- Herb Plummer ran a huge 90s PR with his 1:18:23. Herb identified a more conservative start as his path to sub-1:18, and after a great 2014 XC season and start to 2015, Herb should be well on his way to bringing that PR down even further.
- After a 2014 racing season that was characterized by PR-after-PR, Offir Gonzalez Vidals struggled through a few injuries to start 2015. Following a dedicated commitment to physical therapy and a conservative build, Offir was back in the neighborhood of his PR on Saturday and is well positioned to continue lowering his times throughout the rest of the year.
Ilan Hausner
Photo: Jay-R Mojica
- Ilan Hausner has also had a tough run of injuries over the last few racing seasons but was on the starting line on Saturday hoping to run a conservative race to use as a building block for the rest of the year. Starting with a goal of “going sub-1:40,” Ilan ran around a 4-minute negative split in his second 10K on his way to a comfortable 1:34, well below his conservative goal. Ilan has plans to return to and beat his previous times, and Brooklyn was clearly a giant step back in that direction.
Connor Rose
Photo: Shawnessy Dusseau
From David Greenberg of the 40+:
The CPTC 40+ made up ground in the 2015 points competition with its second place finish at the Brooklyn Half – unofficially the standings are now:
Warren Street: 36
CPTC 34
West Side: 28
Urban Athletics: 20
Remember that at the end of the year each team’s worst two races are dropped. The good news is that we haven’t yet used our mulligan, while Warren Street has now used one of theirs since they finished only fifth. That may be very useful to us down the road.
On the team front, we beat last year’s participation count – we had 15 on Saturday, vs. 14 last year. Our scoring three were around a minute per person faster than last year on average – so we are both more massive and more sharp.
Our scorers were:
Daniel Gercke 1:14:25/1st AG/88.48%
Richard Nelson 1:18:48/3rd AG/81.50%
Brad Kelley 1:20:00/6th AG/82.99%
Daniel Gercke
Photo: Jay-R Mojica
Amazingly, Daniel Gercke is the only repeat scorer so far in 2015. He has scored in each of three races, and then following him has been a different duo each race. In total we have had seven different scorers in three races.
Daniel continues to PR every race – his 88.48% is his best AG% ever, a lifetime HM PR and over three minutes faster than last year.
Daniel:
Brooklyn is my home turf, so the stakes are high to show some Bk pride. I focused my spring training on this race as far as mileage and workouts. I worked the park hard and tried to hang on for the second half. I slowed a little in the lonely march up Ocean Pkwy – somehow the humidity just got heavy – but found another guy to work with for most of the way. I was pleased to pull off a quick 13th mile and finished with a good boardwalk sprint. First master over the line and a 27-second PR, on a tough day for PRs. I felt like I did OK by Bk and Bk did OK by me.
Rich Nelson didn’t set an absolute HM PR, but his 81.50% was his best score ever in the NYRR database. Rich has had a very busy spring – PRing at the NYC Half in March, running 2:46 at Boston, then very nearly PRing at Brooklyn. And he has stayed busy – after the race Rich’s son won the children’s mile on the boardwalk.
Rich Nelson
Photo: Jay-R Mojica
Rich:
I signed up for the Brooklyn Half knowing it was less than 4 weeks post-Boston Marathon, as I wanted to see the course and had never run it before. The support from teammates on the road and along the course, including seeing Tony three times, drove me to push myself to just 9 seconds short of my PR (which was set in NYC Half earlier this year) and I was happy to be able to help the team. The good news about getting older – I turned 45 between NYC Half and Brooklyn – is that it enabled me to set a lifetime AG% for any NYRR race despite running 9 seconds slower and it was my first ever Top 3 age group placement in a NYRR race. Best part though was the post-race beer with teammates followed by Nathan’s hot dog!
Our third scorer was Brad Kelley, who ran his debut HM. Brad was hurt all winter and only recently began running in earnest. I think we all look forward to seeing what Brad can do with a few more months of training under his bib.
Brad:
Hi all, I had a great time out there in the Brooklyn half. I really had no idea what to expect as I have never run the distance and have been fighting injury for the last 8 months. I’ve finally settled on 3 days running and 3 days on a stationary bike as the method that I can muddle through without completely falling apart.
As for the race I had no idea there were pacers on the course…settling behind the guy with the 120:00 sign seemed to be a good pace for me. I guess I cut it a bit too close because I was passing people the last 800 but hit 120:00 exactly to the second. Moral of the story…run with the guy with the 1:19:59 sign if you want to crack the eighty minute barrier not the guy with the 1:20:00 sign. Regardless it was a great time and I hope next time all the masters who are knocking on the sub 120:00 door sneak through. It really is great to have a group like this to run with.
Two guys set masters PRs – David Greenberg 1:20:33/81.05% and Wolfram Schlenker (1:25:33/73.27%).
