Livestrong Challenge

On August 26 I will be cycling 100 miles at the Livestrong Challenge to raise money for the Lance Armstong Livestrong Cancer Foundation. To donate to support my ride you can go directly to my Livestrong Challenge website by clicking here.

Goal: $2,500 Raised so far: $1,631.20

Thanks for your support.
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11/21 60th Annual Troy Turkey Trot: Kevin and Denise Dollard make this race an annual affair before they have dinner with family in Albany. Kevin ran a super race finishing 3rd in the 50-54 age group in 18:19. The race for the top 3 spots in this age group was VERY TIGHT with first finishing in 18:13 and second place only one second ahead of Kevin in 18:18. Denise also had a good race finishing in a time of 31:12. There are three races at this event. The 5K had 3174 finishers, the 10K had 671 finishers and the kids mile (16 and under) had 598 finishers. Full Results.

11/21 Turkey Trot: First and foremost a huge THANK YOU to Vince and all his volunteers for the hours of work they put into this race. It's amazing what a tradition the Turkey Trot has become for so many families and local runners. It grows bigger every year. With this year's weather being just about perfect for the end of November the turnout was well beyond what was expected. One of the best things about this day of racing is the chance to see friends and old running buddies you may not have seen for awhile. Unfortunately, as I discovered, if you run the 25K you might not get back until many of the runners in all the other races have left. Combine that with the fact that the 25K starts 30 minutes earlier and the time to catch up on all the news gets cut even further. I did get a chance to chat with a few people I hadn't seen in at least a year, to all of you that I missed – Happy Trails.

Some of the People Who Make it Happen!!

 
Gary Patton and Deborah Schwartz Right: Rich Hanson and Barbara Heiles

 
Terry Horton, Fred Policastri, Pete Sanfilippo Right: Race Director Vince Veltre

The 25K. Wow, I'm sure it's over 20 years since the last time I ran it. The distance hasn't gotten any shorter and the hills are just as challenging as they always were. Going in I didn't have a specific time goal. The main goal was just to enjoy the day, the comradarie and get my long run up to 15.5 miles. About half way in, when the pace actually felt pretty comfortable, I decided that the goal would be to get within 30 minutes of my best time. Maybe even sneak under 2 hours. I managed to accomplish the first one, but getting under 2 hours was lost when my pace from mile 14 to mile 15 slowed to a crawl. If it wasn't for Marisa Hanson who came out to meet me and help me through the last 1.5 miles I would have been walking! Thanks, Marisa.

The results are on the MHRRC website along with some pictures taken by Kelsey Steele. You can see more pictures from Chris Walsh here. There are more pictures on the Poughkeepsie Journal site: LINK


11/17 DIII National Cross Country Championships: Training group member Polly Sparling traveled to Northfield, Minnesota to watch her son Evan race in the DIII National XC Championships. Runnning for Dickinson College, Evan placed 48th in the 8K race in a time of 25:23.

John Jay Alumni News
11/19 DI National Cross Country Championships: Hakon DeVries had another excellent race, finishing the 10K course in a time of 31:05.
11/18 Genesee Valley 8K XC Invite: Ted Turner took second place overall on a very tough course in a time of 26:17. His team, the Indiana Invaders, took first.

11/18 Philadelphia Marathon and Half Marathon: Congrats to Mary Veltre who completed her first marathon in a time of 4:23:39. Other training group members in Philly who ran the Half: Vince Veltre 1:40:22, Judy Creedon 1:52:26, Chris Walsh 2:09:35, Roger Billings 2:10:57, Larry Knapp 3:22:24. There was also an 8K which Susanne O'Neil ran in 47:30. This crew was all associated with Susanne's Marathon Project. Look for a full report on the Marathon Project in the next MHRRC newsletter and soon on the MHRRC site.


PHILADELPHIA: Left: The Marathon Project Kids, Right: Vince and Mary Veltre

11/12 Ashokan 4 Mile: Wayne McDaniel and Conni Grace both had super races at this scenic event. Wayne was 2nd overall in a time of 24:00 and Conni was first woman in a time of 24:49.

11/12 Pine Bush Ambulance 5K: This course has a history of being fast, not this year. I'm not sure if they changed the course. The reports are that the times were quite a bit slower than usual and GPS watches got the course as 3.16 miles. That would certainly explain the 20-30 seconds extra that many runners felt were on their times. As usual Chris and Ken DeVries ran very well overall and dominated their age groups. Ken was 3rd overall in the race and 1st in the 55-59 age group in a time of 19:00. Chris was 3rd woman overall and 1st in the 50-54 age group in 23:24. Harry Owens placed 15th overall and took 2nd in the 45-49 age group in 22:15.

11/10 West Region D1 Cross Country Championships: Hakon DeVries ran 30:51 on the 10K cross country course to help his Stanford team to a 3rd place finish. They will compete on Monday, Nov. 19 at the D1 National Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana.

 

West Region D1 Championships (Hakon DeVries #492)

11/4 NYC Marathon: Pete Colaizzo has great local coverage of the marathon in the Poughkeepsie Journal today (11/8) with anecdotes from a few runners and times of local finishers. One training group member that Pete did not have in his results was Jeff Lease (49) who finished in 2:51:36. It was good to see that Tom Storey was able to run after the terrible case of Lyme Disease that he had this summer. Tom missed many weeks of running while he suffered from Lyme. Sally Saretto, despite her busy work schedule, was able to complete yet another marathon. This one in a time of 4:43:27. She is like the energizer bunny. Training group member, Cornell Dawson, was able to sneak under the 5 hour barrier in a time of 4:57:07. Thanks Pete, for taking the time to go through 38,000 results to find the local finishers.

11/4 After the Leaves Have Fallen, 20K, Minnewaska State Park: Having raced the day before around a lake in the hills east of the Hudson River, what better than to cross the Hudson and run a race in the Shawangunk Mountains that went around two lakes. This course has to be one of the most beautiful anywhere. It starts with a loop around Lake Minnewaska, then heads out on carraige trails to make a loop around Lake Awosting. After completing the loop around Lake Awosting there is a tough climb to Castle Rock. From there it's about 4.5 miles of downhill to the finish. Some of the views are just spectacular. Of course if you're there strictly to race it's hard to give them more than a quick glance. There was a good contingent of MHRRC training group members there.
MHRRC Training Group Results: 4. Wayne McDaniel 1:21:53, 7. Conni Grace 1:26:22, 10. Jeff Conston 1:27:30, 12. Connie Seigh 1:27:59, 18. Matt Regan 1:30:35, 29. Paul Fitzpatrick 1:33:07, 36. Matt Adams 1:35:07, 38. Dan Desjardins 1:36:09, 49. Chris Giam 1:39:01, 50. Steve Perks 1:39:08, 57. Vince Veltre 1:41:48, 109. Mary Veltre 1:57:52

11/3 Hunns Lake Food Pantry Race

There are always concerns when you’re headed to a new race put on by race directors who have never directed a race before. Is the course well marked? Will the race results be accurate and timely? Will the awards be good? Will the refreshments be adequate? With all those thoughts I opted out of a bike ride in the scenic Shawangunk Mountains and headed to the hills of Stanfordville to run this new race around Hunns Lake. I’ve ridden my bike around the lake and on all the adjacent roads many times so I knew the course would be beautiful. The race was also for a good cause: supplying food to local food banks. The person who had the idea for the race and the dynamic force behind it was Barbara Carson. With the help of her husband Pete, she assembled a team of family members and MHRRC volunteers to make sure the race was done right.

Arriving a little early with my bag of groceries I was greeted by a parking attendant who directed me to my parking spot just down the road from the start/finish. On the way to the registration table were two porta-johns strategically placed so that they were near registration and the start/finish. Even with day of race registration I was given a long sleeve t-shirt with a picture of Hunns Lake on the front. Seeing Pete Sanfilippo and Claude Bodley setting up the finish line chutes and Irv Miller and Deborah Schwartz working the computer scoring table dismissed any worries about accurate timing or finishing places. The races went off on time. I ran the 4.6-mile race, which started around the lake, added a 1.2-mile out and back leg, and then finished the rest of the way around the lake. Every intersection had a person with a flag directing runners so there was never a question on where the turns were.

The after race refreshments were outstanding: four kinds of homemade soup, homemade chili, rolls, apples and more! The awards were amazing. Each first place finisher won a hand-made afghan, second place won a thermal blanket and third place received hats. (I’m not positive on the hats, but I think that’s what I heard.)

What it all boils down to is Barbara and Pete did an outstanding job in their first ever foray into race directing. This race is a great addition to the MHRRC calendar, let’s hope it becomes a staple for many local runners.
Full Results


More pictures from Hunns Lake here.

Cross Country Team Race at Bowdoin Park

Thank you to all the MHRRC members who signed up to run on our teams at the cross country team competition at Bowdoin Park. It was unfortunate that the course had to be changed for the race because of all the rain the previous 36 hours. The men who spend many hours keeping the course in top shape were very concerned that putting over 100 runners on the wet course would tear it up and leave it in poor condition for the three very important high school meets that are going to be run there over the next month. To see all the results of the Museum Hall of Fame race, plus the team results, go to MHRRC.

10/27 PAC 10 Championships, Oregon: Hakon DeVries and his Stanford Cardinal teammates finished second to Division 1 # 1 ranked Oregon and defeated # 8 ranked California. Oregon finished with 39 points, Stanford with 55 and Cal had 70. Hakon finished in a time of 23:30.0 for 17th place on the 8K course. Full Results
 
Start of the Pac 10 Championships – Hakon (91) and Stanford Teammates

 
Hakon (91) and Justin Marpole-Bird (101)

10/21 Nike Women's Marathon, San Francisco: MHRRC training group member and Marathon Project Mentor, Judy Creedon, traveled to San Francisco to join 20,000 other women for the Nike Women's Marathon. Judy placed 3rd in her age group (50-54) in a time of 3:55:19. The race raised 18.6 million dollars for the fight against blood cancers. Great job, Judy!!!

10/21 Billy Goat 5K: The first thing to say about this race is a big THANK-YOU to Wayne and Nick and their crew of workers for the great job they did getting the course ready. I ran the course on Friday to see what kind of shape it was in; it wasn't good. The leaves were so thick on most of the course that there was no way of knowing what your foot was going to land on. At the race today you could see every rock and root for the entire 5K. Somehow thay managed to clear the entire course, making it possible to run hard the whole race. Incredible. They were rewarded with a perfect day to run and a record turnout of runners. Link to full results and more pictures by Chris Walsh on MHRRC.

10/14 Newburgh-Beacon Bridge Run: There were 180 finishers who took advantage of a perfect fall day for a race. The full results are on the MHRRC website. Also, Chris Walsh again took a set of great photographs and they can be seen here or by finding the link on the MHRRC site above. One thing I noticed in looking through the pictures is that every time Irv Miller can be seen in the background of a picture he is eating: first a cookie, then a banana, then a bagel, and later another bagel. Go Irv!
 
Left: Roger Billings and our photographer Chris. Right: Race directors Bill Rosenberg and Becky Withers.

Results for training group members and a few other MHRC members(IN REVERSE ORDER):
165. Denise Dollard 52:11, 157. Maria Hajali 50:08, 139. Harry Chafetz 47:23 (3rd 7-79), 134, Erika Abraham 46:21 (2nd 60 – 69, still going strong after her hard fall at the Classic), 124: Roger Billings 44:43, 121. Polly Sparling 44:35, 92. Karen Tremaine 41:26, 75. Mary Veltre 39:52, 72. Chris Walsh 39:43 (1st 50 – 59), 58. Dave Fernekes 38:06, 49. Vinnie Grega 37:18 (3rd 60 – 69), 43. Harry Owens 36:30, 40. Mark Andrews 35:57, 32. Rich Bronnenkant 34:52, 27. Chris Giam 34:18, 23. Vince Veltre 33:37, 20 Matt Regan 32:28, 14. Connie Seigh 31:01 (1st woman), 11. Jeff Conston 30:22 (3rd 30 – 39), 9. Kevin Dollard 30:12 (1st 50 – 59), 7. Gregg Barber 29:48 (1st 40 -49), 1. Mike Slinskey 26:35.

10/14 USATF 5K National Masters Cross Country Championships, Saratoga: Marisa Hanson is once again a national champion. She finished first woman overall at this national championship in a time of 17:48. Ken DeVries sent the following times from Saratoga, with comparisons from the Classic. Ken and Chris DeVries ran the open race. It's interesting to look at the age graded times.
Full results
Marisa Hanson: Saratoga 17:48, DC Classic 17:37 – Classic time 11 seconds faster
Chris Collins: Saratoga 15:53, DC Classic 15:48 – Classic time 5 seconds faster
Chris DeVries: Saratoga 22:36, DC Classic 22:30 – Classic time 6 seconds faster
Ken DeVries: Saratoga 18:22, DC Classic 18:16 – Classic time 6 seconds faster

10/13: NCAA Division 1 Pre-Nationals: Hakon DeVries finished 56th overall in a time of 24:06 in his race on the 8K course, while Stanford finished 6th.

10/7 Steamtown Marathon: Conni Grace ran her usual very smart race, not going out too hard on the early downhill sections of the course. By mile 11 she started reeling in the elite runners and by about the midpoint of the race she had moved into second place. A wrong turn down a short dead-end street put her temporarily back into third place. She regained second shortly after realizing her mistake and held on to that position to finish in a time of 2:56:12. Wayne McDaniel also broke the three hour barrier, finishing in 2:58:55. Mike Slinskey finished 7th overall in 2:30:28. Sally Saretto ran 4:39:52. Some other locals that you might know: Joe McElhoney 2:35:04, Bouzza Abidi 2:40:36, Kevin Roach 3:06:25, Anne Gullickson 3:06:34, Kenny McCullough 3:38:20, Pat Lopiano 3:27:30, Richard Edwards (61) 3:08:54, Maryanne Ceriello 4:34:43. Full Results
Chicago Marathon: Brutal conditions with sun and temperatures in the 80s! Pat DeHaven was on sub 4 hour pace at the half, but the heat was just too much and he finished in 4:37:45.
Mohawk Hudson Marathon: Dean Byrant ran his first marathon in a time of 3:11:03. This time was good for 3rd in the 50 – 54 age group. Congrats on a great debut marathon! Michael Joseph finished 44th overall in a time of 3:12:15.

