With injuries endemic among our 60+ men, an uncertain scoring situation arose for this year’s Team Championships. Concern evaporated as race results proved our talent pool to be deep. Brooklyn RR too has been beset with similar injuries; they could not fill in the void. Taconic RR had their knives sharpened and won the day. Yet David Blumel bested them all. We took 2nd for 2 x 12 points in the team points tally.

And for the first time, we scored in mens 70+, also taking 2nd… how sweet.

David Blumel

Photo: John Tran

Regarding our 1st scorer, David Blumel: quoting Coach Tony as he called it out among the Wall of Orange 600 meters from the finish line, “he’s a beast!” David took 1st AG place in 60-64, besting all the talent that Taconic brought to the table. His 31:45 was a 6:21 pace. It would have put him 4th in the next younger age group. It was also 83.27%. That amounted to 27th AG overall. Time will dull the sharpest blades at a certain age, last year he ran 30:50, 6:10 pace for 84.98% AG. Here is what David said pre-race:

Given the circumstances, I’m not going to try to kill it on Saturday in order to be able to run Percy Sutton this year. (Last year I had to pull out.) I think 6:20 pace should suffice. I’ve also missed a bit of training… That’s over now so I can focus on the next few races.

Yasuhiro Makoshi continues to perform well. As our 2nd scorer his 35:01, a 7:01 pace was good for 1st AG 65-69, 78.24% AG. Last year he ran it in 35:08. It is so good having him back after so much time on the disabled list. And he bested his old Taconic rival John Shostrom, who ran 36 even. Jack McShane, his other Taconic rival was out with a knee injury. There seems to be a lot of that going around: Alan Ruben and me.

A comment on this business of aging, a big elephant in the room, is in order. Years ago, Sid told me that we all take different trains. How true it has proven to be. In youth and the upswing, the human body has an innate ability to grow strong given the correct ingredients. But going out of tune with age is a different kettle of fish. Short of serious medical conditions, each of us appear to be programed differently for obsolescence. Ultimately, it is either good luck or a damn shame. The downward curve in the late 50s to late 60s can be gradual or steep. Or it can be both: gradual, then steep. Along the way we might have better or worse days, but in the long run things run down, fine wine, lots of sunshine and sound sleeping be darned. The take away is to surf that wave and hope for the best. But remember, some things pleaseth the lord in ways we don’t understand. And what makes him content could make your legs slow in a flash.

Charles Parchment, our 3rd scorer, ran 35:45, 7:09 pace, 73.33% AG, good for 8th in 60-64 AG. Here is what he emailed me before the race:

I ran NYRR 5k in central park yesterday evening and won my age group.  20 minutes  41 seconds. To be truthful, I got mixed up with the race calendar and registered for this race…  I say to myself this race looks to be in my favor so I might as well run it . I am feeling good for tomorrow. I am resting up.

Save that formula of race and rest. It served you well.

After the race, he said he felt good in the heat. Charles is putting in the training and running the races. Come cooler weather and continued sensible training, he should have a sub 20 minute 5k in him.

Dennis O’Donnell, 37:02, 7:25 pace, 71.41% AG, our 1st back up, has been tearing up the garden. Last year he ran it in 37:04. Dennis:

 Glad we broke.  Didn’t make the scoring cut, but, all things considered, I was happy with my race. 

 Two weeks before he had done well in a NYC Runs race:

 Even though I had signed up for the 4 Mile Retro in Central Park, I elected to run the NYC Runs Cyclones 5k on the Coney Island Boardwalk.  I cleaned up, winning the 60+ age group by 2.5 minutes.  (My 7:11 pace also would have placed me No 2 in the 50+ age group, if we were looking in that direction. ). This is presumably because all of the real talent was running in Central Park, which it was. But, based on pace alone, I still would have finished No 2 in the NYRR 60-64 age group and in the same finishing wave as Bob Holliday and Chris at the Central Park Race. So, all in all, a good day.

