Race Reports from the Men: NYCM and XC – Central Park Track Club

From David Greenberg of the 40+:

The CPTC 40+ put a bright orange ribbon on the 2015 club points championship with a very fast day in the five boroughs.

The team put three under 2:50 for second place, one spot on the podium higher than main rivals West Side Runners. NYAC won the day with the help of a certain Meb Keflezighi.

No matter what happens in the one remaining race – the Corbitt 15k – the 40+ will repeat as champions. It’s over but for one more post-race cinnamon raisin bagel.

While winning races is fun, it’s fitting that we won the championship by finishing second – we have won only three of the ten races so far – we just keep putting points on the board and we don’t miss any opportunities. I’ll take it.

Our scorers were Rich Nelson (2:41), Nicholas Thompson (2:46) and Douglas Tsao (2:49).

Rich Nelson

Photo: David Greenberg

Race of the day honors go to Rich and Rich alone – His 2:41 is #9 all-time for the CPTC 40+, was a 10 minute course PR, and a negative split.

Rich:

Finally had a marathon where just about all went right – good consistent training (relatively injury free), nutrition/hydration and weather. I ramped up my training mileage a bit too for this year’s race. After setting a PR in Boston this April of 2:46:06 (in some lousy weather), my primary goal was to run sub 2:45. I trained with a goal race pace that would hopefully deliver a 2:43-2:44.

My race plan was to follow Tony’s 10/10/10, with the intention of running 6:15s for 10 followed by 6:10-6:12s for 10 miles, and then seeing what I had left. I inadvertently put down a 5:30 for mile 2 coming off the Verrazano bridge, banking 45 seconds. Around mile 3 I reigned myself in so as not make the mistake of going out too fast, despite feeling very good. Lots of people began passing me in the next couple of miles, but I knew I would have the opportunity to reel most of them in later in the race, so I stayed within myself.

I saw and met Nick around mile 4, and we quickly realized we had similar goals, so we worked together most of the way from mile 4 to the Queensboro bridge. I hit the half marathon mark in 1:20:57. I knew that was a little fast for my goal of 2:43/2:44, but I attributed it to the 45 seconds I picked up on mile 2. I continued up 1st avenue still feeling strong and consistently passing people. Felt good and strong all the way to 5th avenue. Around mile 23, began feeling tired – recognizing that I would likely achieve my primary goal, my brain tried to negotiate its first deal to slow down and still make the sub-2:45. I knew better than to listen, so dismissed those thoughts and convinced myself that I can continue to push and it would be worthwhile. When I finished mile 25, I did some quick math and realized that if I could average sub 6 for the last 1.2 miles, I could come in under 2:42, which was beyond my most optimistic time goals for the race. I put down a 5:54 for mile 26, my 2nd fastest of the race, and was thrilled to nail the 2:41:46, a 4 minute 20 second PR.

Wound up running an eight second negative split, which was a secondary goal. The support of teammates this year was unparalleled to any that I can remember – the Orange were out so strong throughout the race course – it was awesome and really helped keep me motivated. So a big thanks to all of you who were out there cheering teammates!

#3 scorer Douglas Tsao also set a course PR, breaking 2:50.

I couldn’t have asked for much more with a 2:49:24, nipping my PR from 2011 by 27 seconds. A bit of an up-and-down season for me but a good result in the Bronx 10-miler gave me some confidence heading into yesterday. Pleased with my race execution and doubt I could’ve asked for more with 1:24:30/1:24:54 splits. I took what the course gave me and was careful not to get greedy. Really wanted to make sure I kept enough in the tank for the second half.

I thought I was running with a Canadian for the first ten miles, because I kept hearing people shout, “Go Canada” until I realized at mile ten that they were cheering for me. I was wearing the black singlet without the team name (doh!). Nice lift from Uli shouting some encouragement when I saw him just before the Queensboro Bridge. The headwind up Fifth Avenue was tough and, man, I started to have some doubts. The flat at Engineer’s Gate was certainly welcome and seeing my son just before Cat Hill gave me another boost into the closing 2 miles. Figure I’ve got a few more years to give 2:45 a shot, but I’m going to enjoy this one for a while.

The marathon was Nick’s first scoring race with the 40+ after recently graduating. Bravo, Nick and we look forward to many more.

Ultramarathoner Alex Tilmant had a short day by his standards and ran 2:56.

It was a beautiful day for running. I cruised until half-point on the Pulaski Bridge and pushed the pace a bit on the Queensborough bridge and First avenue. It was my 10th NYC Marathon and I never felt so good on that section of the race. I had a very pleasant race until hitting the Bronx. I didn’t take my last gel as I should and started to slow down. By then I was well within my sub-3 hour goal just a few weeks after UTMB so I kept a safe pace for the last five miles. NYC is a hard marathon, the uphill on 5th avenue by mile 22.5-23.5 is a killer, but overall my 10th NYC Marathon went smoother than my previous ones.

Andy Zhang set a course PR by a full ten minutes.

Tim Stockert (2:56) ran his fastest NYCM since 2011.

Brenn Jones (3:01) ran 7 minutes faster than last year, and Antonhy Demaio ran three minutes faster than 2014.0

Andre’ Lejeune

Photo: Sue Pearsall

Andre’ Lejeune’s (3:14) comeback just keeps getting better, if in need a massage:

Great news hearing that the 40+ crew will repeat as champions. I had a great time riding the team bus to the start and hanging out with teammate Alan Ruben in the staging area and corral A. This was his 28th NYC Marathon in a row, so what better way to be inspired at the start of the race.

In the staging area before the gun went off, I found teammates Ken and Kieran. Ken had the same goal and race plan as I did so we ran together for the first part of the race. I lost him at one of the water stations and then met up with him again late in the race. My goal was to run under 3 hours for the first time. I was right on pace through the half and was feeling great and enjoying the race. I apparently was losing a lot of salt and by around mile 22 or 23 started cramping up and the wheels fell off the bus. I willed myself to the finish line in 3:14… After walking for a short distance, both calves locked up with severe cramping and it was man down.. I spent about 20 min. in the medical tent getting them massaged out and receiving salt and gatorade before heading home… I’ll live to try again!!

Two NYC debuts: Larry Go and Jerome Pinard.

Highly coveted spots on the Alan Ruben Negative Split Hall of Fame go to just two athletes:

Nick Garramone

Photo: Bob Cowin

Rich Nelson and Nick Garramone (3:31)

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A few weeks before the marathon, a crew of five drove up the thruway to Saratoga for the USATF Masters 5k XC National Championships. Despite a freak snowstorm in the first mile, the CPTC 40+ powered on to a third place team finish. In my memory that is the first time we have medaled at that meet so it was very sweet.

Participants: Armando Oliveira (16:44), Brad Kelley (17:15), David Greenberg (17:27), Sherman Lau (17:56) and an injured XC Captain John Milone.

From Chris Donnelly of the 50+:

You can tell it’s a bit warm for a marathon when some of the spectators are in t-shirts. That was already old news to participants in the 2015 New York Marathon, many of whom had been lounging around that morning in the start village in their running kit, rather than bundled up in layers of throw-away gear. The slight sprinkle of rain clouding the windshield of the CPTC bus as it emerged from the Battery Tunnel into Brooklyn early that morning let us know humidity would be ever present throughout our run, and it definitely felt warm already on the way down the Verrazano. But that’s the marathon, and New York rarely serves up a perfect day for those of us running the five borough race.

Yasuhiro Makoshi

CPTC fielded a solid team of 50+ runners to take up the challenge, and we came away with a third place finish behind West Side and Brooklyn Roadrunners, thanks to an assist from the amazing Yasuhiro Makoshi, running his 30th New York Marathon. Our scoring team was Chris Donnelly (3:03:59), Yasuhiro (3:18:14), and Casey Yamazaki (3:22:31).

By now you’re probably aware that Alan Ruben heroically extended his consecutive marathon streak to 28, though his long string of sub three-hour marathons has come to an end. Alan faced up to 2015 with characteristic good cheer:

Alan:

4:28. Walked most of the way from 1st Avenue. But got to spend quality time on the course with Terence Gerchberg and James Siegel. Also got a delicious bourbon brownie from Audrey Kingsley, which fueled my last two miles enabling me to crush the 4:30 barrier.

For the blow by blow, Runners World checked in:

http://www.runnersworld.com/new-york-city-marathon/for-nyc-marathon-stalwart-one-streak-ends-another-endures

Here’s what Chris had to say:

I carved 13 minutes off last year’s windblown result, finishing just under 3:04. Figured I was on the bubble for a sub three-hour run, so I rolled the dice and came away with the best marathon performance of my 50s. Everywhere you went, CPTC teammates were there, cheering loudly. The highlight of my day was running in lockstep with Brenn Jones and Andy Zhang nearly to the Queensboro Bridge, and then picking it back up on First Avenue with a surging Alysia Dusseau. Amazing teamwork.

Both Casey and Yasuhiro have grappled with injuries this year, but they rose to the occasion here, and ran smart, solid races, with Yasuhiro capturing 12th place among men 60-64. Another of our strongest runners, Art Palmer, wisely decided to pull the plug at mile 8. Frustratingly, Art’s heart arrhythmia was acting up that morning despite encouraging, solid races at the Bronx and Grete’s.

But we had more runners out there, and splendid results. Toshiki Ikehata, fresh from scoring for the team in the recent Bronx 10 miler, ran 3:30:58 in the best of his three outings in the NYCM, while Eiji Ebihara crossed the line at 3:37:10.

It was a good day on the course for Dennis O’Donnell, who runs more marathons than he usually tells us about.

Dennis O’Donnell

Photo: Sue Pearsall

Dennis:

I had, by my lights, a good Marathon. I paced myself very prudently and finished fresh. No crashes or going crooked. Probably could have pushed a little harder and knocked a couple of minutes off my 3:40:17 time. But having run Berlin just five weeks ago in 3:42, I was not taking any chances. And, hey, since I will be 60 for the next available Boston Marathon (2017), it was a Boston qualifier by 15 minutes. (I had a 3:39 BQ time for 2016, but I did not make the 3:37 qualified entry cutoff.) All not bad for a guy who has struggled mightily with hamstring issues for the last year.

Alan was next, and James Siegel was also in the mix, running 4:31:13. Fred Paredes followed, at 5:09:51.

Congrats to all on this tremendous accomplishment and congrats to all of the CPTC runners who did so well on this, the world’s great running stage.

From Hank Schiffman of the 60+:

Yasuhiro Makoshi 3:18:14 12th out of 1038 men 60-64

Gary Gosselin 3:38:26 69th out of 1038 men 60-64

Rick Shaver 4:45:35 2nd longest streak, NYC Marathon

What an ironic day this has been.

Yasuhiro played his cards correctly and did well. This has been a difficult year for him. He has been patient and smart, taking the long view on recovery. I was just inside the park on the Drive at 90th St, wearing a CPTC orange jacket, across from Chris and Dave, who never saw me. Yasuhiro went by and paused in front of them. I thought he was in a lot of pain and figured he would walk to the line. Chris reported that he looked good, and the tracker has him running the last 2.2 miles averaging just under an 8 minute mile pace. Perhaps I was reading too much into the drama of the carnage as runners entered the park His split was good: 1:35:15 at the half, so he ran well. He is the champion, pushing himself to his limits on the field of play.