10/6 Senior Games, Utah: John Brooks continued his cross country travel in search of competitive track meets. Running in the 50 – 54 age group, John took first in the 200m dash, 2nd in the 50m and 100m dashes, and 4th in the 400m dash. The 400 was the final of the four events he ran and his legs were a little tired by then.

10/6 New England Cross Country Championships: John Jay alum Laura McCloskey placed 125th in atime of 20:19. Her Northeastern Univesity team finished 19th of 44 teams in the race.

10/6 Schlathaus Park 5K: It felt more like a 5K in August instead of October 6. Despite the heat there were some fast times by many of the local top runners. Ken DeVries led most of the race until Gregg Barber (18:05) unleashed a serious kick in the last 500 meters. Ken (18:14) held on to 2nd place overall and first in the 50-59 age group, holding off Kevin Dollard (18:25) by 11 seconds. Connie Seigh was first woman overall in 19:19. Full results on MHRRC. Pictures from Chris Walsh on Snapfish.

New World Record in the Marathon
Haile Gebrselassie 2:04:26 at the Berlin Marathon

Read about his incredible career: Haile

Probably the most often asked questions I get about race strategy all have the same answer. Run even pace. On a hilly course try to run even effort. If you take a look at this article on Haile Gebrselassie's world marathon record splits you will be amazed at how even he was for each 5K. He did have a little left for the last part of the race (probably because of his smart racing) and was even able to pick up the pace some over the last 7K. When Alan Webb broke the U.S. mile record a few months ago his pacing for that race was also very even. The race length doesn't matter, the answer is the same – run even splits!

9/30 Roosa Gap Roller Coaster: I received the following email from training group member Harry Owens.
Just wanted to drop a line and let you know I ran in the Roosa Gap Roller Coaster yesterday. I finished in 1:33.50 and came in 29th in this challenging 11.4 mile course. Other Mid Hudson runners there were Erika Abraham who ran 2:10.03. Ken and Chris DeVries ran the 5k. Ken won the race outright in a time of 18:38. Chris came in 8th (first in her age group, second women overall) in 22:55.
It was a beautiful day up in Wurtsboro – perfect for running. I broke the 11.4 mile run down into three parts. The first part was the first 4 miles that were flat and along a grass, gravel path by the old D&H canal. I purposely kept in control and didn't push it (around an 8 minute pace). The next two miles is straight up the Roosa Gap (800 ft ascent over 2 miles). That was a bit harder (understatement) as I averaged 10 minute miles. The last part was the roller coaster (rolling hills) and then downhill for the last 5.4 miles as I probably averaged 7:40 a mile. All in all a good effort for me. Full Results

9/29 Alumni News: Stanford Invitational – The host Cardinal scored 37 points to win their home invitational. Second place was California with 66 points. Hakon DeVries ran 24:17 on the 8K course to place 10th overall in the team scoring. He was Stanford's #4 runner in the meet.

9/25 Alumni Update: It's time to catch up on a couple of John Jay alumni who are running college cross country. Laura McCloskey is running for Northeastern University. They opened the season by winning the Hofstra Invitational. Laura finished 10th overall in 25:13 on the 6K course. On Sept. 21 the team finished 3rd at the Quinnipiac Invite. The race was 5K and Laura finished 32nd in 20:58. Brian Ivory is running for Ithaca College. The team took second at th Oswego State Invite and Brian was 29th in 28:19 on the 8K course. The team then took 8th at the highly competitive NYU Invitational at VanCortland Park on 9/15. Brian ran the 8K in 28:31 on the historic 8K course.

9/22 Barry Hopkins Memorial Run, Olana: Most of you probably did not know Barry Hopkins. Barry was a founder and very active member of the Onteora Runners Club. He was also an artist, naturalist, teacher, hiker, canoer and most of all a great guy. I first met Barry back around 1962 when we competed against each other in the mile in high school. I've long since forgotten who beat who. What I do remember is that running on the Onteora High School track was one of the most beautiful settings I've ever competed in. Barry died this summer after a long battle with cancer. Barry was a huge JRR Tolkien fan and for many years he hosted a race at Olana called the Bilbo-Frodo Birthday Party Run. It was a 7.6 mile race of two very tough loops. As an alternative you could elect to do a one loop 3.8 mile time estimation race. In Barry's memory Kathleen Balthazar Heitzmann revived the race and 51 of us ran/raced the 3.8 mile loop. Gil Anderson finished 3rd overall in 25:56 and I finished 13th in 28:05.

9/22 Boardman Road 5K: Lots of fast times at this race. Everyone seems to be reapping the rewards of a good summer of training. 1. Mike Slinskey 15:34, 2. Mike Chow 16:29 (1st 20 – 29), 3. Anthony Ferreri 17:09 (1st 40 – 49), 6. Conni Grace 18:10 (1st female), 7. Wayne McDaniel 18:11 (2nd 40 – 49), 8. Connie Seigh 18:27 (1st 30 – 39), 9. Gregg Barber 18:30 (3rd 40 – 49) Both Connie Seigh and Gregg Barber ran the marathon 7 days before! 25. Mark Andrews 21:25 (1st 50 – 59), 26. Lori Cassia-Decker 21:26 (1st 40 – 49), 31. John Thomas 23:10 (1st 60 – 69), 41. Mary Veltre 23:56 (3rd 40 – 49), 42. Colleen Axelrod 24:13 (2nd 30 – 39), 44. Chris Walsh 23:56 (1st 50 – 59), 60. Harry Chafetz 28:33 (1st 70+), 66. Colleen Napora 31:53. Photos from Chris Walsh here.There are full results on the MHRRC site.

9/23 Arsenal 5K, Watervliet: Chris and Ken DeVries traveled up to this very competitive race. John Brooks and Janice Cyr were also there. Chris ran her third PR of the month, taking second in her age group in a time of 22:24. Ken also finished second in his age in a time of 18:20. John Brooks ran 21:56 and Janice ran 20:53. Ken has been using his new GPS watch to measure all the courses he races. This one was a certified course and come out to be 5040 meters. Full Results

9/16 Adirondack Half Marathon: Peter Ludlow finished in 1:58:02 to take 3rd in the 65-69 age group. Lynne Kopac finished in 2:26:48.

9/21 King of the Hill 5K, Danbury, CT: Ken and Chris DeVries continued their string of great performances by both winning their age group at this race. As the name implies, it's a hilly course. Despite the hills and the short turn-around time from the Classic they both had excellent times. Chris finished in 22:39 and Ken in 18:41.

Dutchess County Classic: It was a perfect day to run and from looking through the results it appears just about everyone took advantage of the situation. It was great to see the local quartet of Marisa Hanson (5K), Conni Grace (half marathon), Connie Seigh (marathon),and Danielle Axelrod (1 mile) take all four women's overall titles. One big performance that jumped out at me was Javier Perez getting 5th overall in the 5K in a time of 17:55. That time was a major breakthough from what his times were during the summer. Jeff Conston also ran great, just missing breaking 18 minutes. The incredible DeVries duo of Ken and Chris continue to dominate their age groups. Matt Regan achieved his goal of getting under 20 minutes. Lori Casia-Decker won her age group in 21:21. It was great to see Jeff Nero's son Anthony and daughter Mary (both of whom I coached at John Jay) in town to run the races. Anthony almost won his 3rd Classic Marathon, finishing 2nd in 2:56:48. Mary took first in her age group in the 5K in 22:07. Marisa's 14th win in the 5K ties her for a world record of most wins at one race. Her time of 17:37 puts her in the elite status for runners her age. Matt Adams finished 7th overall in the marathon in a time of 3:08:54 which is a Boston qualifier. Contrats Matt! Somehow Larry Knapp was able to run the 5K after arriving in the park before 6AM and then driving the whole 13.1 mile loop putting out barriers, signs and cones. He then had to wait until the races were over and go out and retrieve all the stuff he had put out in the pre-dawn hours. Larry – thanks for all the hard work. I could go on and on with all the great performances, instead I'm going to list them all below.

There are links to lots of race pictures and full results on the MHRRC site.

9/16 Dutchess Classic: These are times of training group members, friends, some other MHRRC members, former John Jay runners and neighbors.
5K:
1. Chris Collins 15:48, 2. Mike Chow 16:54 (1st 25 – 29), 4. Marisa Hanson 17:37 (first female), 5. Javier Perez 17:55(1st 35 – 39), 7. Jeff Conston 18:07 (2nd 35 – 39), 9. Ken DeVries 18:16 (1st 55 – 59), 10. Chris Wimmers 18:24 (3rd 35 – 39), 16. Rich Bronnenkant 19:31 (2nd 15 – 18), 18. Matt Regan 19:47 (4th 45 – 49), 24. William Hurley 20:18 (1st 19 – 24), 36. John Brooks 21:15 (1st 50 – 59), 37. Mark Andrews 21:16 (3rd 55 – 59), 38. Lori Casia Decker 21:21 (1st 45 – 49), 39. Harry Owens 21:30 5th 44 – 49), 54. Mary Nero 22:07 (1st 25 – 29 ), 58. Chris DeVries 22:30 (1st 50 – 54), 68. Leo Saposnick 23:04 (1st 60 – 64), 78. John Thomas 23:22 (2nd 65 – 69), 80. Ray Li 23:24, 89. Ed Willett 23:38 (5th 55 – 59), 99. David Axelrod 23:58 (5th 15 – 18 ), 103. Donna Bolner 24:08 (4th 40 – 44), 123. Karen Tremaine 24:45 (5th 45 – 49), 128. Becky Withers 24:58 (1st 55 – 59), 139. Emily Boyko 25:08 (5th under 14), 153. Judy Proal 25:39 (2nd 55 – 59), 235. Denise Dollard 30:00, Colleen Napora 32:09, 272. Larry Knapp 32:49.
Half Marathon: 3. Phil Shea 1:15:05 (1st 25 – 29), 6. Anthony Ferreri 1:21:58 (2nd 45 – 49), 12. Jeff Lease 1:23:13 (3rd 45 – 49), 15. Kevin Dollard 1:25:57 (2nd 50 – 54), 16. Conni Grace 1:26:11 (1st female), 36. Dan Desjardins 1:31:54 (5th 40 – 44), 45. Art Boyko 1:31:47, 77. Vinnie Grega 1:38:14 (2nd 60 – 64), 78. Chris Giam 1:38:15, 100. Vince Veltre 1:41:46, 127. Judy Creedon 1:46:59 (1st 50 – 54), 137. Maryanne Cerieillo 1:48:01, 138: Dave Fernekes 1:48:10, 186. Mary Veltre 1:53:06, 210. Cornell Dawson 1:55:47 (1st 65 – 69 ), 220. Colleen Axelrod 1:56:29, 234. Jon Peace 1:58:44, 248. Chris Walsh 1:59:48 (3rd 50 – 54), 258. Shandra Milroy 2:01:20, 291. Peter Oxenholm 2:09.38, 330. Polly Sparling 2:15:01, 341. Harry Chafetz 2:17:25 (1st 70+), 348. Teri Bradley 2:20:57, 353. Margaret Schmitz 2:22:54
Marathon: 2. Anthony Nero 2:56:48 (1st 25 – 29), 4. Gregg Barber 3:04:52 (2nd 45 – 49), 7. Matt Adams 3:08:54 (1st 30 – 34), 10. Connie Seigh 3:15:12 (1st female), 35. Pete Colaizzo 3:52:51 (5th 40 – 44), 63. Erika Abraham 4:59:18 (1st 65 – 69)

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Is this an incredible cake or what? Thank you everyone for a wonderful party. It's a real joy to coach such wonderful people. To see pictures of the party taken by Chris Walsh click here.

9/8 Wendell D. Harp Memorial 3 mile race, New Paltz: Chris Giam 19:13 (1st 40 – 49)

9/8 Brueggers' Bagel Run, Albany: Ken DeVries went up to Albany to get the chance to run in a higly competitive 5K. He was not disappointed as the race was flat and fast. He finished as the first runner over 50 and officially won the 55-59 age group in a time of 18:29. He placed 24th of the 430 runners in the race. They also listed the age graded results and his time and age would have put him 7th overall. To go to overall results click here.

9/8 General Mongomery Day 8K: Jeff Lease, despite a recent battle with Lyme Disease, continues to burn up the roads. He placed 3rd overall out of 260 runners in a time of 30:47. Full results here.

