For our 60+ & 70+ men, the 2018 Percy Sutton 5k was a good day at the races.
Once again, David Blumel shook the field, taking 1st 60+ men / 60-64 men, besting all of 1st place Taconic RR runners. He may look thin, but he has a mean reach.
Yasuhiro Makoshi took 1st 65-69 men. With Hank Schiffman and Chris Neuhoff in the next 2 spots in the age group, rising from the ashes like a phoenix back to the warrior he had been.
David was so quick, he would have missed 2nd place in 55- 59 men by 4 seconds. His 19:07 was good for 20th AG overall among men, translating to 84.27%:
A few hours after the race ended, I realized I had never raced 3.1 miles on the road. Not sure how that happened. But I digress. Overall, I felt the race had a good vibe. Fewer runners and having a horn player perform the national anthem probably helped. I’ve never run downhill for so long and run such a slow mile as mile two, at which point I was averaging 6:18 pace. Ha. But it was all down hill from there, allowing for a faster finish.
Yasuhiro Makoshi is making strides to return to his former glory. His 20:48 earned him 80.09%, on of our two 80+% runner.
1st in AG in the 8k France run, 34:50 (7:01 pace)
1st in Ag in the Manhattan 7 Miler, 51:34 (7:22 pace)
Charles Parchment, our 3rd scorer’s 21:08 was 75.57%.
Charles in the vernacular:
Those feets in my age group i need to have four feets to beat them those 60 to 64 age groupers i got caught up in the harlem fire. Harlem 5k a TUFF road for running to me but a nice effort. Cool runnings.
Hank Schiffman’s 22:10/ 77.97%:
An interesting coincidence: William Finnagan, author of Barbarian Days, the book I am reading, finished 9th in my AG.
The course change took me by surprise. The out and back at mile 1 puts the size of the animals in the forest in perspective as does the steep grade up 141st Street on who has an advantageous power to weight ratio.
Chris Neuhoff, our 1st back up’s 22:10/ 75.29%, is kicking the clouds away:
3rd in AG in the 8k France Run, 37:07 (7:28 pace)
3rd in AG in the Manhattan 7 miler, 54:51 (7:51 pace)
John Kenney, emerging from the DL list ran 22:39 / 71.69%. He bettered his intended pace 0f 7:20 by 2 seconds.
Chip Olsen, our 1st 70+ scorer ran 26:21 for 4th AG, 66.3%.
Second 70+ scorer, Dave Delano continues to improve his time: 27:44, 64.58%, 8th in AG:
Still not sure how I feel about the course change…but I am happy about the day. Great weather, and another good result. I have continue to improve. Two minutes faster than when I was 70 and finished strong. Starting to like this running stuff again….I have a couple more events before the 5th Avenue Mile, and I am really looking forward to it! Can’t wait for Buffalo….
Harry Lichtenstein ran 27:49 for a 60.42%.
Robert Haig, our 3rd 70+ scorer ran 30:11 for 58.59%.
11th AG in the 8k France Run, 50:45 (10:13 pace)
When the dust had settled, our 60+ took 2nd, 2 minutes behind Taconic RR, 5:03 ahead of Witold’s
TRR 105
CPTC 82
BRR 62
Our 70+ also took 2nd,1:47 behind VC Track Club, 4:10 ahead of Taconic RR
VCTC 97
TRR 84
FR 46
CPTC 36
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New York Duathlon, September 2nd, in Central Park:
Dan Molloy took 1st in AG
Dave Delano took 2nd in AG
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Kotler 5k, September 8th, Manchester Center, VT:
Dave Delano, 29:47, 1st in AG
Maple Leaf Half, September 8th, Manchester Center, VT:
Kevin McGuire, 1:49:50, 1st in AG
Alan Heblack, 1:53:26, 2nd in AG
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5th Avenue Mile
A light, cool rain transformed 5th Avenue from what up till now had been a steamy summer to 38 slippery white line crossings in otherwise comfortable racing conditions.
And Father Time advanced everyone a year, giving us a wide spread of runners in the 60+ and 70+ groups.
The unique age group starts of this venue has its own dynamics per heat. Miss your start and you can end up dominating the next, older start as Charles Parchment found out. Nice to be out front, but you miss being challenged to greater speed by your peers.
Knee injuries are all the current vogue in 60+ this year. If you don’t have one, better to fake it and say you do than be the only one in the AG without one. A casual observer would conclude they are contagious. If only they were, and there was a vaccine…
The spin of the dice in this race has the capacity to astonish, both positively and otherwise. It has none of the consistency of a mile on track. When asked the other day how does one gauge pace, I replied I didn’t know. Does anyone? You have quarter mile timing clocks, but if you play your hand wrong at 400 meters, what options do you really have other than change gears and hold on?
