Report from Ani Go of the 40+ and 50+:
The Percy Sutton 5k report
40+ women:
We love Harlem! The Percy Sutton 5k is a great race to honor a great citizen of Harlem, give Harlem some runner love, and is a fun and challenging change of pace from Central Park. It lets us know that summer isn’t quite over yet.
What ideal conditions for a summer 5k! A 66 degree start on a hazy summer morning. Our scoring team leads with Colleen McGurk: PR Queen with a 18:37, 2nd in age group, 85.17% AG…and is also prepping for the Chicago Marathon, next up is the Amazin’ Amy Kvilhaug–gearing up for the NYC Marathon…oh hey, I’ll run a 5k! 20:10, 5th in her age group, and Captain Ani Go rounding out the group, literally gutting it out in 22:20.
Women’s 40+ masters just made 2nd place in front of Taconic by 3 seconds!
A few words from the 40+ team:
Amy Kvilhaug:
How about us! Kudos to just about all our CPTC teams for placing in the top 3. A special shoutout to our (men’s) 50+ team who had Gerry and Brad running sub-17 on what I believe to be a tough course. Wow!
Congrats to Colleen for once again leading the charge for our masters 40+ team with a PR in the heart of marathon training and a phenomenal PR. Congrats and thanks to Ani who gutted it out despite some stomach issues mid-race to round out our scoring.
As far as my race, I was pretty pleased with my effort. It may not have been a PR for me, but it was one of my better 5K efforts as far as execution goes. I ran down a bunch of people with a strong finish, mainly because I conserved until late and never got myself to the point where I wouldn’t be able to compete late. I ran each mile (including the .1) faster and felt good that despite limited speed and tempo training, I was able to run a respectable time for me.
Captain Ani:
Glad to have run! Not an entirely awful time considering I had painful stomach problems all week and almost wasn’t going to run. If I hadn’t run, we wouldn’t have had a team, and if I didn’t keep going–ran a mile, stop and compose myself, run another spat, etc, we wouldn’t have gotten 2nd place! Go orange, go masters!
50+ women:
50+ women take 2nd place! The scoring team was represented by the sole 50+ Stacy Creamer, nearing the end of her triathlon season, and finishing 4th in her age group. Playing doubles is Barbara Byrne the Great scoring for 50’s and 60’s, and going for the triple play is the incredible Sylvie Kimche, scoring on the 50’s, 60’s, and as the baby of the 70’s team.
Congrats to all our scorers and to our open and masters women’s and men’s teams!
********************
5th Avenue Mile:
40+ women:
What a great day for the mile! The tailwind gave everyone a few extra feathers in their wings.
The 40+ women placed 2nd! Introducing the lightning quick Jennifer St. Jean to her first club points race this season! Jen ran in the prestigious NYRR Road Mile…let’s take a moment here–one of the wonderful things about running is how it transcends age–runners who are older can be much faster than those much younger, age is not necessarily a factor in speed. It’s one of the few sports in which that’s the case. Which brings us back to our Jen St. Jean, masters only in age, fast AF. Her 5:08 placed her in 3rd in her age group, with only 5 seconds separating her from the top slot. All hail Jen St. Jean! Much, much more good stuff to come from this star, and we can’t wait! Next to score was your reliable Captain Ani, finally a PR in the mile in 5:56–her last fastest mile was 7 years ago, and highest AG for her to date at 83%. This year 5:56 just gets you in at #10 on the top 10 list. And culling the 50+ ladies for talent we have Sue Pearsall rounding out our scoring team!
We had additional special team players–newcomer Maria Taveras registered before she joined the team but proudly raced in our colors. Had she registered as a Lady Orange, she would’ve been our 3rd scorer. Her 6:06 is a PR and a whopping 10 seconds faster than her previous PR from last year! We’re looking forward to developing her talent as the season unfolds!
Another one of our ladies who had a great race was Jennifer Ranck. She also PR’d with a time of 7:07, which is 8 seconds faster than last year’s mile! Jen R is particularly inspiring because as she is expanding her running distances and experiences, she is also managing various health challenges. Here are her words:
I went in with a tentative goal of sub-7 after just recently falling into a nice consistent training rhythm and pacing faster in general (managing 1:40 quarters in prep workout). Had to warm up long and slow as fibro acting up a bit (adjusting to weather change?) but felt good and good sign getting to warm up with Ani just like last year feeding off that support/inspiration as well as from Devon who sent me off with heartfelt inspiration – so I was ready! I made mistake (ugh again!) of settling towards back of heat so spent energy working way out of being boxed in by really slow starters. Still managed a 3:30-ish (maybe 20s?) half and may have been bit fast as I ran out of gas (felt that way at least) so kick was not as impressive as it was last year. I still dropped 8 seconds and ran 7:07 so am happy with that (a Masters PR and one step closer to AG equivalent of college years (5:12 1500m)) and aiming to totally smash it sub-7 next year! (AND this puts me in high 60s AG which still eludes me in longer distances and fires up the desire to get back on the track and conquer the more familiar short middle distances!) Most of all the camaraderie and support from coaches and team – along with slammin’ new team gear – was so amazing! Go Orange!
