PFALZ POINT CHALLENGE TRAIL RACE, New Paltz, NY (September 27th, 1998)

Our Global Surveillance System (TM) at the Mohonk Preserve spotted the following people: Scott Willett, J.P. Cheuvront, Ross Galitsky, Aubin Sullivan and Norman Goluskin.  Although they pretended to be enjoying the beautiful views of the Catskills, the Shawangunk Mountains and the Wallkill River Valley, they were actually running a trail race (the distance is variously described as between 9 and 11 miles).  J.P. Cheuvront even worked hard to grab third place overall, first place in his age group.  Why did he try so hard?   What else?  $$$$$$$!  He won $25!   Norman Goluskin finished first in his age group, and also won $25!   For tax purposes, we note that these are gift certificates, not cash prizes.

LIBERTY WATERFRONT HALF MARATHON, Jersey City, NJ (September 27th, 1998)

• Carmine's race summary: "It was hot and humid.  I died after three miles."

PHILADELPHIA DISTANCE RUN, Philadelphia,  PA (September 27th, 1998)

Hot and humid.  The race was ran under the 'red flag' condition.

MEN

• Rick Shaver was not listed in the official database.  But since this is the slowest half-marathon that he can remember running, he is not especially anxious to have it etched in stone.
• Tyronne Culpepper ran through the first mile in 6:10 and then determined that this was not going to be his day.  So he slowed down for a training run instead.
• What was Ramon Bermo running a 1:32 half marathon?  As the coach of NYU Running Club, he had the responsibility of seeing to his runners.  We note that NYU's Christine Dunnery finished in 1:32:09, 43rd place female, 7th place age group.
• Thomas Pennell would like to file a complaint to the Uniform Committee over the chafing that he suffered from the team singlet.
• At the Tuesday workout, Karel Matousek said that he did not want to report his time.  Well, he did not have to.  People were passing around a copy of this page, in which his time was listed as 1:49:53.  Coach Tony Ruiz asked (without any hint of sarcasm, of course): "Was that a personal record?"  Karel could only say: "Some people should get a life!"

WOMEN

• Open Men Team: CPTC, 4th in a time of 3:51:11 (Alan Ruben 1:14:20, Peter Allen 1:18:02, Hank Berkowitz 1:18:49)
• Open Mixed Team: CPTC, 4th in a time of 4:57:16 (Thomas Pennell 1:31:19, Julie Denney 1:35:04, Karel Matousek 1:49:53)

FRED LEBOW CROSS-COUNTRY 5K, Van Cortlandt Park, NY (September 27th, 1998)

MEN

WOMEN

Preliminary Report (from our Global Surveillance System (TM)) before official results were released:

The overall male winner was Tesfaye Bekele (of Westchester Puma), who accomplished a triple this weekend: the Fifth Avenue Mile on Saturday morning in 4:18 (11th place), the Race to Deliver 4 Miler in 19:23 at 10am in Central Park and then the cross-country race at 1130am in Van Cortlandt Park.  Why this sense of desperation?   He needed to run enough NYRRC races to qualify as a "local" runner.   He has now done his time and may not need to run any more local races.

The overall female winner was Jennifer Latham (of Moving Comfort NY), who accomplished a double: the Fifth Avenue Mile (Metropolitan Women Section) on Saturday in 5:02.4 (6th place) and now winning the cross-country 5K on Sunday.

Central Park Track Club people reported at the race included:

• Eric Aldrich (arrived four minutes before race start and elected to run easy as a workout; SMART! he must have learned from somebody last week never to sign up unless there is time to warm up; ran Fifth Avenue Mile yesterday)
• Bola Awofeso (debut in cross-country; automatic PR; did not fall flat on his face; applied brakes on all downhills except the final one, because he could not bear the sight of 12-year-old Johanna Rhyins blowing past him; watched Fifth Avenue Mile yesterday)
• Stuart Calderwood (2nd master, 18:19; ran Fifth Avenue Mile yesterday)
• Stacy Creamer (5th place female, 4th age group, 21:12; ran Fifth Avenue Mile yesterday)
• Jud Santos (1996 champion; 7th age group, 19:03; warmed down with Ellen Kvinta (3rd place female, 1st place abs) and Armando Oliviera (1997 winner) now recovering from injury and finished in 18:23 here; watched Fifth Avenue Mile yesterday)
• Joe Simonte (2nd age group, 29:27; ran Fifth Avenue Mile yesterday)

Personal note: Former CPTCer (and current College Point Road Runners team member) Johnny Sotomayor ran, as did his father, John.  His wife, former CPTCer Indira Sotomayor, was there to cheer along with their new baby, Kimberly (age two months) and son Sean (now four years old!). 

OCEAN TO SOUND RELAY, Long Island, NY (September 27th, 1998)

Michael Trunkes, Runners Edge "A" team, 4th best individual time in 7th leg, 39:36 (5:55 min/mile)

RACE TO DELIVER 4 MILER, Central Park, NY (September 27th, 1998)

The following people were seen running in this race: Betty Marolla, Irene Jackson, Frank Schneiger, Doug Kabbash and Roland Soong.  This is a fun run with about 5,000 participants, so there are no official recorded times.   Our official policy is "Don't ask, don't tell", so we'll never know what their times were.  However, we do have a qualitative synthesis:

MILE 1: The race starts at the Bethesda Fountain, heads east and turns north. Although the opening mile includes a charge up Cat Hill, people should be able to handle this irrespective of the conditions.

MILE 2: This is a downhill roll from the Metropolitan Museum to the 102nd Street transverse.  So people should not find it more difficult than the first mile.   It would be nice if the race stopped there.

MILE 3: This is an uphill mile from the 102nd Street transverse to West 86th Street.   This happened to be a very hot and humid day.  At this point, everything (the heat, the humidity, and the terrain) combined to form the Wall.  There is a significant drop in pace --- unless you are that Tesfaye Bekele.

MILE 4: Although the final mile is mostly downhill, this may in fact be the slowest mile because of the cumulative effect of the conditions and the demoralization after the third mile.  Ouch!

THE DONALD J. TRUMP FIFTH AVENUE MILE, New York City, September 26th, 1998

The Open race results are based upon hearsay, rumors and guesswork (like everything else on this web site?).  Please send e-mail to Roland if you have further results or corrections.   (Correction # 1: At the NYRRC results web page, the event was listed as The Donlad J. Trump Fifth Avenue Mile).

PHOTO ALBUM

Open Women (no official times recorded)

Devon Sargent (5:26, 3rd place overall)
Stacy Creamer (5:31 PR, 4th place overall)
Diane Leibowtiz
Mary Beth Mulholland (6:58 PR)

Open Men (no official times recorded)

Stuart Calderwood (4:37)
Larry Glazer (4:39)
Eric Aldrich (4:43)
Victor Osayi (4:48 PR)
Theo Spilka (4:48; no training!)
Fasil Yilma (4:56 PR)
Jeff Kisseloff (4:57)
Tyronne Culpepper (4:58)
John Sargent (5:03 PR)
Alan Bautista (5:06)
Michele Tagliati (5:13 PR; confirmed by his Dad's videotape; 9 seconds faster than his 5:22 last year)
Alexander Cvetkovic (5:23)

MASTERS MEN (40-49)

Tom Hartshorne, 4:37.32 (8th place)
Alan Ruben, 4:39.59 (11th place)

MASTERS MEN (50-59)

Sid Howard, 5:10.66 (6th place)

GEORGE SHEEHAN MILE (60-69)

Cliff Pauling, 6:13.64 (13th place)

GEORGE SHEEHAN MILE (70-79)

Joe Simonte, 7:45.7 (7th place)

RAID GAULOISES, Ecuador (September 19th-29th, 1998)

Stefani Jackenthal was a member of Team #36 (Robert Forster Physical Therapy) at this premier adventure race.  On September 23rd, the team did not arrive before the cutoff time and was therefore out of the ranking.   Stefani later wrote a memorable article for Women's Sports & Fitness about this race.

MS CHALLENGE HALF MARATHON, Washington DC (September 20th, 1998)

So far this year, Rae has set American records at 5 miles, 10 miles and 20K.  Her Boilermaker 15K race came a few days earlier than her 55th birthday, and would have otherwise been an age-group record too.  Her next big goal is the Chicago Marathon.   Is a sub-2:50 in the works?