The other aspect of this is one big love fest devoted to the gods of running. You are swept into the wide world of foot racing, a meeting of the waters of road and track. This is the Abominable Snowman of middle distance, sweet spot for some, 2 left feet for others. Regardlessly, it is dear to the heart of CPTC runners as so many of us are track running roadies. And it is a speed bump on the road to the NYC Marathon. Though hard to master, it does not require mileage to complete. So for most it is not a destination, rather than a bonus race.
David Blumel
Which brings us to 1st place 60+:
David Blumel, 5:34, 83.8%. And it was only good for 8th in AG! What does a guy got to do to get a drink around here anyway?
David:
Even with a tailwind, I was stuck in second gear today.
Don Favre, 5: 52, 78.81% Welcome Don!
Charles Parchment
Charles Parchment, 5:57, 77.54%
Hal Lieberman
And, 1st place 70+:
Hal Lieberman, 7:19, 74.49%, 1st AG
Norm Goluskin, 7:44, 76.46%, 3rd AG, with months to go to the next higher age group. Hal and Norm nicely bracketing Gary Muhrcke; talk about a trio with super powers…
Dave Delano, 7:55, 65.81%,
Dave:
Great day on the road! Couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the 7 on the finish line clock. 7:55 is 25 seconds faster than last year! (haven’t run this fast since 2012!) Coulda, shoulda run just a bit harder, but didn’t want to face plant in the chute. Next year!
Way to go, Hal and Norm…the 70+ men made up a 10 point deficit and hold third with a five point lead over Front Runners…with four races to go. We are targeting the Bronx Ten and the Ted Corbitt. If we can field a team for either the SI Half or the marathon, it will be gravy. Old guys rock!
And then there was the Great Sid Howard, continuing his streak.
Our other 60+ runners:
Victor Osayi, 6:07, 76.15%
Hank Schiffman, 6:09, 81.56%
Alan Ruben, 6:22, 73.16%
Alan:
…nice to be out there again. I deserve great credit for not being too embarrassed to show my 6:22 to the world. Haven’t done a workout since May and have run more than 3 miles only a few times since June because of a dodgy knee. It’s improving now, though, so let’s see what the Fall brings.
Dan Molloy, 6:26, 76.4% 6th in AG
Dan:
I had such fun today!
Tried to follow Devon’s coaching and it worked. Didn’t kill myself on the down hill start and worked hard the rest of the way.
The body performed as ‘advertised’… and I actually had a little kick at the end as I was trying to stay with Alan Ruben.
Hope for the future!
Chris Neuhoff, 6:34, 74.92%. As you can see from his success in non-team point races, Chris has been ramping up his running.
Dennis O’Donnell, 6:39, 70.12%
Dennis, in an email the day before the race:
On the fence about tomorrow’s race. Sore ankle and hamstring. May not be worth the stress. It will be a game time decision.
Jon Weilbaker, 6:51, 67.48% Welcome Jon!
70+:
1st back up, Robert Haig, 8:20, 61.7%. Back to competitive running, Bob has been a backbone to our 70+ effort.
Sid Howard, 10:11 in a walk. Streaking fully dressed, the Mayor of 5th Avenue pushes his number higher.
What high AG%’s these guys have pounded out! Bless our coaches and the track.
Team Point standings to date:
60+:
TRR 117, with 90 minus the 2 lowest scores
CPTC 97, with 75 minus the 2 lowest scores
BRR 72, with 62 minus the 2 lowest scores
70+:
VCTC 107, with 87 minus the 2 lowest scores
TRR 96, with 74 minus the 2 lowest scores
CPTC 51, with 51 minus the 2 lowest scores
FRR 46, with 46 minus the 2 lowest scores
In this year’s team point competition, we’ve played the milage game down to a mile from the Brooklyn Half. Now we push it up towards the NYC Marathon with a 10x increase come the Bronx in 3 weeks, with Dave Delano , working behind the scenes to establish a CPTC 70+ effort there.
This team point road race season is unlike what we have experienced in the past. Scorers among our 60+ men are different and diverse, save the re-emergence of Yasuhiro. Our 70+ has materialized out of the air and are focused. In spite of wear and tear of time and injuries, our elder runners, both men and women demonstrate that there is joy in competition in all parts of the age spectrum.
Hank