It felt like a very special day for the 77 Flyers who crowded into the Staten Island ferry in the early morning’s crisp air. They were on a mission to finish a classic run on New York’s racing calendar, The Staten Island Half.
This is after all the race that boasts the most spectacular views of statue of liberty🗽 and the lower Manhattan and New Jersey skylines – after the NYC Marathon, that is! And it is mission accomplished for all of them!
They are among the 9,285 finishers of the day. Congratulations to all runners, and special honors to the
3 Flyers (Joe Kelly, Christy Putnam and Nina Zoe Parks-Taylor) and 2 age-group teams (the 60+ Men and 60+ Women Teams) who brought home a medal in the process.
Our team was led by 3 sexagenarians – and it is not a first in our club!
As this was the 9th club points race of the season, this means that the three of them not only led the 5-runner open team, but also made the Flyers’ 3-runner teams in all the age-group divisions (40+, 50+ and 60+), except for the 70+.
🏆Joe Kelly came in first with a blazing time of 1:24:57 (a 6:29 pace). He also won his age group’s first place! 🥇 Joe’s result translates into an AGP percentage of 87.75% and a 3rd age-graded place out of today’s 5,605 male runners.
Francesco Presutti was second 🥈for the team with a time of 1:31:47 (7:01), 5th AG place and a 79.62% AGP.
Clément Bernard came in third 🥉with a time of 1:34:21 (7:12), 7th AG place and a 78.23% AGP.
Frédéric Veron took the fourth place 🌟 in the team with a time of 1:35:05 (7:16), and an AGP of 72.63%. This was Frédéric’s comeback half-marathon after he broke a foot on the Coney Island boardwalk at the end of the Brooklyn Half Marathon last May. He went out determined not to push hard, and yet…..
Yacine Armani was the fifth member 🌟of the open team. He finished in 1:35:51 (7:19).
The Open Men Team came in 33rd and is now 8th in the Open Men B standings.
I spoke to Clément after the race (he was the only one among today’s top 6 runners that I had not yet previously interviewed…). This was Clément’s 6th Staten Island Half, but his last one dated back to 2014. I asked him how it was to come back after so many years.
“Yes,” he replied, “it was my 6th Staten Island Half. I really enjoyed this race, the great weather, the
trip on the ferry and the course. It is always very nice. Today was good. I managed to keep my pace steady and had enough energy for the end although I did not remember that the last portion and the finish were uphill. It was great to see a few people from the team as well. Thanks to Frédéric for pushing me in the last few miles!”
Clément joined the Flyers only last summer and he has already run 5 NYRR races with his new team since. I asked him how he felt in his new home.
“I am very happy I have joined the team,” he replied, “thanks Francesco. It is a lot of fun to score some points for our team. I have gone to many of the trainings during the week and I find them very helpful. Looking forward to the 2025 season!”
The women’s top runner was Kristel McKanna 🥇, who finished in 1:41:53 (7:47). Kristel was 9th in her age group and scored an AGP of 73.3%. Kristel is clearly ready to run her comeback NYC Marathon, after the unfortunate circumstances that forced her to cancel her marathon last year. Something’s telling me she’s going to have a blast! 💥 Thanks to her strong result, Kristel led the Flyers’ teams in all the age divisions. 🤩
Emiko Fukagawa took second place🥈in the team with a time of 1:45:14 (8:02). She also took second place in the Flyers’ 40+ Women Team.
Denise Iannizzotto came third 🥉for the team with a time of 1:47:37 (8:13). She also took the 4th place in her age group, and scored an AGP of 78.78%, and this while she’s still not fully recovered from a nagging injury. Her fans can’t wait to see what she has in store for them once she is fully back.
Denise also led the Flyers’ 60+ Women Team, she was second in the 50+ Women Team and third in the Flyers’ 40+ Women Team.
Sarah Quady was the fourth runner🌟on the women’s team; she finished in 1:48:04 (8:15).
Sungwon Hwang took the 5th place 🌟in the team with a time of 1:48:55 (8:19) and an AGP of 71.11%. During her race, Sungwon felt grateful to the NYRR pacer who helped her finish her race strong! She was third in the Flyers’ 50+ Women Team. The Open Women Team came in 17th and is now 15th in the Open A Women standings.
There were two medal winners in the women team today:
Christy Putnam won her age group with a time of 2:17:41 (10:31) and an AGP of 72:34%.
Christy was the fastest 70+ Flyer woman, but unfortunately there were not enough 70+ Flyer Women to make a team today.
Nina Zoe Parks-Taylor finished second in her age group with a time of 2:00:15 (9:11) and an AGP of 74.54%. Nina was second in the Flyers 60+ Women Team.
Two age-group teams were on the podium:
The 60+ Men Team took the gold medal 🥇. With only two races to go in the club points series, our team is now leading in the club standings with a 5-point cushion on the runner-up.
The 60+ Women Team took the silver🥈, and is still second in the club standings, alas 33 points behind the front runners.
Congrats to both teams! 🎉
Kudos also to the other Flyers, in addition to those mentioned above, who finished in the top 3 of the Flyers age-group teams, and/or in the top 10 of their age group, and/or scored an AGP of 70% or above
Jeanne Weiler: 2:04:12 (9:29), 5th AG, third in Flyers 60+ Women Team
Delton Mace: 2:13:35 (10:12), 6th AG, first in Flyers 70+ Men Team
Mindy Statter: 2:15:57 (10:23), 10th AG
William Nealon: 2:27:37 (11:16), second in Flyers 70+ Men Team
Andrew Paer: 2:48:11 (12:50), third in Flyers 70+ Men Team
Barbara Paer: 2:37:13 (12:00), 5th AG, second fastest 70+ woman Flyer
The team’s full results can be found here:
https://results.nyrr.org/event/24SIHALF/teams/NYF
Finally, this race counts also for the 2024 Flyers awards. The current member standings are on the Flyers’ website at https://nyflyers.org/2023-flyers-age-group-results
Well done, runners!
-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter, #NYRR staff