Let it be known that this is my last recap for the W60+ as I have passed the torch on to Stacy Creamer.
I will continue to be the team captain for the W70+
It was a sunny but VERY cold morning, especially with a very cold wind that froze you to the bone….
W60+ Recap
The W60+ team made up of Stacy Creamer, Barbara Byrne & Sherrel Harmon) took 3rd place.
Sherrel was 3rd for the team. Her 1:32:04, a 9:53 pace was good for 6th in the W65-69 age group (she’s at the very top of her age group and will join the W70 squad in April …?). Her performance was good for 73.37% AG%.
Sherrel in her own words:
First, thanks for the time and effort you put in as Captain of the 60+ team.
Second, let me be the first to welcome you as Captain of the 70+ team which will be my home in 4 short months. April 1st is approaching rapidly.
      My race was on point and as always I am happy to have scored in my” Caboose “position for the CPTC Team.
       My nostril hairs kept freezing causing me to periodically blow my nose to breathe more efficiently and the ice slithers in the water cups made me appreciate running in July in the heat and glorious sun even more.
       All in all it was a good way for me to celebrate what would have been my friend Ted’s 100th Birthday.
Barbara was 2nd for the team and 1st in her age group as usual. Her time of 1:15:24 , an 8:06 pace (one second improvement over last year and being one year older…) gave her an impressive  88.28% AG % (the highest of a CPTC runners, men & women).
For good measure, Barbara double-dipped and was 3rd for the W50+ team
Barbara’s thoughts about the race:
The Ted Corbitt 15k is always cold, and this year didn’t disappoint.  So glad I grabbed my hat as I left the house….and I would like to mention that the gloves we were given did not do the job for me!
I’m not complaining though.  For me, this weather is so much better than the heat of summer.
As I waited with Sylvie at the start, she asked me what plan I had.  No plan, no goal, except get to the finish without walking.  A blank mind seems to be my best approach.
I went through the first mile at 8.43, which seemed a bit slow, but thought perhaps that was all I had to offer.  Next mile was more like 8.15.  After that I was trying to keep track of mile splits but with my very basic watch and a somewhat disengaged brain, I thought I was at 8.30 pace on average.  At the finish, I estimated an 8.15 pace, but was even more surprised when I got home to find it was 8.06.
I was sorry to find Sylvie had been unable to continue far into the race because of her painful ankle condition and was then freezing cold besides, after waiting around to support the rest of us. And Judith found the cold too much too.
Congratulations to my age group teammates Stacy and Sherrel, to Deb who I believe didn’t enjoy it too much, but stuck it out anyway, and to Lynn.  The men’s 60+ were amazing and I believe ended the year in 1st place.  Way to go!
Thanks so much to the cheering squad who were probably much colder than everyone else.
Last road race of the year (for me at least).
To all those going to PA next week, have a great race and enjoy!
Stacy was 1st for the team & 2nd in her 60-64 age group in 1:14:18, a 7:59 pace and just under 80% AG % (79.82% to be exact). This performance is also 3rd place in CPTC best times for 15k…
And to top it off, Stacy was 2nd in the W50+ age group that she just recently left behind….
This is what Stacy had to say:
I did not plan to run until about 10:00 pm last night when I received a text from Ani Go asking if I was racing; the 50+ ladies needed me!  I have scored for them so infrequently of late that I hadn’t even checked with her.  I wrote back explaining about my knee.  My left knee hurt already but last weekend I fell in the brief ice storm and really hurt my right one.  I landed on it and my right hip really hard.  I was lucky not to break a wrist or anything else.  I have been swimming nearly every day–2,500 yards per session at Chelsea Piers–and ran only on Tuesday.  I texted Ani to ask what the situation was; would our position for the year change?  But I never heard back.  So I decided to run to the start and see how that felt.  It wasn’t too bad so I figured that I’d have a go at it.  And it went pretty well!  I was actually relaxed and managed to stay just under 8:00 for nearly every mile.  My final pace–by their clocks–was 7:59.  I was just under 80% age graded and took second in the F60-64 category.
I was the 2nd scorer for the F50+ and Barbara not far behind in 3rd place. So we had only one true 50+ lady, Judy Stobbe.
I knew from Sylvie that the F60+ ladies weren’t going to change positions for the year no matter what happened but it was still fun to score for my new squad.
FYI, the W50+ team of Judy Stobbe, Stacy & Barbara managed 4th place team in the 15k.
However, with the drop 2 rule, the W50+ ends the year in 2nd place with 83 pts behind Taconic RR 1st with 108 pts. Congrats to the W50+ team!
As for the W60+, they finish the year 2019 in a very commendable 3rd place with 82 points, behind 2 very strong & younger teams: NY Flyers 1st with 120 pts & Van Cortland TC 2nd with 102 pts .
I think that with the addition of 4 strong runners to the 60+ in 2020 (Stacy, Sandra Olivo, Jeannine Antus & Barbara Belch) + hopefully the participation of Ivy Bell and Diane Lebowitz in the shorter races, we have a chance to improve to 2nd or even maybe 1st….Your goal, Stacy, now that you lead the W60+ team!!!…?
W70+ Recap
The bad news is we did not have a W70+ team for the Ted Corbitt 15k. The good news though is that Van Cortland TC who was nipping at our heels (1pt behind us) did not have a team either so the W70+ team stays in 2nd place with 45 points (behind Mercury Masters 1st with 111pts).
We had 4 starters but only 2 brave and able bodies (Deborah Barchat & Lynn Blackstone) finished the race on this very cold day.
The always reliable Lynn ran 2:03:52, a 13:18 pace and was 2nd in her age group.
Here is what she had to say:
Lynn Blackstone ran a pretty steady pace, slow pace, at Ted Corbett’s 15K; had a lot of help and encouragement, especially grateful to Susan Marcus for our running the last three and a half miles together.
Deb finished in 1:42:58, an 11: 03 pace & was 2nd in her W70-74 age group.
Here are Deb’s thoughts:
Trying to find positive things to say: wind wasn’t nearly as bad as expected, and the cold didn’t hit me that hard. It was a small improvement from my previous race, but still far off from my expectations for myself. I’ll keep at it!  Always amazed and humbled by teammates.
 
Sylvie Kimche, your team captain, was one of the drop -outs:
I started the race with a painful right ankle (a condition that comes and goes and had plagued me most of 2019). I soon realized that I could not run. So tried to walk but was in too much pain & freezing too, as I was not dressed for walking. So turned around after about 1 1/4 mile of misery…. hopefully I will know how to treat my ankle/foot condition after I get a 2nd opinion on Tues 12/10 from a specialist in orthopedic surgery at MSK. Seems that surgery is in my future… ??
Unfortunately too, our 4th starter, Judith, suffering from extreme cold stopped after 4 miles and had to drop out.
In the end though, it did not matter that we did not have a team for the 15k….
When I look at our results for the year,  2nd position with scoring on only 3 races, I realize that we won every race where we had a team. With Sherrel turning 70 on April 1, 2020 my goal is to manage to have a team in 8 (or even only 7 as long as we have a team for the Team Championships) of next year’s races (11 races, drop 2). If so we will easily take 1st place from Mercury Masters thanks to the awesome talent of our Golden Girls!…?
Thanks to the cheering squads who endured the cold for so long, standing in place, especially Ivy Bell & Christine Mouterde with her bullhorn!…
And special thanks to Dave Delano for another heart- & butt-warming breakfast party afterwards…☕??? ??
Here is to a fantastic year of running to all in 2020! ?‍♀️?‍♀️?‍♀️?‍♂️?‍♂️?‍♂️
GO ORANGE!