For CPTC, the night started with the Women’s 5k. Aileen Conlon and Kate Irvin were both in the race. After a pedestrian first lap, the race picked up. Aileen sat herself right at the back of the lead pack while Kate was number two in the chase pack. Both then proceeeded to put on an absolutely beautiful display of 5k pacing, running the next eight laps like metrenomes. It paid off big in the end as both PR’ed. Aileen ran 16:28.30, good enough for 4th place, a four-second PR, and a reduction in her club record. Kate ran 16:56.56, placed 13th, ran a huge 15-second PR, and moved up to number 3 on the the CPTC all-time list (and I’ve rarely seen anyone fight as hard at the end of a race!).

After the women’s 5k came the Olympic Development Men’s 5k, with JR and Atilla in the race. The first few laps of the men’s race were erratic. CPTC’s men came through in 73, 68, and 71 before settling into a pace for the coming laps. While toward the last fourth of the pack at the beginning of the race, both JR and Atilla showed their strength as they continued to pass others lap after lap. JR closed strong and finished in 24th place 14:48.83, a six-second PR in his first 5k of the year, and he moved up to 8th on the all-time list. And all this after telling me before the race that he didn’t even feel well (we’ll have to wait and see what is to come later in the season for him). Atilla, battling a cold for most of the week, finished a strong 14:58.12 in 35th place.

The last races of the night were the Women’s and Men’s 10ks. In the Women’s 10k, Felice Kelly was running her first track 10k. Anyone that tells you a track 10k is easy since it’s flat is lying. The mental battle of 25 laps on the track can be brutal. But Felice remained tough the entire race and cracked the 37-minute barrier in the process. Her final time of 36:58.29 was good enough for 5th in the Olympic Development Women’s race. In the Men’s 10k, Carl Dambkowski ran a strong first 17 laps and despite struggling home the last 8 laps, still ran a solid 31:06.52, good enough for 5th in the race.

Overall, distance night at Penn was hugely successful for CPTC, bringing home some nice PRs and mixing up the club all-time list in the process. With this just the beginning of the season for many, we can only hope the great races and fast times continue.

The team arrived late (really late after flight delays) Thursday night in order to preview the course on Friday before racing Saturday.  While running the course, a light snow started to come down.  Little did we know that those would be the best conditions we could get all weekend.

Waking up Saturday, we knew it would be a brutal one.  By race time, the temperature had dropped to below 20 and winds were around 20 mph, with even gnarlier gusts.  The course consisted of 2 or 3 loops (2 for the women, 3 for the men) around an open grass field, so there was no avoiding a run in with the wind.

The first race of the day was the Master Women’s 6k.  Even in the brutal conditions, the Master Women’s team placed 7th as a team.  Leading the way was Jill Vollweiler in 8th place followed by Sue Pearsall in 28th place and rounding out the scoring (Master races score 3 deep) was Devon Martin in 49th place, making a transition form coach to althete for the early part of the morning.

The next race of the day for Central Park was the Open Women’s 6k.  In a stong field, the Central Park Women ran strong to an 8th place finish in the team competition.  Leading the team was Aileen Conlon in 12th place (22:22).  Following her, with a breakthrough race, was her younger sister Emily Dusen in 58th place.  Rounding out the team were Natalie Gingerich in 69th place, Lauren Gustafson in 70th place, Lauren Esposito in 80th place, Kate Irving in 85th place and Zoe Swenson in 109th place.

On the men’s side, Central Park fielded their first team at the cross-country championships.  The team finished 21st overall.  Scott Kallgren lead the team with a 65th place finish (33:01).  Next on the team were Brian Gertzen in 132nd and Carl Dambkowski in 142nd.  Rounding out team were John Roberts in 190th place, Peter Derby in 192nd place, and Sean Fortune in 245th place.

Overall, it was a stong showing for all Central Park Track Club’s teams, especially considering the brutal conditions on race day.  Congrats to all those who ran and survived!