It was a great day for the Silver Foxes (and team W60+) and Golden Ladies (1st place W70+).

In fact, it was a great racing day for all the CPTC teams, all golden or silver. Congrats to us all!

W60+ Recap:

Barbara Byrne led the W60+ team as usual…., she was first in her W65-69 age group, in 50:03, a 8:04 pace, good for an impressive 85.79 AG %. Barbara ran negative splits (25:13 / 24:50). 

Way to go Barbara!

Barbara, in her own words:

The race went far better than I had expected .

My legs had been sore for several days as a result of trying to play catch up after not running at all while away for 18 days.  By some miracle, they were okay on Sunday.  I had the company of a young lady from Staten Island for the first 3 miles and we motivated each other; we both felt we were going too fast to maintain but actually kept a steady pace throughout.

Toward the end I had some hope of just dipping under the 50 min mark, but not quite!

Lovely to see everyone. Congratulations to the 70+ ladies for the golden finish and special thanks  to Ivy for completing our 60+team the day after competing at Penn.

Ivy Bell, our newest (and youngest) CPTC master 60+, mostly a track runner, committed to run this race (coming back the night before from Penn Relays where she ran a 4x400m…) and helped the W60+ to their 2nd place. She ran 59:24, a 9:34 pace and was 3rd for the team. It was a good long workout/tempo run for Ivy! Thanks for being there!

This is what Ivy had to say:

This weekend my racing or running was all about camaraderie and the team aspect of the sport. I promised Sylvie I would run the 10k a while ago to fill out our 60+ team.  I haven’t run a 10k since spring of 2016 and I have been focused on the mile, so not in my wheelhouse.  

The weekend got complicated when I was asked last minute to fill out a 60+ team for the 4 x 400 at Penn.

I did both. Not stellar times, by any means but a strong sense of accomplishment as I helped both my non club 60+ runners to Gold at Penn and CPTC to 2nd place, running as the youngest and slowest on the road.  Proud to put on my singlet for my 1st CPTC road race.  Go Sylvie, Barbara and CPTC.

W70+ recap

Sylvie Kimche, yours truly, your team captain, was 2nd for the W60+ and first for the W70+ in 54:09, a 8:43 pace. I was 1st in my W70-74 age group and my time was good for 85:66 AG %

In my own words:

After a winter of discontent, or rather discomfort….(bruised tailbone, bruised rib & collarbone, pneumonia, right knee & ankle issues), I’m happy to be healthy again. Even if totally unprepared/ untrained for this morning’s 10k, I was elated that I could run a decent time.

In fact, even though my pace was 9″ slower today than last year in the same race, my AG % is exactly the same. So I guess my slowing down is what is expected of runners of my age ….

Judith Tripp was 2nd for the W70+ team in 1:05:08, a 10:29 pace. She  was 4th in the W70-74 age group even though her time was the same as the 3rd runner… one of the mysteries of NYRR results….

Judith’s comments:

I was a bit disconcerted today with the weather and was not sure what to wear, bring, etc., running a bit late, and the CPTC bag check was a wonderful perk.  It never even occurred to me to look for a port-a-potty!  As for the race itself, I got pretty warm but was still comfortable and did not wish that I could rip something off.  Lot of people in the race but I was not held up that much, did my best, and was a little disappointed with the result — room for improvement if I can manage it!

Lynn Blackstone, our wonder woman, was 3rd for the team in 1:14:28, a 12:00  pace. She was 2nd in her W75-79 age group.

In her own words:

Totally shocked that I scored for the team and love having the “bragging” rights. As usual, I ran to my training. It was cold!!… But I enjoyed Ivy’s company walking home!

Caryl Baron tied the line too, ever the reliable teammate, in case one of us would have a problem along the way. She was happy to be part of the event and even happier to finish!…

Caryl’s comments:

Well done, teammates! Sylvie and Barbara for your usual firsts, Judith, Lynn, and Ivy for your excellent runs. (Judith, if they scored on age grading %, you’d have nailed 3rd place.) 

It’s a long time since I’ve attempted to run 10K, and I was only good for 5 miles, really struggled the 6th. Consider it a training run, done on no training. At least the rain held off.

Thanks to David Greenberg for organizing the private CPTC baggage check at the start line. Quite a perk as Judith says. It was really a nice touch and made getting ready for the race a lot more comfortable & civilized. And as a bonus, we got to be more social with our teammates before and after the race. A big thank you!

(We should try to do this more often …)

The next team race is the Brooklyn Half but we don’t have any W60+ or 70+ team for that race. So let’s plan a big showing at the Queens 10k on June 15.

In the meantime, be healthy, happy and train well!

Go ORANGE!

Sylvie