After two NYRR races in challenging weather, the Flyers delighted in perfect running conditions at the Queens 10K, with 62 degrees at the start and a sprinkle of rain here and there to make their adventurous tour of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park even more enjoyable. 112 Flyers completed the race, and cheers and smiles abounded on their faces all around, before, during and after the race. Among the team’s finishers, three won their age group (Joe Kelly, Brad Goz and Teresa Gancayco) and two more brought home the bronze (Francesco Presutti and Christy Putnam). Moreover, this was the fourth club points race of 2025, and four age-division teams (the 60+ and 70+ Men Teams, as well as the 60+ and 70+ Women Teams) were on the podium. Congrats to the award winners and to all the other amazing runners of our fabulous team!
And here are the team’s full results:
On the men's side, Abe Lee led the team with a spectacular time of 38:04 (pace 6:08). Abe was 6th in his age group and scored an AGP of 76.98%. Abe was also first in the Flyers 40+ Men Team. Joe Kelly finished second with a remarkable time of 39:46 (pace 6:24). Not surprisingly, Joe won his age group, and his AGP was a sky-high 86.5%! Joe was also first in the Flyers 60+ and 50+ Men Teams, and second in the 40+ Men Team. Jeff Gurwin was third for the team (40:37, pace 6:33). Jeff was also third in the Flyers 40+ Men Team. He was followed, in fourth place, by Zac Charlton (41:07, pace 6:37) and, in fifth place, by Francesco Presutti (41:15, pace 6:39). Francesco won third place in his age group and scored an AGP of 81.8%. He was also second in the Flyers 60+ and 50+ Men Teams. The Open Men Team placed 29th, and is tied for 7th in the Open B club standings.
In other news regarding the men’s team, our ever more legendary Brad Goz accomplished another extraordinary feat: the day after celebrating his birthday, Brad won yet again his age group’s gold. This is Brad’s fifth gold medal in a NYRR race since the beginning of the year. His time was 50:25 (pace 8:07, AGP 72.46%). Brad was also first in the Flyers 70+ Men Team.
Liza Schwartz led the women's team with an astonishing time of 44:27 (pace 7:10). Lisa was 6th in her age group and scored an AGP of 81.1%. Lisa was also first in the Flyers 50+ and 40+ Women Teams. Just a handful of seconds behind her, Marcy Withington finished in 44:35 (pace 7:11). She also placed 6th in her age group and scored an AGP of 81.74%. Marcy was also second in the Flyers 50+ and 40+ Women Teams. Emiko Fukagawa was third in the team with a outstanding time of 45:31 (pace 7:20, AGP 73.17%). Emiko was also third in the Flyers 40+ Women Team. Melida Barbosa finished fourth for the team in 47:04 (pace 7:35, AGP 71.5%). Florence Clarke came in fifth for the team (although at the time of writing NYRR is mistakenly not listing her as a Flyer). She finished in 47:42 (pace 7:41, 4th AG place, AGP 82.28%). Florence was also first in the Flyers 60+ Women Team, and third in the Flyers 50+ Women Team. The Open Women Team came in 14th and is still 3rd in the Open B club standings, with a lead of 19 points over the team in 4th place.
Not to be outdone by the men, the women’s team had its fair share of triumphs: in addition to Florence, Teresa Gancayco won her age group, which she is adding to her rich collection of awards. Teresa’s time was 1:01:21 (pace 9:53, 73.42%). Teresa was also second in the Flyers 60+ Women Team. Christy Putnam won the third-place award with a finish of 1:03:27 (pace 10:13, AGP 72.06%). Christy was also third in the Flyers 60+ Team.
I was intrigued by Florence’s superior performance and I approached her after the race to learn more about her running history. For those who do not know her, Florence first joined the Flyers back in 2019, but NYRR alas did not reflect her Flyers affiliation until the Mini 10K last week, so her impressive race record (e.g., her 1:41:26 in this year’s NYC Half) went unreported on the Flyers’ blog. Florence shared with me her fond memories of her first run with our team in 2019, the Three Bridges Run. “Denise [Iannizzotto] was my pacer,” she told me. “I think we were the only two running by the end of 21 miles. We became fast friends. Since then, I ran many Flyers’ training runs.”
Florence told me she started running in 2013, even if she did work out most of her life.
“Four kids add to my endurance!” she pointed out. “I started running to stay in shape,” she added. “I ran 10 miles 4-5 times a week. I then decided to do the Long Island Half Marathon because my kids handed out the water. I thought it would be fun! I placed in my age group and I placed top 5%. I didn’t know what I was doing but I got the bug!” Since then, Florence has run all the six major marathons and was nominated for NYRR runner of the year in her age group last year. “I have been invited to Cape Town next year for the Age Group World Championships. I am also hoping to run Sydney at some point!” Good luck to Florence in Cape Town!
Four age-division teams were on the podium:
- The 60+ Men Team, led by Joe, and including Francesco and Clément Bernard (45:25, pace 7:19, AGP 75%), won gold and is still first in the club standings with a 16-point lead (up from 13).
- The 60+ Women Team, led by Florence, and including Lisa Konorty (49:56, pace 8:03, 7th AG place, AGP 79.65%) and Denise Iannizzotto (50:05, pace 8:04, AGP 79.39%), won silver, and is still second in the club standings.
- The 70+ Women Team, led by Teresa, and including Christy and Barbara Paer (1:09:04, pace 11:07, 9th AG place), also won silver and is still first in the club standings.
- The 70+ Men Team, led by Brad, and including David Gaines (54:21, pace 8:45, 5th AG place) and Delton Mace (1:02:50, pace 10:07, 5th AG place), won bronze and is still third in the club standings.
All the other age-division teams did very well too: the 50+ Women Team, including Lisa, Marcy and Florence, finished 4th and is still in third place in the club standings; the 40+ Women Team, including Lisa, Marcy and Emiko, finished 7th and is in 4th place in the club standings; the 50+ Men Team, including Joe, Francesco and Frédéric Véron (42:18, pace 6:49, AGP 75.5%) finished 7th and is in 5th place in the club standings; the 40+ Men Team, including Abe, Joe and Jeff, finished 13th and is tied for 12th place in the club standings.
Kudos also to the other 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:
• John Ellis: 46:58, pace 7:34, 9th AG place, AGP 75.4%
• Arlyn Apollo: 48:17, pace 7:47, AGP 73.73%
• Neil Tipograph: 48:36, pace 7:50, AGP 72.88%
• Yumi Morishige: 50:52, pace 8:12, AGP 74.31%
• Janet Stack: 51:41, pace 8:19, AGP 74.05%
• Nina Zoe Parks-Taylor: 55:03, pace 8:52, 6th AG place, AGP 72.2%
• Mindy Statter: 56:24, pace 9:05, AGP 75.41%
• Mindi Adler: 1:27:40, pace 14:07, 5th AG place
The team’s full results can be found at: https://results.nyrr.org/event/25QUEENS/teams/NYF
Finally, this race counts also for the 2025 Flyers awards. The points tracker with the members’ ranking is available on our website at
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12uOIHUFjL7Y8qAUpt2ICCGKFYA-Z-z66/edit
Well done, Flyers!
-Francesco Presutti, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter
#NYRRstaff
(lead photo credit: Brad Goz)