CHASE CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL, 168th Street Armory, New York City, NY (December 28, 1997)

Women 200m, Louise Clark, 28.86, 1st W40-49

Women 600m, Renee Sterrett, 1:43.72, 1st W30-39
Women 600m, Denise Whitaker, 1:53.90, 2nd W40-49

High jump, Edna Crawley, 4'02.00", 2nd W30-39

Long Jump, Edna Crawley, 13'08.75", 1st W30-39

Shot Put, Skipper Clark, 29'09.25", 1st W50-59

Men 60m, John Brooks, 7.22, 1st M40-49
Men 60m, Jesse Norman, 7.44, 3rd M40-49
Men 60m, Ken Kienzle, 8.45, 2nd M50-59
Men 60m, Cliff Pauling, 8.71, 3rd M60-69

Men 600m, Tom Hartshone, 1:30.89, 1st M40-49
Men 600m, Rob Jackson, 1:31.02, 2nd M40-49
Men 600m, Keith Royster, 1:33.32, 4th M40-49
Men 600m, Walter Brown, 1:33.38, 5th M40-49
Men 600m, Larry Glazer, 1:35.52, 3rd M30-39
Men 600m, Cliff Pauling, 1:42.08, 1st M60-69
Men 600m, Jim Aneshansley, 1:54.30, 2nd M60-69

Men 1500m, Grover Prince, 4:43.65, 3rd M30-39
Men 1500m, Anthony Watson, 4:27.95, 1st M40-49
Men 1500m, Seth Okrend, 4:51.98, 4th M40-49
Men 1500m, Victor Diaz, 4:53.64, 1st M50-59

Men 3000m, Seth Okrend, 11:04.69, 6th M40-49

Sprint Medley (400m-200m-200m-800m), CPTC "B", 3:41.11, 1st overall
Sprint Medley (400m-200m-200m-800m), CPTC "A", 3:44.33, 2nd overall

HOLIDAY FOUR MILE RUN, Central Park, New York City, NY (12/21/97)

Check for PHOTOS!!!

MEN (3rd place overall)

This is Jud's first PR in 2-1/2 years. By scouting out which race Alan Ruben was in, he entered the other one and so became the team leader. This was a 4-miler PR for him, by one measly second. (Note: Way back at the five miler on 5/7/95, he had a 21:44 split at the four mile mark.) He was also proud of the fact that his pace (for the 4 miler) was faster than Alan's by 10 seconds per mile (for the 20K).

WOMAN

HOLIDAY 20K RUN, Central Park, New York City, NY (12/21/97)

Check for PHOTOS!!!

MEN (3rd place overall)

*** Congratulations to Doug for his first team scoring medal. He probably thought he was just going to do a long training run, but this is how things go sometimes. So you just make sure that you get out there and put down your Central Park Track Club affiliation! You never know!

WOMAN

Look no further! The many fans of Audrey Kingsley have already looked and looked and looked on the course, and then they went home and searched and searched and searched the Internet, but Audrey was not found anywhere! (So where was Audrey? Well, she never checked the race schedule and just assumed that it was going to be at 10am. She got there in time to see the runners completing the first loop.)

Upon counsel of her legal staff, Audrey submits the following statement:

(1) The last two NYRRC races both started at 10am (one of which was a 10 miler, not that much shorter than a 20K)
(2) All of the January and February races start at 10am (except for the midnight run and the 60K, but we know why the former doesn't start at 10am and who races the latter anyway?), and
(3) (If all else fails) I wasn't really feeling well on Sunday morning, so it was almost good that I didn't go out and run a hard race. I think I got sick waiting (and waiting and waiting) for Jonathan Federman and Tony Ruiz to finish their conversation on Thursday night.

But in the spirit of the race, I did utilize the baggage-check facility and ran one loop. In addition, I got a nice cheer from Harry Morales!! Anyway, that is my explanation why I was not spotted on Sunday morning. I think I actually do that once a year. I will have to check the schedule when I pick up my number. Until next time......

(Analysis: This three-step defense sounds like the usual: (1) I wasn't not at the scene of the crime, (2) even if I was there, I didn't commit the crime and (3) even if I did commit the crime there, I was temporarily insane. The real issue here is, "Will you stop showing up late to races? Yes or no?", being similar to the usual question of "Have you stopped beating your wife? Yes or no?". We think we have the answer already.)

SETON HALL UNIVERSITY GAMES, Seton Hall University, NJ (12/14/97)

Rob Jackson, 2:08.08

Indoor Track Meet, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY (December 14, 1997)

Keith Royster - 3rd master in 400m, 55.2 seconds

JOE KLEINERMAN 10K, Central Park, New York City (December 14th, 1997)

(And no, there were no photos this week because the photographer could not get out of bed after the party the night before. Sorry, Tyronne, I know you must have been looking around. Maybe next week? but, then again, maybe not?)

MEN (2nd overall)

Tyronne Culpepper writes: "I planned to PR this race, but it's just something about Saturday nights ---I always seem to be invited somewhere where alcohol is the drink of choice. (Imagine that!) Well, I drank as much water as possible, made it to the start early but I still can't figure out how we placed 2nd with myself being the 2nd scorer for our team, a mere 34 places behind our $$$ man Alan Ruben. Maybe the Italian connection plus Jeff Kisseloff?? I think everyone on the team was surprised."

Rick Shaver said: "This is slower by over two minutes my previous worst 10K race." He was probably so insecure that he did not even sign up under Central Park Track Club. But did he realize that he would have been the third Master runner for the team? People have to realize that (1) they cannot hurt the team by signing up, but quite the opposite may be the case; and (2) just because you don't sign up under the team does not mean that your teammates won't learn about your time, because (LET'S HEAR THE CHORUS ...) EVERYTHING WILL BE TRACKED DOWN AND PUBLISHED HERE!

WOMEN

Indoor Track Meet, 168th Street Armory, Open, Limited Masters, H.S. (December 12, 1997 )

Ed Gonera - 1st master, 400m
Keith Royster - 3rd master, 400m

CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL MARATHON, Sacramento, CA (12/7/97)

HOT CHOCOLATE 10 MILE RUN, Central Park, New York City, NY (12/6/97)

There is a PHOTO SECTION for this race with over 30 pictures!

WOMEN

* Yes, that is the name on the official race results. Has she re-married? Poor Ross!

MEN

* Not listed as Central Park Track Club runner

Indoor Track Meet, 168th Street Armory, New York City, NY (December 6, 1997)

Ed Gonera - 1st master, 300m
Jesse Norman - 2nd master, 300m

MAC SEASON OPENER, 168th Street Armory, New York City, NY (December 5, 1997)

Men 60m, Ed Gonera, 7.2, 1st M40-49
Men 60m, Ken Kienzle, 8.3, 2nd M50-59

Men 300m, Mitch Lovett, 34.9, 2nd open
Men 300m, Keith Royster, 39.2, 1st in open heat
Men 300m, Ed Gonera, 37.9, 1st M40-49
Men 300m, Jesse Norman, 38,9, 2nd M40-49
Men 300m, Errol Lee, 39.2, 3rd M40-49
Men 300m, Ron Johnson, 39.4, 1st M50-59
Men 300m, Cliff Pauling, 45.10, 1st M60-69

Men 600m, Sal Allah, 1:23.7, 1st open
Men 600m, Vincent Goodman, 1:31.90, 2nd M30-39
Men 600m, Rob Jackson, 1:33.60, 1st M40-49
Men 600m, Joe Gonzalez, 1:39.9, 3rd M40-49
Men 600m, Jose Martinez, 1:43.01, 4th M40-49

Men 1500m, Grover Prince, 4:42.30, 1st M30-39
Men 1500m, Anthony Watson, 4:33.1, 1st M40-49
Men 1500m, Seth Okrend, 4:58.6, 5th M40-49
Men 1500m, Victor Diaz, 4:55.1, 1st M50-59
Men 1500m, Cliff Pauling, 5:49.1, 3rd M60-69

RUN TO THE FARSIDE 10K, San Francisco, CA (November 30, 1997)

Yes, this race is very far away from Central Park.

