When I arrived at 8:30 the sun hadn’t broken through yet; the air was crisp and most of the course was shaded. Athletes were warming up, ranging from super-serious competitors to people out for a morning jog. I came upon a small group of Central Park athletes warming up. The air was practically buzzing with their energy, and I thought to myself how ready to go Alma Lebrecht seemed. Once the women’s 15-29 age-group race started, Alma, Laura Wang, and Joy Romulus powered through the crowd. When I saw them at the three-quarter-mile mark, their faces were set in determination as they picked up their pace, covering the last quarter mile with fierce strength. Laura won the 20-24 age group, and Joy finished second.

Coach Devon’s instructions for the Fifth Avenue Mile are always “compete, compete, and compete!” This year CPTC was rife with top finishes and personal records. Les Page set a new road PR by seven seconds (4:25), looking his usual mix of competitive toughness and confidence, and finishing fourth in the 25-29 age group. Tim Freeman finished just ahead in second place in 4:24, and Carl Dambkowski was fifth in 4:26.

Mel Stafford ran 4:47, Michael Chary set a three-second PR in the 20-24 age group, running 4:51, and Doug Labar tied his PR of 5:18. In the 40-49 age-group race, Sue Pearsall’s performance was completely awe-inspiring. She dropped a six-second PR (5:50) and couldn’t have looked more comfortable doing it; her race is a testament to her stalwart commitment to coming back from injury.

Additional top finishes showed New York City yet again that CPTC is a team to watch out for. Bill Wells (4:35) finished second in the 20-24 age group, and in 30-34 Tom Dichiara (4:35) and Ulrich Fluhme (4:41) finished in third and fourth respectively. Maintaining his perpetual status on the top of the results, Anselm Lebourne won the 50-54 age group in 4:41. He is probably the envy of 2132 finishers, as he was also thirty-fourth overall in the men’s age-group races.
 
Christina Michael (5:25) finished third in the 25-29 age group. Yumi Ogata (5:37) was 2nd in the 45-50 age group, Hank Schiffman (5:39) was fourth in the 60-64 age group, and Sid Howard, 70, won his age group with a 5:57.

Racing is intense. The doubts you have about yourself as a runner, about your fitness, about your competitive spirit are never more present than the half hour before you step on the line. It’s such a cruel reality, and its also why it’s so special. You have those doubts and you do it anyway. You literally put yourself on the line and prove to you, your teammates, your coach, your competitors, that you are stronger than it is. The huge range of age-group placing, from  the 8-11 age group (go, Erika!) to the 60-64 age group (yay, Hank!) is a testament to the mental strength and tenacity that CPTC athletes demonstrate over and over again.   

In addition to the age-group races, the NYRR has an elite race, in which several Central Park Track Club athletes competed. In the men’s race, Dustin Emrani finished second by less than 2 seconds, running a PR of 4:03.4. Brian Gertzen (4:11.4) and Chris Spooner (4:13.4) finished in sixth and eighth respectively.

In the women’s NYRR Championship race, Kate Irvin finished fourth in 4:47, closely followed by Aileen Conlon in 4:50, who improved on her time from last year. Melissa Salerno ran a sweet, exciting PR of 4:54. Melissa’s tenacity was first in evidence when she ran two relays at our club championships about two weeks) after joining the team.

My young runners didn’t fare quite so well. While everyone finished (huge success and much excitement), two students of mine were beat by a teenager competing on crutches (true story). While we have a long way to go, the good news is that they recognize and appreciate the athletes they can become by watching CPTC compete. “Ms. Cushing, the orange team is good!” one young runner, Kimani, observed when I told them who we should cheer for. Indeed it is.

Last year Webb won the Fifth Avenue event with 3:57—a scant two months after his 3:46 mile in Brasschat, Belgium set the new American record. And a couple of months before that, Webb won the Reebok Grand Prix mile at Icahn Stadium, with 3:52.

So New York was primed to see him again, and spectators along Fifth Avenue were even thicker than usual. CPTC’s Melanie Murphy recalls watching Webb’s finish with a friend, and listening to fan-chatter behind them: “He’s…cute!”

This year’s headliner for the Fifth Avenue Mile is marathoner and Olympian Bernard Lagat, who last month in Beijing ran the 5000m with a viral infection and fatigue, fading to 9th place.

CPTC is expected to field about 35 athletes. We’d have lots more, but this year the Mile takes place the same day as the Philadelphia Distance Run and the Fred Lebow 5k cross-country at Van Cortlandt. As usual, there will be a deep masters contingent, including Stuart Calderwood, Joe Bolster, Rae Baymiller, Mary Rosado, and Sid Howard, among others.

Doug Labar (50 division) will be running it the first time as a club member. He says he tried it the first time in 2005…and liked it, “quite a bit, despite a 15-minute coughing fit at the end (seems like!). It’s what got me into running shorter distances.”

Men in the 20s/30s cohorts include Michael Basen, Andrew Bonventre, Joe Kennedy, Andrew Sutherland, Bill Wells, Jay Barry, Sean Fortune, Doug Hertler and Andrew Hogue. Sub-40 women include Resie Caffery and Mel Murphy.

If the club has a “main event,” it’s the local-elite NYRR Road Mile races, going on from 12:20 onward. CPTC runners include Kate Cushing, Aileen Conlon and Natalie Gingerich for the women; and Jason Ostenson and Brian Gertzen for the men.

This is a first time for Brian Gertzen, a former Yale xc and middle-distance star, and he says he’s been looking forward to it for months.

“It is one of the few events where you have to have that perfect balance of speed, endurance and toughness,” Brian writes, “and if you don’t bring it mentally, it doesn’t matter what kind of physical shape you are in. I have been running the mile competitively since 5th grade and it has held a special place for me ever since. Besides enjoying the moment, there is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to be close to, if not under, my PR of 4:08.”

Editor’s Note: to see everyone who is racing this weekend click here