The NYRR Mini 10K has a special place in the history of New York running. Fifty years went by since the original women-only road race on June 3, 1972, an international first-time event, and the run does not cease to inspire women of all ages and fitness levels to come together in a wonderful celebration of women and running!
What a fantastic day it was for the 68 Flyer women who were out there today! They were among the 6,936 women who finished this 50th anniversary spectacular edition. No one in the team has run this race more times than Margie Kos: she's now run the Mini 10K a grand total of 35 times! Anne Halpern, Sarah Dahl and Francine Alfandary all marked 20+ Mini 10Ks today. Runners raced on an updated course today, which took them from a new start on Central Park West to a finish on the 72nd Street Transverse. Kathrine Switzer, who co-founded the race back in 1972 with Nina Kuscsik and Fred Lebow, was among the finishers too. The Flyer women were joined by 3 Flyer men, who were among the 454 male finishers (yes, for the first time, this year's run was co-ed). Congratulations to all! You rock!
Nicole Theodore led the team in 43:08 (that's a fast 6:57 pace!), and an age-graded percentage of 70.58%. Stephanie Tang came second for the team in 45:00 (69.64% and a PR). Kristel McKanna came third in 45:20 (10th AG, 74,22%).
In keeping with her stellar track record, Fran Breslauer won her age group once again, in 1:05:57 with an AGP of 82.09%. Fran's new gold medal makes us all very proud!
In addition to Fran and Kristel, 3 more Flyer women finished in the top ten of their age groups: Denise Iannizzotto (4th AG, and an astonishing AGP of 83.35%), Margie Kos (7th AG) and Barbara Trazino (9th AG).
Kudos also to all the other amazing runners who joined Denise, Fran, Kristel and Nicole in scoring AGPs above 70% which means their performance was of regional class level:
- Hiromi Nobata (75.28%)
- Lisa Konorty (72.75%)
- Laura Sackler (72.54%)
- Jeanhie Hahn (72.11%)
- Elaine Rosen (71.57%)
- Nina Zoe Parks-Taylor (71.06%)
- Sheila Barrett (70.42%)
The team's full results can be found here: https://results.nyrr.org/event/22MINI/teams/NYF.
Accolades, too, to the NY Flyers Cheer Zone with special thanks to Flyers Member at Large Wendy Mitchell for organizing yet another Flyers cheering squad.
Running and spending time with friends is what brings us together. But this was a special day on another level too. After her strong finish, Stephanie Tang had a brief interaction with Keira D'Amato, bronze medalist and first American in today's race. This is one of the things Stephanie loves so much about running. "It's a sport," she said, "where elite and casual runners alike can share in the same experience." Indeed, few things are more inspiring than getting to share the road with some of the world's fastest runners!
-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter