Stephanie Herrick
New Club Record for Indoor 800m & Indoor PR
2:07.59 USA National Qualifier

Andrew Combs
New Club 1500m Record
3:47.03 PR by 6 seconds

Julius Mutekanga and Cat Beck of Central Park Track Club New Balance each qualified for major championships with performances on Saturday.

CPTC New Balance’s Mutekanga hit the IAAF World Indoor Championships qualifying standard in the 800 meters at the New Balance Games.  His time of 1:48.00 is among the top ten fastest times in the World for 2012.  The World Championships start March 9 in Istanbul, Turkey.

CPTC New Balance’s Beck qualified for the USA Indoor National Championships with a time of 4:45.02 in the mile today.  This will be Beck’s second time competing at this event at USA Indoor Nationals in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is scheduled for February 26.

Beck was an 11-time All-American for Tufts University and an NCAA Division III runner-up in the 1500m and 5000m.  Since joining CPTC New Balance in 2009, Beck has drastically improved in the mile.

The numbers are fantastic – let’s start with the team points competition: Three of six CPTC masters teams did better than they did in 2010, and none did worse. Individually, CPTCers set world and American records on the high end, and many, many PRs slightly lower on the bell curve.

Let us praise the women’s 60+ team for winning the team competition, after finishing a weak fifth in 2010. Captain Sylvie Kimche rallied the troops month after month, and the team of Deb Barchat, Judith Tripp, Marie-Louise Michelsohn, Lynn Blackstone, Caryl Baron and Sylvie herself squeaked out a season win against Mercury Masters.

The Men’s 50+ also won, but that is like saying Kip Lagat won Millrose – this is at least the third year in a row for the team atop the standings, and a well-won huzzah goes to captain Andrew Moore and his speedy few.

The men’s 40+ surged into second place, better than their 3^rd place in 2010. With a heavy assist from ringer Thom Little, the m 40+ kept improving through the year, throwing down a sharp win at the marathon. And with momentum surging and John Milone turning 40 next year, the future looks very bright for the M 40+.

The women’s 40+ matched its second place from 2010, winning three races and narrowly losing to Athena.

The men’s 60+ deserves full credit for a massively successful rebuilding year, finishing just off the podium in fourth by a technicality having to do with how the NYRR counts mulligans. Captain Hank Schiffman tirelessly got his mates out onto the start line, fielding teams in six races this year, versus just three in both 2009 and 2010. The highlight of the year was an incredible one second win over Taconic at the Fifth Avenue Mile, with Hank, Sid Howard and Chris Neuhoff outleaning our northern rivals.

Individually, we have to acknowledge two records of which I am aware: Marie-Louise Michelsohn broke the world records for the 70-74 3000 and 5000 on a windy day at Icahn Stadium. Early in the year, Rae Baymiller broke the 65-69 American record in the half marathon with an amazing 1:33:43. While it happened in 2009, Stuart Calderwood’s 54-59 ARs at 20k, 25k and 30k on the track were finally ratified.

Here are the top 2011 performances in the NYRR database for distances greater than one mile:

Men:

Alan Ruben: 87.5%

Stuart Calderwood: 86.9

Thom Little: 85.8%

Michael Rennock: 84.6%

Hank Schiffman: 84.3%

Women:

Rae Baymiller: 99.9%

Marie-Louise Michelsohn: 92.0%

Sylvie Kimche: 89.9%

Yumi Ogita: 87.3%

Jill Vollweiler: 82.8%

I apologize if I missed anyone.

Rae, Marie-Louise, Sylvie, Alan and Stuart’s marks were among the top 10 performances by CPTCers in the last four years, since I started this column.

