From Dani Sturtz of the Open:

It’s hard to believe the Chicago Marathon was a little over three weeks ago. We were lucky to have pretty ideal weather that day—unlike NYC—which made for some great races. The flat, fast course was well liked by the racers!

Jane Vongvorachoti

Jane had an amazing race, running a spectacular 2:40:40, a PR by 4 minutes! She had support from Sean who chased her around the course cheering her on. She ran pretty conservative to start then picked up the pace, chasing down Lisa Uhl in the last 2 miles. Jane had some great workouts with teammates to prepare for the race and thanks everyone for their support. She now has a world championship qualifier!

Shawnessy felt the weather was perfect for running a marathon and the spectators were fantastic throughout the entire race. She started out faster than she had planned, but tried to stick close to the 7:40 pace she fluctuated around. At mile 21, she was still feeling pretty good and started to kick it in. Shawnessy was able to sustain the kick and finished with a 3:19:55, which was about a 12-minute PR from last year’s performance at Wineglass.

Meredith and Dani tackled the 26.2 together and both had personal bests. Meredith finished in 3:18:41, about four minutes faster than Boston in April and eight minutes faster than Chicago last year! Dani finished in 3:20:45, a four minute personal best and her fastest marathon since NYCM in 2009! Both Meredith and Dani agree they couldn’t have done it without their teamwork. They made a plan at the starting line and stuck to it—didn’t go out too fast and remained consistent throughout with a negative split the second half. They also got to share the day with their families who cheered them on along the way and a handful of CPTCers who they celebrated with afterwards.

Thanks to everyone for all their support and congratulations to all of the racers!

 

–Dani Sturtz

Chicago Marathon, 3:20:45

From Lauren Carter of the Open:

Kelley Gillen

Photo: Nigel Francis

While Chicago posted perfect conditions, the NYC Marathon was anything but.  As anyone walking around New York that day will tell you it was a stark reminder of Winter past with winds gusting from every direction.  They say that champions rise to the occasion in the face of adversity and Sunday November 2nd was no exception to the rule.  The CPTC Women’s Open took home first place in the NYC Marathon team scoring with several women posting either course PRs or overall PRs including several negative splits.

 Kate Pallardy

Photo: Sue Pearsall

Courageously leading the way was Kate Pallardy with a 2:45:46 finish.  Although she attempted to rally other women in the Pro corral Kate soon found she was facing the long 26.2 haul alone.  After crossing the Queensboro bridge,  Kate let the crowds carry her the second half and found her second surge of adrenaline heading into Central Park. Perhaps it was all those people chanting her name.  Alexandra Bernardi followed in Kate’s brave footsteps, running conservatively on the aggressively windy day.  Alex missed her PR by just a few seconds when she crossed the finish line in 2:54:09. Both Kate and Alexandra set new CPTC single-age records for ages 29 and 28.

Running with Alex for a majority of her race was Katie Casto-Hynes. By adjusting her goals for the weather Katie was able to put together a strong race that allowed her to set a course best by 5 minutes, 2:57:12, and make her last 5K the fastest of the race.

Alysia Dusseau and Veronica Jackson paired up to post big PRs running 3:01:31 and 3:02:10.  Both ladies were ecstatic not only for their PRs but also for their first time negative splitting the NYCM.

 Veronica Jackson and Alysia Dusseau

And although she got out to a fast start, Jacy Kruzel was able to keep it in control finishing the race in a 3:03:49.  Kelly Gillen enjoyed her sub-elite pre-race pro-runner studded experience.  Despite the rough, windy day, Kelly completed the marathon in 3:07:01, and Jane Manfred ran for an 8 minute PR of 3:19:04.

 

 

From Ani Go of the 40+:

The women’s masters team had single representation in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s! To paraphrase Chris Donnelly’s quote “it’s a great day…if you are a kite”, the great Yumi Ogita sailed through the course in 3:26:24, setting a CPTC single age record for the New York City Marathon at 53. Yumi is back after a series of injuries and is making her steady climb back to the top.

Next up was the amazing Barbara Byrne in 3:53:11 for the 60’s. Barbara has had a few nicks here and there this season but has always been strong! And we have the rare sighting of Min Cen who came in for the 40’s in 6:42:16.

Way to go on an extremely challenging day!

Go Orange!

 

Ani

 

From Judith Tripp of the 60+:

Not to be intimidated by Hank’s 60+ men (nor by Hank’s esteemed prose!) I wanted to give a shout-out to our lone 60+ participant, the hardy Barbara Byrne.  Barbara ran a 3:53:11 for 7th place in her 60-64 age group, pretty impressive for such a cold and windy day, and when you realize that her age group comprised 401 women.  That’s pretty amazing!  What’s more, she had a great time!  She ran this marathon with her son Robert, and even though she lost him a couple of times she always found him again and they ran together till the last mile or so when he forged ahead and bested her by 3 seconds!  Even this defeat was a blessing as Barbara viewed it as a kind of “passing of the torch.”  But she’s not done yet; although she had seen this as her last marathon, her experience was such that she’s rethinking that.  So, congratulations, Barbara!  (and Robert . . . )