Gary’s performance reflects a very long vision of this race. The marathon is his white whale. He has been working on pace and distance. His finish bettered his projection of 3:40, if my memory is correct. To my eyes he looked fine. It certainly is a pleasant thing when your reward equals your effort. Life is not always like that. His race reflected no irony. He is the essence of rationality. He did not ask for anything unreasonable and was paid in kind. Not that I find running 26.2 to be the act of a rational mind.

Gary:

5% improvement over 3:50 Boston 2015 time proved to be an attainable goal.

Ran the first 5K too fast and lost minutes on the last 5K, so need to work on my race execution.

Boston 2016 will provide another opportunity to learn and practice at this distance.

Legs were sore on Tuesday , recovery is kicking in today.

Had a good training and racing season with the team this year.

I am grateful.

Rick completes his 38th straight NYC Marathon! Until this year this was like passing Go and collecting $200. But he had knee surgery last year and things went from bad to worse. Up until recently he had pain on walking, running was out. Meanwhile I was putting in my pre-marathon miles and feeling fine. Somehow there was a switcheroo. Rick was able to get through the 26.2 and I can’t run 50 meters. His 2:05:41 split at the half would lead one to conclude he had to dial it back. But he did continue his streak. And we had a 3rd scorer.

Rick:

Gotta believe I was the only (non-Achilles) runner picking up my number at the Expo while wearing a knee brace. Can’t run in it but it helps when I walk. Wearing it today is just great!

Forgot to mention that the NY Times interviewed me on Friday and put me in their “Streaker” article today.:

“Richard Shaver, who is tied for second on the men’s list, with 38 straight finishes after Sunday’s, had had knee surgery since last year’s marathon but didn’t consider skipping this one, even though he hadn’t trained as much as he had planned. He is achingly close to the top of the streakers’ leaderboard, you know.

“Am I the one with the longest streak?” Shaver, 63, said. “Frankly I don’t know. But I’m going to be the last one standing.”

He then took a shot at a 72-year-old runner named Dave Obelkevich, the current No. 1 streaker, who finished his 39th straight New York City Marathon on Sunday. “I’m sorry; he’s a retired music teacher, a grandfather,” Shaver said. “I’m working every day, and I fit my running in.”

Shaver, a lighting specialist, laughed as he spoke because Obelkevich seems invincible, having finished 104 marathons and 185 ultramarathons. But I got the feeling Shaver wasn’t kidding. This is a tough guy we’re talking about, one who passed out from heat exhaustion a half-mile from the finish in 1979 and then said to medical workers, “Give me back my shoes!” so he could finish.

(For the record, Shaver finished Sunday’s race in 4 hours 56 minutes 35 seconds. Obelkevich finished in 4:57:01.)”

As to team results, we took 6th place with our rivals for team 2nd place, West Side Runners taking 1st place. They get 15 points, while we earn 5. Their total moves up to 106, ours is 114. With each having their 2 low scores subtracted we are 103 to their 100. If WSX takes 1st place at Corbett’s and we take 2nd it will be a flat out tie for season’s 2nd place. If Brooklyn Road Runners takes 1st, WSX takes 2nd, and we take 3rd, we will get 2nd by one point. This will be a nail biter down to the finish line. We need fast and strong for Corbett’s.

As to our XC efforts.

Hal Lieberman ran the Harry Murphy 5k XC in 28 minutes flat, AG 64.59%.

5 of our guys ran the USATF Masters 5k XC in Saratoga Springs on October 18th:

Kevin McGuire 22:59, AG 71.24%

Doug Labar 23:08, AG 69.60%

Dave Delano 28:37, AG 60.37%

Ned Murtaugh 31:02, AG 62.63%

Fred Trilli 33:52, AG 51.01%

Suffice it to say we gave it the old college try and finished 9th in the 60+ team group.

Some of our best masters men and women participated in this event, both in effort and quality of character. Saratoga was in peak autumn colors plus we even had some snow flurries. This event needs to be a focal point for our masters next time it is back on the east coast.

Hank