Top Performers since 2007:

Men:

1. Alan Ruben 87.7 (2009)

2. Birger Ohlsson 87.7 (2008)

3. Stuart Calderwood 86.8 (2011)

4. Michael Trunkes 86.8 (2008)

Women:

1. Rae Baymiller 100.4 (2010)

2. Marie-Louise Michelsohn 92.1 (2011)

3. Yumi Ogita 90.2 (2010)

4. Sylvie Kimche 89.9 (2011)

5. Jill Vollweiler 86.9 (2008)

On the track, Lisa Daley won multiple golds at the World Masters Champs, and Neil Fitzgerald won one of the best 800 meter races you’ll ever see, at the same meet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffHVOuHBlFY

Almost on the track, Yumi Ogita was flying on Fifth Avenue, running a 94.1%/5:18, winning by 27 seconds. Her time would have won the two proximate younger age groups and medalled all the way down to the 30-34.

The team improved its depth in 2011 also – at the last points race of the year ten male CPTCers scored over an age-graded 80%, while in 2010 only six hit that milestone.  The faster masters ‘just get me to the line in time’ award goes to Chris Donnelly, who raced more than anyone else: 14 times. On the women’s side, Wanda Wang crossed the line 12 times.  While Yasuhiro Makoshi had an off year, only racing seven times, he has raced circa 88 times in four years, far more than anyone else.

One hundred masters men were active through the year, and 22 masters women.

Race Rewind:

Captain Jim McQuade and George Hirsch won their age groups at the Ted Corbitt 15k, but no one set a 52-week age graded PR.  Dan Gercke celebrated the holidays with a win in the 45-49 at the Brooklyn Jingle Jog.

The last points race of the season, December 4 and lasting a wonderful 5 miles, was my personal favorite of the year, as no fewer than ten CPTCers set new 52-week age graded PRs. David Greenberg, Mel Stafford, Peter Allen, Michael Rennock, Daniel Gercke, Michael Caggia, Laurence Go, Rich Shaver, Philip Vasquez and Dave Delano had their best races of the year, statistically. The men’s team had an amazing grouping, with David G, Mel S, Michael Ahern, David Bosch, Peter A and Michael R finishing all packed up within 30 seconds of each other. For Davids Bosch and Greenberg, the race was their first Central Park race over the 80% mark.

After Joe DiMaggio grounded out in the 57^th game, fans must have sat back and wondered how the heck the clipper had done it. Our own Sylvie Kimche had a streak end this year: 45 straight age group wins in Central Park races. The only way it could end was through injury or another world-class runner moving into the neighborhood – and that is just what happened. Kathryn Martin turned 60 and no one, not even our Sylvie Kimche, can beat Kathy Martin. But Sylvie herself moved up an age group on December 11, so woe to those competitors. And it goes on.

At the XC champs in November, CPTC did its usual torrid best, winning three age groups and taking home fifteen medals, including the open team.  Shock and awe. The winners were Daniel Gercke, Hank Schiffman and Sue Pearsall.

Back to the first race after the marathon, a four miler on November 20, Lynn Blackstone set a 52 week age graded personal best and won a bronze medal to fill the traditional role of the maraschino cherry.

I am sure I missed endless good news – please let me know so I can be more complete.

Dgreenb300@aol.com

The victory of the 40+ was particularly sweet since the young ones had not won a club points race in 2011 and had finished third in the marathon in 2010. The average 40+ scorer in 2011 was almost 9 minutes faster than in 2010. Thom Little was the first across the line at 2:33/83.5%, after leading the open team through 30k. Josh Rayman was second (2:39/81.5%) and 54 year old Alan Ruben was third (2:49/85.4%).

Josh Rayman sped north from his green training grounds in Georgia to hit the asphalt and rebar of NYC.  Beside the latitudinal diversity Josh brings to the result sheets, he also has a different view of tapering. Two weeks ago, while his CPTC teammates were dialing back like a candidate after an election, Josh was lining up for a race. A marathon actually. Josh and a team called ‘Unholy Trinity’ won the Great Floridian relay triathlon, with Josh splitting 2:56 with a two minute stop.

Josh credits some big miles in training for allowing him to run two solid marathons in two weeks. He had averaged over 110 miles per week for the previous eight weeks and felt ready. The early miles were plagued by calf soreness, but he made like Majdic and sped on. At mile 25 he was facing every marathoner’s dream/nightmare:  knowing he had a PR and a time barrier in sight…but only if he could summon the fire for the final mile. Sue Pearsall’s camera caught well the determination of Josh’s last push. He joined up with another runner with the same opportunity, and put the hammer down to kill mile 26 in 6 flat and the last 400 in 69 seconds. 2:39:42 was a four second PR and maybe he had enough cushion to enjoy the last few steps.

The #3 scorer for the 40+ (and the #1 scorer for the 50+), Alan Ruben, has shown Coach Tony and the rest of us how to finish with dignity for many years. Much of what you need to know about Alan as a marathoner is that he covered the ground between 35k and 40k in 20:02 and the ground between 0k-5k in 19:58.   His splits were 1:24:22/1:24:55, which is probably the closest any CPTCer came to negatively splitting the race.

“I honestly didn’t think I’d break 2:50 again, so I was delighted.” Alan said afterwards. “I’ve run enough marathons (53) that I run more by feel than by pace, knowing the effort level I need to put in as the race progresses. So even though I was ahead of my expected splits, I knew I was running at the right effort level so I wasn’t too concerned.”

Running rock-solid above-expectation splits by feel is a clear benefit of having run formany years. As is the self-knowledge required to get you to the line in high fitness. To get back under the 2:50 barrier, Alan added more progression runs than in the past. “Training-wise I tried consciously to get back to doing workouts more comfortably and picking up toward the end, which was how I used to do them when I was a lot faster. As I’ve slowed I’ve found I’ve been working a little too hard to try to prevent my splits from degenerating too quickly. Again, for me, it’s all about getting the effort level right, not the pace.”

The No I Will Not Quit award goes to Mike Rennock, #2 scorer in the 50+, for his climb back from injury over the summer. “Three months ago, I ran my first race (Club Championships) since coming up gimpy with two strained hamstrings and having foot surgery.” Mike writes. “I could not break 6:45 pace per mile in that five mile race. I determined to slog through the workouts and the training miles to get to the marathon.” He stayed with Alan for the first 14 miles and clocked the finish at 2:54:27, under his goal of 2:55.   

So in three months, Mike went from 6:51 pace for a five miler to 6:40 pace for a 26 miler. He credits Coach Tony’s Tuesday track workouts for getting his legspeed and confidence up, and is looking forward to Boston 2012.

Also scoring for the victorious 50+ was Peter Allen (3:04/77.7%)

On the individual side, CPTC took down a podium in the women’s 65-69. Judith Tripp ran 4:05/81.4% to finish 3^rd in her age group. Her time was the 2^nd fastest of her seven NYC Marathons, behind a flying 3:46 in 2009. “I had high hopes (for a sub-4) as the time seemed to go by fast and a friend who clocked my splits said I was very steady.” But as the race went on her body started to give her trouble. “A few miles from the end, in the sun, I started to get kind of a numb left foot and then toe cramps! So I was sort of scuttling along like a crab when this happened, and I also got a bit of a calf cramp.”

It takes a big effort to get on the podium at the NYCM, and Judith pulled it off by being the only CPTCer to set a 52 week age graded PR in the race.

Even after decades of running, good training and great motivation can push us to new speeds. Andre’ Lejeune turned twenty years of capillary development into a lifetime best 3:05/72%. Unlike teammate Josh, Andre’ was able to savor CPS – this would be his best time by seven minutes.

Finally, making a marathon of marathons was Rick Shaver, who completed his 35th consecutive NYCM, in 3:55/64.5%. May we all enjoy running so much.

Team standings before the marathon:

First Place: M 50+

Second Place: M 40+, W 40+

Third Place : M 60+ (up from 5th place)

Fourth Place:  W 50+

Fifth Place: W 60+

Thanks to Sue Pearsall for the photo of Kimihiko Oishi.

dgreenb300@aol.com

Andrew Combs
NYRR Elite Mile Runner-up
New Club Road Record
4:06.1

Cat Beck
New Club Mile Record
4:43.5

Erison Hurtault
400m
45.70

Other PR Performances:

• 200m
• 20.8 Erison Hurtault
• 24.6  Keishana DeRose
• 400m
• 46.8  Terrance Livingston
• 54.1  Keishana LaRose
• 56.1  Maureen Zivic
• 500m
• 1:13 Maureen Zivic
• 800m
• 1:46 Dustin Emrani
• 2:05 Stephanie Herrick
• 1500m
• 3:48  Dustin Emrani
• 3:48  Carlos Jamieson
• 4:20  Cat Beck
• 100m Hurdles
• 13.80 Rebecca Williams
• 3000m Steeplechase
• 9:05  John Kenworthy
• Javelin
• 51.89  Grace Zollman

A month before, on a warm evening in Northern Manhattan, Lisa had found herself in a  very different place:  on the way to the emergency room. While training for the hurdles she had crashed hard to the Rekortan, hitting her head and bruising just about everywhere else.  Her coach got her to the ER, but would that be the end of Lisa’s world championship dream?

As Lisa, a lawyer by trade, might say – no, your honor. She was soon back training, learning intermediate hurdle technique with intensity and ambition. Sacramento was the finish line, not the hospital. She had set out to win at Worlds, and if she had to train with a mouthguard, she would do it.

From talking to Lisa, you get the sense that she actually welcomed the challenge of playing hurt. She had already been to Worlds twice in the 200 and 400, but she decided to add the hurdles. “I like challenges,” says Lisa, “I thought that at 40 I would like to add spice to my track career.”

The ones who win often think that way. In an interview with Flotrack, Bernard Lagat said that one of the things that he believes makes champions is the desire to keep improving, never being satisfied with where he or she is. Maybe we should all try a new event every time we hit a new age group.

The way to improvement for Lisa was through learning a new event. Despite only having raced the event a few times, she entered the 400 hurdles, hoping her training and 20 years of track experience would get her through the event. “It was harder than I thought,” she said later.

She ran cautiously in the prelims and was not the top seed going into the final. Rather than being discouraged, she put together a race plan to take advantage of her underdog status. She would attack the first four hurdles, hoping her relative anonymity would cause the field to assume she would come back to them. “The last couple of hurdles were ugly,” she laughed later, but she held it together to take her first win.  She crossed the line in 63.95,  .45 of a second under her old American record.

Knowing she still had seven heats and finals to go, Lisa used everything in her toolbox to help her recovery. Massages after each event, ice baths, epsom salts baths, proper cooldowns and stretching took up much of her time between events.

The 200 began a few hours after the hurdles final. Pushing back against her nerves with breathing exercises and memory of the hard work she put in, she was the top seed going into the final, and took gold with a 26.16, versus an Australian at 26.71.

Even after winning the 200 decidedly and heading toward her specialty race, the 400, Lisa could not relax because a long-time friendly rival, Charmaine Roberts (USA), was waiting for her. Since 2006, the two had raced against each other in every big meet. In the best tradition of masters racing, they hugged before the race and went to the blocks.

The 400 posed a challenge to Lisa because she had already been on the track all week. She had tried to get enough sleep and do the little things right, but racing that much takes a toll on your legs and your confidence. Adding to her nerves, she knew her rival, Roberts, liked to put the hammer down at around 300 meters, just when Lisa’s week might start to drag her back.

The only way for Lisa to win would be to have the right race plan, which she summed up as ‘I want to win.’ In practical terms, that meant ignoring what she had already done that week and going out hard to put some distance between her and her rival’s fast finish.  At 300 Roberts made her move, but Lisa relied on her hurdler’s strength to stay ahead by a head, 57.42 vs 57.76.

