From Lauren Carter of the Open:
It was a weekend for the races (and one for the ages too!). Down in Kentucky, our own Katie Casto kicked off her birthday weekend with a 5K win. Katie raced to an 18:58 finish in the Pure Tap 5K.
Katie Casto
Sunday was a warm and sunny day as the Women’s Open Team took to the roads again, perfect for running a quick race. In this case, the mile. The “Under 30” crew crushed it. They were pitted against the best in the world and came out 4th overall. The Open team was lead by Meggie Sullivan’s smashing performance of 5:09.
Meggie Sullivan
Photo: Nigel Francis
Ladies!
The 5th Avenue Mile–there may be mile road races in other towns, but nothing like the mile in New York. Nowhere else can you run a race where the lush greenness of the park on one side contrasts with the urban architecture at the turn of a head.
At the start line, strains of American Woman blares from the speakers, pumping the ladies up, turning even the timid into a badass mama. The gun blasts and off we go.
Some of the official times are still in dispute. However, this is what went down for our ladies:
40+:
Colleen: Our first 40+ scorer had a great race, this being her debut to the 5th Ave Mile. Unofficial time is 5:31 and 5th place. She’s only going to get faster from here!
Amy: Our 2nd scorer! “First and foremost, congrats to not only our women’s masters blasters team (term cred – Kim), but also to the entire CPTC team on the whole. Way to represent! Personally just happy to be up and running again, injury free and on my way to getting my long- lost fitness back. Went out too hard and was a little frustrated with myself for lack of pacing skills. I wish I was just a little more mentally strong once this did happen on Sunday. Overall it was a good workout and lots of fun…much appreciation for CPTC sideline cheerleaders – you were as awesome as the racers.” An amazing 5:49 from Amy!
Ani Go
Photo: NYRR
Ani: “Happy to be out and representing on the roads again!”
Roberta: “I trained very hard for this race and was way off my pace. Race morning I couldn’t hold anything down…so I had no energy after 400. I tried to push at 800, but there was nothing in the tank.” Don’t worry Roberta, there’s next year!
50+:
Judy: Not only scores first in the 50+team, she was the top scorer for the 40+ team as well! Placing 1st in the 50+ heat, she was interviewed on the big jumbotron for all to see. Congrats Judy!
Kim: “It was like no time had passed being with the CPTC gang after a hiatus and 2 kids! Glad to be back! Who knew a mile could be so long! It was great to warm up with Judy. The 50-59 corral was very crowded and I yelled to Coach Tony on the front line. First race back, I went out conservatively a few rows back and passed a few folks at the last 200m. Unfortunately the tracking did not pick me up at the start only at the finish so my time is not accurate (NYRR gave me gun time). It is more like 6:05.”
Wanda: Solidly in the top ten, she completes the scoring team in 6:17!
Diane: Last but not least, Diane came out to represent the orange & blue! Great job!
Congrats to open our and masters teams!!!
Go orange!!!
From Sylvie Kimche of the 60+:
Sunday morning was a perfect day to romp down the most well-known avenue in NYC (in the world??? Well, the Champs-Elysées in Paris could claim that honor, but as far as I know there is no mile down the Champs-Elysées; just the sprint at the end of the Tour de France…And anyway, in France it would be a 1500m, not the prestigious mile…
Five CPTC W60+ runners toed the line and I’m happy to report all finished brilliantly.
The Golden Girls/Silver Foxes took first place team again!
The best place result was achieved by Lynn who was first in her (new) W75-79 age group in 9:23! Congrats Lynn! Way to go!
Caryl was 7th in her W70-74 age group in 10:15, a little disappointed by her time but happy to be part of this special event.
There was a slight difference to our top 3 scorers though….
In the absence of Deb who had to cancel a few days before the race (nothing bad, don’t worry), our long-time teammate Mary (the only judge of NYC on the team if I’m not mistaken) stepped up to the line at the last minute and ran 8:45 to complete the team and give us a comfortable win over the 2nd place team (21:47 vs 22:34 for Van Cortland TC). Thanks Mary! We hope to see you racing more often!
FYI, in fact, we would have gotten first place with Lynn as our 3rd scorer, albeit with a much smaller margin…That’s how strong our team is!
The top 2 runners for the team were as usual:
Barbara was first for the team in 6:22, (a 93.94% AG performance). She was 2nd in her W60-64 age group (one of the toughest IMHO) to Kathryn Martin, who had a stellar race running 5:39 at age 63 for a 105.80% AG!!! (What can we do mere mortals when faced with such phenomenal talent???). So kudos to Barbara for keeping at it and for her excellent “humanly” result on Sunday!
Sylvie, your team captain, was 2nd for the team & was elated to run the exact same time as last year 6:40 (therefore a higher AG% of 96.93%) and to finish stronger than last year. But this year she was only 2nd in her W65-69 age group as Erika Campbell (6:34, a 95.45% AG%) came from NJ to break her streak of 38 first place in NYRR races… oh well, all good things must have an end I suppose!….
With this win, the W60+ team is now solidly in 1st place (105 pts) ahead of NY Flyers (93 pts). If you eliminate one race, our position is even stronger as we still have 105 pts (no show at Brooklyn Half therefore no points to subtract) vs 81 pts for NY Flyers.
Since we have a team (barring any unforeseen problems) for 3 of the next 4 races (no team for the NYCM), we should finish the year in 1st place once again!
But “better not count your chicken before they hatch” as the saying goes…
We just have to keep running and enjoy our runs & our good health!
Congrats to all the CPTC runners, especially to Judy Stobbe, 1st place in her W50-54 age group (5:29, 1st for the W50+ team AND for the W40+ team too!) and Gerry O’Hara, 1st place in his M50-54 age group as well (4:46, 1st for the M50+ team, double-dipping also for the M40+!!!)
And of course, thanks to the cheering squad at the half mile mark! It’s wonderful to hear the shouts and bells as you go up that hill and it really helps! (at least it works for me…☺)
On to the Bronx 10 miler on Sept 27. See you there!
GO ORANGE! (Those new uniforms are GREAT!)
Sylvie