In case you are curious, here is the list of American Women 55-59 records at the USATF Long Distance Running information site:

14 th ANNUAL NEW YORK BIATHLON, Central Park, NY (September 20th, 1998) 2.5 mile run, 18 mile bike, 2.5 mile run

• Jane Harris did a weekend double --- Saturday at the Great Cow Harbor 10K and Sunday in Central Park.

STATEN ISLAND HALF MARATHON, Staten Island, NY (September 20th, 1998)

Sunny, hot and humid.  Not the ideal thing for a course without a lot of shade.

WOMEN, 3rd Open Team

• At the preceding Thursday night workout, coach Tony Ruiz asked Audrey Kingsley what her intended pace was.  She said, "I don't know ... uh ... (remembering) ... I need to run 6:52 minute/mile in order to break 1:30."   Someone told her, "You won't be able to run 6:52 if you plan to, because you will run faster than that.  At the 30K race, you promised to run 7:20 as a training run and you ended up with 7:06."  Sure enough, she ran her first sub-1:30 this day at 6:45 pace.
• A year ago, Mette Strandlod would never imagine herself to be running, much less in a half marathon.  Now she may be doing another half-marathon in October. 

MEN

• Former New York Harrier Stuart Calderwood has not cleared waivers yet, or else he would have been our team leader at 1:16:51 (=5:51 min/mile page).

GREAT COW HARBOR 10K, Northport, NY (September 19th, 1998)

FORTUNE 5K FIGHT AGAINST PROSTATE CANCER, Central Park, NYC (September 19th, 1998)

PHOTO ALBUM

• Jud Santos came by five minutes before this race.  He had intended to run the other 5K race starting 90 minutes later.  When he saw the sparseness of the bags in the check-in area, he figured that he should have a good placing in this race.   So he entered immediately, and had all of 3 minutes to warm up.
  
  As for the race itself, here are his teammates' report: on Jud --- at the East 72nd Street turn, about 600m into the race, Roland Soong reported that Jud was looking comfortable in third place.  Things were looking good.  At East 84th Street after the turnaround and 1.2 miles into the race, Tyronne Culpepper reported that Jud had that Stacy Creamer grimace.  Things were looking not as good.  At the two-mile mark, Irene Jackson reported that "Jud looked like shit!"  Things were looking bad.
  
  Here is Jud's terse summary of his race: "My time of 17:40 was 30 seconds per mile slower than my PR.  So maybe I finished in 7th or 8th place.  Pathetic!  Loser!  Worthless and weak!"
  
• Tyronne Culpepper is doing four races over the next two weeks: the 5K today, the Staten Island Half Marathon tomorrow (he wants that patch!), the Fifth Avenue Mile next Saturday and the Philadelphia Distance Run next Sunday.  So he had every intention to run easy.  He ran the first mile in 6:25, next one in 6:20 and the last one in 6:00.  Why did he pick up the pace?  Because he wanted to catch someone he thought was the first woman (in fact, the second woman).  This must be the first time in his life that he ran negative splits.
  
• Roland Soong ran his first road race since the Norway 3.35 mile debacle last October.  After the first 400m, he could see Jud and Tyronne way ahead of him, as expected.  Then something strange happened as he caught up to and even passed Tyronne on Cat Hill.  At which point, Tyronne said, "Roland, go, boy!"   Of course, this had the effect of completely deflating him with laughter and he just fell apart immediately thereafter.  He declined to provide his time when asked.  "Why else would I be doing a fun run?" he said.  Stuart Calderwood claimed to have an estimate for his time, but that is just unverified hearsay.

Also in the race were Carol Tyler's son Paul Jimenez, who is now an official team member, and Frank Schneiger too.

Non-racers along the course today included the self-designated official photographer Bola Awofeso; Irene Jackson; Carol Tyler, looking out for her son in the race; Bonny Rozzo wearing a walkman; and Stacy Creamer and Stuart Calderwood were jumping up and down near the finish line.

As the group chatted at the water stations, we were wondering how come we haven't seen Audrey Kingsley yet.  At that very moment, Alan Bautista came along, and the first words out of his mouth were, "I just saw Audrey."   Yes, we would have been extremely disappointed otherwise.

MARCUS O'SULLIVAN CHALLENGE, Central Park, NYC (September 19th, 1998)

PHOTO ALBUM

When Jud Santos came around on his warm-down to the start of this other race, he saw that there were even fewer bags in the check-in area.  So he decided to run this race for redemption.  Besides, he said, "Tim Decker is my idol."

Jud's time was 17:33, seven seconds faster than his first race of the morning.   This was actually on par, since the first race involved going up Cat Hill, where the second race was just around the lower loop.  For Jud, this race was more entertaining as there was a battle right in front of him for second place female.   (By the way, he passed all those women)  His 17:33 was still good enough for 14th overall (12th male).

To put his morning's work in perspective, he ran the first 5K in 17:40 and the second 5K in 17:33, for a combined 10K time 35:13.  His previous 10K PR was 33:50.  In his own words, "Pathetic!  Loser!" 

The positive note is that he got to shake hands with spectator Bob Kennedy, whose 12:58 5K personal best would have been literally about a mile ahead of Jud.  He also beat Marcus O'Sullivan, although the fact that the latter was keeping his son company and shaking hands with well-wishing spectators may have some implications.  He also beat Jack Fultz (former Boston Marathon winner many aeons ago) by 9 seconds. He ran negative splits, although with a time that slow, he better had ...

MAKE A WISH SEA COLONY TRIATHLON, Bethany Beach, DE (September 19th, 1998)

(swim 1.5K, bike 36K, run 10K)

Randy Ehlich, 55th overall, 11th M30-34, 2:06:44 (24:02 swim (233rd place), 2:57 transition, 57:33 bike (39th overall), 1:32 transition, 40:41 run (45th place)

WALL STREET RUN 5K, New York City, NY (September 17th, 1998)

MEN

WOMEN

SOUTH NYACK 10 MILER, Nyack, LI, NY (September 13th, 1998)

SURVIVAL OF THE SHAWANGUNKS, Ulster County, NY (September 13th, 1998)

PHOTO ALBUM

Scott Willett, 1st overall, 4:24:42
Thomas Pennell, 5th overall, 2nd M30-34, 4:47:41
J.P. Cheuvront, 8th overall, 5th M30-34, 4:51:28
Joseph Gravier, 17th overall, 1st M20-29, 5:06:37
Ramon Bermo, 21st overall, 12th M30-34, 5:10:12 (a first-time survivor)
Ross Galitsky, 22nd overall, 3rd M35-39, 5:10:33

Julie Denney, 16th overall, 1st overall female, 5:04:08 (last five miles of the bike ride on a flat tire)
Aubin Sullivan, 29th overall, 2nd F30-34, 5:20:14

BLOCK ISLAND 15K, Block Island, RI (September 13th, 1998)

Please note that the application form states: "In recognition of the spartan spirit of the runner, the race goes on rain or shine. Being sea sick is merely reverse carbo loading - suck it up!"

Alan's one-sentence summary: "I have done marathons faster than this pace."

1st ANNUAL WRONG WAY SWIM, New York City, NY (September 13th, 1998)

Kenn Lowy, 41, 47:08, 14th overall

RACE FOR THE CURE 5K, New York City, NY (September 13th, 1998)

HARRY MURPHY XC 5K, Van Cortlandt Park, NYC (September 13th, 1998)

Photo Album

MEN, 1st Open Team

SALTAIRE 10K, Fire Island, NY (September 12th, 1998)

In a repeat of the Saltaire 5K of July 26th, 1998, Jud beat former CPTC-runner Dan Gonzalez.  The margin was 31:48 versus 32:24.   Dan had won this thing for about ten years in a row without any serious competition.  According to Dan, the only time that anyone was ever close to him previously was one time when a few people thought that the race was two loops (instead of three loops) and therefore kicked to try to catch him at the end of two loops, only to fold immediately thereafter.

Before you congratulate Jud for his major breakthrough in terms of time, he would like to warn you that the course was likely to be short of 10K.  Likewise, his Saltaire 5K was won in a time of 21:39, on what must have been a long course.  Such are the vagaries of non-USATF certified courses.

WARNER LAMBERT UNITED WAY 5K, Morris Plains, NJ (September 12th, 1998)

LABOR DAY 5K, South Plainfield, NJ (September 13th, 1998)

ROBERT C. MCAVOY MEMORIAL RACE, Long Beach, NY (September 7th, 1998)

Odin Townley, 44:36 (8:56 min/mile), 241st overall, 12th age group

NEW HAVEN 20K ROAD RACE, New Haven, CT (September 7th, 1998)

Rae Baymiller's time of 1:18:44 is a pending US Female 55-59 age group record.

