Recap of Womens 40+ from Ani Go:

Ladies!!

It was all about teamwork, and guts.  Team champs is the most competitive points race and we placed a solid second, which solidly keeps us in first place!

NYRR’s unprecedented decision to change the time and course for the race did not deter our ladies determination to get to the podium.  We had an incredible turnout of fierceness in the form of scorers Colleen McGurk, Elizabeth Lopes, and Amy Kvilhaug, and representation of guts from Audrey Kingsley, Julie Tucker, Jennifer Ranck, and myself.

Colleen McGurk had a heck of a race, and narrowly missed scoring for the open team as well as scoring for for our incredibly talented 40+ gang.  She also placed 2nd in her age group with 32:15!

Colleen: “I knew going into the race it wasn’t going to be an easy one! My plan was to try to keep it consistent and run fast enough to place but don’t blow up!! I went out at 6:18 and after getting over Harlem hill, I felt good but also knew that I still had many more hills to tackle and work to do so take it in stride! After my little bout with dehydration, I have been also working hard on staying very hydrated in this weather and that also helped me – THAT and the amazing cheers all along the course! Roberta, Tony. Devon, Armando, Jerome and so many more! Thank you!  At mile 3, I still felt ok and was thinking of picking up the pace but decided to hold back until I got to the top of Cat hill. As soon as I got to the top, I picked  it up and let whatever I had left on the roads. My last mile was 6:11. In retrospect, I think I could have run a little more aggressive throughout. Good to know for next time! It was a solid run and as usual, we all battled the hills and humidity together and placed 2nd! Great teamwork and dedication! So proud to be a part of this amazing team of dedicated, talented women!”

Elizabeth Lopes our 2nd scorer, as always, pulls us to the podium with her 33:49 and top 10 age place finish.  She is one of the key reasons why we are at the very top of the game.

Amy, our 3rd scorer in 34:34, reflects on her race: “…team champs…was a tough day in the humidity/dew point column.  Thankfully we had the earlier start.  And how great was it to have our men supporting us big time. And of course our coaches (Tony and Devon) shouting encouraging stuff.  I attribute much of our preparation for this to Coach Tony.  He pushed us through some hot, humid and absolutely brutal conditions this summer. He gave us some pep talks about the importance of toughing it out in tough conditions to prepare for what was to come.  It worked! Thank you to them!!  As far as my race goes, it may not have been a PR but I executed this race with a purpose in mind. And I am so pleased at how it all played out. I have a tendency to blow up late because I start to fast.  With my fitness getting better and my confidence on the rise, I was committed to starting slower and finishing faster.  Which I did.  I ran my last mile fastest!  Love when that happens.  I was passing people each mile of the race and it felt good.  Happy to contribute.  A large part of why I was able to race well was due in large part to the CPTC women I train with weekly – Judy, Jena, Casey, Ambreleah, Sarah and Amanda. We were all planning to run similar paces and decided to work together for as much of it as we could. It was so comforting to know that I had their support around me. The familiarity of Judy and Jena keeping us in check with pace updates was such a huge factor for me.  It felt so much like a real team that had each others’ backs.  I sincerely believe they were a HUGE part of me being able to race properly.  Can’t thank them enough.”

Your captain added some comic relief in the form of arriving minutes before the race in a panic and throwing her bag at Coach Tony. Coach Tony yelled at my fleeing back “It’s always my veterans!”  While my time wasn’t good enough to score (37:02), it was good enough to place me back in the top 10 of my age group.  I’ll take it!

So happy to have the strength and talents of Audrey Kinglsey (37:47), Julie Tucker (38:41), and Jennifer Ranck (46:50, and achieving a goal of over 50% in her age group scoring!) contributing to the 40+ team.  Their willingness to come out and fight matters.  Every single one of these ladies’ efforts matters, and make our team great.

Congrats to our open and masters teams–our masters 60+ ladies and mens 50+ 1st place finish, open and 50+ ladies, open mens, and 40+ mens, 2nd place finish!

Next race–Percy Sutton 5k on Saturday, August 27th at 8:30am–it’s still open right now but may close out soon!  SIGN UP NOW!  Let’s keep our 1st place!

Percy Sutton Harlem 5K Run

GO ORANGE!

Ani

Photos by Nigel Francis

Recap for the W60+ & W50+ from Sylvie Kimche

On a very humid and uncomfortable summer morning, the women were given the priority for once and started their race at 7:30am.

The W60+ super-ladies surprised themselves, winning their age group by a razor thin margin of 2 seconds total ahead their rival VCTC. Which proves our coaches mantra, to always push through the line as every second counts!
With these double points, we are now slightly ahead overall but it will be a tight competition for the rest of the year if we want to stay ahead!

First for the team, as usual, was Barbara B, 3rd in her age group in 39:53, a 7:58:60 pace (and 28″ faster than on the same course a month before in the Front Runners 5 miler).
Barbara’s comments:
“I was much happier with this race compared to the last few.  Not that the pace was a whole lot different, but it was definitely more disciplined and I didn’t even contemplate a walk break.  I thought I heard Tony calling out to “be quick”.  I could well be wrong since my hearing is questionable, but no matter, that was in my mind and I did try to quicken my step, especially coming in to the chute.
Very surprised and even more delighted that we managed to win our age group.  Congratulations to everyone who went out and gave it their all on a warm and humid morning”

Judith T was 3rd for the team and 4th in her age group in 46:08, a 9:14 pace.
In her own words:
“”OK race, weather fine, THANK YOU so much Tony for the loud and inspiring encouragement near the end!!”

Sylvie K, your team captain, was 2nd for the team and 1st in her age group in 41:50, a 8:22 pace.
“I was happy to be out there with my teammates and the NYC running  community, celebrating life and friendship, even though it was my slowest pace in a long time due to personal hardship (and also having had to deal with a weird ankle problem for the past 4 or 5 weeks). Thank you all, my friends (you know who you are) for your support and special thanks to Tony for his cheering!”

Deb B, still on the comeback trail, toed the line to be part of this big CPTC gathering and was 5th in her age group in 53:13.

The ageless Lynn Blackstone was 1st in her W75-79 age group in 56:09. Way to go, Lynn!
In her own words:
” I had a great time; loved seeing everyone; being helped off the ground after the team photo and hugged by Nigel, and photographed by and with Bud … And will train harder”

The W50+ team got silver behind Taconic RRC. The CPTC W50+ team is still leading the overall W50+ competition. Congrats ladies!

Judy S was 1st for team, as has been her habit, despite not feeling well. She was 4th in her W50-54 age group in 36:07, a 7:14 pace.
These are her comments
“Super proud of our team!   We placed on the podium in 40’s, 50’s and 60’s..big congrats!  It was a pretty awful race for me, as I had some stomach issues that started at mile 3.  As much as I wanted to stop, I knew place and time was critical, so I mustered through and although I was way off my PR, I’m happy I was able to help the team 50! ”
Congrats and big thanks Judy! (and congrats too on all your track results earlier in the season!)

Stacy was 2nd for the team and 1st in her age group in 37:07, a 7:25 pace. And that was after getting Gold at the NYC Triathlon last week! What an amazing feat!

This is how she described her effort:
“I was thrilled to be racing for CPTC although the timing of the Club Team Championships was not ideal for my triathlon training.  I competed in the Panasonic NYC Triathlon the Sunday before and I have the ITU Triathlon Nationals in Omaha on August 13.  That said, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to score for our women’s 50+ team–especially with double points at stake.

I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t realize that the course went over the Harlem hills until about 10 minutes before the race!  Tony was encouraging me not to go out too fast down the hill and I asked him what he was talking about.  Haha.  At least I found out about the course change before I was actually running the race!  Despite Tony’s warning I probably went out too fast but soon settled into a more rational pace.
As always, it was so wonderful to have our CPTC men all over the course cheering for us.  Those cheers were especially encouraging given the humidity and heat.  The penultimate mile was the toughest one for me.  All I kept repeating to myself was: “Score for the team.  Score for the team.”
In the end, I was very pleased to score for our second-place women’s 50+ squad.  And given the race conditions, rarely have I been so happy to cross a finish line!”

The always reliable Wanda W was 3rd for the team in 38:52, a 7:47 pace.
In her own words:
“So glad to see my teammates. Congrats to you and the 60+ team. You are so amazing! I am so happy that I showed up. Love to contribute to the team. Thanks so much for the cheering, it gives me an extra push! 🙂 ”

It was a fun day. With the team photo (where there was a majority of ORANGE color this year that makes me happy…. ). And the softball game, and the party at the Boat Basin….

I especially want to thank Tony for his hard work and dedication to CPTC, and congratulate him for the brilliant results of all his teams!

Next team race is the Percy Sutton 5k on Aug 20. Good luck to all participants!

Go ORANGE!

Sylvie