Twenty-five of us showed, and we pulled out 20 medals (19 last year): seven gold, five silver, eight bronze at last count. And some very strong performances. 

Sid Howard, who just turned 70, celebrated by winning his division in both the 800 (2:33) and the Mile (6:00), well ahead of all his competitors. In the 800, Sid set a new American record.

Neil Fitzgerald, age 40, took a gold in the 800.

Randy Frey won the M50 Pentathalon, including a win in the 60m hurdles event. The incredible Karl Hawke once again won the M40 High Jump. Gladstone Jones won the M45 400m.

Mike Trunkes ran 9:44 for a bronze in the tightly competitive M45 3000m. Doug Hertler, M35, took another bronze in the 800m.

Coach Tony Ruiz (M45) came in with a 2:06 in the 800 and a 4:49 in the mile.

Resie Caffrey, who won her W35 group in the 3000m last year, pulled out another gold this year (10:38), knocking 14 seconds off her time last year in Boston. She’d expected to do a little better (her PR is 10:37), but found herself having to “run a different race” this time. She said she had to keep shifting her strategy as she adjusted to the feel of the flat track and then found herself boxed in with four other leading runners for most of the race.

A few words about this Landover track. It’s a new Mondo surface, laid over a concrete foundation. It brought a lot of comments from athletes used to the bounce and bank of the tracks at Armory and Reggie. “It was hard. I really felt it hitting the balls of my feet,” said Stuart Calderwood. “I lost a second or two on every lap, found it totally demoralizing, finally gave up,” this writer noted after her opening-day 3k race, after being lapped twice by grizzled veteran Joan Benoit Samuelson.

Next year, however, it will be back to the more familiar banked track; the USATF Masters Indoor National Championships will be held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston in March 2010.

Sid Howard, incidentally, will be going for more than just a medal: he’s got his sights set on the American record in the 800m for 70-74 (2:34.10). Having run 2:34.42 at the Mac Champs recently, Sid is in good position to grab the record.

Here is the full CPTC squad that will be traveling to Maryland: