47 Flyers shared the road with the world’s fastest runners this Sunday morning, running down a 20-block stretch of New York’s iconic Fifth Avenue, from East 80th Street all the way to East 60th Street. Have you noticed the excitement on their faces? With an amazing team like this, who needs to break 4 minutes on the mile?
3 Flyers made the podium of their age groups in this very competitive race: Joe Kelly and Christy Putnam won silver, and Lisa Schwartz won bronze. This was the 7th race in the 2025 NYRR Club Points Series, and 3 age-division won team awards: the 60+ Men Team, 70+ Men Team and the 70+ Women Team. More details below. Congrats to the award winners, and to all the finishers!
But let’s start from the most inspiring story of the day: it’s the story of John Whitfield (6:13, AGP 78.36%), who ran the race with his two sisters and his 91-year-old mother. John's mother was the oldest finisher of the race. After the run, I asked John how this extraordinary family celebration had come together.
“My mother is an inspiration to me and my two sisters when it comes to exercise,” John replied. “On a family call, I was sharing how much I enjoyed the 5th Ave mile, and it occurred to us that it was something we could all do. We did it in 2022, and everyone loved it. We decided to do it again this year, even though I am the only one who lives in NY. They live in PA, MA, and OR! My younger sister was shut out signing up, so she didn’t race, but accompanied my mother in hers. A great time was had by all.”
Moving on to our 5 fastest runners, Axel Anderegg-Durwood led the team once again with the fabulous result of 5:07 (so close to breaking 5 minutes!), and an AGP percentage of 72.6%. Our legendary Joe Kelly came in second with a time of 5:19. Thanks to his spectacular result, Joe won his age group’s second-place award, and scored an equally spectacular AGP of 92.47%. Joe was also first in the Flyers 40+, 50+ and 60+ Men Teams. Jeff Gurwin was third for the team: he finished in 5:31 and achieved an AGP of 73.63%. Jeff was also second in the Flyers 40+ Men Team. Paul Nap came in fourth with a time of 5:39 and an AGP of 75.93%. Paul was also was also third in the Flyers 40+ Men Team. The fifth man on the team, just one second behind Paul, was Adam Pritchard, who finished in 5:40 and hit an AGP of 78.85%. Adam was also second in the Flyers 50+ Men Team. The Open Men Team came in 42nd (and 6th among the Open B teams), and is still 8th in the Open Men B standings.
Also in the men’s team, Francesco Presutti (5:56, AGP 81.39%) was second in the Flyers 60+ Men Team and third in the 50+ Men Team, while John Ellis (6:13, 10th AG, AGP 81.35%) was third in the Flyers 60+ Men Team, Brad Goz (7:11, 4th AG, AGP 72.76%) was first in the Flyers 70+ Men Team, David Gaines (7:23, 8th AG, AGP 70.7%) was second on that same team, and Stephen Frith (7:58) was third also on that team.
The women’s team was led once again by Lisa Schwartz, who finished with a time of 5:53 and won her age group’s third-place award. Lisa’s AGP was a staggering 84.1%. Lisa was also first in the Flyers 40+ and 50+ Women Teams. Ayumi Arafune finished second for the team in 6:44, and her AGP was 72.56%. This is Ayumi’s fourth race with the Flyers, and we are very happy to have her with our team! Ayumi was also second in the Flyers 40+ and 50+ Women Teams. Leyre Alejaldre Biel came in third for the team with a time of 6:49. Leyre was also third in the Flyers 40+ Women Team. Manasi Agrawal was the fourth runner on the women’s team. Nina Zoe Parks-Taylor took the fifth place with a time of 7:13 (4th AG place, AGP 78.28%). Nina was also first in the Flyers 60+ Women Team and third in the Flyers 50+ Women Team. The Open Women Team came in 32rd (and third among the Open B teams!), and is still 3rd in the Open B club standings, with good chances of finishing the season in the top two places and move back up to the Open A division.
Also in the women’s team, Christy Putnam was second in her age group with a time of 8:00 (AGP 77.74%). Christy was third in the Flyers 60+ Women Team and first in the Flyers 70+ Women Team, while Lisa Konorty (7:18, AGP 73.54%) was second in the Flyers 60+ Women Team, Hindy Schachter (13:24, 4th AG) was second in the Flyers 70+ Women Team and Karen Kenney (15:23) was third in that same team.
Kudos to the three age-division teams that won bronze. They are:
• The 60+ Men Team, including Joe, Francesco and John. The team is still ahead in the club standings (but will drop one point behind its main competitors, if the current lowest two scores for each club are dropped, as per the rules).
• The 70+ Men Team, including Brad, David and Stephen. The team is still third in the club standings.
• The 70+ Women Team, including Christy, Hindy and Karen. The team is still second in the club standings.
The other 5 age-division teams did remarkably well too: the 60+ Women Team, including Nina, Lisa Konorty and Christy, finished 4th and is second in the club standings; the 40+ Women Team, including Lisa Schwartz, Ayumi and Leyre, finished 8th and is still 3rd in the club standings; the 50+ Men Team, including Joe, Adam and Francesco, finished 9th and is still in 8th place in the club standings; the 50+ Women Team, including Lisa Schwartz, Ayumi and Nina, finished 9th and is tied for third in the club standings; and the 40+ Men Team, including Joe, Jeff and Paul, finished 17th and is now tied for 11th place in the club standings.
Honors also to the other 3 Flyers, in addition to those mentioned above, who finished in the top 10 places of their age groups and/or scored an AGP of 70% or above. They are:
• Clay Bracken, 6:18, AGP 75.94%; Clay also did a PR on the mile distance!
• Kent Blocher, 6:33, AGP 77.22%
• Delton Mace, 8:39, 5th AG
The team’s full results can be found here:
https://results.nyrr.org/event/25FAM/teams/NYF
As a reminder, this race counts also for the 2025 Flyers awards. The current member standings are on the Flyers’ website at
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LFrgZFFmij-tgqljtCkv2sm64nYkvqgP/edit
Well done, runners!
-Francesco Presutti, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter, #NYRRstaff