearing orange. For this special occasion, she borrowed an orange t-shirt from Jud Santos. For this reason, Jud claims FULL CREDIT for her t-shirt-enhanced PR-setting performance.
Photo 47: Sarah Gross had a bout of food poisoning earlier, and therefore did not have any great expectations for this race. As a professional researcher of facts, even though this was a PR for her, the only thing that stuck on her mind afterwards was that she ran this race at a pace that was slower than her best 5-miler race. Sarah, if it makes you feel any better, you should note that my fastest times ever for anything between 5 miles and 13.1 miles were all set in the same half-marathon; it goes without say that I have been very unhappy ever since, much more so than you are now.
Photo 48: Sylvie Kimché is stalking Julie Denney. In fact, Sylvie would finish one second ahead of Julie, who is yet another person who had been nursing (sorry!) a cold. Sylvie was pushed by one Jud Santos yelling, "Sylvie, you are the quartermiler and Julie is a triathelete! You should be able to catch her!"
Photo 49: Mary Rosado is on the first leg of a very busy schedule: the race in the morning, the club party at A.J. Gordon's afterwards, her mom's birthday in the afternoon, and the NYRRC Club Night tonight. Her day started early with a 7am reminder phone call from Sid Howard to get herself down to the race.
Photo 50: Laura Miller ran without gloves on this cold morning. She had a pair of gloves with her at the start, and then saw the poor photographer's gloveless trembling hands. So she was good enough to offer her own gloves in return for a photo op. That was a fair trade.
Photo 51:Diane Lebowitz looks dreamy in this dimly lit photograph.

POST-RACE ACTIVITIES

Photo 42: Here is the single most important photograph of the day. From left to right, we have Ross Galitsky, Tegla Laroupe (New York City Marathon winner), Bola Awofeso and Tony Ruiz. These guys were really excited when they spotted her and they rushed around to look for a photographer. So we now have proof that these guys had been in the presence of real running talent once in their lifetimes.
Photo 43: Here is a family photo of Isabella, Tracy and Michele Tagliati. Isabela is blithely oblivious of the excitement of the race. Michele ran another PR (23:56 for four miles, sub-6 minute/mile pace). This one was very easy, he said, because all he had to do was to follow Rick Shaver.
Photo 61: Jud Santos laughed as Larry Glazer explained that the only reason that he came to the race was to get his picture taken and posted on the web.
Photo 62: Old friends Frank Schneiger, Betty Marolla and Irene Jackson catch up to date with each other.
Photo 63: Julie Denney has a perplexed expression. That is not surprising when you consider the fact that she is listening to Ross Galitsky. Who wouldn't be perplexed?
Photo 64: Why is Sarah Gross pursing her lips?
Photo 65: Not only does Sid Howard keep the jog alive, but he can also carry an animated conversation.
Photo 66: Mike Garland is someone who really knows how to pose for the camera. The person in this photograph obviously comes through with intelligence and wit!
Photo 67: Ah! We have Marty Stanton quite defenseless and unable to counterattack with his video camera, because he has his hands full. But he was a good sport, and he told Eric, "Look at the camera and smile. You will be on the Internet!" He was right about that.
Photo 68: Will someone please help Audrey Kingsley sort out whatever is in her bag?
Photo 69: As our parting shot, here is the obligatory photo of someone at the baggage claim area. This time, the victim was Jud Santos.

Postscript: There were more photographs than usual this time, for several reasons: the race was delayed, there were separate races for men and women, and there were more team members out there. Still, we have not published everything that we took. To be more precise, we have withheld some photos of people with their pants down, people with their shirts off, people squatting in the bushes, ... Well, you know who you are and your day of reckoning will come soon enough. Meanwhile, keep checking Club News page every week for the new weekly photos.

POST-RACE PARTY (A.J. Gordon's, 1pm-5pm)

First of all, this was the time to meet the second-generation Central Park Track Club people: Erika Ogita-Yamazaki, Joey Ruben and Eric Stanton.
Rich Joseph will officially become a Taconic Road Runners Club member from now on. Rich, you will always be one of our favorites ... just make sure you don't get in our way!
The webmaster apologizes for not being able to cover this major event, since the entire staff (of one) was down with a cold and the last thing these people want to do is to be in close proximity to a coughing, sneezing, germ-spraying machine.