KURT STEINER 50K, Central Park, New York City, NY (November 29, 1997)

MEN

WOMAN

SEATTLE MARATHON, Seattle, WA (November 29, 1997)

We have been wondering where Brian has been. So now the mystery is cleared up --- he has been in top-secret training, for a 5-minute improvement on his personal best!

THE ST. MARY'S 5K RUN, Syosset, NY (November 29, 1997)

PETER McARDLE MEMORIAL XC, 15K, Van Cortlandt, The Bronx, New York (November 29, 1997)

MEN

WOMEN

Jeff Kisseloff writes: "The race began over an hour late, due to one of the funniest incidents I've ever witnessed at a race. The MAC folks were expecting rain, so out of consideration for the runners, they decided to move the registration indoors to the Southend Bar across the street from the park. They put all the registration materials in there early Sunday, and then left to come back at 10 a.m. But so did the owner, who locked the place up and didn't come back! The only person in there at 10am was a drunk was was laid out on the floor. People thought he was dead, because there must have been 25 people banging on the windows and hollering to wake him up so he would open the door, and he wasn't moving. Finally, after a half hour of the kind of noise that would have startled Helen Keller, the guy got up, stared at the window, ignored everyone and lurched into the bathroom where he passed out again on the floor. It took about a dozen phone calls before they were able to find someone who worked in the bar to come down and unlock the door."

YMCA TURKEY CHASE 10 K, Bethesda, MD (November 27, 1997)

WESTFIELD TURKEY TROT 5 MILER, New Jersey (November 27, 1997)

Ramon writes tersely: "weather good, course flat, lots of turns, OK race, did not feel too good, I think I aggravated an old injury, probably won't be running Saturday's 10 miler. I need a break.................!!!!!!!!!!!!"

OCEAN SPRAY FEED AMERICA FIVE MILER, New York (November 27, 1997)

Note: Not the best of conditions with winds of 30+ mph.

PHILADELPHIA MARATHON, Philadelphia, PA (November 23, 1997)

Bola was trying to qualify for Boston, but he came up 7 minutes short.

TURKEY CLASSIC, 5 Miles, Central Park, New York City, NY (November 23, 1997)

WOMAN

MEN (1st place open team)

(original posting on 11/24/97) Our first runner, Peter Allen was not scored for our team. Our total points were therefore 14+18+38+57+70=197, which put us behind the 'winning' team with 24+28+33+34+40=157. Had Peter Allen been scored correctly, we would have the winning score of 8+14+18+38+57=135. File a protest? You might as well as whistle in the wind.

The only good news is that Jeff Kisseloff was listed as a team member this time. Anyone who bet against that would have lost (see note on last week's race).

(revised posting on 11/26/97) Thanks to the intercession of the relentless Jud Santos, who has done more than his share of whistling in the dark, Peter Allen has been credited in the team scoring. Many thanks to Tom Kelley (NYRRC) for the quick action.

* Extra credit for being able to get out of bed after attending the Awards Party the previous night.

Jud Santos wrote: "My official time of 28:16 yesterday was off by *at least* 30 seconds, as I was late for the race due to excessive partying the night before. I really am not that slow."

AN UNKNOWN 5K (sponsored by Ticketron), somewhere in The Bronx, New York (November 21, 1997)

Alan Bautista, overall winner

The last time that Alan won a race, it was the junior Corporate Challenge and he did not know his time. Guess what? He won this race and he does not know his time either. Hmm ...

RRCA Age Group Cross Country Races, Van Cortlandt Park, The Bronx (November 16, 1997)

MEN'S OPEN TEAM (2nd place)

MEN'S MASTERS TEAM (2nd place)

WOMEN'S OPEN TEAM

WOMEN'S MASTERS TEAM

* Cross-country debutantes get automatic personal bests!

Jackie Cortes thought that the downhill experience was frightening, and could not believe how Stacy Creamer could just take off like that. Sylvie Kimché bags another age group win.

None of the competitors (including his own teammates) could believe that Edwin Fajardo was a Master, and they kept telling him that he was in the wrong race!

The Men's Open team finished second in the standing, but this only means that there was only one other registered team before us. After all, our team leader Ramon Bermo saw five New York Harriers in front of him, but they had not registered as a team.

We have to commend Bill Dunlop for an exceptional A-Team-quality effort!

A rare occurrence: Jeff Kisseloff is listed as a member of the Central Park Track Club. But this may be an aberration, because the cross-country races are not processed by computer. So we will have to wait for the next race in the park, and we are betting against him being listed correctly!

The RRCA scoring is based upon the total times of the first five finishers. This is different from the usual finishing place calculations because there were separate races by age groups, and the Masters can score for their Open teams. So our top five finishers in the Men's Open category were: John Kenney, Ramon Bermo, Bill Dunlop, Rich Joseph and Tom Hartshone.

CLARKSBURG 30K, Pacific Association/USATF Western Regional 30K Championship, Clarksburg, CA (November 16, 1997)

Diana Fitzpatrick, 1:55:57, Top Woman, ($200)

REEBOK / USATF NEW ENGLAND XC CHAMPIONSHIPS, Franklin Park, Boston (November 10, 1997), 5 miles

Tom Hartshorne, 42, 25th Master Male, 28:34

COLUMBUS MARATHON, Columbus, Ohio (November 9, 1997)

Monica Bonamego, 3:12:48 (PR), 373rd overall, 3rd age group (F30-34)

Monica found the kind of day that the New York City Marathon-ers wished that they could have --- 50+ degrees, dry, windless --- and she found herself with a PR! Please note that her time at the Grete's Great Gallop half-marathon a month ago was just 1:37! This is very gratifying to her as she practically came back from the Land of the Dead over the last three years.

UPSTATE NEW YORK CROSS COUNTRY SERIES (8K), LeMoyne College, Syracuse, NY (November 8, 1997)

Tom Hartshorne, 30:56.3, 34th overall, 5th master

NEW YORK CITY MARATHON, New York City, NY (November 2, 1997)

Yes, we have a few PHOTOS of wet ducks.

WOMEN

• Our first three finishers --- Audrey, Julie and Sarah --- ran together, shoulder to shoulder, through the first 20 miles or so. Then, at 22 miles, Sarah said, "I was cooked!", while that bundle of energy named Audrey kept going and going and going ...
• Actually, the most energetic person might have been Irene, who kept asking people all over the course, "Show me the money!" And we thought this is a recreational activity!

MEN

Here is a report from Dudley Upton, a Central Park Track Club member from Concord, Massachusetts:

"So I finished behind the guys I ran with this year. I developed a stomach complaint from something I ate at breakfast, and it started to bother me at about mile 8, at which time I said to my buddy Tim Ledwick to run on as I was not going to finish in a decent time. We hung together to about fifteen and then Tim took off. At that stage tha last of the three of us, Mark Bolinsky, was behind us both.

At eighteen, the heavens opened up and the rain was just like being under the shower head for about a mile, then it let up and became just an incessant drizzle. I had hopes of keeping my shoes dry on the inside, and was managing to miss the puddles and my body heat abated the effect of the rain. Then at twenty miles, a huge clap of thunder, and an increasingly heavier rain set in for the rest of the way. I gave up trying to keep the shoes dry as I could no longer see the puddles - there were none - the road was just a river. The rain was so heavy there was nowhere for it to go and everyone was saturated. I could not read my watch for a time and had great difficulty seeing at all as my eye glasses were all misted and rained on.

The crowd and the volunteers hung in though and yelled encouragement all the way home. However my stomach was not up to snuff and at twenty two miles I had to stop and emit my breakfast, not a pretty sight, and I was feeling decidedly under the weather both externally and internally. The last few miles were on will power. I walked and ran but could not maintain a pace, and the finish time shows.

The family reunion area was totally awash and it was very diffucult to see friends and relatives through the sea of umberellas. Tim's dad met us at the finish family reunion, but he was soaked up to the knees wading through the park. He had put our warm-up clothes in plastic bags to keep them dry at least. But once having donned dry clothes, they were instantly wet because you just could not escape the downpour. What a day!

As always, New York is a blast. I wish I had eaten something else for breakfast, but that's one of life's lessons. New York could improve the event if it adopted the chip technology that Boston uses and save the melee at the start. Other than that, it was still a lot of fun - even if I was forty minutes off my best."