POTOMAC VALLEY GAMES, Alexandria, VA (September 5th-6th, 1998)

Archie Glaspy, M40-44 200m, 23:34, 2nd place
Archie Glaspy, M40-44 400m, 51:58, 1st place

Mitch Lovett, M35-39 100m, 11:17, 1st place
Mitch Lovett, M35-39 400m, 48:81, 1st place
Mitch Lovett, M35-39 800m, 2:02.91, 1st place

By the way, this meet is supposed to be the Eastern Regionals.  Obviously, someone forgot that regional meets usually take place before the national championships ...

HENRY ISOLA 4 MILER, Van Cortlandt Park, New York City (September 6th, 1998)

PHOTO ALBUM

MEN, 3rd place Open Team

WOMEN

ODYSSEY DOUBLE IRONMAN TRIATHLON / ODYSSEY HALF IRONMAN TRIATHLON, Virginia Beach, VA, August 29-30, 1998

Odyssey Double Ironman Triathlon, Swim-4.8 miles or Paddle 15 miles, Bike-224 miles, Run-52.4 miles

Ross Galitsky, 4th overall, 27 hours 22 minutes
Scott Willett, 6th overall, 29 hours 24 minutes

(Note: Sixteen people started the race, and only eleven finished in the intense heat (one hundred and three degrees!) and heavy rains (Hurricane Bonnie!).  Both Ross and Scott finished --- that's all that counts.  According to Ross, he did not feel that he really had to exert himself in the sense of having total exhaustion, and so he somehow felt as if he cheated.  Right!  Scott took a spill during the run, lost his glasses, got a black eye, sustained tooth damage and passed out.  However, his support team refused to let him quit and he had to keep going.  His marathon was not pretty, as he had blisters on one foot and he basically shuffled in on one foot.  As a two-time previous non-finisher, it took great courage for Scott not to three-peat.  Of course, the social and physical pressures exerted by his support team were also important.)

Odyssey Half Ironman Triathlon, Swim-1.2 mi. or Paddle 4 mi., Bike-56 mi., Run-13.1 mi.

Aubin Sullivan, 1st overall female, 11th overall, 5:14:45

(Note: Aubin had it all figured out --- she would do the half ironman triathlon on Saturday, and watch the double on Sunday.)

FOLLOW UP:

• In the Science Times section of the New York Times on Tuesday (8/24/99), there was a story about NYU trigeeks Patricia  Buttenheim and Ann Snoeyenbos going for the Odyssey Double Ironman.  Somewhere in the article, it was obliquely mentioned that they were "handlers" for a participant in last year's race.  When we reviewed our race result notes, we saw that we had reported: "Scott (Willett) took a spill during the run, lost his glasses, got a black eye, sustained tooth damage and passed out.  However, his support team refused to let him quit and he had to keep going."  So now we know the identity of that support team ...
• In the Science Times Section of the New York Times on the following Tuesday (8/31/99), it was reported Patricia and Ann overcame heat, humidity and schools of stinging jellyfish to become two of the first American women ever to finish a double iron man triathlon.  "Ms. Snoeyenbos, a 35-year-old librarian from Manhattan, missed the official cutoff time of 36 hours, but soldiered on to finish in 37 hours 22 minutes."  Shall we speculate that her support team, which included Scott Willett, Ross Galitsky and Ramon Bermo, refused to let her quit?

NYC MARATHON TUNE-UP 30K, Central Park, NYC (August 30th, 1998)

MEN

WOMEN

The following message came from Michele Tagliati:

As the web-site photographer-media wiz did not show up for the race today (tired of us? hangover? finally got a life?) I thought I might drop a note to relieve him from the embarrassment of having nothing to publish about today's event ....

"Well, it was a sunny, hot and humid day - just what you want for a hilly 30K in the Park! Nevertheless, a bunch of Central Park TC runners did show up at 8'30 am to participate. Despite the wise advice of our coach Tony on Thursday, a few of us actually took the race seriously. Behind the unflappable Alan Ruben who placed 22nd in 1h52:47 (sounds like he was just training...), a quartet of CPTC musketeers ran the first of three loops in perfect synchronicity. There was Alayne Adams in the part of the leader and "mother" ("Tyronne, take the water!" we heard her shouting at some point), Tyronne Culpepper with his science fiction glasses, Kevin Arlyck and myself.

The first loop passed by in 40'55" without much effort (magic of the teamwork!) but Tyronne decided at that point to take it easier and slowed down. The three of us continued on the same pace but started to somehow pick it up as some joggers coming the other way (Stacy Creamer and Stuart Calderwood among them) started updating Alayne of her position in the race. Although Alayne declared before the start that she just wanted to do a good long run, it was difficult to resist the temptation of someone telling you "You're the 13th woman! Go, Alayne, you're 11th! You're 8th!" So we started spotting and chasing female runners ... Kevin and I were shining off reflected light, but hey! we were racing for hardware!!!

The second loop went by in 40'25" and at that point Alayne just took off with her light and easy run. She left us in the dust and actually finished 5th female overall in 2h05:12. Kevin and I stuck together for a couple of miles and then ... also Kevin left me behind! That guy is getting better and better! Actually, I slowed down a bit on the North hill (despite all those workouts I still find it hard to digest...) and Kevin kept his pace.

The last loop was kind of a pain-in-the-neck because we started to lap the slower runners and it became more and more difficult to get near the water tables. There was a blockbuster movie premiere type of line at each of them and runners would become walkers for a few yards in order to drink. At one of this water tables, Harry Morales showed some real "teammanship" by handing us some water cup outside the crowd. Thank you, Harry! Kevin finished 88th in 2h06:09 and I followed in 89th place in 2h06:50 (plus the 2 seconds that the NYRRC always gives you as a present at the end of the race...but still my PR). Of note, Audrey Kingsley ran another PR in 2h12:21, but I guess this is not news, and Fasil Yilma was the only one of us wearing an official CPTC singlet. Too bad he didn't have a race bib ..."

I guess that's enough for today. 
See you soon(g)
Michele  

Harry Morales reported: "Audrey looked really good.  She did not even look like she was running hard."

A 5K RACE SOMEWHERE IN SPAIN SOMETIME LATE AUGUST

Pre-race: Ramon Bermo was on vacation in Spain for three weeks.   The first day, he pulled a muscle and could not run for the next ten days.

Race day: Ramon went to visit a friend who happened to be the race organizer.   Although Ramon claimed to be injured, his friend persuaded him to jog through the race.  Ramon won the race in 16:21, and took away a huge trophy.

Post-race: Ramon could not even walk for the next three days.

CENTRAL PARK TRIATHLON, Central Park, NYC (August 23rd, 1998)

PHOTOS

Stacy Creamer ran this race with a pair of quick-spring lace clips borrowed from a teammate.  After the race, she wrote: "I'm pleased to report that the quick-spring lace clips acquitted themselves with honor in today's Central Park Triathlon.   They allowed for my relatively speedy bike/run transition.  I wound up finishing as the second woman, fourteenth overall, in a time of 1:19:04, a PR by about 5 minutes. Scott Willett was the big winner of the day, finishing first in a time of 1:07. Randy Ehrlich finished second in a time of 1:11.  Laura Miller, making her triathlon debut, won her age group.  Edwin Fajardo also competed and was on hand to cheer his fiancée, Janice, in her triathlon debut.  Many CPTCers were on the course giving moral support, including Sarah Gross, Aubin Sullivan, Harry Morales, Carol Tyler, Bola Afweso, Fasil Yilma, Mary-Ellen Howe, and Stuart Calderwood."

3rd ANNUAL ELLEN'S RUN 5K, East Hampton, NY (August 23rd, 1998)

MAN

Mel Washington wrote: "I ran the Ellen's Run 5K in East Hampton on Aug 23rd and finished 4th in my age group with a 20:32.  I am satisfied with the time, given that I was in Montauk on vacation last week and didn't taper for the race.   In fact, for the week, I did 62 miles of running (with a 9 miler the day before the race) and 150 miles of biking. As you can imagine, the last mile of the race was somewhat of a struggle.  A guy passed me at about the 2.25 mile mark and was about 30 meters ahead until I started to close on him over the last quarter- 3/10.  I just couldn't turn it over fast enough to get him and he beat me by ONE SECOND.  The downer was that he was in my age group and took the 3rd place trophy (they only went 3 deep)!"

