Faster Masters has been more like Slower Writers recently. But with the new season, I have sharpened both my spikes and my pen, hoping to keep you orange folks in the know.
I’m going to lead with the team competition this month because those orange blurs you saw were your scoring teammates passing their competition. All three women’s teams used the last race of the year to get up on their toes, get their hands up to their noses, and improve their team standings. The women’s 50+ actually pulled a Dixon and won their division in the last race, in the last second. The women’s 40+ and 50+ each moved up to 2nd, from 3rd.
If the women’s teams were big kickers, the men’s teams were more like steady state performers. The 50+ men seemingly won their series by mid-January, the 40+ held on to 4th, and the 60+ cruised to 10th.
Individually, there has been much to talk about. Starting with the Joe K 10k, where Jim McQuadebroke out and went sub 34 for a big 52-week age-graded PR. I can’t help but be gleeful to see that Jim was the fastest CPTCer on the day, regardless of age. Jim made the podium, which was nice, but not as nice as age group winners Yasuhiro Makoshi, Yumi Ogita, and Sylvie Kimche.
Alan Ruben did the big lap in 35:58/86.7% for the best age-graded score of the day. Alan finished the year with the three best age-graded scores of the year among the men, topped by his 87.7% 15k in March.
No fewer than five orange ones set 52-week age graded PRs at the Kleinerman: John de Csepel (75.3%), David Greenberg (78.3%), the great Yasuhiro Makoshi (85.8%), McQuade (83.7%), and Mary Diver, (77.1%).
At the lightly attended but probably still festive Holiday 4-miler, the story was two 52-week PRs – from Fred Trilliand true ironwoman Lynn Blackstone. Lynn ran 15 races in 2009, the most of all the masters women. Yasuhiro, who ran an even more amazing 20, won his age group.
In a Phelpsian gambit, Yasuhiro went home, washed his uniform, no doubt at least thought about a really good massage, then showed up the next day for the 15k XC race in VCP. Which, of course, he won, along with Mary Diver.
Not having his fill of 15k races, Yasuhiro was back the next weekend for the Corbitt, on asphalt, in CP. There, he again won his age group, this time, sharing the glory with Alan Ruben, who won the 50-54.
A big orange turnout graced the road in front of what was once Tavern on the Green for the Manhattan Half. Forty-one of us were there, and it was a good day. Jim McQuade continued to fire the afterburners – winning his age group in 1:14/83.1%. No one else won an age group, but Joseph Frazetta, James Hanrahan, and Audrey Kingsley did have their best age-graded races in 52 weeks.
We gathered two more new masters men at the Manhattan Half, so we are up to a recent high of 106 male CPTC masters runners competing in the last 52 weeks.
Finally, since I like statistics a full half as much as I like ice cream, here is a list of the top age-graded masters performers of 2009:
Women
1. Sylvie Kimche: 88.8%
2. Yumi Ogita: 87.0%
3. Judith Tripp: 84.8%
4. Deb Barchat: 84.7%
5. Jill Vollweiler: 83.1%
6. Stacy Creamer: 83.0%
Men
1. Alan Ruben: 87.7%
2. Stuart Calderwood: 86.3%
3. Yasuhiro Makoshi: 85.8%
4. Peter Allen: 85.0%
5. Michael Rennock: 84.7%
6. Tom Phillips: 84.4%
dgreenb300@aol.com