 And regarding his effort at the Firecracker 5k:

 Alan Heblack crossed the finish line 7 seconds after me, but he took first because his chip time was 4 seconds faster than mine.

BTW, Alan is practically, but unofficially a CPTC team member (he and I ran together on GNY) and a good guy, I suspect GNY left a bad taste in his mouth regarding teams. We have tried many times to lead him to CPTC, but we can’t make him drink.

Dennis also took 1st in age group at the NYC 5k on Roosevelt Island with a 7:14 pace, with Larry Go pacing 7:14 and Ani 7:15.

Snapping at Dennis’s heels was Chris Neuhoff, looking and running all the The White Rabbit he is. So glad to have him back in the line up. 37:16, 7:28 pace, a very healthy 75% AG. Last year Chris ran it in 39:03. Nice jump in time.

Victor Osayi

Photo: Jay-R Mojica

Victor Osayi ran 39:49. Last year he ran it in 37:30. He was along side Kevin with 600 meters to go.

Kevin McGuire, 40:06, 4th in AG, just shy of 70% AG. Last year he ran it in 39:27.

Kevin:

Just finished soaking in the pool. Most enjoyable.

Pretty close to last years time so I will take it in these hot humid conditions.

Victor and I worked together the entire race. His track speed got him over the finish line quicker at the end. Bravo. 

Having teammates help pull each other along is such a boost.

Great to see everyone.

Dan Molloy, 41:46, 8th in age group. Dan recently took 2nd in his age group out of 27 in the NYC Triathlon. Remarkably, he did it by being in the top 2 among all the 3 disciplines.

Chip Olsen, 43:30, 8th in his age group. Chip was our 1st scorer in our 1st 70+ crew. There was a buzz among the group after Frank Wilson emailed his desire to put together an effort at 70+.

Frank:

Hi Hank, this is the Montana State University, graduate student runner for CPTC.

I was wondering if we field a 70+ team at July 28, 2018 team champions?

Frank did not make the race, but we did have 4 finishers. Personally, I’m taken aback that people born in 1978 are 70. I remember when they were just a bit taller than me.

Chip:

Mile 3 was the toughest for some reason.

Tough conditions, as usual, for this race. I sure appreciated the support from the team along the route – thanks to everyone!

Harry Lichtenstein, 46:52, just shy of 60% AG. Last year Harry ran this in 46:16. Thanks for running Harry.

Dave Delano, 46:59, 2nd 70+ scorer. He ran it in 54:09 last year. It’s nice to be a team scorer. 60+ team mate Sam Mann worked with Dave to improve his running capacity. And thank you Sam, hoping to see you make a direct contribution to 60+ men in the 5th Avenue Mile.

Robert Haig, 51:17, 3rd 70+ scorer. His only other Team Championships was in 1997. He looked good coming into the final stretch.

George Hirsch, 58:04, 1st 70+ backup. George was the 2nd oldest runner in the race yet his AG place was better than half the lot overall. Last year he ran it in 49:06.

Thus our 60+ men are solidly in 2nd place for the season. Would it have been different had Alan Ruben and Art Palmer not been on the disabled list? We were 2 and a half minutes behind Taconic. It is anyone’s guess if they would have made up the difference.  It was not to be. Our 70+ were 14 minutes behind 1st place Van Cortlandt Track. That is certainly a bridge too far.

In the 60+ team point standings Taconic has 90, CPTC 70, and Brooklyn 62.

In the 70+  Van Cortlandt has 82, Taconic 74, Front Runners 38, CPTC 24, and Prospect Park 10. The only way to move up is to have 3 finishers. Do we have the drive to have 3 starters for the coming races? And do they have the sense to know when they are just this side of an impending injury?

Anyway, we are half way into the team point season. August and September are busy months for racing. The Percy Sutton 5k is and the 5th Avenue Mile are still open to registration but the Bronx 10 miler is sold out.

Captain Hank