9/4 Mad Dash results at Cool Running Some results for training group members. 10K: 13. Jeff Lease 37:41, 16. Wayne McDaniel 37:51, 17. Ken DeVries 37:55 (2nd 50 – 59), 18. Conni Grace 38:16 (1st female), 22. Kevin Dollard 38:51 (3rd 50 – 59), 24. Daniel Schoublin 39:14, 28. Connie Seigh 39:22 (1st 30 – 39), 32. Jeff Conston 39:54, 57. Dan Desjardins 42:35, 63. Vince Veltre 43:01, 132. Mary Veltre 50:10, 167. Chris Walsh 53:18 (2nd 50 – 59), 197. Roger Billings 57:19; 5K: Marisa Hanson 18:04 (1st female), (3rd 40 – 49), 40. Gil Anderson 20:33 (3rd 50 – 59), 77. Mark Andrews 22: 03, 79. Lori Cassia-Decker 22:05 92. Chris DeVries 22:46 (1st 50 – 59), 101. Peter Oxenholm 23:13, 201. Fred Policastri 28:20 (3rd 60 – 69), 208. Margaret Schmitz 28:54, 235. Denise Dollard 30:52

Mad Dash Report from Ken DeVries: Chris DeVries ran 22:46 on the 5k which is a 6 second PR even with a mid course turn around. Her GPS watch indicated the correct distance (3.1). We talked race strategy before race and I suggested a couple of tricks to try, which she did and she thinks they helped. First, keep open hands and exaggerate arm swinging on hill climbing and secondly, try to follow / draft a faster runner.
Kevin Dollard was able to run the 10k, without knee problems and ran an excellent time, only 15 seconds slower than last year and with reduced training.
Jeff Lease had a goal of 36:20 written on his arm, with mile splits. He started very fast running 5:26 for the first mile (wow). He lead the race until Mike Slinskey caught him around 1.5 miles. Mike apparently missed the start by about a minute, according to Chris DeVries, who saw him arrive late. Jeff ran real well until about mile 5 when he started to slow down and I started to reel him in. In the middle of the race he was more than 30 seconds ahead of me, but finished only 14 seconds ahead at 37:41.
I ran 5:40 for my first mile (you told me to go fast down the hill) and when Wayne McDaniel and Steve Schallenkemp approached at 1.2 miles, I tried to stay with them. Steve was running real strong and to fast for me, but I managed to run with Wayne until the 4 mile mark. At that time Mark Deluccia caught and passed us. I was irritated because Mark also ran the 5k so I chased him and left Wayne. I could not stay with Mark. At the 5 mile mark, Tony Ferrari caught me, time was 30:40, Again, irritated because Tony ran the 5k also, I tried to stay with him, and again failed, but managed to continue at a fast pace. Wayne caught me within steps of the right turn to the finish line. Rats, I almost beat him.
This was only my second 10k and I was 1:22 faster than the Goshen race. As a comparison, Jeff Lease was only 6 seconds faster on Mad Dash compared to Goshen. My race goal was to conservative – under 39 and I ran 37:55.

8/26 The Philadelphia Livestrong Challenge: Took the three hour thirty minute ride down on Saturday afternoon after spending the previous seven days at The Running School. The Expo and packet pick-up was at the Livestrong Village set up on the campus of Montgomery County Community College (17,000 students). There were lots of free giveaways and even more information on the programs that the Lance Armstrong Foundation has in its fight against cancer. Amazing stuff. That night there was a dinner for the top fund-raisers. Since Chris Wimmers, Kieran Stack and I had raised enough money to get tickets to the dinner, and Kieran wasn't going, we were able to put enough tickets together for Chris, his wife Jenn, his brother Matt (who was also riding) and three of his kids (two of whom were running the 5K) to attend the dinner. Lance spoke about the history of the Livestrong Foundation at the beginning of the speeches and then finished up the evening with a short talk on the direction the Foundation is headed. Got back from the dinner about 9:30 and met Kieran who came in from his sister-in-law's house to stay at the hotel so we could get an early 5AM wake-up to head to the community college for the ride. At about 7:45AM the cyclists began their rides, beginning with the faster 100 mile riders and working down to the 10 mile riders and then the 5K run/walkers. In all there were over 1600 run/walkers and 1780 cyclists. The ride was incredibly organized, there were multiple signs for each intersection letting you know even before you got to an intersection which way you were going. Each intersection was manned, with all the major intersections having police controlling traffic. We did not have to stop for a stop sign or stop light for 100 miles since we were waved through as the traffic was stopped. There were 8 rest stops along the way with food, drink, porta-johns, medical tent and a bicycle repair tent. Throughout the ride there were roving vehicles to help fix bike problems or administer aid to anyone who had taken a spill. One of the members of our team hit a big pothole and blew both tires. The repair vehicle was nearby and he had both tubes replaced and he was back on the road in less than 10 minutes. Lance was out on the ride and Mike Sankier, one of our group members, got lucky enough to ride with him for a portion of the ride. The ride itself was on hilly lightly traveled roads with over 8000' of climbing. A number of the steeper climbs had quite a few cyclists walking their bikes up the hill. Kieran and I rode together with him pulling away going up the hills and me careening down the other side to catch him. Lots of fun! At the finish line they had two chutes, one was for general participants and the other was for cancer survivors. As each survivor finished they were handed a beautiful yellow long-stemmed rose. Mine is in a vase in the kitchen. As of today the 2007 Philadelphia Livestrong Challenge has raised 2.4 million dollars for the fight against cancer! It was an incredible experience and if everything goes well I'll be back next year.

 

8/29 Some recent training group member results courtesy of Ken DeVries

Middletown, NY – Run4Downtown, August 18, 4 miles (Women had 5:22 headstart)
http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/ny/Aug18_RUN4DO_set1.shtml
2. Ken DeVries 24:38, 1st in age
28. Chris DeVries, 30:54, 1st in age

Shawungunk Shuffle, Wallkill, NY August 25, 5k
http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/ny/Aug25_SHAWAN_set1.shtml
2. Ken DeVries, 18:52, 1st in age
21 Harry Owens, 22:16
32 Chris DeVries, 23:39. 1st in age

West Point USMA, 5k/10k August 25
http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/179748_210071_2007.txt
5K
14 Vince Veltre, 22:02, 3rd in age
46 John Thomas, 25:52, 2nd in age
55 Mary Veltre, 26:44, 2nd in age

10k
http://www.doitsports.com/newresults3/client/179748_210089_2007.txt
34 Daniel Schaublin, 42:32, 1st in age

8/25 I just got back yesterday from a week at The Running School, a cross country training camp for high school athletes. There were almost 500 kids and over 150 staff members there for the week. Imagine spending a week with almost 700 people whose favorite sport is distance running. It's called The Rrunning School for a reason – the kids are there not just to run but to learn about our sport. The Whartons lead stretching twice a day plus they do a clinic each day on a different part of the body. There are classes each day on running drills, running form ( I was one of the instructors), core strength, weights, nutrition and yoga. Besides those classes there are water workouts in the lake (they can be tougher than a run), spin classes and other non-impact sessions for runners that are rehabing injuries plus they are a chance for each group of runners to get a few sessions of hard work doing some serious cross-training. There was also a rep from Polar there doing sessions on using a heart-rate monitor and the kids got a chance to try one out on one of their runs. The featured guest speaker for the week (he actually spent a few days at camp talking with kids and coaches and ran with a different group of kids each run) was Tim Broe. He was the only American to make the finals of the 5000 meters at the 2004 Olympics. Flotrack was also there for a few days. If you would like to see some video of camp go to Flotrack and click on the link for The Running School. There is an 8 minute video of general camp stuff and then some interviews of Tim Broe and Phil Wharton. I don't think I made any of the footage, but Hakon is in there someplace.

8/11 Dennings Point 5K, Beacon: Only a few training group members ran this race. 12. Ken DeVries 18:44 (1st 50 – 59), 18. Connie Seigh 19:07 (2nd female and 1st 30 – 39), 19. Javier Perez 19:12, 50. Dave Fernekes 23:40, 57. John Thomas 24:34 (2nd 60 – 69) Full results at MHRRC.

8/9 Locust Grove 5K Trail Run: 5. Wayne McDaniels 19:15 (1st 40 – 49), 6. Jeff Conston 19:38 (2nd 30 – 39), 10. Ken DeVries 20:31 (1st 50 – 59), 12. Conni Grace 21:01 (1st female), 13. Matt Adams 21:12 (3rd 30 – 39), 20. Steve Perks 22:11 (1st 60 – 69), 22. Vince Veltre 22:38 (2nd 40 – 49), 29. Chris Giam 23:16, 37. Chris DeVries 25:06 (1st 50 – 59), 46. Chris Walsh 27:19 (2nd 50 – 59), 50. Karen Tremaine 28:56, 54. Mary Veltre 29:82, 55. Sue O'Neil 30:02, 57. Roger Billings 30:52.

  onni Grace with her prize for being the first female runner.

8/4 USATF National Masters Track & Field Championships: Marisa Hanson placed first in the 40 – 44 age group in the 2000 meter steeplechase setting a new USATF age group record of 7:40.41. Marisa injured her knee going over a barrier with one and one-half laps to go and was still able to finish and set the record. In the men's 40-44 1500 meter run Chris Collins was 4th overall and 3rd American in a time of 4:12.22.

8/5 New York City Half Marathon: Training group member Jeff Lease finished in a time of 1:22:03. This placed him 145th overall and 4th in his age group. Jeff's 5K splits through 20K were incredibly even at 19:22, 19:22, 19:22, 19:38. You can't run much more even than that!! Lynne Kopac finished in a time of 2:25:33.

8/5 Monster 10K, Monticello: Harry Owens tackled this very tough course, finishing in 46:58.

7/29 Escarpment Trail 30K: Some results for training group members and few other locals that ran this grueling race.
11. Wayne McDaniel 3:31:38, 38. Conni Grace 4:02:56, 45. Craig Cutler 4:09:06, 60. Dennis Foster 4:21:43, 67. Bob Bunce 4:25:29, 85. Jeff Lease 4:41:18, 106. Connie Seigh 4:56:35, 112. John Affronti 4:58:59, 129. Anthony Ferreiri 5:11:05, 131. Nick Lamando 5:11:17, 135. Jill Nogrady 5:14:52
FULL RESULTS

7/28 Empire State Games: The MHRRC training group, plus some local training partners, took home a slew of medals over the two days of the masters track and field competition. From what we could tell the MHRRC training group was better represented than any other club from around the state. Vince brought the MHRRC banner and hung it in the stands for everyone to see. It certainly helped having so many friends there to cheer us on while we were running. Great job everyone!
Check the MHRRC site for lots of pictures.

10K Road Race
60 – 64 Vinnie Grega 47:08 GOLD
60 – 64 Leo Saposnick 51:34 SILVER
40 – 44 Dan Desjardins 43:40 SILVER
45 – 49 Lori Decker 47:12 SILVER
55 – 59 Becky Withers 55:51 SILVER
40 – 44 Donna Bolner 53:04 BRONZE
40 – 44 Rosanne Desjardins 53:13 4th

100 m dash
50 – 54 John Brooks 12.37 GOLD

200 m dash
55 – 59 Becky Withers 38:46 BRONZENZE

400 m dash
55 – 59 Becky Withers 1:25.24 GOLD
50 – 55 Judy Creedon 1:18.26 GOLD
65 – 69 John Thomas 1:23.56 BRONZE
60 – 64 Vinnie Grega 1:12.91 4th

800 m run
60 – 64 Steve Perks 2:33.43 GOLD
35 – 39 Chris Wimmers 2:11.32 SILVER
45 – 49 Lori Decker 2:54.59 SILVER
55- 59 Becky Withers 3:14.93 SILVER
60 – 64 Vinnie Grega 2:48.70 BRONZE
35 – 39 Alicia Mattson 2:55.48 BRONZE
50 – 54 John Brooks 2:31.05 4th
50 – 54 Gil Anderson 2:42.75 5th
45 – 49 Harry Owens 2:40.70 6th

1500 m run
60 – 64 Steve Perks 5:20. 25 GOLD
55 – 59 Becky Withers 6:45.69 SILVER
45 – 49 Maryanne Ceriello 5:57.25 SILVER
45 – 49 Vince Veltre 5:43.76 BRONZE
35 – 39 Alyson Schank 5:33.06 BRONZE
60 – 64 Vinnie Grega 5:51.24 4th
35 – 39 Alicia Mattson 5:54.75 4th

5000 m run
60 – 64 Vinnie Grega 21:46.03 GOLD
45 – 49 Vince Veltre 20:30.47 SILVER
45 – 49 Mary Veltre 24:28.80 SILVER
45 – 49 Harry Owens 21:35.56 BRONZE
50 – 54 Gil Anderson 20:57.00

5000 m run
Open Division – Marisa Hanson 17:58 GOLD

10,000 m run
60 – 64 Mike Sheets 48:10.93 GOLD
50 – 54 Gil Anderson 43:14.90 GOLD

4 x 400 m relay (training group members that were on teams)
30 – 34 Alyson Schank, Alicia Mattson, Donna Bolner 5:07.29 GOLD
40 – 44 Lori Decker, Mary Veltre Maryanne Ceriello 5:40.11 GOLD
50 – 54 Judy Creedon, BeckyWithers, Deborah Schwartz, Sally Saretto 5:51.98 GOLD
45 – 49 Harry Owens, Gil Anderson, Vince Veltre 4:30.02 SILVER
60 – 64 John Thomas 5:32.45 SILVER

4 x 800 m relay (training group members that were on teams)
50 – 54 Judy Creedon, Sally Saretto, Rebecca Withers, Deborah Schwartz 13:14.4 GOLD
30 – 34 Chris Wimmers 9:53.2 GOLD
60 – 69 John Thomas 12:22.4 GOLD
45 – 49 Harry Owens, Gil Anderson, John Brooks, 10:49.18 BRONZE

Other MHRRC and Local Runners in individual events
100 m dash

45 – 49 Tim Gunther 12.54 SILVER

400 m dash
60 – 64 Vito DiCesare 1:10.03 BRONZE

800 m run
30 – 34 Matt Bashant 2:09.69 GOLD
35 – 39 Lowell Fisher 2:18.07 4th

5000 m run
60 – 64 Leo Saposnick 23:52.23 SILVER

400 m IH
50 – 54 Roy Arneson 1:14.34 GOLD

Left: Some of the crew at Empires, Right: Photo finish in 800. The guy in the yellow hat is actually in a younger age group but neither of us knew it at the time.

7/28 ESGs: In the men's open competition Tim Walker (John Jay class of 2001) won gold in the 1500 meter run in 4:04.82 and also took 4th in the 800 meter run in 1:54.01.

7/22 Indian Ladder Trail Run 15K, John Boyd Thatcher State Park: Training group member Dean Bryant ran this tough trail race in a time of 1:06:17 which was good enough for 12th out of 183 runners. Great job!!

Alan Webb sets a new American mile record: 3:46.91!!!

Twilight Track Results 7/13/07: Kids' Results
200m dashGirls 6 and under: 1. Shannon Frohlich 50.1, 2. Melissa Mach 1:00.1, 3. Skylar Hollingworth 1:02.6; Boys 7and under: 1. Reese Hanson 38.7, 2 Jaylin Sykes 41.9, 3. Joey Colaizzo 46.9; Girls 7 – 9: 1. Katie Wimmers 39.1, 2. Lauren Regan 40.6, 3 Emma Schulz 43.0; Boys 8 – 9: 1. Christopher Molella 36.6, 2. Jake Bhangdia 37.5, 3. Kevin Turi 37.9; Girls 10 – 14: 1. Kayleigh Bhangdia 2. Danielle Axelrod 32.6, 3. Kristin Turi 33.7; Boys 10 – 14: 1. Nicholas Ackerman 33.3, 2. Michael Turi 34.1, 3 William Ackerman 34.4
50 meter dash Girls 6 and under: 1. Shannon Frohlich 12.8, 2. Skylar Hollingworth 13.7, 3. Melissa Mack 14.2; Boys 6 and under: 1. Jaylin Sykes 11.0, 2. Brett Eirish 13.1, 3. Nicholas Kusior 14.9
75 meter dash Girls 7 – 9: 1. Katie Wimmers 12.9, 2. Emma Schulz 13.2, 3. Lauren Regan 13.4; Boys 7 – 8: 1. Eamon Collins 11.9, 2. Markese Shelby 12.3, 3. Kevin Turi 12.5; Boys 9: 1. Jake Bhangdia 12.3, 2. Christopher Milella 12.5, 3. Dnaiel Owens 12.6
100 meter dash Girls 10 – 14: 1. Kayleigh Bhangdi 15.6, 2. Kristen Turi 15.8, 3. Michaela Ryan 17.0; Boys 10 – 14: Nicholas Ackerman 15.5, 2. Brian Regan 15.7, 3. William Ackerman 16.0, 3. Michael Turi 16.0
400 meter dash: Girls 8 and under: 1. Emma Schulz 1:39, 2. Lauren Ryan 1:40, 3. Kiana Jedlicka 1:51; Boys 8 and under: 1. Kevin Turi 1:29, 2. Cedric Donie 1:31, 3. Markese Shelby 1:33; Boys 9 – 14: Michael Turi 1:21, 2. Michael Mayen 1:23, 3. William Ackerman 1:25; Girls 9 – 14: 1. Courtney Wimmers 1:19, 2. Kayleigh Bhangdia 1:22, 3. Caroline O'Brien 1:25
Open Results
100 m dash – Men: 1. John Brooks 12.2, 2. Erik Zeyher 13.0, 3. Keith Axlerod 15.2; Women: 1. Megan Hurlburt 16.7
200 m dash – Men: 1. John Brooks 24.9, 2. Keith Axelrod 32.3, 3. Dave Fernekes 33.9; Women 1. Jessica Reifer 28.1, 2. Megan Hurlburt 37.9
400 m dash – Men: 1. Matt Darling 59.8, 2. Mirko Donie 1:13.7, 3. Dave Fernekes 1:15.9; Women: 1. Jessica Reifer 1:02.9
800 m run – Men: 1. John Roth 2:14.3, 2. Chris Wimmers 2:14.7, 3. Tom Hurlburt 2:34.1; Women: 1. Courtney Wimmers 3:10.9, 2. Melanie Hurlburt 3:35.0
1600 m run – Men: 1. Chris Collins 4:37.4, 2. Mike Chow 4:54.6, 3. John Roth 5:05.7; Women: 1. Colleen Ryan 6:03, 2. Johanna Roth 6:26, 3. Kayleigh Bhangdia 6:43;
1600 m runMasters Men: 1. Matt Adams 5:30.9, 2. Glen Brent 5:51.0, 3. Harry Owens 6:10.9; Masters Women: 1. Linda Bhangdia 7:01
3200 m run – Men: 1. Mike Chow 10:17.7, 2. K. McHugh 14:01.6, 3. Sibby Hanson 14:22; Women: 1. Colleen Ryan 13:39, 2. Johanna Roth 14:22
3200m runMasters Men: 1. Matt Regan 12:58, 2. Glen Brent 13:37, 3. Paul Sutera 14:23; Masters Women: 1. Marisa Hanson 11:32, 2. linda Bhangdia 17:55

Twilight Track Results 7/6/07: Kids' Results
200m dash Girls 6 and under: 1. Shannon Frohlich 49.1, 2. Julianne Williams 1:04.1, 3. Lanna Wandy 1:04.6; Boys 6 and under: 1. Reese Hanson 39.2, 2. Jacob Honig 49.4, 3. Brett Eirish 57.4; Girls 7-9: 1. Allison Coon 39.7, 2. Emily Quinlan 48.5, 3. Kellie McHugh 52.4; Boys 8: 1. Kevin Turi 37.3, 2. Sean Landers 37.8, 3. Markese Shelby 38.9; Boys 9: 1. Christopher Molella 36.3, 2. Jake Bhangdia 36.7, 3. Daniel Owens 37.4; Boys 10 – 14: 1. Michael Turi 32.8, 2. Kyle McCloskey 33.2, 3. David Laners 35.0; Girls 10 – 14: 1. Kayleigh Bhangdia 31.4, 2. Alexa Wandy 31.9, 3. Kristen Turi 33.4
50 meter dashGirls 6 and under: 1. Shannon Frolich 12.6, 2. Skylar Collingsworth 14.9, 3. Lanna Wandy 15.5; Boys 6 and under: 1. Brett Eirish 13.0, 2. Dakaia Andrew 14.3, 3. Ben Wimmers 16.2;
75 meter dashGirls 7 – 9: 1. Katie Wimmers 13.5, 2. Emma Schultz 13.9, 3. Allison Coon 14.1; Boys 7 – 9: 1. Christopher Molella 12.9, 2. Jake Bhangdia 13.1, 3. Daniel Owens 13.3
100 meter dash Boys 10 – 14: 1. Michael Turi 16.0, 2. David Landers 16.3, 3. Gregory Wanda 16.97; Girls 10 – 14: 1. Alexa Wandy 14.7, 2. Kayleigh Bhangdia 14.9, 3. Kristen Turi 15.6
400 meter dash Girls 7 and under: 1. Emma Schulz 1:41, 2. Allison Coon 1:43, 3. Kellie McHugh 1:58; Boys 7 and under: 1. Reese Hanson 1:28, 2. Patrick Long 1:41; Girls 8 – 14: 1. Kayleigh Bhangdia 1:22, 2. Alexa Wandy 1:25, 3. Caroline O'brien 1:26; Boys 8 – 14: 1. Steven Turi 1:24, 2. Michel Turi 1:25, 3. Daniel Owens 1:26
Open Results
100 m dash – Men: 1. Erik Zeyher 12.5, 2. Joe Chiappalone 12.8, 3. Kyle Zeher 13.1; Women 1. Cherie McHugh 18.1
200 m dash – Men: 1. Thomas Hurlburt 27.4, 2. Craig Knaschk 32.6; Women 1. Megan Hurlburt 36.7, 2. Mary Veltre 42.5
400 m dash – Men: 1. Tim Holtz 56.0, 2. Chris Wimmers 1:00, 2. Matt Durling 1:02; Women: 1. Megan Hurlburt 1:22
800 m run – Men: 1. Chris Wimmers 2:18, 2. Harry Owens 2:48, 3. Scott Schank 3:05; Women 1 Courtney Wimmer 2:47
1600 m run – Men: 1. Mike Chow 4:59, 2. Delaney 5:22, 3. Thomas Hurlburt 5:43, 4. Sibby Hanson 5:44; Women: 1. Colleen Ryan 6:02, 2. Chelsea Mailler 6:05, 3. Johanna Roth 6:43
1600 m run – Masters Men: 1. Steve Perks 5:44, 2. Harry Owens 6:09, 3. Tom Storey 6:10
3200m run – Men: 1. Mike Chow 10:26, 2. Chris Wimmers 13:42, Women: 1. Colleen Ryan 13:42, 2. Chelsea Mailler 14:48, 3. Johanna Roth 14:55
3200 m run – Masters Men: 1. Tom Storey 13:18, 2. Vince Veltre 13:19, 3. Harry Owens 14:51. Masters Women: 1. Marisa Hanson 11:31, 2. Linda Bhangdia 14:45, 3. Mary Veltre 15:55

The pictures above are from the second week of the Twilight Track Series. In case you haven't figured it out, #4 is my 2 year old granddaughter Sadie.

It was a strange thought in a seemingly incongruous situation, but in reality it's something that happens all the time our sport. The thought occurred with about 700 meters to go in a 1600 meter race at the Twilight Track Series. "I'm 5 times older than that runner who just passed me." Or looking at it the other way around, "That runner is one-fifth my age." Sibby Hanson is 12, I'm 60, yet there we were locked in an all out battle to see who could get to the finish line first. In case you weren't there to witness this epic battle – Sibby was five tenths of a second faster with a burst of speed in the last 15 meters that these old legs could not match.

What is great about this type of competition is that it happens every weekend in races around the country. Young and old runners, front and back of the pack runners, skinny and clydesdale runners, male and female runners all compete. Sometimes the competition is simply against the clock, but more often than not it becomes a battle with those around you in the race. Who can get to the finish line first? Their age, gender, size doesn't matter – it's a RACE – you have to try to beat the other athlete, even if he's only 12 years old. Happy racing!

7/8 Utica Boilermaker 15K: There were a few training group members who made the trip. Dave Fernekes 1:20:50, Chris Walsh 1:24:00, Gary Patton 1:24:37, Lynne Kopac 1:42:12. As is usual for this race it was hot and humid.

7/7 Senior Citizen's 4K Run/Walk, Wappingers Falls: Training group member, John Thomas, was the overall winner of the race in a time of 18:19. There were a total of 22 finishers in the event. Full Results

7/4 Putnam County Classic 8 miler, Mahopac: 19. Connie Seigh 52:32 (2nd female), 28. Paul Mackey 54:18, 74. Vinnie Grega 1:01:55 (2nd 60 – 69), 107. Vince Veltre 1:04:30, 150. Mary Veltre 1:09:48, 161. Chris Walsh 1:09:48, 268. Larry Byrne 1:26:19

 

7/4 Highland Falls Hometown 5K: 9. Ken DeVries 18:30 (1st 50 – 59), 62. John Thomas 22:43 (2nd 60 – 69), 123. Erika Abraham 27:44 (1st 60 – 69). Also of note, Louis Gutierrez is back from Peru. He finished 5th in 17:37. Results

7/4 Cornwall Main Street Mile: 7. Mike Slinsky 4:40 (1st 30 – 39), 21. Ken DeVries 5:20 (1st 50 – 59), 95. Erika Abraham 8:08 (1st 60 – 69) Results

7/4 Mark Abrams Firecracker 5K, Hopewell Junction: There was a fairly large contingent of training group members at the race. Times were very fast on a nice cool July morning. Full Results on MHRRC.
4. Jeff Conston 18:01 (1st 30 – 39), 13. Dan Desjardins 20:00 (2nd 40 – 49), 21. Harry Owens 20:56, 33. Dave Fernekes 22:54, 52. Karen Tremaine 24:38, 70. Rosanne Desjardins 25:45, 83. Margaret Schmitz 27:32, 88. Charlie Sprauer 28:58 (1st 70+), 90. Lynne Kopac 29:42 (1st 50 – 59), 102. Denise Dollard 32:09 (2nd 50 – 59)

7/4 July 4th 5K, Cleveland: Training group member Matt Adams ran 18:52.

7/3 MHRRC Training Group 1600m Time Trial: Section 1: 1. Wayne McDaniel 5:12.3, 2. Chris Wimmers 5:23.9, 3. Ken DeVries 5:41.2, 4. Tony Pignataro 5:59.8, 5. Pat DeHaven 6:00.9, 6. Tom Storey 6:01.9; Section 2: 1. Pete Oxenholm 6:35.6, 2. Bill Rosenberg 6:42.5, 3. Judy Creedon 6:47.8, 4. Mike Sheets 7:05.1, 5. Becky Withers 7:26.7, 6. Irv Miller 7:49.6, 7. Margaret Schmitz 8:03.9, 8. Bob Kopac 8:24.6, 9. Polly Sparling 8:27.4, 10. Elizabeth Hajali 8:54.4, 11. Lynne Kopac 8:54.9, 12. Denise Dollard 9:46.5

7/1 Goshen Great American Weekend 5K & 10K: Ken DeVries and Harry Owens sent me results of locals at the race. Thanks guys! This was Ken's first 10K, moving up from his specialty, the 5K.
5K Results: Bill Rosenberg 23:12 (1st 60 – 69), Rebecca Withers 24:43 (2nd 50 – 59)
10K Results: Jeff Lease 37:47 (8th overall and 3rd 40 – 49), Ken DeVries 39:17 (14th overall and 1st 50 – 59), Harry Owens 45:36 (47th overall), Erika Abraham 59:19 (144th overall and 1st 60 – 69)
Harry also mentioned that Roy Abraham was there cheering everyone on!
Full Results

7/1 Adirondack Distance Classic 10 mile, Lake George: The big news here is Kevin Dollard kept his age group winning string going. It's now at 7 years. The unique thing about this race is they give awards in 1 year age groups. Kevin's first win was at age 45. He has dominated his age each year since, with this year being no exception as he won his age by over 8 minutes. His time of 1:04:00 was his second fastest time ever on the course. Mary Veltre also finished first in her age with a time of 1:26:00. Vince Veltre finished 108th overall in 1:14:05, with Pete Colaizzo close behind in 1:14:10. Something tells me they ran much of the race together. Local legend, Nick Lamando, who spends much of his time in Lake George, ran the race with his brother Steve, who has just recently taken up the sport. They finished 204 and 205, with Steve clocking 1:21:08 and Nick 1:21:09. Complete results.8/5 New York City Half Marathon: Training group member Jeff Lease finished in a time of 1:22:03. This placed him 145th overall and 4th in his age group. Jeff's 5K splits through 20K were incredibly even at 19:22, 19:22, 19:22, 19:38. You can't run much more even than that!! Lynne Kopac finished in a time of 2:25:33.

6/24 New Paltz Sprint Duathlon: I got the following email from Chris Walsh: Went over to New Paltz and tried the duathlon. It was a spectacular morning weatherwise, sunny, no humidity. Less than 30 entries, 4 of which were 2 relay teams. The only familiar face was Jorge Rojas. You run an uphill-downhill 2.2 mile loop (it levels off at the top), get on your bike and ride for 12 very flat miles and then do the 2.2 mile loop in reverse. It was fun and a nice change of pace. Great awards . . . I won a $20 gift certificate to a bike store and Coolmax socks. I signed on for the other two in the series, July 28 and August 26. My initial attempt was 1:29:40 and hopefully I'll see some improvement . . . although the other two should be warmer weather.

Roger did it too — but his heel is still bothering him.

6/20 Solstice Run, Minnewaska State Park: There was a large contingent of training group members there for the race. It could not have been a better evening for a race – beautiful blue skies, no humidity, temps in the 60s, spectacular views, mountain laurel in full bloom and over 200 runners. 13. Greg Barber 55:53, 16. Wayne McDaniel 56:45, 23. Connie Seigh 58:12, 31. Jeff Conston 59:59, 52. Chris Giam 1:03:48, 80. Tom Storey 1:06:53, 119. Marisa Hanson 1:11:50, 120. Glen Brent 1:11:51, 122. Bill Rosenberg 1:12:01, 147. Alicia Mattson 1:15:53, 148. Steve Perks 1:16:07, 165. Mary Veltre 1:19:28, 166. Vince Veltre 1:19:29, Rebecca Withers 1:22:51

6/16 Rhulen Rock Hill 5K, Rock Hill: This race certainly has a lot going for it. It is a beautiful rolling course that circles Lake Louise Marie in the Catskill Mountains. It raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Today's race raised over $50,000. After the race there is live music and a great spread of food and drink. Nine members of the training group ventured across the river to enjoy the race and the festivities. Marisa Hanson was 11th overall and second woman in 18:18. Wayne McDaniel was 16th in 18:40 (3rd 40 – 49). Conni Grace took 32nd in 19:23 (2nd 40 – 49). 48. Vince Veltre 20:21, 52. Steve Perks 20:38 (1st 60 – 69), 65. Harry Owens 21:14, 119. Bill Rosenberg 23:13, 169. Mary Veltre 24:51. 175. Becky Withers 24:57 (3rd 50 – 59).

6/10 Rhode Island Games: John Brooks continued his dominance of the northeast track circuit by winning the 100, 200 and 400 in his age group at the Rhode Island Games.

6/10 Orange Classic, Middletown: Conni Grace had a great race, finishing 9th overall and 1st masters. She defeated Olympic Champion Joan Benoit Samuelson by 3 seconds in a time of 39:52 to claim the master's win. Wayne McDaniel was just ahead of Conni in 39:51. Training group member, Jeff Lease, also had an excellent race finishing in 39:30.

6/9 McDonald/Cruise Races: Pete and his crew did their usual incredible job putting on this event. The help that Pete gets at his races is a testament to the wonderful person that he is. The picnic afterwards was great, giving the runners a chance to relax and socialize on a beautiful June day.
McDonald 10K Results: 3. Kevin Dollard 39:44 (1st 50 – 59), 4. Connie Seigh 39:51 (1st Female), 7. Chris Wimmers 41:14 (2nd 30 – 39), 11. Steve Perks 43:12 (1st 60 – 69), 13. Dan Desjardins 43:43 (2nd 40 – 49), 20. Vince Veltre 46:14 , 22. Lori Decker 46:33 (1st 40 – 49), 33. Judy Creedon 51:21 (1st 50 – 59), 44. Chris Walsh 54:30 (2nd 50 – 59), 58. Jon Peace58:27, 68. Polly Sparling 1:02:01
Cruise 5K Results: 1. Greg Barber 18:23, 2. Ken DeVries 19:01 (1st 50 – 59), 3. Gil Anderson 20:22 (2nd 50 – 59), 18. Bill Rosenberg 23:37 (2nd 60 – 69), 22. Chris DeVries 24:15 (1st 50 – 59), 23. John Thomas 24:19 (3rd 60 – 69), 29. Mary Veltre 25:29 (2nd 40 – 49), 32. Becky Withers 25:47 (2nd 50 – 59), 38. Keith Axelrod 26:41, 43. Fred Policastri 27:22, 49. Irv Miller 28:15, 52. Roger Billings 28:25, 60. Margaret Schmitz 29:42, 67. Charlie Sprauer 31:39 (2nd 70+), 68. Maria Hajali 31:42, 69. Denise Dollard 32:00


Full Results and More Pictures at MHRRC

6/9 New York State Senior Games: John Brooks contintued his tour of the senior track circuit taking two more gold medals, this time at the NY State Senior Games, winning the 100 meter dash in 11.8 seconds and the 400 meter dash in 59 seconds. His next stop is at the Rhode Island Senior Games.

6/3 Covered Bridge Half-Marathon, VT: Christine Anyetei ran 4 minutes faster than she did at the MORE Half-Marathon, finishing 225/1611 in a time of 1:43:20. Linda Stow finished in 2:50:15.

6/3 Connecticut Senior Games: John Brooks went across the border to participate in this meet. I'm sure all the local runners were glad to see him as he took the GOLD medal in the 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes. He ran the 100 in 12 seconds, the 200 in 25 seconds and the 400 in 58 seconds! Simply awesome.

6/3 God's Country Marathon, Potter County PA: New training group member Matthew Adams finished 33rd in a time of 3:51:52.

6/3 San Diego Rock "n" Roll Marathon: Training group member Tom Storey ran 3:19:47 for 437th place and a Boston qualifying time.

6/2 Freihofer's 5K: 151. Mary Hurley-Weeks 22:11, 1669. Denise Dollard 33:25(6 minutes faster than last year!)

6/2 Mt. Carmel River Run 5K: 2. Gil Anderson 20:09 (1st 50-59), 4. Harry Owens 21:22 (1st 40 -49), 5. Lori Cassia Decker 21:37 (FIRST FEMALE), 13. John Thomas 24:31 (1st 60-69), 16. Chris Walsh 24:53 (1st 50-59), 20. Mary Veltre 25:40 (3rd 40-49), 29. Sue O'Neil 27:58 (2nd 30-39)


Left: Mary Veltre, Chris Walsh and Sue O'Neil Right: Overall Winners Lori Decker and Mike Chow

Lots of trophy winners, both young and "old". Pictures from Chis Walsh.

5/28 Woodstock 5K: 7. Vince Veltre 20:19, 11. Gil Anderson 20:53, 15. Lori Cassia Decker 22:09, 40. Mary Veltre 25:39, 44. Paige Decker 27:08
Woodstock 15K: 3. Greg Barber 58:50, 14. Dean Bryant 62:44, 80. Roger Billings 81:15, 87. Chris Walsh 82:42

5/28 South Salem 5K: Irv Miller ran 26:52 to place 3rd in the 60 – 69 age group.

5/28 Chester Kiwanis 5K: 32. Tom Storey 21:04, 36. Harry Owens 21:33

5/27 Vermont City Marathon: Conni Grace ran 2:58:15 to finish 4th woman overall and 1st masters. Wayne McDaniel was not far behind in 3:00:14, finishing 72nd overall and 9th in the 45 – 49 age group. Connie Seigh ran 5 minutes faster than last year, placing 163rd overall and 6th in the 35 – 39 age group in 3:12:04. Cornell Dawson ran 4:24:24 to finish 1630 overall and 6th in the 65-69 bracket. Susanne, O'Neil ran 4:40, Jon Peace ran 4:42:36 and Polly Sparling ran 5:21:23.

5/27 Chester Hamiltonian 5K: Bill Rosenberg 23:25 and Becky Withers 25:43.

Left: Mary Veltre and computer scorer Vince Veltre. Right: Finish line crew Claude Bodley, Pete Sanfillipo and assistant. If it weren't for these people we would never know our correct times or places.

5/20 Laurel Run: Congrats to Rich Hanson and his crew for putting on an awesome event. The 10 mile course was extremely well marked with all the major intersections manned by police. As usual the training group crew was well represented with lots of runners taking home awards,
5K Results: 3. Marisa Hanson (1st female) 18:46, 4. Chris Wimmers (1st 30 -39) 18:59, 7. Gil Anderson (1st 50 -59) 19:44, 8. Vince Veltre (2nd 40 -49) 20:00, 10. Chris Giam (3rd 40 -49) 20:16, 13. Christine Anyetei-Vogs (1st 20 – 29) 20:39, 14. Glen Brent (3rd 50 – 59) 20:52, 15. Harry Owens 20:54, 16. Lori Cassia-Decker (1st 40 – 49) 21:11, 26. Bill Rosenberg (1st 60 – 69) 23:15, 27. John Thomas (2nd 60 – 69) 23:25, 34. Ed Willett 24:05, 35. Mary Veltre (2nd 40 – 49) 24:06, 45. Rebecca Withers (1st 50 – 59) 25:34, 52. Fred Policastri 26:44, 69. Margaret Schmitz 29:34
10 mile Results: 3. Justin Harris 55:35, 6. Greg Barber (1st masters) 1:03:33, 9. Wayne McDaniel (2nd master) 1:05:29, 10. Kevin Dollard (3rd master) 1:05:38, 11. Conni Grace (1st master) 1:06:59, 12. Connie Seigh (2nd open) 1:07:18, 17. Dan Desjardins (1st 40 – 49) 1:11:44, 20. Tom Storey (3rd 40 – 49) 1:12:33, 22. Pat DeHaven (2nd 50 -59) 1:13:25, 29. Matt Regan (4th 40 – 49) 1:16:31, 30. Mary Hurley-Weeks (3rd master) 1:17:29, 31. Jeff Weeks (5th 40 – 49) 1:17:30, 35. Tony Pignataro1:19:37, 41. Roger Billings 1:22:57, 44. Dave Fernekes 1:24:24, 53. Chris Walsh (1st 50 -59) 1:28:13, 54. Steve Perks (2nd 60 – 69) 1:28:17, 58. Cornell Dawson (3rd 60 – 69) 1:30:25, 67. Roseanne Desjardins 1:36:12, 71. Lynee Kopac (2nd 50 – 59) 1:48:58 As usual the full results are on the MHRRC site along with some pictures.

5/18 Locust Grove 5K Trail Race: This little gem of a race is held on the trails behind the Samuel F. B. Morse Estate on Route 9. It is hard to believe that such a quiet woodsy spot exists just a few feet from the insanity of that section of Route 9. This is the first of the two races they put on each year. The second race is held in the fall. The course is definitely challenging. They do a great job of clearing the course of leaves and branches, but there are still plenty of places with rocks and roots in abundance so that you have to concentrate on your footing as well as your pace and competition. The first half of the course winds it's way downhill almost to the river. If you go out too fast the first half of the race, the 1.5 miles back uphill to the finish can seem like an eternity. Prizes are unique. For this race each of the top three runners in all age groups receives a pot of flowers that are grown on the estate. The prizes in the fall are vegetables grown in their gardens.

The MHRRC training group had it's usual excellent turnout. Ken DeVries continued his incredible string of races finishing 4th overall and first in the 50 – 59 age group in 19:32. He beat long time area runner, Steve Schallenkamp, for the top spot in the age group. Connie Seigh was 7th overall and 1st female in 20:24. Other group members were: 16. Vince Veltre 22:07, 18. Glen Brent 22:10, 26. Steve Perks 23:30 (2nd 60 – 69), 30. Chris DeVries 24:20 (1st 50 – 59), 32. Roger Billing 24:48, 37. Bill Rosenberg 25:50 (3rd 60 – 69), 40. Chris Walsh 26:16 (2nd 50 – 59), 46. Mary Veltre 27:16, 56. Becky Withers 28:42.

Practice May 17 – There are more pictures on the MHRRC site.

There are over 350 pictures taken by Chris Walsh, Len Marcus and Bob Kopac from the Miles of Hope race in the results section on the MHRRC site.

5/12 Miles of Hope 5K: Kudos to Lori and her crew for putting on a great race! There were volunteers everywhere, some of whom are part of the training group. Besides that there were 22 runners who have been to the MHRRC team practices who participated in this race. 1 Mile Slinskey 16:05, 3. Marisa Hanson 18:39 (first female), 4. Connie Seigh 19:15 (1st 30 – 39), 8. Gil Anderson 19:48 (1st 50 – 59), 11. Christine Anyetei-Vogs 20:14 (1st 20 – 29), 12. Dan Desjardins 20:29, 13. Steve Perks 20:54 (1st 60 – 69), 14. Pat DeHaven 20:57 (2nd 50 – 59), 17. Harry Owens 21:13, 24. Gary Patton 22:12, 25. Alicia Mattson 22:28 (2nd 30 – 39), Mary Hurley-Weeks 22:28 (2nd 40 – 49), 29. Dave Fernekes 23:19, 36. Deborah Schwartz 24:18 (1st 50 -59), 37. Chris Walsh 24:24 (2nd 50 – 59), 44. Mary Veltre 24:46, 46. Cornell Dawson 25:02, 49. Peter Ludlow 25:15, 72. Polly Sparling 28:17, 83. Lynne Kopac 30:09, Maria Elizabeth Hajali 30:50, 90. Denise Dollard 31:52. Full Results and some pictures at MHRRC.


5/11 Huguenot 5K: Bill Rosenberg, Becky Withers, Mary Veltre and Greg Barber were there. I haven't been able to find any times, but Bill and Becky each won their age group. Greg was 2nd in his age group and Mary was third in hers, so they all went home with awards.

