Report from Phil Falk and Ed Mulder of the Open:
The Bronx 10-Miler on September 24, was a tough one with unseasonal heat and humidity – the thermometer read 76! – but the CPTC open men’s team came out strong! As we enter the fall season Sunday’s race showed a lot of potential for the men’s open squad.
Matt Rand led the team with a fantastic finish in 51:01, placing 5th overall. Matt’s running incredibly well, and is poised to take on the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon on October 9. Second on the team was Edward Mulder in 53:16 for 9th overall. Ryan Fitzsimons was the third men’s open runner in 54:21, good for 14th overall. And Harry Norton swooped in from Boston to make a team contribution in 55:37. John Paulett also had a huge PB 58:05
The team took third overall – and unfortunately missed out on second place by a measly five-second margin! So close – gotta fight for those last few seconds!
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The Staten Island Half report from Larry Go of the 40+:
On New York City’s often forgotten borough, eleven of us went for a long sodden run last Sunday and brought home the silver in the team competition. We have hurricane Nate to thank for another rough racing weather day, 74 degrees, 85% humidity & dewpoint over 70 at race time. At least we weren’t cold on the ferry ride home.
Our top 3:
Mohammad Lahseni (1:22:15, 4th in age, 45-49)
Stephen Curtis (1:22:51, 7th in age, 40-44)
James McQuade (1:24:33, 7th in age, 45-49)
Race honors go to Mohammed, with his fourth score, punched his free ticket to the winter awards banquet. Humble and appreciative as always, here are his thoughts on the race:
On the good side, I started slow for the first 3 miles, and then gradually picking up the pace, I stayed strong till the last 100 meters. In addition, it was nice to hear my teammates cheering throughout the course. On the not so good side, my time was slow and that was not good for my 40+ teammates scoring points, I am looking forward for a fast time at Ted Corbitt 15k.
Urban won the race, so that effectively ends our race for the season title.
Unofficial team scores after SI Half:
Urban: 144
CPTC: 114
West Side: 104
With two subtracted:
Urban: 114
CPTC: 96
West Side: 88
We have a two way tie at the top for the Daniel Ifcher Cup. Looks like its going to be a nail biter to the end.
Daniel Ifcher Cup – Points Races Run
8: Mohammed Lahseni
8: Daniel Ifcher
7: (Brad Kelley)
7: Jim McQuade
Scorers
7: Brad Kelley
4: Mohammed Lahseni
3: Gerry O’Hara
3: Jim McQuade
2: Peter Brady
2: Sean Fortune
2: Stephen Curtis
1: Brian Halusan
1: David Greenberg
1: Matt DeAngelis
1: Cary Segall
1: Alex Tilmant
1: Sherman Lau
So with two points races left, we have a solid hold on second place. Onward to the NYC marathon and with the hopes of fast racing weather. I’ll be out there cheering. Let’s finish this year with dignity!
Meanwhile, this past Sunday, Alex Tilmant won the Brooklyn Greenway Half by a convincing margin. Congrats Alex. You showed those whippersnappers a thing or two.
Place Name Bib Age Gender Place Time Pace
1 Alexandre Tilmant 950 47 M 1/273 1:20:06 6:07/M
The Bronx 10 miler, by Larry Go:
A fellow runner once told me that autumn is the filet mignon of running weather but last Sunday was definitely more like a London broil. The weather was not ideal for PRs but gave us a lesson in perspective. When racing for PRs is not in the cards, you race the competition and race we did by taking 3rd place. Our scorers were:
Brad Kelley (59:00, 2nd in age, 50-54)
James McQuade (1:00:17, 3rd in age, 45-49)
Mohammad Lahseni (1:00:53, 5th in age, 45-49)
Race of the day honors go to James McQuade who despite the weather was able to pull out a 17 second PR based on the NYRR race database.
Unofficial team scores after Bronx:
Urban: 129
CPTC: 102
West Side: 92
With two subtracted:
Urban: 99
CPTC: 84
West Side: 78
We have a three way tie at the top for the Daniel Ifcher Cup. The suspense is building.