5K RUN/WALK AGAINST SUBSTANCE ABUSE, North Shore University Hospital, Glen Cove, NY (October 25, 1997)

NOT QUITE THE NEW YORK CITY MARATHON, 5 Miles, Central Park, New York City (October 25, 1997)

WOMEN (first place team)

• This makes age-group win number 12 (13? 14? Sorry, we lost count) for Sylvie Kimché, who is undefeated this year in NYRRC events. Hey, Sylvie, you have the NYRRC age-group runner of the year award sewed up and, yes, you can relax some, okay?
• The team scoring is based upon the total time of the first three finishers for the team. Sylvie, Monica and Audrey won by about 10 minutes over the next team!

MEN (second place team)

• John Kenney finished first for the team to continue the dominance of the 40+ years olds on this team, thus dashing young turk Jud Santos' dream to lead.
• This reporter had pre-registered for the race and had planned to take some photos there. But after a big party on the previous night, he was unable to wake up in time, in spite of the fact that the race started at 10:15am and Daylight Savings Time also gave an extra hour. This makes him wonder how that party animal Edwin Fajardo handles it!

MARINE CORPS MARATHON, Washington DC (October 26, 1997)

334th overall, 85th M30-34, Fasil Yilma, 32, 3:06:09 PR (split 1:31:16)
1951th overall, 352th M35-39, Adebola Awofeso, 36, 3:35:52 (split 1:40:25)

Message from Bola: "It rained all day on Sunday.Why didn't you guys warn me not to listen to Fasil? He made me line up with him ... well ... to cut a long story short ... after 20 miles, I was gone."

KURT STEINER 5K, Van Cortlandt Park, New York City (October 19, 1997)

MEN (1st place overall and 1st place Masters)

WOMEN (1st place overall and, obviously, 1st place Masters)

DETROIT FREE PRESS MARATHON, Ottawa (Canada) to Detroit (Michigan) (October 19, 1997)

#236, Harry Morales, 3:11:38 (and feeling/looking good)

Harry happened to be the first New York finisher, as no one else from our state can imagine going to run a race in Detroit.

ATLANTIC CITY MARATHON, Atlantic City, NJ (October 19, 1997)

There are four different races associated with this event: a marathon, a half-marathon, a 10K and a 5K race.

MARATHON

Okay, so he is not with our club. But he is Terri (née Edelman) Sonenclar's brother and this is his first marathon, so we are giving him a honorable mention in this space.

HALF MARATHON

This makes the eighth race this year at this distance for our Half-Marathon Queen! She is hoping to make 10, so she is presently shopping around for another two.

5K RACE

LASALLE BANKS CHICAGO MARATHON, Chicago, IL (October 19, 1997)

Ramon Bermo, 2:45:19, 175th Overall, 160th Male, 39th Male 30-34

Here is what Ramon said: "This was a nice flat course with nice weather. At the twentieth mile mark, I did not even think that I really started to run. I thought I was going to break 2:40 for sure. And then IT hit me! I actually let out a loud scream. Instead of running 6 minute miles, my last four miles got progressively slower and slower until I was over 7:30 minutes for the last mile."

THE IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, Kona, Hawaii (October 18, 1997)

Scott Willett finished 103rd place overall (8th in his age group, Men 35-39; 1st finisher from New York state) in a time of 9 hours 46 minutes 5 seconds. Not too shabby for someone who keeps chanting the mantra: "I am not in shape. I don't have the time to train. Etcetera. Etcetera." His splits were

• 56:39 in the 2.4 mile swim (ranked 150th)
• 5:25:10 in the 112 mile bike (ranked 157th)
• 3:24:16 in the 26.2 mile marathon run (ranked 151st)

By being consistent in each leg, his overall place is much higher than his ranking in each individual leg. The hardest leg is obviously the run, which is done in 110+ degree temperature.

If Scott had been able to shave two minutes off his marathon time, he would have finished in the Top 100 overall as well as Top 5 in his age group. This probably explained why four days after the race, Scott was seen doing our Thursday evening workout in the Park to sharpen his running.

