Photo: John Tran
Freezing temps and two cat hill climbs didn’t stop the CPTC Master women from burning up the roads at the Ted Corbitt 15k! At the last scoring race of the 2018 racing season, the 40 + women went out with a bang with a first place division finish! The 40+ Master women also secured 2nd place overall for the 2018 team points races. A strong, fast and fantastic end to the year!
Our first finisher was Colleen McGurk who finished in 58:54 and had this to say about her race:
This was my second post- Chicago race and it was so great to be out there with my teammates again! It was definitely a cold one and I felt a little rusty the last two miles but the cheers from Tony, Johnny, and all my teammates got me through! Thank you to all who braved the cold to cheer, it helped a lot and our first place finish was a great way to end the season.
Our second finisher was Amy Kvilhaug who finished in a solid 1:05. Amy has been gearing up for indoor season and hasn’t been focusing on distance lately but still braved the cold to support her teammates. Amy is forever a great team player and always there to support the team. Thank you, Amy!
This may not have been my best time on the clock, but it’s the best morning I had leading up to a road race in a while. Somehow in recent years, I started going down a path of negative thinking and it actually really started to affect my mindset on race day to the point where I was dreading getting on the line every single time. I have been working on my mindset and positivity significantly, and today it just felt good to get out there. When I finished, rather than beat myself up I found all the positives I could about my race (of course I didn’t know we had won yet). I am going to consider this day a huge personal victory for me. Because I have been gearing up for indoor season, I have done limited long runs (or at least long runs by my marathon mind standards) and this was the first really long tempo in ages. I felt ok until about mile 5 when I could tell my cadence was slowing and my body was wondering what I was doing to it. I used my mind to get me through the remaining miles and it worked. After a dismal 8th mile up Cat Hill (this course is BRUTAL), I was able to regroup and finish pretty strong. Our masters ladies were on a mission to win Corbitt, and we did!!! Thanks to a blazing performance by Colleen and a HUGE 2 minute PR by Christine, we did it! Leaving 2018 with a bang for great things to come in 2019. Congrats to all our racers out there as well as the support along the course by teammates and Coach Tony. As usual, I may not look at you but I hear you all!!! It was so cold out there and you were all so awesome to be there! Coach Tony helped me put it in another gear for the final .3 of the race with his encouragement to “at least run someone down”. That was awesome!
Next up was Christine Peddy with a finish time of 1:08. Christine has had an incredible season filled with PRs and fast finisher times! Christine also ran three crazy loops of Vanny in the FREEZING rain last week at the Pete McArdle 15k and came back this week to help our team to a 1st place finish. Christine also walked away with a two minute PR. What an incredible warrior and we’re so glad you are part of the Orange, Christine!
Our next finisher was Audrey Kingsley in 1:09 and PLEASE “CALL IT A COMEBACK” Once Again, Audrey Kinsley shows us what a true comeback looks like. Audrey’s consistent training and discipline is all coming together and we couldn’t be more proud of her. Keep up the FAST work, Audrey!! Audrey has this to say about her race:
Although I’m looking forward to a few months of solid training to get faster and stronger, the Ted Corbitt 15k was the perfect finish to a great season! I could not have asked for more. I felt strong the entire race and was totally focused. Every race this year I felt more and more like my old self and this race was no different. My last mile was my fastest of the year! I can’t wait for 2019!!
Julie Tucker was also out there reppin’ Orange and ran a solid 1:13. Julie has been a great teammate this past year and has run over ten NYRR races during the 2018 racing season. We love your passion, Julie!
And that’s a wrap! Thank you all for a wonderful year filled with lots of running, racing and training! Here’s to a fast, healthy 2019!