David:
My race was a welcome and relieved return to form after a frustrating start to 2015. My plan was to be conservative in the park and then accelerate to six minute pace on the parkway… for as long as I could hold it. The answer was that I held it to the 11 mile mark, when things got wobbly, but I kept it together to hold on for a new masters PR. I am very pleased.
Coincidentally, both David and Wolfram set new masters PRs by the same 5 seconds.
Like Brad, George Ross and Kimihiko Oishi were on the comeback trail and get full credit for a long race completed:
George Ross
Photo: Jay-R Mojica
George:
First race coming back from injury. I started out with Tim Stockert and Nick Garramone and paced w/Nick for the first 5 miles or so before letting him go on the last hill in the park. Just kept it steady to the end. Feels great to be healthy again. Not a great time but something to build on. Also– saw Daniel Gercke go by early in the out and back. He was near the front and absolutely flying! Amazing.
Kimihiko hadn’t raced since October but got out there in orange and got to the finish. What more is there?
__
In other news, the 40+ track contingent has been burning it up:
Now 51 year old Gerry O’Hara ran the 800 in 2:06.21/92.92%
Rawle DeLisle: 200 meters in 22.61/92.14%
Anthony Davis: 100 meters in 11.37/90.83%
Josh Rayman: 5000 meters in 16:32/85.25%
Armando Oliveira: 1500 meters in 4:33/84.3%
Far, far from the track Alex Tilmant continued running very very long – completing the Miwok 100K, up and around Mt Tamalpais just across the Golden Gate, 12’000 ft of climbing, just under 12h.
Nick Garramone and Tom Stockert also went the ultra route, finishing a 50k recently on a Saturday…then racing a 5k on a Sunday.
Nick Garramone and Tim Stockert
Daniel Ifcher ran a flying 1:20 at a HM in Queens.
So many fast times this year.
SAVE THE DATE: OCTOBER 18, 2015 in Saratoga Springs NY: the USATF 5k Masters XC Championship. This is my favorite race of the year – it is often far away, but this year it only a three hour drive away. We’ll put together teams and rides. You’ll need a USATF number, so might as well do that now.
From Chris Donnelly of the 50+:
Saturday’s Brooklyn Half Marathon found CPTC’s 50+ men short on bodies, but long on effort. Brooklyn has blossomed into one of city’s racing highlights in recent years, selling out quickly and generating fast times for many runners. Although our usual crew of scoring members was mostly absent from the corral, the 50+ men had much to be proud of, including a top 10 team finish.
Special thanks to 60+ captain Hank Schiffman (1:32:56), who joined the 50+ scoring effort along with Chris Donnelly (1:26:51) and Eiji Ebihara (1:36:00). Eiji has plenty of recent experience running in the rain having clocked a 3:29:15 in his Boston Marathon soaking less than a month ago. That race earned him another BQ, by the way!
Eiji Ebihara
Photo: Shawnessy Dusseau
Plus we had support from Joseph Frazetta (1:40:13), Robert Markinson (1:42:17), Oscar Garcia (1:44:54), and Charlie Lyons (1:47:29).
Some thoughts from a few of us that ran:
Chris Donnelly
Photo: Shawnessy Dusseau
Chris Donnelly:
“Best effort since my 2013 PR here in Brooklyn. I executed at close to my goal pace, and put the hammer down on Ocean Parkway. Deepest thanks to Timothy Stockert for appearing at just the right moment to drag me through Prospect Park, and to Colleen McGurk for working with me on Ocean Parkway on her way to an amazing PR. CPTC teammates were everywhere on the course to cheer us along and that helped immensely. Tony’s shouts on the boardwalk jolted my tired legs like a million volts.”
Robert Markinson:
“Missed matching my 10/2014 SI Half (my first half) by 4 seconds! Loved the percussion near the cyclone. Good to hear a CP shout out as I ascended the boardwalk in the rain. Great fun.”
Charlie Lyons
Photo: Shawnessy Dusseau
Charlie Lyons:
“Happy with my effort, considering I took 2.5 months off during the brutal winter, after the Honolulu Marathon in December. Lesson re-learned: Let people pass you. Run your own race according to your conditioning. Manage reserves. I was pleased with how I handled these things and am motivated, in a new age group now (55-59), to get back to training. Good job to all my fast teammates! And a special shout out to Ani Go and Rebecca McCollum, who passed me with 800 meters to go, but not without nearly carrying me along with them through their shouts of encouragement! “
On to the next one!
From Hank Schiffman of the 60+:
Our 60+ men were a rather thin gruel for this year’s Brooklyn Half. Attenuation of our talent seemingly began at age 50. Depth, CPTC master men’s calling card, was not in Brooklyn this day, but for our whiz bang 40+ guys running like dogs chasing cars. We stumbled, but did not fall.