WOMAN

CONTACT WE CARE 5K, Fanwood, NJ (August 22nd, 1998)

Laurie Jones, 22:14 (7:09 min/mile), 5th overall, 1st F30-34

CRIM 10 MILER, Flint, Michigan (August 22nd, 1998)

Rae Baymiller, W55, 21st overall female, 1st W55-59, 1:02:38 (5 mile split 30:44)

Note: Yet another American age-group record (pending).  Rae owns the W50-54 US 10 Mile record of 1:02:01 also set at the Crim race in 1994.  Also, the race contained an age-graded masters division, and Rae was the top female.  Big deal, you say!  Not if we told you that it was worth $1,000!

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 5 MILER, Central Park, NYC (August 22nd, 1998)

PHOTO ALBUM

MEN, 7th Open Team, 5th Master Team, 4th Senior Master Team

WOMEN, 5th Open Team, 4th Masters Team, 1st Senior Masters Team

• The distinguished performance surely belongs to Carol Tyler.  She began to run with the club at the beginning of this year with the stated objective of running an eight minute mile.  Now, at the Club Championship race in August, she had an average of 7:44 min/mile, finished first in her age group and scored for the first-place Senior Women's Master ream.

RESERVOIR 5 MILER, Central Park, New York City (August 22, 1998)

MEN

WOMAN

13TH ANNUAL NEW YORK TRIATHLON CLUB TRI-/BI-ATHLON SERIES # 2, Harriman State Park, NY (August 16th, 1998)

TRIATHLON

Scott Willett, 37, 1:16:31, 1st overall
Ross Galitsky, 37, 1:22:04, 12th overall, 2nd M35-39
J.P. Cheuvront, 33, 1:22:45, 17th overall, 3rd M30-34

Aubin Sullivan, 30, 1:25:22, 1st overall female

Randy Ehrlich, 31, 1:25:30, 6th overall, 2nd M30-34

Monica Bonamego, 34, 1:48:44, 2nd female overall, 2nd F30-34
Sherry Goldman, 36, 2:23:13, 13th female overall, 4th F35-49

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES 5K, Meadowlands, NJ (August 16th, 1998)

After going through the motions at the Saturday half-marathon, Carsten Strandlod decided that he had enough energy left to run a 5K the next day.   This time, instead of running in front of someone, he decided to follow the female race leader Alicia Kelly.  As luck would have it, she took a wrong turn and ran a short course instead.  So Carsten now has a stunning 17:21 5K to his credit, which is about two minutes faster than his 19:14 at the Run for the Rainforest 5K in March, 1998.    Now how is he ever going to come close to it again?  How will he ever find another short course (hint: ask Michele Tagliati, who has a whopping 16:32 to his credit, about two minutes faster than his best on a true course)?

PHILADELPHIA MASTERS MEET, Philadelphia, PA (August 16th, 1998)

(results reported by Keith Royster)

Masters' Men 400m, Keith Royster, 1st, 54.0
Masters' Men 200m, Keith Royster, 1st, 23.9
Masters' Men 200m, Archie Glaspy, 3rd, 24.1 (Archie was actually 2nd, but the timers at the finish line didn't bring their eyeglasses to the meet... )

DOG DAY 5 MILE RUN, Harvey Cedars, New Jersey (August 16th, 1998)

MANHATTAN HALF MARATHON, Central Park, New York City, NY (August 15th, 1998)

PHOTO SECTION

MEN

WOMEN, 2nd place overall team

ROOSEVELT ISLAND 10K, New York City, NY (August 9th, 1998)

MEN

WOMEN

• Tyronne Culpepper's time was one second better than last year.  So this was gratifying, especially in light of a number of harrowing 39:5X 10K races earlier this year.
• Tyronne Culpepper also achieved another victory of sorts, when the Russian runner Alexandre Tsoukanov (who had won a bunch of races at the National Outdoor Track & Field Championship in Maine) swapped his singlet for Tyronne's Central Park Track Club singlet. Finally, Tyronne no longer has to put up with our standard heat-proof, non-dryable issue!
• Missing in action was the pre-registered Carsten Strandlod, who got home from a party at 3:45am and knew that there was no way he could make it to Roosevelt Island at start time.  Oh, yes, stories like these make the RESULTS page too.
• At the Tuesday track workout the next week, the coach asked, "Does anyone want to know about the Roosevelt 10K results?"  A loud female voice was heard to say, "NO!"  Guess who?
• Our friend Jessie-Lea Hayes came in from California to finish 2nd Women 55-59 in 53:15.
• In all likelihood, Elaine Belton was erroneously listed as a member of our team by the NYRRC.  However, our practice is to (1) list all non-members who were erroneously listed under our team and (2) asterisk all members who were erroneously not listed under our team.

GEORGE SHEEHAN 5 MILER, Red Bank, New Jersey (August 8th, 1998)

Rae Baymiller, 11th overall female, 1st W55-59, 30:42 (pending US age-group record)
Anthony Watson, 70th overall male, 8th M40-44, 29:15

MAC/NYC DEPARTMENT OF PARKS MINI-MEET, CCNY, New York City (August 4th, 1998)

This is a low-key meet that was selected by our coach in lieu of the Tuesday track workouts.  Here was an opportunity for novices and veterans to enjoy the experience without the pressures of championship races.  By all reports (and there were many, as you can see!), everybody had a great time!  Based upon the enthusiastic reactions, we may be seeing more of these excursions.

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RESULTS

400m
     Tyronne Culpepper, 56.10
     Paul Sternberger, 59.57
     Craig Buckbee, 60.50
     Michael Garland, 61.60
     Terri Sonenclar, 80.48 (debut PR)

200m
     Tyronne Culpepper, 26.6

1500m
     John Sargent, 4:53 (PR)
     Frank Handelman, 5:10
     Stacy Creamer, 5:23 (debut PR)
     Mary Rosado, 6:09

3000m
     Tony Ruiz, 9:29.7
     Bill Dunlop, 10:05
     Terri Sonenclar, 12:21 (debut PR)

Our 4x100m relay team consisted of four very unlikely runners: Harvey Hemmings (who once ran 100 yards in 9.5 seconds, although that was a long time ago), Brian Denman (who once ran 400m in 44.7 seconds, although that was a long time ago), Frank Handelman (who once won the Corporate Challenge race, although that was a long time ago) and Tyronne Culpepper (who once ran 400m in 56.1 seconds, and that was just a few minutes ago).  This team finished fourth in the race.  Oh, yes, there were only four teams in the team and the third team even dropped the baton but recovered in time.

(Credits: These race times were supposed to have been collected by Bola Awofeso and forwarded to us by Tyronne Culpepper.)

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The following report was filed by our friend Stuart Calderwood:-

I was a spectator at the Tuesday's MAC mini-meet for the first three events that involved CPTC runners-- the 3,000, 200, and 1,500 meters. I had to leave after that to coach at a remarkably close-by track at Riverbank Park (where I still found myself surrounded by CPTC runners moving at high speed).  My account will be piecemeal and partly hearsay. I didn't take times, but I overheard a few.

The day was in the mid-80's and on the humid side. The track is the best I've seen in Manhattan: a very new Tartan 400, in the place of the old lopsided asphalt 300 on which CPTC used to run speedwork in the warmer months.(Note to John Kenney: your many 61-second 400's there do not go completely unremembered.) There are no hills on the backstretch or soccer-ball crossfire. The 3,000 was a combined event, all ages and sexes in one race. At least five CPTC runners were on the line: coach Tony Ruiz, who said he'd be satisfied with a 9:30; Sid Howard, who claimed to be avoiding the shorter races because "Those are tough!"; Bill Dunlap, who sacrilegiously wore a non-CPTC singlet but then threw that off, too; a new team member whose name I don't know (note: it was Alex Peterhansl) and who may not yet have a CPTC singlet, and who ran in classic Chariots of Fire white; and Terri Sonenclar, the only woman in the race.

Tony, an old-school track man, was true to the essence of the sport and went out in contact with the leaders, although the pace was faster than he wanted. At three laps, he was in the unenviable situation of being isolated in second place, with eventual winner Jerry Macari 70 meters ahead and no one challenging from behind. With toughness and concentration that made a big impression of his teammates, he held onto 5:00-per-mile pace for the whole race, and sprinted in three-tenths of a second under his goal with a 9:29.7. This man deserves to have disciples.

