Welcome to my party!

SETUP PARTY

• Photo 01:  Joey Ruben helped out with the decoration by rolling out streamers.
• Photo 02:  Eve Kaplan directs her assistants Gordon Bakoulis and Toby Tanser.  Toby says, "I'll always help to put the food out."
• Photo 03:  This foreign worker has a temporary work permit issued by our director Eve Kaplan for today
• Photo 04:  Rob Zand signs on the dotted line to commit to run in the Vermont City Marathon relay next year.  He did hesitate for a moment on one of the items --- "I'll be 31 by that time!  What a strange thought!"
• Photo 05:  Joey Ruben said, "No, mom.  I was not the one who almost burnt the house down."  Yes, indeed, we can testify that it was someone else
• Photo 06:  Gordon Bakoulis says, "Oh, Sammy, you're on Candid Camera."
• Photo 07:  Tony Ruiz is a nervous wreck --- "Do I have an award plaque for everyone on my list?"

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION HALL

• Photo 11:  This is a collection of Central Park Track Club team singlets dating from 1972 taken from the David Blackstone collection.  Even a 12-year team veteran had to say, "I'm not old enough to have seen them."
• Photo 12:  Moving onto the more contemporary editions of the team singlets with contribution from the Frank Handelman collection.

FEEDING FRENZY

• Photo 13:  Sammy Ruben announces, "It's dinner time for me."
• Photo 14:  Toby Tanser eats.
• Photo 15:  Toby Tanser eats some more.  According to the etiquette critic Ross Galitsky, "Toby is so British!  He uses knife and fork so properly!"
• Photo 16:  Ross Galitsky has no comments on this photo, since auto-crticisim has gone out of fashion with Mao Tse-tung. 

PRESIDENTIAL QUIZ AWARD

1.  Name the veteran CPTC member who is married to the first husband of Hadassah Lieberman,  Joe Lieberman's wife?

2. Which presidential candidate recently cancelled a meeting with a former top Central Park Track Club 10k and marathon runner?

For question 1, the winning entry came from Rob Zand:

Hadassah Lieberman's first husband, Rabbi Gordon Tucker, is a former rabbinical school dean at the Conservative movement's Jewish Theological Seminary and now a congregational rabbi in suburban New York.  Her son from that marriage, Ethan, is a third-year rabbinical student and doctoral candidate at JTS.  Ariella Miriam Migdal married Ethan Moses Tucker on May 30, 1999, at Congregation Beth Shalom in Seattle. The groom is Lieberman's stepson. His parents are Hadassah and Sen. Joseph Lieberman of New Haven, Conn., and Dr. Amy Cohn and Rabbi Gordon Tucker of New York.  Ariella and Ethan are both currently students in New York.  She has completed her second year at New York University Law School. He is a Wexner Fellow studying at the Jewish Theological Seminary. 

Ergo, my guess is Dr. Amy Cohn.

This detailed and well-researched answer earned him an instantaneous rebuke from the independent judge for this contest: "Don't graduate students have papers to write!?"

For question 2, there was no winning entry.  P.S.  That insult note from Karel Matousek (Czech Republic) does not count as an entry.

AWARDS PRESENTATION

• Margaret Angell, long distance runner award, for a PR of 3:08:12 in Boston and another PR of 3:00:09 in New York

• Toby Tanser, long distance runner award for his New York City Marathon run of 2:26:55 in 31st place (highest finish in club history)

• Craig Plummer, M40-49 sprinter award, for a runner stolen from the long distance runners

• Audrey Kingsley, open female long distance runner award, especially for overcoming injury problems to run another great New York City Marathon

• Richie Borrero, open male long distance runner award, for being reliable to show at the big races.  Also known as a stubborn Puerto Rican over-trainer and who was supposedly not here tonight "because he is probably running another twenty miles hard in the park."  But the coach said, "I love him dearly."

• Tom Hartshorne, M40-49 middle distance runner award

• Alan Ruben, M40-49 distance runner award, for yet another banner year showing the younger runners how this is done

• Stacy Creamer, W40-49 distance runner award, for continuing her dream season in 1999 to this year, with six individual race wins and astonishing us with words like "In answer to your first question, yes, I'm injured and I can't come to workouts.  In answer to your second question, yes, I did win the Brooklyn Biathlon yesterday." 

• Alston Brown, male sprinter award, with special mention for his 60m-200m-400m-800m-relay victories at the MAC indoor championships in additional to numerous  individual titles 

• Rob Zand, best rookie award, collecting personal bests and contributing to the team scoring.  Rob is of course a seasoned runner new to this club, and thus joins the roster of illustrious rookie award winners such as Alayne Adams

• Shula Sarner is a true rookie who is gradually finding and reaching her true potential (as a middle-distance 800m-to-5000m runner, although she does not know it yet).

• Mary Rosado, W50-59 sprinter/middle-distance award

• Graeme Reid, most improved male distance runner, setting PR's race after race and ready to improve some more

• Stephanie Gould, most improved female distance runner, a banner year after deciding to say no to triathlons and concentrate on running this year

• Alston Brown, M50-59 distance runner award.  Yes, the same guy who won the male sprinter award can also run anywhere up to the marathon (2:58 in New York City after an aggressive 1:19 halfway split)

• Shelley Farmer, best open female long distance performance of the year for the 2:54:38 New York City Marathon, achieved 'in spite of being a triathlete'

• Craig Chilton, 'sixth man' award for always being there in team races

• Devon Sargent, best open female sprinter/middle distance runner, for being the most focused and hardworking at workouts and therefore lifting up her teammates, and for organizing a disciplined, detailed training/competitive schedule for the middle-distance runners

• Club Championships male team, best male open performance of the year for the top 12 men in the 3rd place team: Toby Tanser, Jonathan Pillow, Alan Ruben, Richie Borrero, Rob Zand, Michael Rumer, Paul Stuart-Smith, John Scherrer, Craig Chilton, Erik Goetze, Ramon Bermo, Peter Allen.  This was the second time for Toby Tanser to come to the front, but he didn't mind a bit because he went to pick up another beer (see photo).

• Sid Howard, M60-69 middle-distance runner award

• Special Team Award: (Consistency, Persistence, Tenacity, Competition)
  --- Peter Allen  
  --- Stuart Calderwood
  --- Yumi Ogita, 
  --- Toby Tanser 

• Skipper Clark, best field athlete

• Alston Brown, most valuable runner among the sprinters-middle runners, for his series of national champion-class performances

• Toby Tanser, most valuable runner among the distance runners.  The team had 41 individual victories (including biathlons/triathlons), of which Toby personally accounted for 18.  Given that he missed one month this year, he should surpass the team next year unless we send our triathletes to snowshoe races, etc.  Apart from this team, he is the most dominant personality in the local running scene.  Also commended for his weekly e-mail as team cheerleader.

POST AWARDS

• Photo 51:  Harry Morales says, "Please take a picture of the finger that I cut while trying to open a bottle.  I am going to sue someone, but I am not sure whom just yet."  How about Rudi Giuliani?"

• Photo 52:  Urban Athletics sidebar with Toby Tanser, Graeme Reid and Pam Rasulo.  The latter said, "I just might sue you too.  You have no right to print pictures of people in pain."  How about naming Rudi Guiliani in the suit too?

• Photo 53:  Ross Galitsky said, "Don't touch my plate of cream puffs.  They're MINE!"