Up next XC-endurance schedule – Steiner 5K (tentative), Bronx 10 mile, USATF NY Masters 5K (Syracuse), SI 1/2, USATF Masters 5K (Boston) – longer distances = long training runs, and focusing on masters PR-ing in 5K (currently 26:16.9)! #DefyFibro #CancerBeDamned ❤️???”
50+ women:
50+ women take 3rd place! Sue Pearsall represents the 50+ ladies and leads the scoring team (her mile places her at 80% by the way!). Sue also scored for the 40+ women’s team, which helped project us upwards to 2nd! Once again, Barbara Byrne is instrumental in our podium finish for the 50+ team as well as for the 60+ team, and baby Sylvie Kimche rounds out the scorers for 50+ (and 60+. And 70+!).
And the perfect running conditions brought out Diane Lebowitz to challenge 5th Ave in her 1st race this year! It was wonderful to see her out there! How about some more road races, Diane? ?
Let’s welcome Dail St. Claire to the Lady Oranges! Dail is brand new and at the time of registration was not a Lady Orange yet, but now is. Her time of 6:22 placed her 4th in her age group and at an AG of 87%! The last time she ran the mile was 6 years ago and she bested that time by over 35 seconds! Yooge!
Congrats to our open and masters teams and all our speedy milers!
Go Orange!
Next up–Boogie Down Bronx 10mi!
Captain Ani
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Report from Sylvie Kimche of the 60+:
It was a beautiful sunny, dry and cool Saturday morning to run the hilly streets of Harlem.
For the first time this year, the W60+ took gold ahead of Van CortlandTC.
Barbara Byrne was 1st for the team (and 2nd in her age group to no one else than Kathryn Martin) in 23:25 – almost a minute faster than last year!…). Her pace was 7:33 and her AG% 84.34%.
She had this to say about her race:
I enjoyed the race today. Usually I only enjoy the fact that it’s over. But the weather was beautiful, the atmosphere relaxed and the course interesting (with the most challenging section quickly behind us). Also, I found teammates to stand with in the corral – Sylvie, Kevin and Phil. For once I didn’t have nerves. I feel satisfied with negative splits, but in retrospect I wonder if I could have run a little faster. Perhaps need to do more 5ks.
Thrilled that we won the age group. Welcome back to the team Sherrell!
And I’m happy that Sylvie and I were able to support Stacy in the 50+.
Barbara had told me in the corral that she had mostly done hill workouts recently. It showed as she was very strong in the mean hills of the 1st mile.
Congrats Barbara!
I (Sylvie Kimche, your team captain) was 2nd for the team. I had very low expectations (to make it easier on myself to exceed my expectations…?), being recently back from a trip in Madagascar, mountain biking but no running at all in almost 4 weeks and longs hours of transfers in buses and van. Not the best training for a footrace… So I was delighted to run 25:00 flat, an 8:03 pace, good for 1st in my W70-74 age group (i wonder when/if I’ll ever get used to the fact that this is my age group now….). My AG% was 84:48% (just enough to edge Barbara….?…. We have an ongoing AG% rivalry now that I will never anymore run as fast as she does….)
Sherrel Harmon, our newest W60+ teammate, (actually an old-timer friend of Lynn and Sid and of numerous other old-timers who had just re-joined CPTC) scored 3rd for the team in 28:58, a 9:30 pace and was the reason why we managed 1st place team. Woohoo!
Here are her comments:
I’m very happy with my performance today.The workouts have helped sharpen what I have been doing all these years on Tuesdays alone.
Retirement is wonderful!
And we are very happy that you decided to come back to CPTC (a big thank-you to Lynn who helped bring Sherrel back to the team….)
Lynn Blackstone was our 4th runner. She had a great race too, running 33:50, a 10:54 pace and a 43 seconds improvement over last year!…
Lynn was 2nd in her W75-79 age group and had this to say about her race:
I did have a good race, and training indeed has helped. Thank you Devon and Tony and especially my group who come out and train; encourage and in turn are encouraged.”