Bill Dunlap looked smooth and strong, and much more natural at this faster pace than he does in ten-mile road-races, although his sub-hour performance there speaks for itself. His long, floating stride and hair reminded some old-timers of the great miler Tom Byers, who ran 3:50 in the 80's and once won the 5th Avenue Mile. Bill seemed mildly pleased with his third-place finish in the low-10:00 range.

Sid Howard in in a class by himself in several ways. I was able to fully appreciate what he did in this race, having been dragged around the East Sixth Street track on a recent Tuesday evening while trying to "help him out," as I'd naively offered to do. Running mostly in Lane 4 to pass other groups, he turned in a 2:24 for a longer-than-800 meters, at the end of a hard workout, on a 90-degree day, at FIFTY-NINE years of age! That's what kind of shape he's in.

A boy named Kareem, thirteen or so, exhibited his inexperience in the 3,000 by taking off ahead of Macari and leading for a lap. He was in distress by 600 meters, and being passed by man after man. Sidney was watching this from behind as he moved steadily up through the fast starters. He caught Kareem on the homestretch at about the 1,000 meter mark. But he didn't pass him.

The kid was obviously in the state of anguished helplessness that any runner who's gone out very over ambitiously knows too well--and it's worse when you're thirteen. He was in bad oxygen-debt and slowing inexorably, and worse yet, he was being yelled at on every lap by his father, who has an advanced case of Little-League Impatient Parent Syndrome (LIPS): "Get up there, Kareem! Do some work out there!" I saw the likely reason for the boy's wild start, and so, no doubt, did Sidney.  Sid stayed in Lane 2, just outside Kareem's shoulder. There was still more than a mile to go. Several CPTC people in the stands, and then others, realized what he was doing. Lap after lap, Sid ran at half-effort beside the boy, whose backward progress through the field had stopped. And then, gradually, they began to accelerate.  A picture of them then would have been a perfect promotion for age-group sports. They were running in step, at about six minutes per mile, both rail-thin with wiry distance-runner muscles, and they were about 45 years apart in age.  The boy's father then exhibited proof of his complete blindness to everything but the obsessive competitiveness that he was trying to channel through his son. He shouted "Get up there, Kareem! You're just running his pace!" Luckily, by then the entire crowd of athletes knew that just the opposite was true.  They finished together, of course.

I went over to Kareem a while later, after he'd recovered. I asked him "Do you know who that man running with you was?" "No," he answered quizzically. "That's the World Masters Champion," I said, putting suitable awe in my voice. "He ran right with you that whole time!" Maybe now he'll have a story to tell his Dad.

Terri Sonenclar seemed unaffected by the absence of women competitors and by the field of men in front of her. She has very good race-concentration.  She was focused and steady, and had a very strong final 100-meter kick, which her husband Bob and son Russell arrived just in time to watch, having had trouble getting to the stadium. If she's new to track racing, it doesn't show in the least. Tyronne Culpepper was the only CPTC entrant in the 200 meters, and took third in the second-fastest heat with an excellent 26.6--and in what may have been his first-ever race at that distance. (He's known to have run his second-ever 400 (a 57!) in a recent Millrose relay-leg, and first since high school.) The man has some range--200 meters to the marathon--and then throws in roller hockey and tennis! In fact, several of his teammates observed him on the Central Park courts on the night before this meet, doing specialized sprint-start training.

In the 1,500's brief six minutes, several odd things happened. Among the fifteen contestants in the combined field were Frank Handelman, Mary Rosado, and Stacy Creamer. The first two were top-level track veterans with probably 100 Masters' titles between them, and Stacy was an outright novice in her first-ever track race (although certain Tuesday attendees, notably Karel "I'll annihilate her next week!" Matousek, might disagree). Frank was running the 1,500 as background for his upcoming 400 and 800 season. Mary had planned on running the 3,000, but had arrived late and was settling for the shorter race. Stacy didn't know what she was doing, but was determined to find out fast. She clattered around the metal stadium in her out-of-the-box track spikes, asking questions of anyone who'd listen. "Why doesn't it start where the 3,000 did?" "It's 200 meters shorter than a mile, right?" "Do you run on your toes in these?"

At the gun, several college-age men effectively doomed themselves by going out at Olympic Trials qualifying pace. Frank and Mary went out conservatively. Stacy, despite days of advice to the contrary, went out a lot like Kareem had, maintaining contact with women's leader Ellen Kvinta for a lap in a blazing 1:20. (Her entourage collectively cringed; her 400 PR is 1:18.) The race began to contract at both ends. Frank ran steady 1:24's and moved up. Mary, with an insufficient warmup and not even planning on this race, ran desultory 1:30's. The early leaders fell apart and started running 1:35's.

Kvinta, a track specialist, was moving better than anyone else and looked like a possible overall winner. Paced by Macari, she caught the two leading men at 2 1/2 laps. They looked spent. But as they reached the bell, she suddenly staggered off the track. Macari, left alone, ran a 400 in about 65 seconds to complete an impressive distance double. Kvinta's withdrawal had left Stacy leading the women's race. When this fact was communicated to her by several leaping teammates, including Bill, Tyronne, and Craig Buckbee, her eyes widened even more than usual. She clung desperately to the pace of the metronomic Handelman, who was finishing with what looked like a hard-workout effort. They passed the first-lap leader, a man in his twenties. They passed a high-school boy. Behind them, Mary probably wished there was a hundred meter race upon which she could unleash her frustrations and blistering leg-speed. She'll probably arrive at the next Mini-Meet an hour early and win five age-group events. Having already set PR's for the 800 and 1200 meters en route, Stacy now added the 1,500, following Frank across the line to win the women's division in her first track race at 5:23.

But she wasn't done. Before the race, she'd wished it was a mile--a distance that meant something to her, if only as a road-race split. She'd once run the first mile of a 5-miler in a ludicrous 5:45 (the later splits have been misplaced), and so had a PR of sorts to shoot for. Now, as frantic meet-officials tried to snatch the name-tag off her CPTC jog-bra top, she flew through the finish line and around the curve at her fastest pace of the evening--100 meters in 19.8! A coerced MAC timer had stayed across the track at the 1,500 start to record her outlaw mile, and thus the result can be termed official: 5:43.87, a personal best by 1.13 seconds after about 11 years.

The next thing that I heard about the meet was the news of Tyronne Culpepper's Amazing 400. He'd been matched up against a couple of national-class women quartermilers, capable of times well under a minute. He led early, but was caught from the Lane 1 stagger at 300 meters by a woman in the Florence Griffith-Joyner mold: neon gold briefs, tiny top, shiny shoes, maybe some aero-fingernails. It looked like Tyronne would need the Goran Ivanisevic "I had a tough five-set match in the semifinal" excuse. Nobody has a kick left in a 400. Almost nobody.

With seconds left to run, Tyronne searched desperately for a secret weapon. The phrase "When the going gets tough, the sprinters stop" couldn't apply to him. He'd been there, through all the Thursday-night storms; all the Points Race pressures; all the withering trash-talk from Victor Osayi. He was wearing the Uniform. He knew what CPTC tradition meant in the 400 meters. There had to be one more gear! He lifted into overdrive and began to gain. By mid-straightaway, he was level with the leader. And in the final 50 meters, whether it was the pride of being a NYRRC Runner of the Month or just the endurance from having kept pace with so many Bill Dunlap pub-crawls, he pulled ahead. With the gap widening, he crossed the line in a personal-best 56.3 and collapsed into a sea of orange.

And finally, if the evidence on the nearest training track was any clue, there'll be a lot more orange finishes like that in the near future. On the same evening that the meet was on progress, Larry Glazer and Jud Santos were tearing up the Riverbank Park track in separate speed-workouts. Each was timed unofficially in several 400's at under 70 seconds apiece while dodging between baby strollers, backwards-jogging boxers, and brawling soccer-crowd hooligans. In Jud's case, this followed a 20-mile training run at about 6:45 per mile by only three days--an almost Culpeppery span of speeds and distances.

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Tyronne Culpepper's description of the 200m race: "I was the only CPTCer in the 200m & got lucky enough to be in the 1st heat, with 2 young men group & a true master whom I was sure was considerably older than me:-) It would have helped if I had crouched down at the start instead of the traditional roadie 5K stance:-).   Time 26.6."

Tyronne Culpepper's description of the 400m race: "On the 400m at the half way point, Craig Buckbee said something & I almost lost it.   Before the start, I looked our group & thought, if anyone would win it, it would probably be the woman in the yellow running outfit.  Little did I realize, I'd be fighting her & another female down the final stretch to save face for the guys & myself on the CPTC website:-)."

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Our friend Blair Boyer reported the following:

• Stacy Creamer, who had to be practically dragged to the meet on account of a case of nerves, PR'd in 4 events. She did the mile in 5:43.  She won the 1500m for the woman after Ellen Kvinta, who was leading the race, dropped out with one lap to go.  There is an unconfirmed rumor that Stacy placed in the long jump event.
• Tyronne Culpepper ran a 56 second quartermile. Coming around the final curve, two women in the race passed him.  But in the last 100m, Tyronne took off like a bat out of hell and beat both of them.

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Our Global Surveillance System (TM) recorded the following snippets of conversation.   We can imagine that there will be plenty of denials arriving in our e-mail box soon ...

• "Look what Stuart has done with Stacy.  Why haven't I improved like that, Jerry?"
• "I heard Stacy wants to make the Olympic Trials....."
• "Look at  Stuart running away from the meet before it is over. I told you that there was a 10K race out in the streets...."
• "Where's that overtraining guy from the park?  I wanted to moon him so he can tell Alexa..."
• "Jerry beat me and that's RESPECTABLE ... in fact, that was pretty RESPECTABLE.."
• "How old do you think that Tyronne guy is? ... What?  He is thirty-five! Hey, I've got to talk to him about the track team!  With some serious training, he could be running with the big guns!"
• "What a strange-looking 4x100m relay team!  Three football players and a white-haired guy."
• "Those two women are gonna dust Tyronne!!!"
• "If these women beat Tyronne, I'll definitely report it to the webmaster!!!"
• "I just ran a 56 second quarter to beat those two bitches.  Where the f***   is Roland and his camera?"
• "Hey, let's do the long jump. NAAAAAH!"

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Michael Garland's time in the 400m was originally listed on the web site at 52:08.  The very honest Michael sent in this note: "Not in my wildest dreams could I run a 52 second 400m!  If this was some anonymous event in a distant land, I might let it slide, let it be my first and last 400, and enter into CPTC mythology as that B-group roadie who ran a blistering 400 in his only attempt at that distance.   But Tyronne, Paul and Craig -- all of whom finished in front of me -- might take offense. The fact is I ran a disappointing and rather unimpressive 61.6.  In any event, I am impressed that you get such precise ("52.08"), even if incorrect, data."

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Noteworthy no-shows at the track meet

• Roland Soong was at work and missed all the action.  Not that he would have raced, but he would have taken a lot of photos.  What a pity!
• Jud Santos was tied up at work, and arrived just in time to watch the last event.  So he ended up doing a superman-type workout on his own at Riverside Park.  He was counting on impressing his teammates.  What a pity!
• Audrey Kingsley ran 13 miles the night before the meet so she did not come. She would have surprised herself.  What a pity!

21st ANNUAL ESSEX COUNTRY TRACK FESTIVAL, Maplewood, NJ (August 2, 1998)

(results and comments provided by the Frank A. Schiro)

400m, Alan Bautista, 57.3, 2nd M30-39
800m, Brian F. Barry, 2:42.6, 3rd M40-44 (not bad for a 2-packs-a-day smoker)
200m, Frank Schiro, 24.9, 1st M45-49
100m, Frank Schiro, 12.3, 1st, M45-49

Now if I only had air fare, a place to stay and the $200 entry fee, I could have participated in the NIKE "FAKE" World Championship (August 11th) and actually would have placed 2nd in the world (??) in the 200m and 3rd in the world (??) in the 100m.   My fleeting change at glory passes by .... (sigh) ... (fake tears) ...

Next year, I am going to start the Central Park Track Club "World" Championship and we can all become WORLD CHAMPIONS --- WOW!!!

GREAT HUDSON RIVER SWIM, 2.8 MILES, New York City, NY (August 2, 1998)

Scott Willett, 4th overall, 34:40 (12:27/mile)

Upon reading the above listing, Ross Galitsky commented: "First of all, Scott finished third in the race (among men).  Next, this result was remarkable as Scott had just returned from Colorado a couple of days before, and was quite exhausted.  He also trained all day on the previous day.  So it was amazing that he even finished, not to mention a third-place finish."  Yes, that's what PR agents are hired to do.  "Scott finished third" sounds so much more impressive than "Scott was beaten by a 44-year-old woman."  N'est-ce pas?

USATF NATIONAL MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS, Orono, ME (July 30 - August  2, 1998)

M30+ 100m Finals AgeGrade, Mitchell Lovett, 8th, 11.29

W30+ 100m Finals AgeGrade, Charlene Landrum, 6th, 13.26

M35 100m Preliminary, Mitchell Lovett, 1st, 11.28
M40 100m Preliminary, Val Barnwell, 3rd, 11.34
M35 100m Final, Mitchell Lovett, 1st, 10.77
M40 100m Final, Val Barnwell, 4th, 11.27

W35 100m Final, Charlene Landrum, 1st, 12.76

M35 200m Preliminary, Mitchell Lovett, 2nd, 22.71
M40 200m Preliminary, Val Barnwell, 1st, 22.86
M40 200m Preliminary, Ray Blackwell, 4th, 23.13
M40 200m Preliminary, Keith Royster, 10th, 24.05
M40 200m Semi-Final, Val Barnwell, 2nd, 23.70
M40 200m Semi-Final, Ray Blackwell, 4th, 24.05
M40 200m Semi-Final, Keith Royster, 8th, 24.36
M35 200m Final, Mitchell Lovett, 1st, 21.76
M40 200m Final, Ray Blackwell, 2nd, 22.63
M40 200m Final, Keith Royster, 5th, 24.05
M55 200m Final, Lester Wright, 2nd, 27.73

W35 200m Final, Charlene Landrum, 1st, 26.06

M35 400m Preliminary, Mitchell Lovett, 2nd, 49:91
M40 400m Preliminary, Ray Blackwell, 2nd, 51:76

M35 400m Final, Mitchell Lovett, 1st, 48.29
M40 400m Final, Ray Blackwell, 1st, 49.15
M55 400m Final, Lester Wright, 2nd, 1:00.39

W35 400m Final, Charlene Landrum, 1st, 1:00.24

M35 400m hurdles final, Mitchell Lovett, 1st, 55.76
M40 400m hurdles final, Ray Blackwell, 1st, 55.49
M45 400m hurdles final, Rick Lapp, 4th, 1:03.10

M50 800m Preliminary, Victor Diaz, 11th, 2:25.81
M35 800m Final, Sal Allah, 1st, 1:56.01
M45 800m Final, Rick Lapp, 3rd, 2:10.80

M50 1500m Final, Victor Diaz, 7th, 4:50.76

M40-49 4x400m, Keith Royster-Val Barnwell-Archie Glaspy-Ray Blackwell, 1st, 3:32.24

M45 Triple Jump, Rick Lapp, 1st, 11.61m

CHASE CORPORATE CHALLENGE RACE # 3, 3.5 MILES, CENTRAL PARK, NY (July 29th, 1998)

Tyronne Culpepper wrote: "Here's my take on the final Chase Race of the season. Jud (super stud) Santos was filling in for the vacationing superman Ramon Bermo and of course had only Charlie Stark to run down.  He ran 20:10 & wasn't pleased (as usual).  I guess coming off Sunday's win,  he expected more of himself:-)  I ran with the Credit Union team, & things went well. They seem to think that I'm so fast that I have a chance to win these things (Ha Ha:-) 

The start was actually quite civil (aside from the usual forearm shots, I didn't see any casualties lying on the ground:-) Of course, John Gleason (FDNY Captain) & I were in our regular positions, in front near the podium to hear & see all the starting festivities (anthem, Giuliani etc). I started pretty good, but not blazing fast as usual.  I think I heard Stacy Creamer cheering around 86th.   Jud pulled up by me just before the "alleged 1st mile mark" and remarked, "Pretty fast start, huh?"  as if he expected to see me die any moment now.   The split clock read 5:35, but I had 5:50 on my watch, so it wasn't all that horrible.  (Jud replied: "At the time that I made my remark at the one-mile mark, I was really wishing that I had been able to start as fast as you and Charlie did!")