1997 UPSTATE NEW YORK CROSS COUNTRY SERIES, Cobb's Hill, Rochester, NY (October 12th, 1997)

Tom Hartshorne, 23:06.4, 21st overall, 2nd male master

NORWAY RUN (3.3 mile = 5.3km), Central Park, New York City (October 12, 1997)

(YES, WE HAVE PHOTOS FROM THESE TWO RACES!!!)

• This one was a race management disaster! The race was billed as a 5K race, but the course was obviously mismeasured --- the second mile covered the distance from E88th Street to E91st Street and back to E71st Street when it is well-known that it is exactly one mile between E72nd Street and E90th Street. The results originally posted at the finishing area listed the race distance as 3.4 miles, which was then quickly hand-corrected to 3.45 miles, but it is now listed on the NYRRC web site as 3.3 miles. Your guess about the actual distance is as good as anyone else's. The race started 20 minutes late. There were no splits given at the one-mile mark nor the so-called two-mile mark; the person at the so-called three-mile mark was calling the Half Marathon Race split times for the 5K runners. Our 2nd and 3rd Master Men finishers (Rob Jackson and Jeff Kisseloff) were not credited for this club scoring race. Jackie Cortes was not listed at all (see post-race group photo where Jackie is wearing bib #93?). Awesome! How much did you pay to enter this race? $7? $10? $20? The only good news is that everyone gets credited with a Personal Record over this unknown distance, unlikely to be ever encountered again.

• A few days after the race, the runners received a form letter from Allan Steinfeld, President of NYRRC:

"Dear Runner, Due to a marshaling error at the Norway Run on Sunday October 12th, the course you ran was 5.346 kilometers (3.322 miles), not 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), as expected. The additional footage (1136 feet) was added by error at the course turnaround. The accurately-measured race course placed the Norway Run turnaround at 88th Street and the East Drive. On race morning, NYRRC marshals --- noting large painted arrows on the roadway --- placed the turnaround close to 91st Street. Unfortunately, these markings had been painted for the Biathlon, which preceded the Norway Run that morning, and were not intended for NYRRC use."

Well, this so-called explanation makes our blood boil! In the best tradition of the Nixonian mode of operation, the blame fell upon an imaginary outside enemy (namely, the Central Park Biathlon) and/or 'incompetent' underlings (namely, the hard-working marshals)! As the Church Lady would say, "HOW CONVENIENT!" The fact of the matter is that the error was committed long before race day and ignored throughout. Here is Exhibit A, the course description given in the race entry form, which clearly told people that the turnaround is at 92nd Street:

Here is Exhibit B, a portion of the course map printed in the race entry form. The dotted line traces the race course, which clearly turns around somewhere north of E90th Street.

There were ample signs before the race that there was a problem, but they were brushed aside. Any experienced runner would know just from the course description that the numbers do not add up. Several runners (and we can name two seasoned elite runners) informed the race officials that the course was too long, but they were treated like children and dismissed summarily (the attitude was "You don't know what you are talking about. Just let us professionals do our work, okay!").

We understand that people do make mistakes. This race is just one of several hundred that we each have or will have done in our lifetimes. We are quite content just to hear someone say, "Sorry, we made a mistake. We will make sure that this sort of thing does not happen in the future" and we will move ahead to our next race. But what we object to is the rudeness with which people were treated, before and after the race, on this matter. For example, one runner was rudely told "to bring his own stopwatch, like everybody else," if he was not happy. What is even more disturbing is that the names of the Central Park Biathlon and the marshals should be sullied!

• The results below contain the finishing times and the pace as published on the NYRRC web site. A regression analysis showed that the pace was calculated based upon 3.300 miles (and not the newly revised 3.322 miles in the Steinfeld letter), so your pace should be 2 to 3 seconds faster per mile than this published number.
  
  For your benefit, we have listed an equivalent 5K time obtained by the formula:
  Actual finishing time multiplied by 5000 and divided by 5346.

(Please note that the person who developed this formula has a Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Statistics and does not want to hear complaints from you all. He points out that the validity of this formula depends on the correctness of the 5.346 km distance. In addition, your pace should be slightly faster over the shorter distance.)

