Central Park was tinged with green, white, and red this morning. The Italian flag colors greeted the 5,103 finishers of the Italy Run 4M. The run, a celebration of Italian heritage, was back after a 3-year hiatus, together with the cool post-race festival of popular Italian products. For this third edition, the distance was brought down from 5 to 4 miles, perhaps more suitable to summer conditions. 46 Flyers ran the race and 6 of them (4 men and 2 women) won age-group awards.
One of the award winners was fast Italian Flyer Vincenzo Pascale. (Another Italian Flyer, yours truly, was alas far from Central Park today, but joined the celebrations in spirit, with his own fun run on Italian soil.)
"I feel particularly proud of this race," Vincenzo said after the race, "since I was among the Italian runners who came up with the idea of an Italy Race in Central Park back in 2016. The idea was embraced by then Consul General of Italy Francesco Genuardi and everything started."
Vincenzo was happy with his run today. "For me running is more than a passion," he said, "it is a lifestyle, a moment to meet friends and runners. It is my transcendental moment."
Vincenzo is hardly the only enthusiast of this run. George Hirsch, president of NYRR, is another fan. "For me the Italy Run is a special event," he said at a press event yesterday. "Don't tell it around, but this is my favorite race in Central Park!" No worries, we'll keep this secret to ourselves!
Back to the race, Tim Decker led the Flyers' team in 25:30 (6:23 pace). Tim placed 5th in his age group, and scored an age-graded percentage of 76.99%. Vincenzo came second for the team in 26:15 (2nd AG, 6:34, 78.04%). Jerôme Berard came third in 28:16 (3rd AG on his debut in his new age group, 7:04, 73.77%). Congrats to this powerful trio and the two award winners! Congrats also to Delton Mace, who won his age group with 37:09 (9:18), and to Neil Tipograph, who thanks to a finish of 30:47 (7:42) won a 3rd-place age group award with an AGP of 70.86%!
Denise Iannizzotto led the women's team in 29:24 (7:21 pace), placed 2nd in her age group, and scored an AGP of 81.29%. Congrats, Denise! Jeanhie Hahn, came second for the team in 30:38 (6th AG, 7:40, 72.71%). Melisa Labozzetta came third in 32:33 (8:09). Congrats also to Fran Breslauer, who won her age group in 43:20 (10:50, 76.25%).
A special mention goes to the other Flyers who finished in the top ten of their age groups: Barbara Trazino (4th AG, 53:22), Brad Goz (6th AG, 31:33), and Mindi Adler (6th AG, 50:39)
The team's full results can be found here: https://results.nyrr.org/event/22RETRO/teams/NYF
Congratulations to all Flyers!
-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter