Bronx 10 miler – Sunday Sept 30

It seems like the start of the Bronx 10 miler was a bit chaotic this year again… not sure why NYRR can’t get their act together for this race.

Once the race got going though it did not really matter and did not prevent our ” golden” W70+ team – Deborah Barchat leading the team in her 1st race in her new age group, Judith Tripp and the indefatigable Lynn Blackstone – from scoring 1st place (as we always do when we manage to have 3 runners….)

To that effect, a big thank you to Judith for her late entry. She did not want to let her teammates Deb and Lynn down. And despite the chaotic start, they were all  thrilled by their team win! 

Way to go ladies!

Deb led the team in 1:38:16 and was 3rd in the W70-74 age group

Here are her comments:

Teammates (and coach!) made the race for me.  I hadn’t run this distance in – ever? – so it felt new.  The start was delayed which added to a chilly start, but the weather was fine for racing.  The wide streets helped the course feel less crowded despite fielding a large pack.  Teammates!  You rock!  Armando!  John Milone!  Around mile 8, I was losing focus, but Tony caught me flagging and he did it such a great and funny way I’m still smiling.  It made the difference and left a lasting great memory.

Judith was 2nd for the team in 1:47:28 and 6th in the same age group

Judith’s comments:

Thank you so much, Tony and friends, for cheering and encouraging me at mile 8 or so; it was unquestionably the highlight of my race!

Lynn was 3rd for the team, the caboose as Sherrel Harmon would say, in 2:05:59, good for 4th in her W75-79 age group. Despite not enjoying the race as she mentions in her comments below, she was thrilled to score for the team once more

In her own words:

The 2018 Bronx Ten Miler was the worse race experience I have had in many years, redeemed only and thankfully by the fact the CPTC Women’s Team came in first and as I was third scorer.  I have run this race many times and I look forward to running it next year; however, 2018 was a horrible personal experience. Will miss Peter Ciaccia and delighted for his great send off from the Bronx.

In the absence of any of our W60+ runners, Deb, Judith and Lynn all “double -dipped” and scored for the W60+ team in 6th.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Staten Island Half – Sunday Oct 14

The CPTC Masters Women were MIA at the Staten Island Half this year. We had one lone W40+, Audrey Kingsley (at the top of her age group at 49) who finished in 1:39:23. And for the W60+, Barbara Byrne was our lone runner. She was 1st in her W65-69 age group in 1:51:41, a 8:32 pace, good for 82.08 AG performance. Congrats Barbara!

Here is what she had to say about her race:

I was happy with my time because based on my training runs, I had reconciled myself to a 2 hour finish.  The  weather of course was much better today than it has been in months.  I can’t exactly claim to have enjoyed the run.  I probably did what I vowed not to do, i.e. go too fast for what I was able, then fade.  And fade I did in the last mile and a half.  ??.  Never mind, I could not have hoped for an 8:32 pace so will try to focus on that rather than the pathetic finish.

Apparently the masters women decided en masse to give this race the cold shoulder….”

Barbara, we do appreciate that you always come to race in Central Park (and elsewhere in Manhattan) so we – the CPTC Womens Masters –  should definitely make an effort to come race in your borough… however, I for one would be much more willing to get to your island for a shorter race….

The next big race for the W60+ & 70+ is the Ted Corbitt 15k in December.  (We do not have a team for the NYCM).

Looking forward to seeing a lot of you in this final race of the season.

In the meantime, happy autumn running to you all !

And good luck to all the marathoners!

And before that, looking forward to seeing a lot of you at the CPTC Benefit to honor our great coach Tony and Bob Laufer

Go Orange!

Sylvie