Report from Jacy Kruzel and Veronica Jackson of the Open:
CPTC Open Women wrapped up the 2017 NYRR road racing season with a runner-up finish at the Ted Corbitt 15K. The team was led by a 3rd place overall finish by 2020 Olympic Trials bound Kate Pallardy.
Bill Wells, Kate Pallardy, Iber Gonzalez Vidals and Nicholas Schump
Photo: John Tran
Running close together where Colleen McGurk and Aileen Barry. Colleen is quite the tough competitor – she was able to race a cross country 15K the week prior and double back on Saturday with another speedy time! It was also great to see Aileen back racing in Central Park, we look forward to seeing her racing strong this winter & spring!
Alysia Dusseau
Photo: John Tran
Then Jacy Kruzel and Alysia Dusseau rounding out the scoring crew. Alysia was pleased with her effort, running a course PR by 22 seconds!
Next up was Andrea Burdett. While it was her first 15K and a guaranteed PR – she ran 9.3 miles faster than she’s raced any race over 4 miles. Quite a fast feet! Dani Sturtz was very close to her PR as well, just 18 seconds shy and she wasn’t even peaking for this race!
Congratulations to all of our Ted Corbitt Racers!
Kate Pallardy 0:55:01
Colleen Mcgurk 0:58:46
Aileen Barry 0:58:54
Jacy Kruzel 1:00:25
Alysia Dusseau 1:00:53
Andrea Burdett 1:01:27
Elleree Erdos 1:03:26
Dani Sturtz 1:06:31
Jaclyn Gilbert 1:07:43
Meredith Byers 1:12:10
Debbie Lee 1:39:29
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Report from Ani Go of the 40+:
First of all, I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season! Sorry it’s taken me so long to report, but I wanted to make sure to take the time to say something worthwhile.
We end 2017 with the 40+ Masters Women finishing solidly in 2nd place! Thank you ladies for your hard work and for taking the time to execute, putting your heart and soul into competing, and winning. Thank you, Amy Kvilhaug, Audrey Kingsley, Barbara Byrne, Colleen McGurk, Irma Bribeisca, Jennifer St Jean, Julie Tucker, Maria Taveras, Paola Peretti, Susan Doyle-Lindrud, Sue Pearsall, Victoria Comerchero–our ladies who scored and made it possible for us to stand proudly on the podium, and to Meg Blake, and Jennifer Ranck for their strong racing support.
While our 50+ team is thin in numbers, we were still able to place in the top 10 with the combined efforts of our masters ladies.
Speaking of…the masters women as a group–40/50/60/70–blur borders, as the great Barbara Byrne has scored for the 50’s and 40’s (and of course her own team 60), our distinguished Sue P, and the humble Susan D-L, have also scored not only for 50’s but 40’s as well. We all share the same struggles in training, staying inspired, and maintaining our confidence when we aren’t feeling strong. Our teammates, these ladies, boost us, keep us aloft, and give us winged feet.
Here’s how we ended the year–our last two scoring races, The New York Marathon and Ted Corbitt 15k.
The 40+ team for the NYC marathon of which we just had enough ladies–was led by Amy Kvilhaug, who trained hard and worked hard at the marathon. After the race, she declared that it banged her up pretty bad, but you’d never know it when you saw her out there. Maria Taveras, preparing for the Tokyo marathon, took it in as a training run, running with a friend. Vicki Comerchero, who hasn’t run for us in a while, welcomed her entry into the masters league with a very long race. Congrats, ladies!
We end our year with the Ted Corbitt 15k, attended as a token of our presence on the roads. Colleen McGurk, our PR Queen–took the reins, setting another PR, put down the 2nd best overall 40+ masters women’s time for that distance, and won her age group. BOOM. Audrey Kingsley braved the cold and the distance, a force to be reckoned with on the course finishing in the top 10 of her age group, providing beautiful photos for John Le Tran. And of course we have the amazing Barbara Byrne, scoring for the 40+ team, and winning the top spot in her age group.
Two ladies in particular, Colleen McGurk and Jennifer Ranck–have both had very eventful seasons. Colleen had PR after PR in all distances–from 5k to the half marathon, and ran her very first marathon this year–the Chicago Marathon–debuting in 3:00.18. This has been her best year yet, but there is more to come from this incredible lady. To imagine that it took a year to get her to join the Lady Oranges because she was worried about being able to keep up makes one giggle. Teehee!
