Conquering Coogan's

Nina P and Andrea K

The Coogan's Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K started out on a wet morning with a light drizzly rain, but compared with past cold Coogan's, this year's 50-degree race temperature was perfect for the very hilly 5K tour of Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood.  There were dozens of diverse local neighborhood bands along the course including my favorite --the Mariachi bands.  During the race, I didn't realize that The Cloisters are so big and grand, and what beautiful majestic views there are along the course, until I ran it a second time for a cool-down.

THE FLYING VETTES

Our team, the Vette women, had a strong turn-out in today's race including Frances E, Joyce S, Isabelle J, Erica L, Susan S (running her first 5K!), Sylvia H, Nina P (finishing in 4th place!), and myself finishing in 1st place in the Veterans age group!  We tried to gather for a group picture, but due to the rain most people were either anxious to go home and get dry or to head over to Coogan's Irish Pub & Restaurant for a beer. The Vettes had a great day, finishing in 2nd place in our age group while helping the Masters Women to come in 3rd place, and also helping the Flyer Women come in 10th place overall in the Open Category!



Andrea and Nina with NY Flyer Women Veterans award at Coogan's

It was nice to run on the roads without all the snow and ice from the winter.  I know that training this winter has been a real challenge.  Nina's secret to her training, being a short distance rock star, was to go to The Armory Track & Field Center where she blew away the field in both the 800 and 1500 meter races.

As for me, I did some altitude training in Colorado this winter, so I was totally ready for the hills at Coogan's.  They were very small compared to the 1,200 mile runs up Smuggler Mountain in Aspen this winter. 



The view of Aspen from the top of Smuggler Mountain

I checked and the last time I ran Coogan's was 4 years ago, finishing in 24:27 at age 49.  I'm telling you, the Fifties are Fabulous!  This year I finished in 21:02, just behind Julie Cook's record of 20:58 in 2009 and Nina's record last year in 21:00.

 

PARTY TIME


What a great party at Coogan's following the race.  The eggs were great and the beer was flowing. Nina picked up our team award at Club Night last week and we were as happy as proud parents, bringing it out for photographs and for everyone to see! We took lots of pictures with our award, including some at Coogan's with all the Flyers. We are on our way to another great year with a strong finish in our first team race!

Flyers Whetting Whistles after a Wet 'n Wild Coogan's Race


I hope to see more of the Vettes out on the road this spring, summer and fall.  A few of our teammates have some injuries, so I wish them all a speedy recovery!  It's a long season and we're off to a great start!

Andrea K, Team Captain, NY Flyers Veteran Women