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

NEW CLUB RECORDS
60m
6.75 Jeremy – PR

Mile
4:04.05 Carlos – PR by 6 seconds (1st time breaking 4:10)

3000m
8:14.22 Andrew – PR by 16 seconds

5000m – Indoor Club Record & Thai National Record!
17:20 Jane – PR

WINS
60m Champion at BU Terrier
6.75 Jeremy

1500m Champion at Colgate Games at Madison Square Garden
5:02.40 Terry

Long Jump Champion at BU Terrier
7.49m Chaz

High Jump Champion at Colgate Games at Madison Square Garden
5’6″ Shemayra

OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES
Shot Put – 2nd place
17.10m Langhauser – Season PR

Triple Jump
14.33m Rolston – 5th place

60m Hurdles – 7th place
8.23 prelims Rolston
8.34 final

500m
1:20.68 Deana PR

800m
2:16.22 Maureen – 7th place
2:17.50 Andrea – 10th place

3000m
8:25 Kenworthy
8:43 Stan

5000m
15:40 Brendan

US Open – 5th place
1:26 Jonevan – tore calf in race & kept going
63 Les
36 Muktar
42 Vernon

Top Performances of CPTC Summer-College Athletes
3000m
9:30 Sergio PR by 20 seconds

Mile
4:39 Sergio PR by 6 seconds

500m Champion at BU Terrier – Top 20 World Best Mark for 2012
62.81 Hadj – PR by 1 second

55m Colgate Runnerup
7.17 Tobi

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.

NEW CLUB RECORDS
60m
6.78 Jeremy Bascom

1000m
2:49.52 Cat Beck

Women’s Sprint Medley
4:06.34

Pole Vault
5.0m Jordan Yamoah

PRs
60m Hurdles
8.21 Rolston Braitwaite

60m
6.78 Jeremy Bascom – 1st place

800m
2:01.3 Giancarlos drops 5 seconds

1000m
2:27 Carlos Jamieson drops 3 seconds & 1st place
2:27 Julius Mutekanga drops 3 seconds
2:49 Cat Beck drops 7 seconds — Top 3 US Mark List
2:51 Steph Herrick drops 2 seconds — Top 6 US Mark List

Mile
4:40 Tom Fitzpatrick – Season PR

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

So again, thank you Lynn for being here when it mattered most.  

Happy Holidays to all and see you at the races!    :-)

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

Marathon photos are posted….

http://spear.smugmug.com/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andykiss/sets/72157628085819578/

http://web.mac.com/patrickcowden/Site/NYC2011.html

Also there are more on facebook by Michael Ahern.

NYC MARATHON recap: 

Congrats to all our 50+ team mates on a fine day of marathon racing resulting in a team first place finish. 

On a beautiful sunny day, leading the 50+ team was Alan Ruben (2:49:17), Michael Rennock (2:54:27), and Peter Allen (3:01:06). 

A solid team turnout was backed up by Yasuhiro Makoshi (3:06:17), Noel Labat-Comess (3:13:48), Roger Liberman (3:46:07), Richard Shaver (3:55:09), and James Smyth (4:12:06).

A good job put in by all. – enjoy your recovery days! 

There have been reports of NYRR errors in results postings including missing team registrations – if I missed you, please let me know

<<<<<< 

From Hank Schiffman of the 60+

Going into the final race of the year, 2nd and 3rd positions of the Club Awards for men 60+, as I had feared, are up for grabs. We are tied for 3rd with West Side Runners after Witold’s Runners fielded a full team for Grete’s and took a solid second place. Greater NY picked up 3 points on their marathon effort. We did not have 3 finishers for either event. Like a metaphor for the USA in the global economy, the world has caught up to us. As of today’s unofficial NYC Marathon results:

NYRR Men 60+ Post 2011 NY Marathon Team Scoring – unofficial

1          NYF                15

2          Clifton             12

3          Korean                        10

4          WSR               8

5          GLI                 6

6          Rockland         5

7          Millrose           4

8          GNY               3

9          PPTC               2

10        Achilles           1

Current NYRR Men 60+ Post 2011 NY Marathon Team Standings - unofficial

1          TRR                117

2          Witold’s           70

3          WSR               63

4          CPTC              63

5          GNY               58

6          NYF                56

7          VCT                54

8          FR                    46

9          Rockland         43

10        Prospect          15

As you can see, as West Side Runners, Greater NY, the Flyers and Van Cortlandt do as well, that we need 3 strong scorers for that 3rd spot. Witold’s too are in the hunt because of the “mulligan” rule: “At the end of the year, each club’s point totals in the 9 best races of the 11-race series (the lowest 2 scores for each club is automatically dropped) are added to determine the club’s overall ranking for the year.” Will NYRR drop just one race from each as we all lost the Percy Sutton 5k? 

If you go to: http://www.nyrr.org/resources/clubs/60Men.htm   you will see this, which does not include the marathon, my figures above represent the current standings but the table below should change when NYRR gets around to posting it on the site:

Where does that put us? If I have my math correct, we have a statistical advantage against all but West Side in that we get to subtract a couple of zeros while all others have to lose real numbers. Assuming that all the dogs in the fight have 3 finishers for the final race, Witold’s loses 6 and they only get more points if they come in over 5th place in the race. Short of an act of god, Taconic will take first and the 15 points. The fight will be for second place. As West Side is situated like we are with 2 zeros to throw out, they will go for broke, and we must as well. Greater NY has to lose 4 points. Therefore, they too need to get the 12 points of second place to best both us and WSR. Could the Flyers take second and other competitors bottom out, only gaining a few points? I don’t think so. West Side has the talent to give us a run for our money. Conceivably, CPTC and WSR could take 2nd and 3rd, leaving Witold’s to throw out 12 points. It’s a horse race.

The bottom line is that we need to be strong and avoid injuries. We need to score, meaning have at least 4 committed runners for the Join the Voices 5 miler on December 4th at 8:30 am, and have 3 strong finishers. All these teams will be poring over the same numbers, that could change with updated corrections in the marathon results. 

Please get back to me if you intend to run this race and register for it ASAP. Next year some of us should be stronger and we will have more talent coming of age, and try to work out some commitments towards those races that we did not score in. In the mean time, don’t miss XC racing season at VC Park. There are 2 upcoming shorter races: the Fred Lebow 5k XC Championships on 11/20 at 11:30, and a NYC USATF XC event expected on November 26.

Train, but don’t strain!

Yours,

Hank