PRE-RACE POSTURING

• Photo 01: Audrey Kingsley explains to Julie Denney: "These running shoes have been featured the most number of times on the website."  Dear reader, can you recall on which occasions?  Shame on you if you don't know!
• Photo 02: Laura Miller explains to Jane Harris: "I think someone with a monopoly on the camera is watching us."  The statement about monopoly is in fact not true.  Dear reader, do you recall on which occasion did Laura Miller take a photo with this camera?  Shame on you if you don't know!
• Photo 03:  Alan Bautista explains to Laura Miller: "I need you as an witness to the fact that a track runner actually shows up at a road race."   Unfortunately, Alan only came to watch today.  Dear reader, do you recall when was the last road race that Alan Bautista ran in Central Park?  If you can't name that, how about an easier one: When was the last road race that Alan Bautista won in Central Park?  Shame on you if you can't remember that famous moment!
• Photo 05: A quasi-Luca Trovato-quality photo of the very happy Audrey Kingsley and Yves-Marc Courtines.  Dear reader, why are they so happy?  Because they can afford to look happy before the race.  Once the race starts, it will be an emergency ...
• Photo 06: Sandra Scibelli tells us that her computer is not hooked to the Internet.  Well, someone should tell her to find a way of looking at this very pretty picture of her ...

WEST 86th STREET --- 1.9 MILE INTO MEN'S RACE

• Photo 11: Runner-author Toby Tanser is working on his new opus, "Running with a Titanium Plate Inside Your Head."  Dear reader, a close look at his face will tell you this will not help you to win easier.
• Photo 12: Erik Goetze and Richie Borrerro are side by side.  Dear reader, do you spot something that shouldn't be happening?
• Photo 13: Stuart Calderwood's tapering program for this race included a short run on Wednesday --- the Empire State Building Run-Up!
• Photo 14: Ramon Bermo made an attempt to draw Craig Chilton to a fast pace.  Also note the orange colors strung out behind them.
• Photo 15: The next group included Peter Allen, Brian Marchese, Isaya Okwiya and Eric Aldrich.
• Photo 16: Eric Aldrich focused on the people in front.
• Photo 17: Gordon Streeter is in the middle of a pack, but the orange colors do stand out!
• Photo 18: Charlie Stark displayed the characteristic smile of Central Park Track Club runners --- that faint self-conscious look when our camera is on them.  Just hidden from view is Jose LaSalle.
• Photo 19: Another mass display of orange --- Theo Spilka in front, followed by Sid Howard, Michele Tagliati, Jim Olson and Tyronne Culpepper.  In total, there were sixty-two entries from Central Park Track Club today.
• Photo 20: Tyronne Culpepper is in the middle of a vast composition of a mass pack of runners in the race.

EAST 86th STREET --- 3.7 MILES INTO MEN'S RACE

• Photo 21: Runner-author Toby Tanser might be working on another instructional manual, "How to Run Without Training".  Look how hard he is running, resorting to using mental levitation!  Still, we would buy a book from anyone who can run 20:34 for four miles without training.  When is the publication date, Toby?
• Photo 22: Richie Borrero leads the charge of another great display of group running.  He was the second of eight of our runners who ran under 22 minutes today.  Richie's time was 21:21.
• Photo 23: Erik Goetze was next in 21:29
• Photo 24: Ramon Bermo and Stuart Calderwood were next in 21:39 and 21:44 respectively.
• Photo 25: Craig Chilton was immediately behind in 21:45.  He wore a white cap today --- maybe just so his mom couldn't see that he needs a haircut?  Yes, Mrs. Chilton, we can assure you that Craig needs a haircut.
• Photo 26: Eric Aldrich (21:53) in hot pursuit of Peter Allen (21:52).
• Photo 27: Right behind them were Brian Marchese (22:08) and John Kenney (22:10).
• Photo 28: Isaya Okwiya shows us that running is not all fun ... oh, the pain! ...
• Photo 31: Gordon Streeter
• Photo 32: Rick Shaver
• Photo 33: Charlie Stark
• Photo 34: Jose LaSalle
• Photo 35: Jim Olson took a look at this picture and declared it to be a 'death portrait'
• Photo 36: Jerome O'Shaughnessy
• Photo 37: Arthur Cooke 
• Photo 38: Eric Forestier is running with an injury, and was seriously debating if he should even run at all
• Photo 39: Richie Stewart forgot to put his chip on, so he has no official time.  Behind him is George Hirsch.
• Photo 29: Eden Weiss said that he was stressed out from Tuesday track workout when a teammate pressed him to run hard on all the 400m's.
• Photo 30: Doug Kabbash said that he figured out how to run slow.  Well, it seems that the more interesting problem is the opposite one ...

EAST 87th STREET --- 3.8 MILES INTO WOMEN'S RACE

• Photo 51: The team leader today was Margaret Angell in a time of 23:47 for 5th place overall.  On Thursday, she professed to being nervous about running her first club race.  Nervous?  What?  Hey, this is not exactly an ECAC or Ivy League championship meet, and we are a no-pressure club.  It turned out for the best, didn't it?
• Photo 52: Sarah Gross runs on the 'wrong' side of the road.
• Photo 53: Sandra Olivo tries to run through a forest of bigger, taller and slower men.
• Photo 54: Mary Rosado is also surrounded by a forest.
• Photo 55: Ana Echeverri with Jane Harris in the background.