Lynn is the living proof that improvement is possible at any age with proper training and love of running! ?
Barbara and I were happy to help Stacy to a 2nd place W50+ in the absence of her W50+ teammates….
As usual a big shout out to Tony for his support and encouragement! And to our teammates cheering on the course.
And congrats to all the CPTC teams who (to plagiarize Tony), either won, placed or showed in every division.
Next up, the Fifth Avenue Mile on Sunday September 10. Come one, come all, whether you’re running or cheering for this great event down the Avenue!
GO ORANGE (and blue…)
Sylvie
Fifth Avenue Mile report by Sylvie:
Oh! what a glorious Sunday morning to fly down the Avenue (thanks to Mother Nature’s for her gift of 12 mph TAIL WIND!….?) and fly we did as both the W60+ and 70+ took gold!
Barbara Byrne (6:39, 92.68% AG%), Sherrel Harmon (7:44, 82.33%) and Deborah Barchat (8:24, 77.01%) respectively finished 1st, 4th and 8th (out of 26) in the 65-69 age group.
In the 70-74 age group, Judith Tripp (8:23, 79.84%) was 3rd out of 21 and I was 1st in 6:53 (97.29%)
As for Lynn Blackstone (9:09, 83.06%), she was 1st in her W75-79 age group (out of 8 finishers)
Barbara B was 1st for the W60+ team. I was 2nd and Sherrel was 3rd. Our total time of 21:16 was 1:04 faster than the much younger VCTC 2nd place team.
I was 1st for the W70+ team, Judith was 2nd and Lynn was 3rd. Our total time was 24:25, a whopping 4:27 ahead of 2nd place Millrose team…
Way to go!
Didn’t I just tell you we were flying down the Avenue…?
For good measure, Barbara and I helped Sue Pearsall (6:18, 80.32%), our lone 50+ runner to 3rd place W50+ team.
Here are our comments:
Barbara:
On a cool, clear and perfect sunny morning, I made my way up to 5th Avenue feeling stiff, tired and uninspired. Thankfully, the crowd of runners warming up, cooling down and waiting tensely in the start zone was enough to get me motivated.
I seemed to do a lot of thinking during the race ..first quarter was way faster than I expected which made me happy until I realized it couldn’t be maintained. Slowed down probably too much. Disconcerted by too many ladies running ahead of me..tried to tell myself they might fade. Glad to crest the rise at 800…time to try picking people off. Kicked into the finish, probably left it too late. Overall relieved my time was better than I could have hoped.
Feeling very proud of our women’s 60 and 70 plus and all the CPTC runners who represented today.
Sherrel:
What a glorious day! Congrats on your stellar performance!
Soaring down 5th Ave hearing our cheering squad at 71st St. was thrilling.
Once again I am so happy to bring our “Golden Team 60+” as the caboose to 1st Place.
Deborah:
I’m so impressed! Congrats on stellar racing! What a team!
Thanks for the shout-out Sylvie, much appreciated. I was thrilled to be racing and so happy to see you and everyone else!
Well done ladies!
(FYI, it was Deb‘s first Fifth Avenue mile in a long time due to ongoing knee issues, So happy to see that these problems seem to be finally behind her!…?)
Lynn:
The race, the camaraderie, were great, lots of fun; can’t wait for next year’s.
Judith
I had not prepared for this race so was fairly accepting of my result and felt almost ok throughout. Beautiful day. I was pushed to the front by an official at the start (filling out the photograph line?) which gave me an unimpeded start and soon I settled on VCTC’s Monika M. some yards in front of me — I never gained any ground on her but maintained my position finishing 3rd in the age group with an 8:23 (4 seconds faster than last year!) Great event as always. Congratulations to all our teams on their excellent results!!
I’ll finish with my own comments:
<< New age group, great race (thanks Tony for the workouts and thanks Mother Nature for that 12mph tailwind!), 6:53, a new course record for F70 (???) and 97.29% AG%! And i got to actually break the tape for the 1st time in my long running career…???
What’s not to like???
Thanks to my teammates for the loud cheering mid-course at the top of the hill. Really exciting!
And thanks Caryl for the photos!
Finally congrats to all the CPTC teams for their stellar results….Woohoo! ? >>
Next team race is the Bronx 10 miler on Sunday Sept 24. Let’s keep the momentum going and bring our A game!
GO ORANGE (and blue)
Sylvie