Grete's Great Gallop 10K

Fewer races are closer to our heart than Grete's Great Gallop. Grete Waitz is a legend in New York and every year the race held in Central Park to honor her legacy draws huge enthusiasm from the New York running community. 48 Flyers were among this year's finishers - and 3 of them were on the podium! Needless to say, they all enjoyed the Norwegian-themed post-race festivities.

Many of us will remember that Grete's tribute run originally started as a half-marathon in 1995. That was 7 years after the last of Grete's nine NYCM victories, and just 3 years after her last, iconic marathon in New York, which she ran with Fred Lebow. He was in remission from brain cancer. We've doubtless all seen the touching images of the two crossing the finish line together. Since 2017, Grete's Great Gallop has been a 10K. It has finally returned this year, for the first time in August instead of October, after nearly a 3-year hiatus.

Today's star was unquestionably Jeanhie Hahn, who led the women's team with a time of 48:24, a pace of 7:48, and an age-graded percentage of 73.54%. Jeanhie's fast result earned her a second place in her age group.

Jeahnie is very happy with her result, and she has good reason to be. "I was back home less than 48 hours from Norway," she said after the race. "Also, I raced a half marathon on a treacherous course in Helsinki only a week ago." Yes, can you believe that Jeanhie is just back from Norway, Grete's home country! "I did not make the connection between Grete Waitz and Norway until I arrived at my corral, so the race felt extremely special to me especially because Norway really captured my heart." During her trip to Norway, Jeanhie managed to squeeze in two runs: the Bergen waterfront and hill repeats at the Royal Palace in Oslo. "Norway is a great country to run!" Jeanhie said. "And I am already thinking about the Oslo Half in 2023!"

10 seconds behind Jeanhie, we find another irredeemably fast Flyer: Kristel McKanna, who finished in 48:34 (pace 7:49, 6th AG, AGP 70.03%). Hiromi Nobata completed this trio of fabulous runners with a time of 49:35 (pace 7:59, AGP 75.3%). Hiromi also finished second in her own age group! Congrats to all 3, and especially to the 2 podium finishers, Jeanhie and Hiromi!

On the men's side, James Dunham delivered another of his top-quality performances and finished first in the Flyer's team with a fast 41:31 (pace 6:41, 8th AG, AGP 73.69%). Zac Charlton came second for the team in 42.50 (6:54). Vincenzo Pascale came third in 45:44 (pace 7:22, 8th AG, AGP 70.51%). Congrats to Delton Mace, who was again on the podium: he was third in his age group with a finish of 1:00:49 (9:48)!

The team’s full results can be found here: https://results.nyrr.org/event/22GGG/teams/NYF
Well done, Flyers!

-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter

Read more...

New Balance 5th Avenue Mile

 

Excitement was in the air on Fifth Avenue this morning. 47 Flyers showed up to run the iconic Fifth Avenue Mile race, which typically draws runners from far and wide, making it one of the most competitive races of the season.

The mile is a tough distance. Who remembers Pat Duffy's racing strategy tip #1 in his 2013 blog piece? "This is not a sprint. Do not get suckered in to going out too fast (as many will)". Did anyone go out too fast this morning? Comments are welcome!

In the run-up to today's race, a question was running through my head: which one is tougher between the Fifth Avenue Mile, and the "other" notorious mile on Fifth Avenue most of us know from running the NYC Marathon? I'm thinking about the 20-block uphill stretch running from 110th Street to 90th Street, the point in the marathon when the course hits mile 23. Neil Tipograph had the answer for me. For him, it's a no-brainer: "for most of us that mile stretch in the marathon is the nail in the coffin," he told me after the run. In fact, Neil was very happy about his run today. He came just 4 seconds short of his lifetime PR on the mile (for those who don't know him, Neil is 65!). 

Needless to mention, today we all did great, and the 60+ Women Team won a third-place award. Congrats to them!

Here are the actual results, and their impact on our teams' rankings in the club standings (today's race was indeed the 7th club points race in the NYRR season): The Open Men B Team finished 6th and kept its 5th position in the club standings. Abe Lee led the team with a blistering 5:03 (that's an AGP of 80.3%). The next 4 runners in the team finished all within 4 seconds: Tim Decker (5:35, AGP 78%), Brad Loe (5:36, AGP 72.99%), Francesco Presutti (also 5:36, 6th AG, AGP 81,57%) and Marc Bochner (5:39, 79.03%). 

Francesco's result broke the 5:44 Flyers Hall of Fame record for the mile distance, set by John Whitfield as recently as August 7 in the Brooklyn Mile (see https://www.nyflyers.org/hall-of-fame/). The previous record of 5:50, set by Gary Smeal in the Fifth Avenue Mile on September 24, 2011, lasted almost 11 years!

The Open Women A Team finished 10th and moved from 11th to 12th position. Nicole Theodore led the team with a result of 6:17, followed, just one second behind, by Denise Iannizzotto (6:18, and a sky-high AGP of 82.59%), Kristel McKanna (6:23, AGP 72.73%), Leyre Alejaldre Biel (6:52) and Lisa Konorty (7:02, AGP 73.97%).

The 50+ Men Team (Tim, Francesco and Marc) finished 6th and moved from 5th to 6th position in the club standings. 

The 50+ Women Team (Denise, Lisa and Dana Coleman, 7:22) finished 7th and moved from 4th to 5th position.

The 60+ Men Team (Francesco, Neil, 6:23 and AGP of 74.76%, and Delton Mace, 7:54, 6th AG) finished 8th and moved from 2nd to 3rd position.

The 60+ Women Team (Nina-Zoe Parks-Taylor, 7:32, AGP of 72.67%, Elaine Rosen, 7:43, AGP of 71.79% and Julie Cook, 8:05) finished 3rd and kept their 3rd position.

Kudos also to the 40+ Men Team (Abe, Tim and Brad) and 40+ Women Team (Denise, Kristel and Leyre), who scored one point, and to the 70+ Men Team (Delton and Felix Alicea, 8:28) and 70+ Women Team (Hindy Schachter, 12:37, 5th AG, and Karen Kenney, 14:10), who scored no points today - but mind you, the latter keeps its 2nd position in the club standings!

Congrats also to the following runners who scored an AGP of 70% or above: Gare Kane (5:50, AGP 72.75%), Vincenzo Pascale (5:51, AGP 76.88%), Sebastien Lieng (5:51, AGP of 71.91%).

The team’s full results can be found here: https://results.nyrr.org/event/22FAM/teams/NYF

Well done, Flyers!

-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter

Read more...

New Balance Bronx 10M

 

11,348 runners flocked to the Bronx to run the classic 10-miler along the Grand Concourse and its beautiful Art-Deco buildings. That's up from 7,511 in last year's race. If you took the subway to get to the start this morning, you may have noticed the trains were overflowing with runners. Just like in the good ol' days. New York has definitely come back, folks!

For the 114 Flyers who finished the race (yes, you read well: 114!), the excitement started early on, when the MC announced the national anthem would be sung by New York Flyer Rachel Duncan. Rachel's voice and her singing were simply spectacular, and she made us all very proud of being Flyers. I talked to Rachel after the race. She has no special connection to the Bronx, and she was expecting NYRR to slot her in on a smaller race to test her out. "Bronx 10? Never in my wildest…" Things could have not worked out better for her. "It was in my plan to run 2E/10M," Rachel told me. "The 2-mile easy warm up was crucial for singing before 8am!" Rachel was very happy about her run too. "Apparently I had plenty of lung capacity. Or adrenaline. Or relief. I PR'd by almost 3 minutes today!" Double congrats to Rachel! We will read more about our amazing fellow runner in a piece she is writing for the Flyers' blog - coming up soon!
Rachel was not the only one to have a great day, and one individual Flyer and three Flyer teams brought home awards today, which is especially important as today's race was the 8th club points race in the season. What a day for the Flyers!

And here are the results:

On the men's side, Abe Lee led the team once again with an impressive 1:04:08 (pace 6:25, AGP 73.84%). Abe, who is on a PR streak, broke his previous PR on the 10-mile distance by 2m39s! Francesco Presutti came second with 1:05:58 (2nd AG place, pace 6:36, AGP 81.93%). Francesco's result broke the 1:10:28 Flyers Hall of Fame record for the 10 mile distance, set by Andreas Werder on September 28, 2014 on this same course (see https://www.nyflyers.org/hall-of-fame/). Deniz Saat, on his Bronx 10-miler debut, finished third with 1:09:15 (pace 6:56). Tim Decker was fourth for the team (1:09:46, pace 6:59, AGP 73.32%) and Brad Loe was fifth (1:10:15, pace 7:02). The Open Men B Team came 7th and is now 6th in the club standings.

On the women's side, super fast Kristel McKanna led the team with 1:15:58 (pace 7:36, AGP 72.73%), followed by Amanda Schachter (1:18:57, pace 7:54, AGP 70.8%), Jocelyn Torio (1:19:58, pace 8:00), Amy Knepper (1:20:09, pace 8:01) and Geneviève Boutin (1:20:31, pace 8:03). The Open Women A Team scored 1 point and kept its 12th position in the club standings.

Three teams won a second-place award today:
The 60+ Men Team, including Francesco, Jérôme Berard (1:13:18, pace 7:20, AGP 73.35%) and Colm Banfield (1:21:31, pace 8:09). They moved back to 2nd in the club standings.

The 60+ Women Team, including Deb Saat (1:31:24, pace 9:09, AGP 73%), Elaine Rosen (1:34:46, pace 9:29, AGP 70.4%), and Suzanne Turner (1:39:30, pace 9:57). They kept their 3rd position.

The 70+ Men Team, including Ricky Lam (1:34:22, pace 9:27), Delton Mace (1:39:02, pace 9:55, 5th AGP), and Felix Alicea (1:57:10, pace 11:43). They kept their 7th position.

Congrats to all three teams!

Kudos also to the following teams:
The 50+ Men Team, including Francesco, Tim and Vincenzo Pascale (1:11:39, pace 7:10, AGP 74:04), finished 7th and kept their 5th position.
The 50+ Women Team, including Amanda, Vanessa Koury (8:08, 73.92%) and Jeanhie Hahn (1:22:43, pace 8:17, AGP 70.86%), finished 7th and kept their 5th position.
The 40+ Men Team, including Abe, Francesco and Tim scored one point.
The 40+ Women Team, including Kristel, Amanda and Jocelyn, scored one point.
The 70+ Women Team, including Marjorie Kos (2:37:23, place 15:45, 7th AGP) and Karen Kenney (2:53:15, pace 17:20), scored no points today, and moved down from 3rd to 2nd position, and are therefore still podium hopeful!

Congrats also to the following runners who scored an AGP of 70% or above: Guy Simoneau (1:21:41, pace 8:11, AGP 70.14%) and Lisa Konorty (1:26:43, pace 8:41, AGP 71.96%).

The team’s full results can be found here: https://results.nyrr.org/event/22BX10M/teams/NYF
Well done, Flyers! Whether you're mentioned in this report or not, believe me: you've all been awesome!

'
-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter

Read more...

Staten Island Half

With the fall 🍂marathon season in full swing, a number of Flyers were out of town this weekend -whether in Chicago, Mohawk, Hartford or elsewhere. For those who stayed local, the NYRR calendar had in store one of its crown jewels: The Staten Island Half, finally back after a three-year hiatus. The 63 Flyers who took the ferry🚢 to Staten Island were treated with chilly temperatures and a bright sunny sky. What a contrast with the nasty weather that got all running events canceled last weekend! The Staten Island Half is considered like a dress rehearsal for the big run on November 6. Could we please have the same weather conditions in 4 weeks?🙏