5/10 It was great to come home and find so many people had run great races over the short time we were gone. I was going to post some pictures but most of you have probably already seen Chris Walsh's pictures of Ridgefield and the Bridge Run on the MHRRC site.

If you're going to be at the Miles of Hope race on Saturday and have a little extra time after you run, head out to the Arlington High School track and watch some of the meet that will be going on. It's a fairly large invitational so there will be lots of competive individual races and relays.

5/9 We're back from visiting my son Josh and his wife Lisa in Texas. Great trip! I will attempt to update things here over the next few days.

5/1 John Jay Boys' and Girls' Teams Triumph: The Patriot boys defeated Mahopac by a score of 112 – 69, while the girls were victorious by a score of 98 to 63. Results are on the Spring Results link on the left side of the page.

4/30 Rye Derby 5 Miler: Chris Walsh and Roger Billings headed to Westchester County to run this race. Roger finished in 39:36 and Chris ran 41:20. Full Results

4/29 Kingston Classic Results: Full Results
24. Chris Collins 34:33 (1st masters),44. Conni Grace 38:03 (5th overall woman and first master's woman), 46. Greg Barber 38:13, 57. Wayne McDaniel 39:07, 63. Connie Seigh 39:44, 68. Jeff Nero 40:49 (1st in age group), 78. Gil Anderson 41:37 (2nd in age group), 82. Dan Desjardins 42:10, 92. Vince Veltre 43:09, 119. Lori Cassia-Decker 44:50 (3rd in age group), 139. Janice Cyr 45:46, 175. Maryanne Ceriello 49:17, 338. Peter Oxenholm 55:40

4/28 Trail Dawgs Marathon – From Kevin Dollard: Their Website.
We had a nice time. Besides me it was Bob Bunce, Dennis Foster (IBM friend of Bob's and runs/bikes at IBM rec). Rusults are not up yet but Bob did 4 hours and some seconds and came in 13th overall. Dennis (I think) did 4:11 and some seconds but I'm not sure of his overall finish place (I think in the 20's). I did 3:45 which was good for 5th overall and 1st in 50-59.

Much more technical trail running than I thought it would be. Two loops of the half marathon and 4 crossings of the steams (about knee high). The Trail Triple Crown is run in Delaware's White Clay Creek State Park, which spans about 3,300 acres extending from the Pennsylvania border into the city limits of Newark, DE. The entire park includes about 50 miles of trail, including sections of the 192-mile Mason-Dixon Trail, through the White Clay Creek and Middle Run watersheds. Terrain is moderately hilly mixed hardwood forest interspersed with streams and upland meadow. Trails are mostly single-track with short sections of dirt road; only a couple of hundred feet of pavement (road crossings).

4/27 Rich Mattson surgery update: Rich is doing well. He will probably be in the hospital for at least this week.

Roy Abraham: Latest news as of Saturday – Erika reports that Roy is doing AMAZINGLY well.

4/27 Penn Relays: The John Jay Patriot girls 400 meter relay of Alex Bernaiscioni, Brianna Reynoso, Ally Neidig and Carlie Dean too 5th in their heat in a time of 52.1. The 1600 meter relay team of Julie Moy, Casey Rechter, Brianna Reynoso and Carlie Dean were 7th in their heat in 4:24.2.

4/27 Leatherman Loop 10K – You've got to be a diehard mud lover to run this race. Craig Cutler, Charlie Sprauer and Leo Saposnick go every year. They were joined this year by Roger Billings and Chris Giam. Chris Walsh was there to take a few pictures which are available from a link on the MHRRC site. I'm just going to post a before and after picture.
 
Left: Front (left to right) – Charlie Sprauer, Leo Saposnick; Back (left to right)- Roger Billings, Chris Giam and Craig Cutler
Right: (left to right) – Chris Giam, Charlie Sprauer, and Roger Billings

4/26 The John Jay boys' and girls' track teams defeated RCK earlier this week. The boys won by a score of 120 to 39 and the girls won by a score of 107 to 43. Results are on the Spring Results link on the left side of this page.

4/26 Dismal Swamp Half Marathon: Another Patriot alumni, Mary Nero, daughter of Jeff Nero, ran the Dismal Swamp Half-Marathon. Mary finished in 1:42.57. Mary is currently a police officer in the Greensboro, NC area. Mary told her dad that she thought she recognized Vince Fabiano, the other John Jay alum who ran, but wasn't sure it was really him. Mary ran each 5K of the race faster than the one before. That is pretty impressive.

4/26 It's been a tough couple of days for the running community. One of my favorite running partners and toughest marthoners I know, Alicia Mattson, is the wife of Rich Mattson, the NYS Trooper that was shot on Wednesday in the Catskills. Rich is in Albany Medical Center in the ICU unit recovering from 5 hours of surgery.

4/26 Below is a copy of an email I got from Keith Axelrod this morning.
I just got a call from Erika Abraham – Roy underwent 7 hours of emergergency heart surgery yesterday and is now recovering in ICU at Westchester Medical Center. She asked if we could put something up on the website so people who know Roy can keep him in their thoughts and prayers. It sounds like he came through the surgery ok – but it is still early. One thing the doctors said is that his excellent physical condition from exercise and running helped him through the surgery. The surgery was to repair a tear in his aorta.

He can't have visitors – but at least a note on the website home page could let people know what is happening.

Erika told the Doctors and nurses that once Roy's sense of humor returned, they would know he was really on the way to recovery!

Jailbreak for Home 5K: Many thanks to Chris Walsh for the great pictures below. Full Results.
Overall Female Winner: Connie Seigh 19:17; Female 20 -29: 1. Christine Anyetei 21:27; Female 50 – 59: 1. Chris DeVries 23:222, 2. Chris Walsh 24:51; Female 60 – 69: 2. Erica Abraham 27:40; Male 30 – 39: 3. Chris Wimmers 18:42; Male 50 – 59: 1. Ken DeVries 18:40, 2. Bill Foley 18:51, 3. Jeff Nero 18:57; Male 60 -69: 3. Bill Rosenberg, 24:24

The Brooklyn Half Marathon

4:30 A.M. by Cornell Dawson

It is 4:30 A.M. on a Saturday morning, April 14, 2007 and the alarm just went off. Do I really want to get up and run a half-marathon this morning in New York City? Its cold, but not below freezing like it was for the NYRRC Bronx Grand Prix Half Marathon and the Manhattan Grand Prix Half Marathon I ran earlier this year. Yes, I do want to run it. I have never run the Brooklyn Grand Prix Half Marathon and I would like to see if I can run the distance under two hours.

So, Alice and I hit the road just after 5:00 A.M. Using Mapquest directions we navigated our way to Asser Levy Park, next to the Coney Island board walk. We found a parking lot a couple blocks away to park the car. For pre-registered runners (saves a lot of money), the NYRRC entry process is efficient and quick. You pickup your number and timing chip, a T shirt and drop your bag on a bus which will take it to the finish area.

We lined up on the board walk by our estimated mile pace and with the temperature at 41 degrees at 8:00 A.M., we were off. We ran West along the board walk for about 1 ½ miles, turned around and ran back the 1 ½ miles. We got onto one of the main thoroughfares and ran for about six miles. Then we entered Prospect Park and ran a loop and a half in the park for the last four miles. Running in the park felt like running in Central Park, including the hills.

4847 people finished the 13.1 mile run. My finishing number was 2848. Among my age group peers, 65-69, I was number eight out of 26 men. I set a new personal record for the half marathon distance, 2:01:19, just missing the two hour goal by 1:19.

After the race I picked up my bag, put on some warm, dry clothes and started the process of getting back to the starting area where my car was. Alice had decided to skip the train rides to and from the finish line and was waiting for me at the car. It is probably a half mile walk from the finish area to the F train station. A lot of people were going so it was easy to start a conversation with the other runners as we walked. To minimize what I carried when I ran, I put two dollar bills in the tiny pocket in my shorts for the train ride back to the start. I didn’t put my wallet in my bag, in case it got lost.

In the subway station I fed the two dollar bills into the ticket machine and got a single ride ticket with a two hour limit and no transfer. That wasn’t a problem since I was using the ticket immediately and did not need a transfer. However, after trying the ticket in the turnstile machines many times without success, I realized that the ticket wasn’t going to work. The machines thought that the two hour time limit had expired and would not let me enter. What to do? I checked my bag and found about $1.35, not enough to buy another ticket without panhandling for the rest of the $2.00. I couldn’t call Alice and let her know my predicament as she didn’t have her cell phone with her. After a while trying to figure out what to do, I spotted a transit Policeman. I explained the situation to him and he used a pass key to open a door to let me into the subway platform. The trip on the F train to the Neptune St. station, where the car was parked, and the rest of the trip home was a breeze. It cost $7.50 for the parking, but that was better than trying to deal with the parking ticket I got at the last Bronx Half Marathon.

With the Brooklyn Half Marathon complete, that makes it three of the Grand Prix Half Marathons down and two to go.

4/18 Dismal Swamp Half Marathon: Pete Colaizzo forwarded me an email he got from MHRRC member and former John Jay runner Vince Fabiano. Vince is now living in Virginia Beach. He recently ran the Dismal Swamp Stomp Half-Marathon in 1:28:50 and finished 48th out of 1365 runners.

Boston Marathon Results for members of the training group.

Dan Desjardins 3:28:45
Mary Hurley-Weeks 3:47:53
Jeff Weeks 3:47:53
Alicia Mattson 3:52:54
Sally Saretto 4:26:26
Judy Creedon 4:14:40

More local runners' results on the MHRRC site.

4/12 Panther Relays: As usual I will try to come up with as much of the results for this year's John Jay team as I can find. The team was at the Panther Relays in Wallkill this past weekend. All of their results can be found on the spring results link on the left side of the page.

4/10 Ocean City Marathon, MD: The marathoning duo of Conni Grace and Wayne McDaniel were at it again this past weekend. They traveled to Ocean City, MD for some time in the sun and relaxing at the beach. The sun was out all four days they were there except for four hours when there was a heavy, windy snow squall. Of course this came on right at marathon time, which made for some difficult racing conditions. It's tough to run when you can't see where you're going and the wind is trying to blow you backwards. Despite the conditions Conni won the woman's race in 3:00:55. Oh yes, that also put her 3rd overall. Wayne finished 4th overall and 1st in the 45-49 age group in 3:02:37. This all came on top of excellent performances by both of them the week before at the Race Around Briggs. Full results of Ocean City.

4/8 The site for the master's track and field competition has been announced. It will be held at Byram Hills High School in Armonk. I put a link above to take you to the ESG Masters main page.

4/7 Time to catch up on some John Jay Patriot alumni who are off to good starts for their college outdoor seasons.
Sam Howell Invitational, Princeton Universtiy: Justin Harris (Marist) was scheduled to run his first steeple of the year but a sore back dictated the prudent decision of switching to the 5K, which he ran in 15:07, pacing Conor Shelley,a Marist freshman to a very nice finish time in his first track 5K.
UMass 5 way meet: Tom Hyatt (Sacred Heart) had an excellent meet taking 5th in the pole vault at 12' 1.5" and 12 in the javelin with a toss of 133' 7".
Ithaca Invite: I was pleasantly surprised to find Lauren Boardman (Ithaca) listed in the 5K results of this meet. I was not sure if she was still competing or not. She finished 20th in a time of 20:01.99.
Maryland Terrapin Invitational: JC Kennedy (Brockport) was a busy athlete, competing in three events. He was 20th in the javelin with a toss of 142' 6", 6th in the pole vault at 13' 7.25" and 23rd in the 110HH in a time of 16.75 seconds. JC and Tom Hyatt are actually multi-event (pentathlon/decathlon) athletes and often use meets that don't have those events to do 3 or more events to practice them in competition. It should also be noted that Brockport's track and field team is D3 Nationally Ranked.

4/5 Some general comments: The MHRRC had a disappointing day at the Race Around Briggs. Someone asked me the obvious question, "Where was everyone?" Based on the runners that I keep in contact with there were a number of reasons for the lack of turnout. It seems that the MHRRC has a large contingent of runners going to the Boston Marathon this year. For them a hilly 7.2 mile race two weeks before Boston probably did not seem like a good idea. Also, it's spring break for some local high schools and even some colleges, with some runners using the oppotunity to head for warmer climates. As always, there are some of us down with injuries. Finally, it takes some recruiting to put a team together. Phone calls, emails, notices in the newsletter, notices on the website, personal contact at prior races all play a big part in getting club members to show up for a team race. For the most part runners don't just appear to be part of a team, especially if it's something they have not done before. It always takes one or two people to take charge of this process. In the past Eileen Sylvia has done an outstanding job of putting a team together. This year, due to a very busy work schedule, she was unable to dedicate the time. It is obvious the team missed her leadership.

Charlie Sprauer continues to inspire us all. Did you see the picture of him, it's on the MHRRC website, crossing the waist deep stream at the Mudders and Grunters race? Waist deep in water when there is still snow on the ground! I was cold when I was snorkling in Hawaii! Charlie, you are AWESOME!

4/3 The results of the Race Around Briggs are in. It seems that the MHRRC did not win the team title which was taken by MilanRunning. There is an explanation of how the scoring was done on the front page of the MilanRunning webstie. In looking through the results here are the MHRRC members I was able to identify(I know I missed a few): 1. Dave Vona, 3. Greg Barber, 6. Wayne McDaniel, 8. Conni Grace, 10. Connie Seigh, 12. Susan Bonthron, 22. Vince Veltre, 43. Roger Billings, 50. Chris Walsh, 56. Bob Lazerson, 70. Charlie Sprauer, 81. Steve Goran

There are some pictures from the Race Around Briggs on the MHRRC site.