WOMEN, 2nd Open Team

• Stacy Creamer continues her unbroken string for being on the scoring team for every NYRRC scoring race this year. However, since she bailed out the New York Marathon, this is in fact the end of the streak.
• This would have been a 5K PR for Sarah Gross, as she had never done one before. Well, she still hasn't done one yet.
• Jackie Cortes ran the race but had no listed result under her name. But we did find an unknown MALE runner listed as Runner # 939, age 35, in a time of 21:19 (see post-race group photo where Jackie is wearing bib #93?). We will be kind and not tell any hormonal jokes.
• Sylvie Kimché remains undefeated in her age group in NYRRC races this year.

MEN

• His teammates stayed far away from Fasil Yilma, who was wearing runner bib number 666. There was nothing that he could do about it either, as the race official made an announcement that running bibs must be fully visible at all times and never folded nor mutilated upon pain of disqualification.
• Once again, Jeff Kisseloff was not listed as a member of the Central Park Track Club. Does the NYRRC have something personal against Jeff?
• Rob Jackson was not listed under Central Park Track Club either, which meant that the top 3 master runners are Alan Ruben, Roland Soong and Max Schindler. What a scary thought!
• Max Schindler claims that, after twenty years of running, this is the first time that he ever ran a 5K. "How are you supposed to do a 5K?" he asked as he changed into his racing flats. He must have figured it out on the way to the starting line as he won his age group.

According to Jud Santos, the course is actually 3.35 miles. The difference of plus/minus one-twentieth of a mile (=80 meters) is actually significant for a short race like this and may translate to something between 17 to 26 seconds in time. If you want to see what your 5K time would be under the assumption of a 3.35 mile race, please e-mail him. Jud is into psychology (and social work) these days, and he will make you feel better about your performance!

GRETE'S GREAT GALLOP, Central Park, New York City (October 12, 1997), Half Marathon (13.1 miles)

WOMEN, 2nd Overall Team

MEN

• In an exciting finish, Ricardo Granados outkicked a Witold's Runner as well as teammate Luis Peña.
• In his first team race ever, newcomer Doug Kabbash finished third for the team. Unfortunately, we needed five runners to form a scoring team. The worst part is that we had several runners in the race without numbers!

MAC XC CHAMPIONSHIPS, Van Cortlandt Park, New York City (October 5, 1997) (Results courtesy of Sylvie Kimché)

Men's Masters 5K

Team Results:
Taconic RR, 1st, 1:29:11, 3-4-7-8-9=31
Central Park Track Club, 2nd, 1:29:55, 1-2-11-13-16=43

Special note: Alan Ruben was leading the race, but our long-distance star had no kick and was edged at the finish. The race winner Paul Mascali ran unaffiliated, which is why Alan was scored in first-place for team points.

Women's Masters 5K

Special note: Jud Santos expended a lot of energy on the day before to outsprint his teammate Elizabeth Fiore by 3 seconds in the Corporate Challenge Championship. They finished at the identical 7:52 min/mile pace. He had intended to race again on Sunday. But by the time that Jud woke up at 9:40 am on Sunday morning, the Open Men's 10K was already over!

HI-TEC RACING ADVENTURE SERIES # 3: Moraine State Park, Pittsburgh, PA (October 5, 1997)

Stefani Jackenthal, on Team PCS, 36th place

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY CROSS COUNTRY RACE, Van Cortlandt Park, New York City, (October 5, 1997)

Scott Willett, Ross Galitsky and Aubin Sullivan ran in this university affair. They have declined to provide their race times, saying that the race was not timed, that it was an informal affair, etc. Not even the good old Chinese water torture could extract any information out of them. Our apologies to our readers!

CORPORATE CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP, Park Avenue, New York City (Saturday, October 4th, 1997)

WOMEN

MEN

* He claims his actual time was 20:36, but was penalized 5 seconds for 'good behavior'. Of course, the question on everybody's mind is: Who is Saral O'Peral and how come nobody on the club has heard of him? Well, he is this tall guy who has a tendency to start out too fast in races and who is always seeking media exposure. Need we say more?

PHOTO: Here is a fuzzy screen capture from the ESPN broadcast of this race. The second guy from the left is Charlie Stark, running for the New York City Transit Authority.