Daniel Ifcher Cup – Points Races Run
7: Mohammed Lahseni
7: Daniel Ifcher
7: (Brad Kelley)
6: Jim McQuade
Scorers
7: Brad Kelley
3: Mohammed Lahseni
3: Gerry O’Hara
2: Peter Brady
2: Sean Fortune
2: Jim McQuade
1: Brian Halusan
1: David Greenberg
1: Stephen Curtis
1: Matt DeAngelis
1: Cary Segall
1: Alex Tilmant
1: Sherman Lau
A shout out to Anthony Demaio for his first NYRR race this year and a CPTC masters welcome to Robert Peszkowski.
Technically we aren’t mathematically eliminated, but it doesn‘t look good. We would need a win at SI Half with a bagel from Urban. We can only hope they forget which day the race is.
– Larry
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Report from Chris Donnelly of the 50+:
It’s been a special month for CPTCs 50+ men, with amazing races in the club points series and beyond! Huzzah for the amazing work from everyone who was out there competing amid gruesome conditions in both the Bronx and Staten Island, as we traded club points wins with UA. The 50+ powerhouse teams are locked in a dead heat going into the NYCM. It’s hard to recall a more exciting season. Our depth is really shining in 2017 with first time scorers (Ron Romano, Charles Parchment) stepping in to lift us up!
Let’s start with the Bronx. Here’s your captain’s view from the outpost at mile 9: It was getting awfully warm, awfully early. And pretty quickly after runners started coming through, Brad Kelley rolled by, sans shirt, looking determined and working hard. From then on, each runner who passed our position appeared progressively more disheveled, but in a competitive way. Our scorers looked fresher than most: Brad ( 59 flat.) David Dorsey (1:03:11) and Ron Romano in his first scoring effort for the team (1:05:59) rolled by, smiling. Brad and David placed second and fifth, respectively in the 50-54 age group while Ron took fourth in 55-59.
Ron on the Bronx 10 Miler:
Last chance to test fitness after a strong Chicago buildup. Used gels and honey stinger chews to help with heat and test marathon nutrition plan. Felt strong throughout, pushed hard to break 66 (ran 65:59) and ran negative splits 33:07/32:52. AG 79% and FINALLY SCORED for Masters!!! Congrats to Kate Pallardy on 2nd place and all our teams for crushing it!
This being CPTC’s 50+ squad we had plenty more cheering to do. Don Favre (1:10:19) and Charles Parchment (1:10:20) rolled by next charging toward that last downhill before the sweeping right hand turn that would take them to the finish. Don and Charles took 11th and 12th place in the 55-59 age bracket. Edwin Hernandez (1:15:04) was next to cross the line, followed by Eiji Ebihara (1:20:06), and ace photographer Andy Kiss (1:23:04). Oscar Garcia came through at 1:29:13, and Frederick Paredes capped it off for us at 1:37:13.
A special shout-out to Ron Romano on his fantastic Chicago Marathon. I was on the edge of my seat tracking our teammates’ progress and that sure made it difficult to concentrate on the pro race. Ron offered us this detailed recap:
Walking to start line, humidity was at 90% so knew nutrition plan and getting in enough fluids would be key. Set out with sub-3:10 Goal and was focused on getting locked into a good rhythm. Turned off auto-lap because GPS doesn’t work well in Chicago and never looked at my watch except to hit lap button at mile markers.
Took the first gel in the corral and seven of them overall. I also took two Gatorades at every aid station. two waters also. Slowed up enough to get fluids in because this is what derailed me in Boston. Despite the warm temps, the crowds were amazing and 1st half flew by and felt easy 1:33:39. Had some Aussie mates leading my cheer squad and they were seemingly everywhere. Caught the 3:05 pace group around 16 and decided to hang near them. As the weather got warmer, many people were cramping so I continued to hydrate and kept pushing.
Ran 7:21, 7:23 in miles 24 and 25 on the most exposed, sunniest area of the course. I did not want to finish like that, and dug deep to run 7:02 for last 1.2 into the only hill on course over last 800 meters. Ran 3:07:21, 3 seconds from an even race and placed 11th in my age group. Thrilled that it all came together in Chicago! Congrats to all my CPTC teammates that rocked it too.
Meanwhile, back in NYC on that same morning, the weather at this year’s Staten Island Half wasn’t much of an improvement over last year’s sufferfest, with more rain and wind visiting those assembled. Just a couple of weeks beyond the Bronx 10 miler and its blazing heat, there wasn’t much time to recover.
CPTC’s 50+ men came away with the victory, and it’s appropriate that the effort was led by Staten Island’s own David Dorsey, who’s been tearing it up for the team since turning 50 earlier this year. David’s 1:26:39 was good for third place among men 50-54.
Charles Parchment, a recent addition to the team at 59, scored for the first time, while Marc Mizrahi back in action after sitting out the first few months of the year was our third scorer. Charles ran 1:33:26 to take eighth place in the 55-59 bracket and recalls he had fun running in the rain! At 1:34:57, Marc garnered 15th place in the 50-54 age group. Together, trio put up a collective 4:35:02, besting second place UA by about three minutes.
We also had Edwin Hernandez (1:38:05), Daniel Doebele (1:39:31), Eiji Ebihara (1:49:50), Andy Kiss (1:53:00), and Frederick Paredes (2:16:27) out on the course. Thanks to all who ran. Excellent team spirit, and of course, good luck if you’re marathon bound.
Not to be outdone, our XC crew capped off this amazing month of racing placing second in the USATF Masters Championships in Boston, a fitting way to mark to club’s silver jubilee. Brad Kelley, David Greenberg, David Dorsy, Armondo Olivera, and Charles Parchment were all in the mix, and Charles tells us of his “full joy for every moment of that race.”
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Report from Hank Schiffman of the 60+:
The Bronx 10 miler
Sometimes the magic does not work Little Big Man. Our 60+ men fell below par, landing in 4th place behind West Side by 4 minutes and 36 seconds. The legs of our scorers were not fleet in the Bronx this day.
Alan Ruben, 1:11:12, 75.67%, 5th AG, last year 1:05:31, 81.45%:
The most depressing thing about my race was that I felt I ran a good race – well-paced, well-executed and head in the game – so the only conclusion is that my 7:07 pace (over 30 seconds per mile slower than last year) represents my current fitness and ability level. Even allowing a small adjustment for the weather conditions, which I honestly felt didn’t seem too bad, doesn’t help much.
Hank Schiffman, 1:16:09, 76.5%, 4th AG, last year 1:12:12, 79.86%:
Yes, 84 others in the age group no doubt would have traded up. That is cold comfort to my abrupt descent in performance. It was warm but not hot. I didn’t drink, but that hasn’t been a problem in the past.
I was comfortably treading behind the 7:00 pace signs for the first 2 miles. After which, everyone around me slowly began moving up. My legs lost their snap. The push in the final mile to the line was like running in honey. It ended in a case of post race DOMS. “Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear?”
Scoring 3rd, working hard to transcend a stubborn injury, Yasuhiro Makoshi, 1:19:03, 70.81%. Prior to injury, Yasuhiro was supreme.
Backing up, Kevin McGuire, 1:20:40, 70.07%, 8th AG, last year 1:20:49. 69.25%. A bit of gain, better than last year.
Art Palmer, using this as his first 10 mile run this year, 1:23:34, 64.47%.
Phil Vasquez slipped as well. 1:33.59, 60.14%, last year 1:21:37, 68.57%.
Harry Lichtenstein at least had an explanation, 1:55.08, 49.09%, last year 1:39:30, 56.26%:
I just didn’t train enough for this distance. I feel that the sun and temperature didn’t have anything to do with my performance. I am satisfied with how I did in context of my insufficient training. I may train more and have better results with all of my races in 2018.
I should add that my muscles are really sore [post race], something that I didn’t experience after the Club Championships 5 mile race, the Percy Sutton 5K race, and the 5th Avenue Mile. I ran the 5 miles race and the 5K race about 1.5 minutes per mile faster than today’s 10 miles race. I ran the 5th Avenue mile in less than 8 minutes (I think it was 7:47.)
Perhaps a shuffle of the deck and a new
The Staten Island Half:
Our 60+ men ran the Staten Island Half in the rain to capture 1st place by 32 seconds over Brooklyn RR.
The best thing about the weather was the rain. My guess is the field lost their summer adaptation to running in heat and humidity. With the rain came Staten Island poodles. Like last year’s race, they became quite large.
Our thoroughly soaked 1st scorer Alan Ruben took 1st in the highly competitive 60-64 age group, running 1:36:29. No doubt his slow pace shook his soul. But the one-eyed are king in the land of the blind. Alan has the orb and sceptre, as much as he is shocked with his time. Humility and irony were not lost on him:
That is truly embarrassing!
It was all I could do to keep running the last 5 miles. I kept thanking my lucky stars that I wasn’t running a marathon.
Alan‘s time was robust enough to push us past Brooklyn RR for 1st even though our 2nd and 3rd scorers finished behind their 3rd.
Hank Schiffman (me) our 2nd scorer, 1:41:54, too is dismayed with confirmed performance anxiety; 1:35:00 last year. It was good for 3rd in the age group, 75.79% AG, 43rd man AG overall. Last year, Art Palmer‘s 75.97% was 72nd place male AG overall.
Obviously race conditions lowered all boats in men’s 60+. Yet I did not feel I was running any slower. I stayed with traditional paced competitors. It wasn’t like the Bronx 10 miler where the field behind me kept moving up. I believe my final 5k was faster than those around me. My legs never gave out. After catching up with Brooklyn RR’s Jack McShane, who has been running faster than me this year, I could not match his speed to the finish line.
The thing that got to me was the timer at 15K said 75 minutes. This was significantly slower than I could recall. After my dismal performance in the Bronx, seeds of doubt were appearing to sprout. Nothing left to do but buck up and keep on running.
Yasuhiro Makoshi, 1:44:46, took 4th in the 65-69 age group, right behind me. His time was all we needed on this day.
Our 1st back up was Art Palmer, feeling out a cautious strategy for his recovery, 1:46:53. He ran it 1:33:02 last year.
Phil Vasquez, 2nd back up ran 2:10:49, 1:50:14 last year.
Rick Shaver, NYC Marathon streaker, ran a cautious 2:20:15, 1:56:45 last year.
Let’s look at how our runners who ran the Brooklyn Half this season compared with this race:
Brooklyn Staten Island
Alan 1:29:08 1:36:29
Hank 1:35:55 1:41:54
Phil 1:55:16 2:10:49
Rick 1:58:54 2:20:15
ave pace 8.01 8.57
Alan’s pace 6:48 7:22
Hank’s pace 7:19 7:47
Phil’s pace 8:48 9:59
Rick’s pace 9:05 10:42
weather Brooklyn Staten Island
temp 59 74
humidity 49% 85%
Things are looking up in the pennant race for the podium come Club Night. This was our 2nd 1st place finish this season. We’ve prospered through a mix of core performers, outstanding talent and enough interest to have 3 scorers. Only 2 more team pointers to go. Hopefully we will have 3 finishers for the marathon.
A blue sky day at the Harry Murphy 5k in Van Cortlandt Park.
Hank Schiffman, 22:48 (Kurt Steiner, 22:57)
Phil Vasquez, 28:07 (Kurt Steiner, 28:07)
Hal Lieberman, 28:24, (Kurt Steiner, 28:20)
Frank Handelman, 30:32
At the USATF Masters National 5k road in Syracuse:
Alan Ruben, 20:32
Norm Goluskin, 26:03
At the USATF Masters National 5k CX in Boston:
Hank Schiffman, 22:15
Hal Lieberman, 27:20
Phil Vasquez, 28:11
Frank Handelman, 28:58