4/2 Received an email from Ryan Joyce today with an update on the start of the season for Geneseo. He had a busy day at the Ithaca Invitational. He took 6th in the long jump at 19' 6" and 2nd in the triple jump at 42' 4.5". Due to the crown of the football field both jumps had uphill runways which made for interesting jumping. Ryan also anchored the 4X 100 meter relay to a 5th place finish. He also threw the javelin for the first time in competition. His best toss was 128' 5", just short of the conference qualifying distance. Kevin O'Connell is off to a strong start in the pole vault. He cleared 13' 6" at the opening meet in Maryland and then vaulted 12' 6" at the Ithaca meet.

Indoor National Masters Championships, Boston: Marisa Hanson, Kieran Stack and John Brooks ventured up to Boston to run in this highly competitive meet. Marisa took 2nd in 3K in a time of 10:07.30. Kieran was 5th in the 3K in 9:26.06 and 8th in the mile in 4:40.80. John took 3rd in the 200 m dash in 25.22. That's soooo fast for a 52 year old.

4/1 First results for John Jay alumni for spring meets.
Dick Shea Open at West Point(3/24): Marist's Justin Harris will be concentrating on the 3K steeplechase this year. He opened his season with an overdistance event, placing second in the 10K with a PR time of 32:17.
Southern CT Owl Invite(3/31): Justin then followed up the next weekend with a speed event running the 1500 meter race in a PR time of 4:03.87. Watching how Pete Colaizzo gets his runners ready for their events is such a joy. There is such planning to how he puts the pieces together it is amazing.

NE Spring Opener(3/24): Northeastern's outdoor season began at the NE Spring Opener where Erin Ballard opened her season taking 5th place in the 400 m dash in 59.78 seconds.
Snowflake Classic at Tufts University (3/31): Erin moved up the next week to the 1500 meter run where she finished 8th in 5:03.44. Laura McCloskey was not far behind in 5:08.92.

3/28 We're back from Hawaii. What an amazing vacation. We got to visit 4 of the islands and were able to mix in some kayaking, snorkling, whale watching, hiking, beach combing and general exploring. This time we made it to the Pearl Harbor Memorial, which we had missed on our first visit to Hawaii. Once I get caught up maybe I'll post a picture or two.

There is some catching up to do, particularly with the people who ran the MORE full or half marathon. Lynne Kopac sent me a link to the picture of her in her pink wig. I "stole" it from the MORE site. The MHRRC site has all the results of members who ran at MORE.

 

Race Around Briggs: Don't forget the team competition at the Race Around Briggs. The MHRRC fielded a very strong team last year and Onteora may be looking for some revenge. The club needs your legs! It's April 1.

3/20 If you go to the MHRRC website you will see a notice about the Ann Whalen 5K Fun Road Race on April 22. The proceeds of this race will go towards Adrenal Cancer research. Ann is an Arlington HS grad, now attending NYU, who is suffering this disease.

Ed Erichson Run: A foggy start!


Bob Kopac took 161 pictures of the races. All 161 pictures and the results are at MHRRC.

3/11 National Scholastic Indoor Championships: Usually when I mention John Jay alumni it is to report on races they've run. This is just a little different. Eric Schwark, who ran cross country and track for me in the mid 1990s, is now an English teacher and the track and cross country coach at Carmel High School. To say he is doing an outstanding job would be an understatement. He has developed one of the best girls' programs in Section 1. I'm not going to go into detail on the team's accomplishments over the past several years. Letting you know what they accomplished this weekend will be enough for you to understand how well they are doing. The National Scholastic Indoor Championships were held this weekend at the Armory in NYC. Eric took two relay teams to the meet. On Friday the Distance Medley Relay team of Catherine DeSarle, Kristie O'Reilly, Caity Tully and Kristen Reese took 4th place in a time of 11:57.24. On Sunday they did even better, doing something only one team in the country can do each year, they ran the fastest time of any 4 X 800 meter relay team in the U.S. for the indoor season, winning the race in a time of 8:59.54. This team consisted of Caity Tully, Catherine DeSarle, Ashley Mauer and Kristen Reese. That is basically 2:15 per runner for each 800 meter leg. Yup, I'm very proud of Eric.

3/9 ECAC: A little catching up with some John Jay alumni who participated in the ECAC meet this past weekend. The Northeastern University duo of Erin Ballard and Laura McCloskey ran on the 4 x 800 meter relay that finished 7th. They ran 9:07.34 in the prelims and 9:11.76 in the finals. Erin also ran the 1000m run, finishing 17th in 2:58.11. Geneseo freshman, Ryan Joyce, placed 11th in the triple jump with a performance of 43' 35". JC Kennedy helped the SUNY Brockport team to the DIII team championship by finishing 7th in the pentathlon with 3079 points. There were at least 54 teams represented at the meet.

3/6 Under The Radar: Many of you that check in here probably know Pete Colaizzo as the guy who writes the weekly running column in the Poughkeepsie Journal. You may even recognize his face when he's running or helping out at a local race. What you may not be aware of is the incredible job he does as the head cross country and track and field coach at Marist College. A case in point is the recent IC4A Championhips at Boston University. Marist sent two relays and an individual runner in the 500 meter dash, all three set school records. Brian DeMarco ran 1:03.35 in the 500m to establish the new school record. The distance medley relay of Kris Geist(1200m in 3:07.0), Shaun Kippins(400m in 51.0), Mike Bamberger(800m in 1:52.7) and Conor Shelley(1600m in 4:13.3) finished 14th in a time of 10:04.42. The 4 x 400 meter team of Pat Caroll, Bryan Quinn, Mike Bamberger and Brian DeMarco ran a time of 3:20.04. All of the incredible accomplishments of the Marist cross country and track team are achieved without benefit of a home track. That's right, it's a Division 1 program with no track. Imagine if their highly touted basketball teams had to practice without a basketball court!. Instead of me giving you a history of the great job Pete has done you can check out his bio HERE.

3/4 Celebrate Life 1/2 Marathon, Rockhill, NY: Half marathons in the month of March fit perfectly into a training program for the Boston Marathon. With that idea in mind Ed Fitzmaurice and Dan Desjardins took advantage of the Celebrate Life 1/2 Marathon. Ed finished 20th overall and 4th in the 40-49 age group in 1:29:09. Dan was 40th overall and 7th in the same age group in 1:36:46. MHRRC member Todd Reemtsma was also there, finishing 62nd in 1:40:15.MHRRC secretary, Erika Abraham, won the 60 -69 age group in 2:15:00. Full Results.

3/1 ORC Winter Series: Chris and Ken DeVries finished up the Orange Runners Club with excellent races. Ken finished 7th in 18:45 (2nd 50-59) and Chris was 69th in 23:39 (1st 50-59). Overall for the series Chris was the winner of the women's 50-59 age group while Ken took 2nd in the men's 50-59 bracket.

Polar Bear Run, New Preston, CT: A local contingent headed across the border to take part in the 7.5 mile Polar Bear Run. Jeff Nero finished 30th overall in 51:48, Tom Storey finished in 54:59 and Chris Giam was close behind in 55:09.

2/26 New England Championhips: The Northeastern women's team took second place with two John Jay alumni contributing to the scoring. Erin Ballard placed 8th in the 800 meter run. She ran 2:14.76 in prelims and 2:16.37 in the finals. Erin joined with Laura McCloskey to help the team to a 3rd place finish in the 4 x 800 meter relay in a time of 9:21.15.
NYSCTC: JC Kennedy pole vaulted 12' 11.5" to take 7th place and help Brockport to a 2nd place finish. Geneseo placed 8th with Ryan Joyce finishing 10th in the long jump at 19' 1.25" and 9th the triple jump at 41' 2.25".

2/26 Section 1 State Qualifier(West Point): Although the Patriots did not have any athletes make the state meet, they did have a number of very fine performances. Girls: 600 m dash – 12. Julie Moy 1:47.66, 17. Stella Steffans 1:50.06; 1500m racewalk – 14. Jenna Dilullo 9:15.00; Pole Vault – 7. Heather Shay 8' 0";
Long Jump – 6. Charlese Porter 15' 2"; Triple Jump – 11. Charlese Porter 31' 11.75"; 4 x 200 m relay – 4. Ally Nedig (29.5), Alex Bernascona (27.9), Brianna Reynoso (27.6), Karlie Dean (26.4) 1:51.76.
Boys: 300 – 6. Adam Schmalz 38.51; 1000 m – 9. Rich Bronnenkant 2:58.71; 1600 m – 19. Ryan Gomba 4:59.99; 55HH – Mike Clifford 8.59; 4 x 400 m relay – Frank Risole, Brian Donovan, Sean O'Brien, Adam Schmalz 3:41.38. Full Results

Hanson Wins Invitational Master's 800 m Race

2/25 USATF National Indoor Championships: Marisa Hanson was very excited and a little surprised a few weeks ago when she was invited to run a special invitational women's masters 800 meter race at the USATF National Indoor Championships. She used the occasion to showcase her talents as one of the premier masters runners in the country by winning the race in 2:23.68. The race was held in the middle of the U.S. Championship Meet which took place in the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

2/24 NYU Fast Track Meet: This is an open meet that serves as a last chance for college athletes to achieve qualifying standards for meets like the IC4A and ECAC Championhips. One of the best performances for a local athlete at the meet was that of Arlington grad Bill Ceriello (LaSalle University) who placed 5th in the mile in a time of 4:13.20. This time was good enough to achieve the IC4A standard. Also running well in the meet was John Jay grad Justin Harris (Marist) who broke 15 minutes in the 5K, finishing 6th in 14:59.79. Arlington grad, Tom Williams (Marist) also ran the 5K, finishing 19th in 15:27.82. Red Hook graduate Dave Raucci (Marist) finished 14th in the mile in 4:20.27.

2/22 Section 1 Class A Championships: The John Jay Patriots' 4 x 200 meter relay teams had an outstanding day at the Armory on Monday. The girls' team of Ally Nedig, Alex Bernascona, Brianna Reynoso and Karlie Dean set a new Dutchess County record of 1:49.1. No county team had ever been under 1:50 and in this race there were two teams. Karlie just caught the Arlington anchor leg at the tape to set the record. The Arlington girls finished in 1:49.4. The Patriot boys team ran to the fastest Dutchess County time of the season, finishing 4th in 1:34.7. The team consisted of Mike Clifford, Mike Mosca, Frank Clifford and Adam Schmalz. Other scorers in the meet were Heather Shay in the pole vault, taking 6th place with a jump of 7' 6". Sean O'Brien placed 6th in the 1000 m run in 2:45.6. Frank Risole scored in two events taking 5th in the pole vault at 10' 6' and 6th in the high jump with a leap of 5' 7".

2/18 30th Bank of America Gasparilla Distance Classic: The marathoning duo of Conni Grace and Wayne McDaniel took off to warmer weather to run their latest marathon in Tampa, FL. They ran together for the entire distance finishing in an outstanding time of 3:03:20. Conni was 4th woman overall, taking home some nice prize money for her efforts. Conni did have some stomach distress from a gel pack she had before the start of the race, otherwise they probably would have been under 3 hours. Interestingly, they finished 17th and 18th overall out of over 900 finishers. Former Pine Plains resident Lisa Vail was third woman in 2:58:00. Lisa now lives in Gainesville, FL.

2/18 The college indoor championships have begun. Last weekend (as I mentioned below) Sacred Heart took 2nd in the NEC with Tom Hyatt scoring in the pole vault. This past weekend SUNYACs were held at Hobart College and the MAAC Championships were at the Armory. There were three John Jay alumni at SUNYACs. Ryan Joyce and Kevin O'Connell competing for Geneseo and JC Kennedy competing for Brockport. Ryan had a very strong meet to help Geneseo to it's second place finish. He took 8th in the long jump with his best leap at 20' 5.5". In the triple jump, Ryan had his second meet in a row with a sequence of 6 great jumps, all 6 of which were better than his previous PR of 42' 8". His longest jump of the day was 43' 8", good enough for 4th place. Kevin continues to improve in the pole vault, clearing 12' 6", scoring for Geneseo by placing 8th. It's just a matter of time before he breaks the 13' barrier. Speaking of the 13' barrier, JC had an awesome day in the vault, taking 4th place overall and clearing 13' 11.75". I assume the bar was not at 14" because they were using metric heights. I'm going to give JC the other .25" and call him a 14' vaulter!! SUNYAC Results Marist had a number of excellent peformances at the MAAC Championships. The times in the distance races were not exceptionally fast since all the races were very tactical with teams looking for points rather than times. Marist runners took places 3-5 in the 5K, with John Jay alum Justin Harris taking 4th in 15:24.81. Third place was Red Hook's Dave Raucci in 15:23.38, 5th was Arlington's Tom Williams in 15:32.64 and not far behid Tom was Beacon graduate, Joe McElhoney, who now runs for Manhattan. This gave Dutchess County residents places 3 – 6 in the race. MAAC Results

2/17 You know you’re a masters runner when…

There is a thread on one of the sites I spend too much time on (my wife says I’m addicted) that has the topic, “You know you’re a masters runner when…” There have been at least 135 responses. Some are insightful, others sad, a few downright silly. At the moment it seems like a good idea to take a few (one at a time) and add a little of my own personal perspective.

One of the first ones to really ring true for me was, “You know you’re a masters runner when you remember when qualifying for Boston was 2:50.” It was 1979 and I had just run my first marathon, which coincidently was the first Dutchess County Marathon. This whole road-racing world was new to me. My last race prior to 1979 was a 400-meter race 11 years before during my senior year in college. Even though I was almost totally ignorant of the wide world of road racing, I knew of the Boston Marathon. In my post marathon euphoric state I decided that my second marathon would be Boston the following April. When I presented this idea to a couple of more experienced runners I was quickly brought back to Earth. “Steve, you can’t run Boston, your 2:55 is not fast enough.” CRASH! “What do you mean I have to qualify?” That’s when I first learned that to get to run Boston I would have to go under 2:50.

I’ve learned a lot about running and racing since that shock of a first lesson back in 1979. I even managed to run Boston three times in the early 80s. My qualifying time is now 4:00. If I can just stay healthy it would be great to qualify and do Boston one more time.

2/14 Happy Valentine's Day Blizzard to all of you! I guess winter had to come sometime. There is a little news to report on this wintery day. Cornell Dawson ran the Bronx 1/2 Marathon this past weekend in 19 degree weather. Last year's Bronx Half was run in July when it was 85 degrees. Those high temps prompted them to move the 2007 race to Feb. For Cornell the 65 degree difference in temperatures made for a much better race. In July he ran 2:15:12, this past weekend he improved to 2:03:27. I also got an email from John Jay alum, Ryan Joyce, who is competing for SUNY Geneseo. He had been suffering from mono to the point that he had to take a couple of weeks leave from school. Fortunately he is now healthy and jumping well. At a recent meet at Cornell he jumped 20' 5" in the long jump and in the triple jump he had a sequence of 6 jumps all over 41', with the best being a PR jump of 42' 8.5" which gave him a 4th place finish. The Northeastern University duo of Erin Ballard and Laura McCloskey each ran the 800m at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup held at Penn State. Erin finished 16thin 2:16.74 and Laura was 29th in 2:21.53. Sacred Heart took 2nd at the NEC Championships held in Maryland. Tom Hyatt scored in the pole vault, taking 7th place with a vault of 12' 9.5".

2/12 The results of the Sweat Heart race are up here. There was a really nice turnout for this race. Mike has done a great job putting on his series of low key races over the past few months. Mike can also be found volunteering at other local races in which he is not running. It's great to have the best runner in the area giving so much back to the running community. There are many runners who could learn much from his example.

2/11 Orange Runners Club Winter Series: Ken and Chris DeVries continued their great running at the Winter Series in Middletown. Ken finished 8th in 18:40 (PR) and Chris was 49th in 24:00. Ken was 2nd in the 50-59 age group with places 7-11 all being in that highly competive age group. Chris was first in the women's 50-59 age group. Chris is currently leading the series scoring in her age group, while Ken is in second place.

2/11 NYRRC Thursday Night at the Races: As most of you are probably aware a couple of weeks ago Marisa Hanson ran a 3000 meter race at the NYRRC Thursday night at the races and broke the U.S. Masters Indoor record for that distance(9:57). Unfortunately for a record to count there must be automatic timing or 3 hand held watches on the race. There was neither. The record does not count! Not long after that race Marisa was invited to run in a special women's master's 800 race at the USATF Indoor National Championships which will be held in Boston on Feb. 24/25. To do so she had to run an 800 meter race in 2:25 to qualify. We traveled back to the Armory on Thursday and Marisa ran her first 800 m race in at least 12 years, finishing in 2:24.4! Glen Brent also had a great race that night, running the mile in 5:21.

Some of you may remember Louis Gutierrez from Peru. He ran a number of local races while staying in Beacon with family. Before he returned to Peru the MHRRC gave him a bunch of running gear to take back to his local club. He sent Keith some pictures and I've posted some of them below.

 

2/7 Alumni at BU Multi-team Meet: Erin Ballard and Laura McCloskey were back in action for Northeastern University with Erin placing 3rd in the 1000m in 2:56.10 and Laura taking 10th in the 400m in 62.00.

2/4 The Winter Run: It was cold (18 degrees) and fairly windy but that didn't deter 96 runners from finishing the race. It's great to see Kieran Stack rounding back into running form after battling a series of calf injuries over the last year. He won the race handily by over a minute. Conni Grace looks very ready for her marathon in two weeks, her time was her best ever on that course. The men's 50-59 division continues to be one of the most competitive around. Speaking of that age group – Kevin Dollard just keeps getting better with age. Look out for Clare Knapp, she's a former Marist track runner who is slowly working her way into the road racing scene. She ran 34:14 in only her 4th road race ever.
Full results.

2/3 Some John Jay Patriot News: There have been two new indoor track records established by Patriot athletes this year. Charlese Porter set a new record in the triple jump with an outstanding 34' 7.5" performance. I think Chralese has medaled at every meet the team has been to. Also, Karlie Dean (daughter of outstanding runner and MHRRC member John Dean) ran 7.60 seconds for the 55 meter dash. Both girls have achieved the qualifying standards for the Eastern States Championships.

Alumni updates from this past weekend (1/27):
University of Washington Invitational:
Hakon (Stanford) ran a provisional NCAA D1 qualifying time in the 3000 meter with a time of 8:03.76. Just to give you some perspective, that's equivalent to 8:42 for full 2 mile race!
Boston Indoor Games: Laura McCloskey and Erin Ballard (Northeastern) each took 5th their respective races. Laura ran the 800 in 2:22.24 and Erin ran the 1000 m in 2:57.56
John Covert Classic at Lehigh University: Tom Hyatt (Sacred Heart) finished 4th in the heptathlon with a score of 4135.

1/28 ORC Winter Series Race #2: 11. Ken DeVries 18:55; 66. Chris DeVries 23:25.

1/22 Since we are going to be in Florida for a week, I'm going to try to get everything updated with recent results from some local runners, John Jay team results and John Jay alumni.

Manhattan 1/2 Marathon: I received an email from training group member Cornell Dawson. He ran his second 1/2 marathon of the new year on Sunday. He finished in 2:06:15, over a minute faster than he ran on New Years Day in Albany at the Hangover Half. He saw Lynne Kopac and Christine Anyetei there also. Lynne ran 2:26:44 and Christine finished in 1:55:37.

Hartshorne Masters Mile, Ithaca: Marisa Hanson and Glen Brent made the trek out to the Finger Lakes region to run this special masters indoor mile. Marisa Finished 2nd in the elite women's race in a time of 5:08.44. Glen finished 8th in the first men's non-elite race in 5:22.43. Both very excellent performances on the indoor flat 200 meter oval. You can find the full results here. Glen and Marisa have been doing some amazing workouts this winter and it showed in their results.

Alumni update: Great Dane Classic, Armory: Erin Ballard (Northeastern University) took first the 1000 meter run in 3:00.17.
RIT Invitational: Ryan Joyce and Kevin O'Connell of Geneseo each had another strong meet with Ryan placing 4th in the triple jump at 12.75 meters and 10th in the long jump at 6.12 meters. Kevin took 5th in the pole vault at 3.7 meters.
Sacred Heart,BC, BU and U Mass Quad Meet: Sacred Heart won the meet with Tom Hyatt taking 3rd in the high jump with a leap of 6' 0" and 5th in the pole vault clearing 12' 5.5".
Wesleyan Invitational: Christine Muller (DCC) took 2nd in the shot put with a toss of 8.91 meters.
Sorry about all those distances in meters. You'll just have to google a conversion chart.

Section 1 North County Championships, RCC: The John Jay girls finished second and the boys took fourth in this 10 team meet: I have places with performances only for first place finishers.
Girls' results: 1500m racewalk: 2.Jenna DiLullo; 55m dash: 4. Karlie Dean; 300m dash: 2. Brianna Reynoso; 600m run: 5. Julie Moy; Pole Vault: 1. Heather Shay 8' 6"; Long Jump: 2. Charlese Porter; Triple Jump: 2. Charlese Porter; 4 x 200 m relay: 1. JJ (Nedig, Porter, Reynoso, Dean) 1:53.0; 4 x 400 m relay: 3. JJ; 4 x 800 meter relay: 4. JJ
Boys' results: 55m HH: 3. Mike Clifford; 300 m dash: 1. Adam Schmalz 37.7; 600 m run: 4. Brian Donovan; 1000 m run: 4. Sean O'Brien; Long Jump: 5. Mike Clifford; Triple Jump: 4. Chris Turchioe; 4 x 200 m relay: 4. JJ; 4 x 400 m relay: 3. JJ; 4 x 800 m relay: 4. JJ

1/18 World Masters' Track Rankings: The masters' track rankings for 2006, which combine both indoor and outdoor performances, were recently published on mastersathletics Marisa Hanson is listed as #4 in the world for 2006 in the 1500 meter run, her time is also the current U.S. master's indoor record.

1/18 Yale Track Classic: Tom Hyatt had a good meet for Sacred Heart University, finishing 6th in the high jump (1.81 meters) and 8th in the pole vault (3.90 meters).

1/18 St. Lawrence University Open: John Jay grads Ryan Joyce and Kevin O'Connell helped lead the Geneseo men's team to victory at the St. Lawrence Open, a 4 team meet held last weekend. Ryan took first in the triple jump (41' 7") and second in the long jump (19' 11.75") while Kevin won the pole vault (12' 0").

1/17 Suffern Invitational, RCC: The Patriots managed a few medals at this highly competitive meet. Charlese Porter continued her excellent season of triple jumping placing 6th with a distance of 32' 6". Frank Risole took 5th in the pole vault at 10' 0". The boys' sprint relays continue to be medal winning teams taking 4th in the 4 x 200 meter at 1:37.9 and 5th in the 4 x 400 meter in 3:42.3.
Full Results

1/14 ORC Winter Series 5K: If you went to this race and were in the men's 50-59 age group you better have been ready to run. Four runners finished in under 19:00, taking overall places 7, 8, 9, and 11. Tom Manza led the age group in 18:34, followed by Ken DeVries in 18:42, George Shurter in 18:44 and Jim Clancy in 18:53. Chris DeVries won the women's 50-59 age group in a blistering 22:52. She was 11th woman overall out of the 70 women in the race. Full results. Training group member Harry Owens was also there, finishing 35th in 21:34.

1/13 League Championships at RCC: Both the Patriot boys' and girls' teams had excellent performances, with each team finishing second at the League Championships. The girls' team edged out Carmel by 1 point, 103 – 102 to secure the second place team finish. First place finishers for the girls were Karlie Dean in the 55m dash (7.6 seconds), Brianna Reynoso in the 300 m dash (43.9 seconds), Charlese Porter was a double winner taking both the long jump (16' 3.75") and the triple jump (34' 7.5") and Heather Shay won the pole vault (8' 6"). For the boys, first place finishers were Adam Schmalz in the 300m dash (37.8 seconds), Mile Clifford in the long jump (17' 10.75"), Chris Turchioe in the triple jump (38' 0") and the 4 x 400 meter relay team of Mike Mosca, Brian Donovan, Sean O'Brien, and Adam Schmalz (3:43.3). Full Results

1/12 Good News!: I saw in the paper today that when the 11.8 mile Dutchess Rail Trail is completed it will be a dual trail, with half being paved and the other half a gravel trail. It's wonderful that the powers that be listened to the runners in the area and left half of it unpaved. Round trip a 23.6 mile run with no pavement. Awesome.

1/12 Thursday Night at the Races at the Armory: The first trip down to the Big Apple went quite well. Marisa Hanson and Glen Brent each ran the mile. Marisa finished in 5:05 and Glen in 5:21. Kieran Stack stayed a little later and ran the two mile, running very even splits of 5:09/5:09 to come through in 10:18. It was Kieran's first indoor track race in 6 years. What a great return to the indoor oval. I just went along to watch, still a long way from attempting a fast mile (or fast anything else for that matter).

1/11 Millrose 4 x 400 meter relay trials: The John Jay Patriot boys' and girls' teams had excellent races at the Armory last night running to the fastest times in Dutchess County so far this indoor season. The girls' team of Brianna Reynoso, Karlie Dean, Julie Moy and Laura Ambron finished in a time of 4:16 which placed them first in their heat. The boys' team of Adam Schmalz, Frank Risole, Brian Donovan and Sean O'Brien places second in their heat in 3:35.2. The League Championhip meet is Friday (1/12) at Rockland Community College. Good luck Patriots! To see some pictures of the race click here.

1/09 The college season will start to get into full swing soon. I'll make a concerted effort to dig up as many results for John Jay alumni as I can. In a couple of early season meets Ryan Joyce has done well competing in his first season for Geneseo. Back on Dec. 2 he long jumped 20' .25" and triple jumped 41' 2.25" at a meet held at Cornell. Geneseo returned to Cornell again on Jan. 5. At that meet Ryan long jumped 20' 3.5" and triple jumped 40' 11.75". Kevin O'Connell is pole vaulting for Geneseo. He was listed for the Dec. meet with a NH. It was a tough meet with the opening height appearing to be 13 ' 3". Laura McCloskey and Erin Ballard opened their seasons for Northeastern University at a dual meet against Harvard. Erin was 1st in the 800 in 2:21.16, while Laura was 3rd in 2:28.51. Neither one of them ran XC in the fall, so they are just starting to get back into shape.
If anyone has any results or links with results you can send me, I would certainly appreciate it.

1/8 What a day for the Fat Ass Fifty at Norrie Point. Who would have expected to be running in shorts and a t-shirt in January. As usual there was a great turn-out, with most people opting to use the chance for comradarie to get in their Sunday run. I'm not sure how many runners completed all 50K. Check Thursday's Poughkeepsie Journal for full results of all 50K finishers. In keeping with my desire to stay off the pavement as much as possible a number of us did loops through the carriage and single track trails that wind through both Mills and Norrie Park. Six of us did two loops of about 4.3 miles and then three of us headed out for one more 4+ mile trek along the river and back to the parking lot. Including stops for drinks and taking off layers of clothing we totaled 2:24. Great fun.

1/1 Hangover Half Marathon, Albany: Kevin Dollard ran this race for the 7th consecutive year and came away with a 10th place overall finish (1st 50-59) in a PR time of 1:24:50. Cornell Dawson finished 153rd (3rd 65-69) in a time of 2:07:44. This was 15 minutes faster than the first time he ran in back in 2004.

Brookfield Lions/James O'Brien Run for Sight 4 miler, Brookfield, CT: Six local runners headed across the border to run in this New Year's Day race. Ken DeVries was 10th overall (1st 50-59) in a time of 25:21. Jeff Nero was 16th (4th 50-59) in 26:57, Chris Giam was 29th in 28:50. For the local female runners, Janice Cyr let the way with a 34th place (1st 40-49) finish in 29:37. Chris DeVries and Chris Walsh took 1st and 2nd in the 50-59 age group in times of 30:32 and 33:08.