The 3 of us who ran this race managed very well with our limited resources. After the rain had settled, we were 5th at 5:21:51, behind 1st, Brooklyn RR: 4:43:05, GNY: 4:54:25, New York Flyers: 5:11:54, and Taconic RR: 5:17:37. Our 6 points keeps us in 2nd place in the club point standings with 28 points behind the brightest star, Brooklyn RR, 45. Snapping at our heels are WSX, Taconic RR and Witold’s at 20 each. NY Flyers is one point behind them with 19. With 2 mulligans, this horse race is wide open.
Official scoring (where weight goes to pure speed) aside, standings can be viewed any number of ways. 2 of our scorers were 1st in their age group; unfortunately not 60-64. Let’s look at this race in the perspective of the 3 scorers average AG%. Brooklyn RR stands 1st with 79.57%. CPTC 2nd with 77.08%, GNY 3rd: 75.33%, Taconic RR 4th: 75.16%, and NY Flyers 5th: 72.98%. [from the perspective of who had the best looking trio you would have to be blind not to see us as #1…]
Kevin McGuire was our 2nd scorer is a man whom I have never seen with less than a smile on his face. His devotion to our team is remarkable, persistently toeing the starting line on team point races. This day he moved up to 2nd scorer. Thus our Brooklyn Half effort came down to: team captain, the faithful soldier and our oldest, active, battle-seasoned veteran. Kevin has been doing his homework and then some. He was race coordinator for the 5k Race for Spinal Victory, on April 19th in Wantagh, attended by Dave Delano, Fred Trilli and a number of other CPTC members. Logistically, this race had to be most difficult for Kevin considering his home to start distance, early gun time, and impending poor forecast.
Kevin ran 1:48:52, 69.19% AG, 661 out of 12,266 men overall. That’s in the upper 18.5%. [last year 1:47:18, 69.53%]
Kevin:
“Well I am glad we had three 60+ guys. Very thin team but it’s in the books. It’s great that George scored .”
“I enjoyed the race and was very close to my AG performance from last year even if my time was a little slower. As I age the pace seems to be falling away quicker each year even if the effort feels the same. Was great having our teammates on the course cheering and seeing Oscar (Garcia) and Charlie (Lyons) during the race. It’s always a good pick me up when you can run next to a teammate even for a short while.”
“George congratulations on a fine performance . You are a power of example and a inspiration to us all to just keep running. “
George Hirsch, 1st and 1st year in his new age group ran 2:00:03, 79.41% AG, 81st AG man. 7442nd out of 12,266 men overall. That’s better than 39% of all men running, most who are young enough to be his grandchildren. [last year 2:02:48, 75.87%] To put his achievement into perspective, the next younger, faster time was by a runner 9 years his junior. The effort for the serious, older runner is as relatively intense as for those serious in the open class. However, the duration is extended. The older runner has to sustain the effort longer, not that the veteran needs to be reminded that life isn’t fair.
George:
“I’m very pleased although I bogged down after 12 miles and had to walk against my will.”
As we 60+ CPTC men and ladies serve as examples of the possible to our general team mates, George is the North Star to us all. The path to continued fulfillment in the competitive running world is what you make it. Surely you will need a mix of any number of permutations of luck. Yet you also need to be dedicated, smart and positive. Bette Davis’s quip that getting old isn’t for sissies goes from seeming clever when you are young, to profound as you age. We feel part of an army in our youth but find ourselves as solitary vanguard in later years. Running is in our blood. As we get older we don’t want the music to end. George does this better than anyone else.
Hank Schiffman [me] also took 1st in age, running 1:32:56, 82.63% AG, 34th male AG overall. [last year 1:31:42, 82.92%]. That’s 1,071st out of 12,266 men overall. Being older than most of the male finisher’s fathers, I’m thinking a lot of guys are not taking their training all that seriously. Like George, the last few miles have proven to be a nip and tuck affair. Older muscles don’t intellectualize the mechanics of the race. You assess your resources, the conditions and your goal, come up with your best strategy, then throttle it up or down. Walking is a port in a storm when you have put in your last reef and still are carrying too much sail. Knowing I am not immune, I am grateful not having had to deal with legs going bad prior to the finish line. I do profess a sense of melancholy knowing that the days of running a sub 7:00 pace half are past.
In other, non team point races, Chris Neuhoff dominated the news, taking 2nd place in age group in the Japan Run 4 miler, 27:31, 78.91%. He was 20th out of 3k men age graded.
He ran the Run as One 4 miler, in 28:00 flat, 77.58%.
Making it 3 in a row for NYRR 4 milers, Chris ran the Run for Parks: 27:46, 78.2%. Also running this event were Yasuhiro Makoshi, 25:26, 83.84%, 1st age division and 4th AG male, and George Hirsch, 34:20, 79.96%, also 1st age division, and 12th AG male.
On behalf of our 60+ guys, I’d like to thank Mary Wittenberg for her dedication to running. It has been a good run.
Captain Hank Schiffman