MISSING PHOTOS

• The many fans of Audrey Kingsley, Stacy Creamer, Kim Mannen, Eve Kaplan and company are undoubtedly disappointed not to find pictures of them in the race today.  Why not?  On this day, the men started out at 930am and the women started out at (supposedly) 940am.  The idea of a separate start in this popular race was to permit the leading women to see each other whereas they might be shielded from each other in a mixed race.  Unfortunately,  the leading women were passing the slower men just less than one mile into the race.  From there on, it was an obstacle race, at times impassable like the Corporate Challenge races all over again.  So many of our women were shielded from our photographers.
   
  The most important point here is not about missed photo opportunities.  We have over 3,000 photographs on this website already, and we could do without a couple more.  The big problem was that it was dangerous out there!  According to eyewitnesses, somewhere near the 1-1/4 mile mark, a big tall man (race bib #1515) refused to let the women pass, elbowed Kim Mannen (not just to defend his personal space, but with malicious intent to hurt --- Kim had a bruise mark to show) and shoved Audrey Kingsley onto the grass.  So, on this day, the women still cannot see each other in the race and they were running into dangerous situations when they try to go through the slower men.  In the future, we suggest that either the women's race start later, or else they start together so that the women could be running with men who run at the same pace.  Please!  Someone is going to get hurt otherwise!
  
  The only benefit to the Central Park Track Club was that the course record of 22:01 set by our Candace Strobach is still safe for another year.  The winner of today's race was credited with 22:02, undoubtedly having lost many seconds due to the congestion.

AWARDS CEREMONY

• Photo 71: The awards were handed out in reverse order, so Carol Tyler was our first winner (2nd place W60-64).
• Photo 73: When Sid Howard picked up his 1st place M60-64, the crowd broke out with a "Happy Birthday" chorus.  The very happy Sid said, with a tinge of regret, "Damn, unfortunately it will be another year before the next one."
• Photo 72: Jim Olson picks up his 3rd place M55-59 award.  He was about 20 seconds behind second place.  In three weeks' time, he will move into M60-64, where the first place finisher today was Sid Howard at 30 seconds ahead.  It doesn't get easier.
• Photo 74: Sandra Olivo is Miss Disco Queen with her trophy.  She was the loudest cheerleader (and she was loud!) early on and was in fact told, like a schoolgirl, to 'shut up.'
• Photo 75: Seeing all the fun that everybody else is having, Stacy Creamer walks up to Al Goldstein and asks, "Can I have a trophy too?  Please?  Pretty please?"
• Photo 76: Al Goldstein checks his list and tells Stacy, "Since you were second W40-44, you've earned one."
• Photo 77: Margaret Angell looks at Audrey Kingsley and wonders, "Why is Audrey smiling so strangely?"  That is because the media-savvy Audrey knows that there is a camera homing in on Margaret and her 3rd place W20-29 trophy.
• Photo 78: Stuart Calderwood says, "I'll turn around, reach back with my hand and pick an award."
• Photo 79: Toby Tanser picks up his third-place age-group award.
• Photo 80: Coach Tony Ruiz picks up the second-place open men's team medals.  This must be very gratifying, especially considering that we were missing our #1, #2 and #5 runners from the Gridiron 5K a month ago.
• Photo 81: Group photo of the second-place open men's team --- Toby Tanser, Tony Ruiz, Ramon Bermo, Stuart Calderwood, Richie Borrero, Erik Goetze.  These days, five of these guys are running fast and one is slow as a tortoise.  If you don't know who that one is, look at the photo carefully!  (technical note: we didn't plan it that way --- it was divine intervention)

UNCLASSIFIED

• Photo 91: A visitor from Germany, Stefan Minten, was so impressed by our team jacket that he asked Ramon Bermo to pose next to him.
• Photo 92: When Stefan found out that Ramon had finished ninth in the Empire State Building Run-Up, he immediately invited Ramon to do another vertical race in Germany.

THE PARLOR

After the race, over forty Central Park Track Club members and friends were present at The Parlor (West 86th Street and Broadway).  Traditionally, the Snowflake race is the date for our winter get-together.  Today, it was slightly more structured with short speeches from some people.

• Photo 96: John Kenney pointed out that, this being New York City, running really ranks lower in life priorities than family life and job responsibilities.  Thus, the notion of sacrificing your time and physical well-being for the 'team' would seem pretty preposterous.  But that doesn't mean that everyone should just drift from one workout to the next in a desultory, listless fashion . This club does provide a formal structure for people to set goals, train accordingly and achieve them.  It is up to the individuals to work with the coaches and their teammates to move forward.
• Photo 97: Tony Ruiz remarked that today's race with a turnout of 62 racers, a great piece of pack running for the men and the second place open men's team were very gratifying to him.  More generally, he pointed out that this is a large club of over 200 members.  However, he learned from his mentor and predecessor George Wisniewski that people have to be coached according to their individual needs and capabilities.  So while he can set up training programs for people who are preparing for major races such as the Boston Marathon or the New York City Marathon, he encourages people to talk to him or other team members (such as Stuart Calderwood).
• Photo 98: Stuart Calderwood began by praising Toby Tanser for coming out today to run excellently without serious training and ended by point to the inspirational example of Alayne Adams, who is working on the third leg of her mile relay team.  In between, he had some basic suggestions --- there was the notion of setting up a Saturday morning workout, comprising of some short sprints to work on form and then a slow long run; and there was also the idea of not being subjugated to the NYRRC's year-round racing schedule and actually taking some extended time off (like the Kenyans do!).