Our runners were not easily discouraged by the two hills on the course (remember that killer hill that takes runners under the Verrazzano Bridge?). In fact, we have plenty of reasons to celebrate today's run: many Flyers set PRs; many more guaranteed their entry to the NYC Half through the 4 out of 6 program; and - last but not least - 2 Individual Flyers and 3 teams won awards! (Incidentally, as a reminder, when you set a PR, we would like to hear it from you right after the race: please notify promptly one of the Blogkeepers: Dave at runnersarefunner@yahoo.com or Melissa at melissaslobin@icloud.com, so that we can include your PR in the race report and celebrate it with you!) 🎉

Abe Lee led the Flyers team with a blistering 1:23:46 (pace 6:24) and was 9^th in his age group, with an AGP of 74.86%. This is a huge (8:21) PR for Abe, and he was understandably very happy. I talked to him over his run. "I ran Staten Island three times in the past few years," Abe said, "slower than I would have liked. Then I started training with the Flyers last year, and today I ran several minutes faster than ever before. Seems like joining this group of fun, dedicated and fast people was probably the right decision!" Jeffrey Tente came second with 1:24:25 (pace 6:27). Deniz Saat finished third with 1:27:57 (pace 6:43). Both Jeffrey and Deniz set PRs too! Delton Mace won a second-place age-group award with a time of 2:09:35 (pace 9:54). 

Nicole Theodore led the women's team with an impressive 1:34:39 (pace 7:14), followed by Kristel McKanna(1:41:59, pace 7:47, AGP 71.52%), and Bethany Shaw (1:46:54, pace 8:10). Deb Saat won a third-place age-group award with a time of 1:56:55 (pace 8:56, AGP 75.58%) and set a PR too. What a day for the Saat: Mother-and-Son Team!

Congrats to our top runners and to the 2 award winners!

This was also the 9^th club points race on the NYRR calendar, and 3 teams made it to the podium:

• The 60+ Women Team came first, thanks to the strong performance of Deb, Diane Klein(2:04:30, pace 9:30), and Mindy Statter (2:05:26, pace 9:35, AGP 70.45). The team is third in the club standings, way ahead of the fourth club, and 15 points behind the second club. With only 2 more club points races to go, the team is now certain to close the season on the podium.

• The 60+ Men Team, came third, thanks to the results of Jérôme Berard (1:34:48, pace 7:14, 5^thAG,AGP 75.63%), Colm Banfield (1:47:41, pace 8:13), and Ken Auslander (1:58:23, pace 9:02). The team moved down from second to third in the club standings, but is way ahead of the fourth club, and only 1 point below the second club. Like for the women team, the team are a lock for the podium, but they are also still hopefuls for a second place. Let's see what happens in the next 2 more club points races!
• The 70+ Men Team, came first, thanks to the results of Delton, Ricky Lam (2:09:58, pace 9:55), and Felix Alicea (2:31:32 , pace 11:34). The team moved up from seventh to fifth place, but they are still. a good 26 points below the third club and the podium. 

Congrats to all three teams! 

As a reminder, the 70+ Women Team, who did not score any point this time around, still ranks third in the club standings, with two teams only one point below them.

Kudos also to one additional runner who scored an AGP of 70% or above, i.e. Tim Decker (1:31:21, pace 6:54, AGP 75.05%),

Kudos also to the additional runners who finished among the top ten of their age groups or scored an AGP of 70% or above: Tim Decker (1:31:21, pace 6:54, AGP 75.05%),Jérôme Berard (1:34:48, pace 7:14, 5^th AG, AGP 75.63%) and Mindy Statter (2:05:26, pace 9:35, AGP 70.45%), and to all the Flyers who set a PR (in addition to those mentioned above, Kristin Siegle and many more)!

Rachel Duncan, deserves special mention, as she took up again the task of singing the national anthem right before the start of the race, this time in front of a crowd of 5,484 runners. Needless to say, her performance was superlative. 🎶

The team’s full results can be found here: https://results.nyrr.org/event/22SIHALF/teams/NYF

Well done, all Flyers! You are awesome!

-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter

Read more...