On the descent from West 97th Street, I was totally focused on the race, so much so that I found myself running too close to the water stop & almost ran over some guys in front of me.  I yelled at one of them & came to realize later it was Fasil Yilma.   I apologized to him on the ascent through the 102 cutoff & continued on.  It wasn't until the last 200 meters, when I was in my finishing kick that I saw Fasil again. I passed him, but he probably slowed up and let me go by.   Based upon our previous encounter, he probably thought I would kill him:-) Regardless of the circumstances, it still felt good to be back. Oh, I finished in 21:00 w/ a 2:54 final half:-), in case anybody cares (other than me:-)."

Jud Santos wrote: "In the Women's Race, Stacy Creamer was observed to be in 9th place with 3/4 mile left to go, trailing 2 other women by 5 yards.  So depending on how ferocious her kick was, she might have finished 9th or 8th or 7th (note: Stacy confirmed that she finished 8th).  Also seen at the race were Claudia Malley (among the top 20) and Maureen Elmaheh.  Also, Rick Shaver and Larry Sillen were in the Men's Race.  Blues Brothers Mike Trunkes and Manuel Caneva (a most unlikely pair are they!) were lurking around the finish area, looking for God-knows-what among the crowd (free food and fast women? or just their pal Jerry Macari?).

Ellen McCurtin reported that our friend Kari Bertrand, recovering from a stress fracture, started out "slow" in the back (well behind Stacy and Ellen, who toed the line) and finished 2nd overall about 300 yards behind fellow doctor Kim Griffin, and easily 200 yards in front of third place. Kari's first mile was something like 6:30+, followed by two miles in the vicinity of 5:20 each."

23rd ANNUAL SALTAIRE JOGATHON (approx. 3.8 miles) Fire Island, NY (July 26th, 1998

PHOTO + STORY (of people named Jude Santos and Sylvie Kimohe with their hands full of hardware)

1 - Jud Santos, CPTC, 21:39
2 - Dan Gonzalez, MILL (formerly CPTC), 21:45
3 - Some Guy with a Goatee in a Yellow Shirt (a.k.a. Loser), 22:09
4 - 24:00+

Jud Santos wrote: "I stayed shoulder-to-shoulder with the legendary Danny Gonzalez and I kicked with 300m to go. I was feeling "wimpy" and just let him do all the attacking (and I did feel those surges of his). Numerous spectators said that this was "the most exciting race in Saltaire we've ever seen," and that "nobody's beaten that guy in years!"  There was a 1-mile race run about 15-20 minutes prior, in which I placed 2nd in 5:15 to the Guy with the Goatee in Yellow Shirt (5:09). That is a slow time, but I was just running to warm up for the main event. Sylvie Kimché also "jogged" both races and won her age group in both."

Sylvie Kimché wrote: "I wonder if this is already old news for you as our good friend Lucho Herrera might have already spilled the beans. But here it is:  Report on the MOST EXCITING RACE in the 23 YEAR HISTORY of the SALTAIRE JOGATHON  ( FYI, Saltaire is a small community on Fire Island best known for being next to Fair Harbor & for having Liz CLAIBORNE as one of its residents).

As a warm-up to the main event, our hero Jud Santos ran the first race, which was more or less 1 mile, in 5:15 and came in 2nd. The winner of that race eventually caught Jud with 300m to go & finished in 5:09. Jud was saving himself for the 3.5mile race where he knew he would face stiff competition from none other than Dan Gonzalez (ex-CPTCer, now a traitor running for Millrose). Witness Jud's comments (to me) before the mile: "Even if I have to lose [in the mile race], I'm saving myself for the 3.5."  It turned out that the 3.5 mile race was more like 3.8 mile (we came to that conclusion after lengthy calculations based on our respectives times & abilities!!!)  In the main event, our hero came in 1st in 21:39. 2nd: Danny Gonzales in 21:45, 3rd :runner who won the mile (we don't know his name & we don't really care either) in 22:09.

Here is how the race was described to me by an excited crowd. Jud stayed on Danny's shoulder the whole time and passed him with 300m to go. The guy in 3rd ( who cares what his name is) had an expression of dismay on his face like: "I can't believe what these guys are doing!".  The crowds were on their feet. They had never seen such an exciting race in the 23 editions of the race. Policemen reported they had never seen anybody beat "THAT" guy as long as they can remember ( it seems that Danny has won this race the past 8 years in a row or maybe more).  Afterwards Jud felt shitty that he had stalked Danny Gonzalez just to pass him at the end (after all Danny is almost 20 years older than Jud). I reassured him: "Don't you worry, just wait another 20 years & it will happen to you"

Jud also asked me to mention that he was wearing a pair of orange Reeboks that Alan Ruben gave him. We're not sure if he is gonna keep running with them or if he will bronze them & donate them to the CPTC Hall of Fame. Your friend here (moi!) had less brilliant results but still managed to get 2 golds in her age group as (to the contrary of Jud) she did not have any competition; 1 mile (more or less) in 6:34 ( 4th overall, 1st age); 3.8 mile (more or less) in 28:18 ( 4th overall, 1st age).  As everyone knows, consistency is my characteristic, whether in pace or place!

Well, I hope everything is ok with you & I hope to see you all at the Club Team Championship on Saturday August 22 & afterwards at the softball game from 1:00p to 5:00p on Field 3 of the Great Lawn."

ESCARPMENT XC TRAIL RUN, 30K, Windham, NY (7/26/98)

Peter Allen, 2nd overall

Peter's time was almost 3 hours.  But time really does not matter in this race, which has been described by Bill Rodgers as the toughest 30K he had ever done.  At one time, Bill Rodgers held the course record until it was broken by a Central Park Track Club runner.  Do you know who that was?

EMPIRE STATE GAMES, Albany, NY (7/26/98)

100m, Ed Gonera, 1st M45-49, 11.71
100m, Jesse Norman, 2nd M45-49, 11.99

200m, Ed Gonera, 1st M45-49, 23.7
200m, Jesse Norman, 2nd, M45-49, 24.1
200m, Frank Schiro, DNR

400m, Mitch Lovett, 3rd M35-39, 48.28

400m, Tom Hartshone, 3rd M40-44, 56.97

400m, Jesse Norman, 1st M45-49, 55:01
400m, Ed Gonera, DNR
400m, Frank Schiro, DNR

800m, Tom Hartshorne, 2nd M40-44, 2:06.81

800m, Jesse Norman, DNR

SUMMER FESTIVAL TRIATHLON, (0.5 mile swim, 15.1 mile bike, 3.1 mile run), Cherry Hill, NJ (7/26/98)

Thomas Pennell, 10th male overall, 2nd M30-34, 11:58 swim (53rd place), 41:17 bike (13th place), 18:45 run (5th place)

Julie Denney, 31, 3rd female overall, 2nd F30-34, 10:08 swim (21st place), 42:35 bike (21st place), 20:44 run (20th place)

VINEMAN HALF IRONMAN TRIATHLON, Santa Rosa, CA (July 25th, 1998)

Randall Ehrlich, 31, 4:51:25.0 (38:50 swim, 2:39:47 bike, 1:32:48 run), 22nd M30-34

RUN FOR GOODWILL 5 MILER, New York City, NY (July 19th, 1998)

PHOTO ALBUM

Only the times of the invited elite runners and the top 5 local runners were recorded (note: Brian Clas was the fourth fastest local runner).  Our Global Surveillance System espied the following Central Park Track Club runners: Ramon Bermo, Ricardo Granados, Jud Santos, Alan Turner, Ross Galitsky, Aubin Sullivan, Jane Harris, J.R. Mojica, Nathan Klejman and Gerald McCarthy.   We respect their desires to keep their race times secret, with the sole exceptions of Ramon Bermo (27:26) and Jud Santos (28:20).