Jennifer Ranck–our strongest fighter. She has the heart and courage of a lioness and the strength of a goddess, full of fight and spirit. Even as she is struggling with her own health problems, she always has the strength to cheer and support our ladies and our team. It’s not easy to go out and run when you aren’t feeling well with a cold, let alone more serious health issues. Jennifer has continued to train, running longer distances, and has even had her own PR’s in those distances as well–her first 10miler and half marathon. For all that, Jennifer is one incredible athlete and I’m proud to have her on our team.
So we end 2017…here comes 2018 and the best to come for all of us. It’s never too late to be or do better, every moment is a new opportunity.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
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Report from Sylvie Kimche of the 60+:
On a cold and drizzly, wet snow Saturday morning on Dec 9, the golden ladies/silver foxes finished the year with a bang, taking the gold in both W60+ and W70+ categories in the Ted Corbitt 15k
In the W60+, Barbara Byrne led the team in 1:14:30, an exactly 8:00 pace. She was 1st in her W65-69 age group too in a brilliant 86.66% AG%.
Yours truly, your team captain, Sylvie Kimche, was 2nd for the team in 1:18:45, 8:27 pace. I placed 1st in my W70-74 age group in a very satisfying 87.13% AG%
Judith Tripp was 3rd for the team in 1:37:05, a result she was pleased enough with, having run the Pete McArdle 15k x-c race at Van Cortlandt the week before (where she was the only runner over 63….). She was 2nd in the W70-74 age group.
In the W70+ category, it was Sylvie, Judith and the ageless Lynn Blackstone 3rd for the team in 1:56:04, a 12:28 pace. Once again, she was 1st in her W75-79 age group.
Way to go ladies!
FYI, Sherrel Harmon had planned to run to beef up the W60+ team. Unfortunately she had suffered an injury the week before at Van Cortlandt for the Pete McArdle 15k x-c. Let’s hope that she will come back fully recovered and as strong as ever in the new year. All our best wishes of prompt recovery!
Our scoring ladies comments about the race in their own words:
Lynn B:
I was really slow, in spite of first place in AG. And it was cold. And WOW our 70s plus team is strong; I’m working harder in 2018 because I like scoring for team! Really sorry to have missed Dave’s party and time with you, Judith and Barbara (and the boys…)
Barbara B:
Showed up this morning with my favorite plan. which is no plan at all except to start conservatively then hopefully pick it up. The weather was to my liking, chilly, yes, but no wind, and I enjoy running in the snow so long as it’s not slippery underfoot. It was fun (and helpful) to be running alongside Kevin for a good part of the race as we would take turns pulling each other along and perhaps motivating the other not to lag behind. I probably spent a little too much effort in miles 2 to 6 so it was something of a struggle to maintain to the end, but overall,very happy with the day’s race. Thanks to the cheering sections!
It was capped off in fine fashion with the gathering hosted by Dave….thanks for the hospitality.
And that’s it for this year. Wishing everyone the best for the holidays.
Sylvie K:
Was really happy with my run. I had no expectations at all, just to “finish with dignity” as Tony always says. So I started very conservatively in the first (4mi) loop. Was feeling good after the 2nd run on the West Side rolling hills so picked it up a lot in the last 4 miles. Finished quite strong. Guess I was in a rush to get home to warm my hands and then go to Dave’s party to rejoice with my teammates (and celebrate my birthday 2 days in advance…????)
Thanks as usual to Tony and the cheering squad!
To recap the year:
Our W60+ team finished 2nd to VCTC, a team with much younger W60+ runners so we can’t complain. But with the addition of Sherrel and hopefully the return to form of Deb (Deborah Barchat), we should be able to give them a run for their money in 2018! ?
Our W70+ team finished 3rd behind Mercury Masters and Millrose for lack of enough participants. We were 1st in 3 of the 4 races where we were able to field a team….but 4 races out of 11 is not enough to get us to the top of the podium… oh well, at least we enjoy ourselves and the camaraderie when we do have a scoring team.
Looking forward to another year of running, racing, cheering for our teammates, being healthy and enjoying our lives in 2018
Happy holiday & Merry Christmas to all.
Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year!
Sylvie