The individual meet was over,and Lisa had executed like a Goldman trader circa 2007:  three golds in three finals. Lisa was therefore invited to compete on the relays, and she was eager to participate. After her 400 gold the team got together to practice handoffs for the 4 x 1, knowing the Australians would be tough. Lisa asked for the second leg, figuring that the slightly longer leg might be right for her as a long sprinter.

“It was a good effort,” she said later. “It doesn’t matter how tired you are – the team aspect of the relay gets you going.” The Americans got the stick around and crossed the line second, but the Australians were disqualified and Lisa got her fourth gold.

Two hours later she was back for the 4 x 4. She had no doubts about racing for the ninth time and finishing the meet in style.  Racing with her rival from the 400, Charmaine Roberts, the Americans ran 4:03.49, winning by 40 meters and, particularly gloriously,  beating the time of the W 35 winners.

After the meet, Lisa’s only bittersweet thought after winning five golds and setting a national record in the hurdles was wondering how fast she could have gone in the 200 or 400 had she raced less.  Bernard Lagat would have approved.

Flights from Sacramento to JFK were weighed down by more gold than just Lisa’s. Neil Fitzgerald won an incredible M40 800 (1:55.70), with all three medalists finishing within 13 hundreths of a second of each other. Neil won a second gold in the  4 x 4.  Darnell Gatling won the M50 400 hurdles in 56.86.

Back home in New York, gold was rarer than in post-gold rush Sacramento. I’ll start in June, when Wanda Wang won her first-ever age group championship in an NYRR event at the Front Runners 5 miler. First out of 139 is a good percentage.

The very next day at the Achilles 5 miler, Yasuhiro Makoshi continued his comeback with an age group win, as did Yumi Ogita with a strong 87.3% age group score.

And then we come to the first of the scoring races of the summer, the July 16 four miler. As Coach Tony has pointed out, the scoring races are testaments to the overall depth of CPTC. Take a look at the men’s competition – despite not a single 52-week age-graded PR, the masters team scored a first and two seconds in the team competition. The women did have some strong individual races, and won two the age groups and finished 4^th in another.

The fast women on the day were Jill Vollweiler, who ran at 6:05 pace for her 83.52% and an age group win, Sue Pearsall, who medalled in her age group with a 52-week PR of 6:42 pace/77.1%. Audrey Kingsley medalled in the 40-44 with yet another age-graded 52 week PR – 6:40 pace/75.7%. Marie Michelson and Deb Barchat also won age groups on the day.

On the men’s side, despite no age group wins and no spectacular individual runs, the 50s won and the 40s and 60s finished second.

And then on to the amazing race we call team champs. The women were the stars of the day, as Yumi, Jill and Audrey rolled over the hills to the win in the 40+ and Sylvie Kimche, Marie-Louise Michelson and Deb Barchat won the day in the 60+.

On the men’s side, the M40+ was the highlight with its second place team finish. Michael Ahern had the race of the day, as he pulled out his best ever age-graded race in Central Park with his 5:48 pace/79.7%. Always fantastic to see a peak performance at champs. Otherwise, the pack was the key to the race, as CPTC finishers 2,3,4,5 in the 40+ finished within  53 seconds of eachother.

Also setting nice 52-week age graded PRs were Casey Yamazaki and Michael Siegell.

Standings as of press time (not including team champs)

First Place: M 50+

Second Place: M 40+ (up from third), W 40+

Third Place: W 60+ (up from fifth)

Fourth Place: W 50+ (up from fifth)

Fifth Place: M 60+ (up from sixth)

dgreenb300@aol.com

USA MEET RECORDS
Men’s Sprint Medley Relay

Men’s Distance Medley Relay

NEW CLUB RECORDS

Women’s 4 x 400m Relay

Men’s 4 x 100m Relay

Men’s 4 x 4oo Relay

Men’s 4 x 800m Relay

Men’s Sprint Medley