Other sightings include:

1. Rasheed Azim and Luis Peña were spotted in non-running clothes at the start area before the race started
2. Rasheed Azim was still in non-running clothes with a baggage tag on his backpack at the finish area after the race
3. Ramon Bermo was spotted wearing a black & white NYU running club singlet.  This race was designated as the key race of the month for the NYU running club, so their coach has to put in an appearance to encourage the troops.  Ramon was reported to have made a special effort not to make eye contact with the web photographer, lest he got photographed.  He was very happy that he got away with it ...
4. Ramon Bermo ran the last 3 miles with elite female runner Amy Manson.  He may be slightly disappointed to find that this Amy was not the Amy Rudolph (former USA 5,000m record holder at 14:56).
5. Ross Galitsky and Aubin Sullivan ran this race as part of a long training run.  When they saw the web photographer, they ducked and sneaked by quickly.  For the record, at the starting area, Ross was spotted with a race bib but Aubin did not have one.
6. Jud Santos wrote: "The mile markers in mid-race were way, way off, and there is some speculation that the course was long. The elite runners' times seemed to reflect a fairly accurate measurement, though. But maybe not, since a "slow" time of 25:54 doesn't really seem to match the talents of Jane Omoro, and 27:10 seems kind of slow for Irina Bogacheva, especially for such a flat course. Also, a 22:30 winning time is "only" equivalent to a 28:35 10K, which doesn't quite seem so world class after all. My splits were 5:35, 6:45, 5:22, 5:14, 5:30. (Yes, 6:45 for the second mile!) Hmmm. This is a world class field assembled by special invitation, so can't Alan Steinfeld at least measure the course RIGHT???"
7. NYU running geeks Moti Margolin and Kam Chang were in the race too ...

The photos taken this time were pretty horrible.  The biggest problem is that too many people were not in uniform and/or camera shy.  The next biggest problem is that the web photographer is as blind as a bat ...

GARDEN STATE CLASSIC TRACK & FIELD MEET, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ (July 18th, 1998)

(results reported by Sid Howard, Keith Royster & Lester Wright)

M55 200m, Les Wright, 1st place, 26.9

M55 400m, Les Wright, 1st place, 60.3

M40 400m, Keith Royster, 1st place, 54.4

M40 400m, Keith Royster, 1st place, 24.3

M55 800m, Sid Howard, 1st place, 2:22

TUCKER WENK TRIATHLON, Chatham, NY (June 18th, 1998)

Scott Willett 1:42:34
J.P. Cheuvront 1:53:57
Thomas Pennell 1:58:22
Julie Denney 1:59:29

This race is a small triathlon with a huge tradition, namely the post-race festivities at the place of Thomas Pennell's parents in Canaan, NY.  Julie Denney was the second female overall.  Thomas finished eighth overall.  Ramon Bermo was on a relay team that won hardware --- he did the bike leg, and then did the run portion as his cool down.

Here is Thomas' description of the schedule: "There will be a pasta dinner on Friday night. There will be a buffet on Saturday, followed by the illustrious poetry reading."  Poetry?  This is much harder than the race itself!

VYTRA WOMEN'S 5K CHAMPIONSHIP, Farmingdale, NY (June 18th, 1998)

NEW JERSEY STRIDERS ALL-COMERS MEET, Paramus, NJ (July, 16th, 1998)

Open 100m, Keith Royster, 2nd place, 12.2
Open 200m, Keith Royster, 2nd place, 24.5

(asterisked: asphalt track; no spikes)

HUDSON VALLEY TRIATHLON, Kingston, NY (July 12th, 1998)

BOILERMAKER 15K, Utica, NY (July 12th, 1998)

MEN

WOMEN

• This race had a very, very deep field.  For example, if you averaged 5:00 minutes/mile for the 15K distance, you would have finished in 28th place!
• Rae Baymiller's actual time is probably at least 30 seconds faster, as Harry Morales saw her finish in front of him.  This is not a trivial point, as Rae's time is likely to be an age-group record, as would be the case every time she runs a race.

BRONX HALF MARATHON, The Bronx, NY (July 12th, 1998)

MEN

WOMEN

• Kevin Arlyck wrote: "I hopped onto the web site tonight in eager anticipation of my listing among the top five CPTC finishers at the Bronx Half, with a joy tempered only slightly by the knowledge that virtually every "A" runner skipped the race. Much to my surprise, not only did I place, but I led the team with a time of 1:15:42 and broke my personal record by more than twelve minutes!  After a quick check of the "official" results at www.nyrrc.org, I realized that the error came from them, not you.  My actual time was 1:24:45 (according to the finish-line clock) -- still good enough for second place and a PR by over three minutes, but not quite the achievement it seems to be.  If you need outside verification, ask Carsten; we ran the entire race together, save the last mile.   If you could change the web site accordingly, I would appreciate it.  It would be rather awkward if people were to confront me about it Thursday, or --- God forbid! --- Tony single me out for undue praise and expect me to keep pace with Alan Ruben during the workout (or ask me for a urine sample).  I'm not sure what went wrong with NYRRC, but it may have something to do with the fact that I had mailed in a registration form and check but did not have a number waiting for me at the start.  I filled out another form, and they gave me another number, but amid the chaos it would be easy for something to get screwed up.  Is there any sort of official procedure for correcting mistakes?  I would  rather have my official time be the accurate one, since I was quite pleased with it; the current one is just a joke."
  P.S. I was sorry to not see you with in camera in hand, as I had worn a special t-shirt for the occasion.  It had a French flag on the front and "Allez Les Bleus!" inscribed on the back, in honor of the football side from my mother's home country (of which I am a citizen).  By the way, if you could somehow manage to sneak in a mention of our stunning, dominating, historic trouncing of the much-vaunted Brazilians into the site, I would appreciate it.  My compliments to Carsten, Michele, Harry, and all the other bitter doubting thomases who swore that la belle France didn't have a grape's chance in Bordeaux of winning the match.  Fortunately, the few thousand who gathered on 60th street this afternoon to watch knew differently.  Nous sommes les champions du monde !!!!!!!!!"

(Note: We did not feel that we needed to offer a condolence note to the Brazilians --- the only Brazilian on our club is someone who has not paid his club dues for the past 20+ years ...)

• Tyronne Culpepper wrote: "Here's a list of excuses I could use:
  - It was too hot
  - I went out too fast
  - My shoelaces were too long
  - My shoelaces were too short
  - My shoelaces were just right ...
  I'll skip these and use the old reliable:  INJURY!  I only finished for two reasons:(1) that damn patch thing (2) I wasn't sure if we had enough guys (by the way, somebody's gotta get our new guys some orange!:-)
  Kevin did great!  I guess he knew something about France that we didn't. Since this was my second consecutive PW, I am taking this week off to rehab:-)

(Note: Tyronne, "I went out too fast" is not an excuse for you, just a statement of fact)

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE INVITATIONAL, Roy Wilkins Park, Jamaica, NY, July 11th, 1998

Keith Royster wrote: "After two weeks of gorging on Swiss chocolate, French pastry, Italian pasta and German wine while vacationing in Europe, I waddled up to the line for the masters 400 meter dash at the Atlantic Coast Conference Invitational last Saturday. (A helpful hint: never wear the CPTC speed suit over a protruding midsection).  I (finally) finished  second in 54.5— and then proceeded to further embarrassment in the master men's/women's open 200 (they combined the sections).  What I assumed would be a walkover turned into a frenzied dive for dignity at the tape as the crowd rooted for the young lady in my outside lane.  I leaned too late, and lost, 23.8 to 24-flat -- and I mean flat in every sense of the word. I thought you should hear it from me before someone else told you ..."

Note: Keith is the guy who once wrote us: "Just know you'll only get results from races I do well in."  Given this report, we would dearly love to hear about the races that he did not do well in ...

TAVERN ON THE GREEN BREAKFAST RUN, Central Park, NYC (July 8th, 1998)

From our Global Surveillance System: "Less than 12 hours after attending a tough track workout, Audrey Kingsley was seen sporting a race bib at the Tavern On The Green Breakfast 6 mile race and looking alert the whole way. She was 2nd female overall. That's our Audrey!"  This is a fun run, and so far Audrey has declined to provide a finishing time.

To paraphrase Audrey's reaction at seeing Alan Ruben in a 10K race less than one week after the Boston Marathon, "We would have been disappointed if Audrey were not there!"

MAC/NYC Department of Parks & Recreation Mini-Meet, July 7th, 1998

Our Global Surveillance System found John Sargent making his 1500m debut on Tuesday evening at the MAC mini-meet with a time of 4:57.  As good as this time is, he still has to be 40 seconds faster in order to claim the title of   'the fastest runner in the household', currently held by his wife Devon Sargent.

PUTNAM COUNTY CLASSIC, 8 MILER, Mahopac, NY (July 4th, 1998)

FIRECRACKER 4 MILER, Cranford, NJ (July 4th, 1998)

• When we told Sid that we found out about his secret race result, he said, "Which one?"  That is really not a good sign, because he is holding out on us!