Whether we run through the five boroughs with jubilant crowds đ„âš on both sides of the road, we serve as volunteers, or we cheer on our friends and family from the sidelines, the New York City Marathon đhas the power to make us connect with our common humanity at a uniquely emotional level. The memories that we create on this day will last forever. It is a day that makes us all proud New Yorkers.
But thereâs another reason to celebrate Sundayâs run: the 153 Flyers that ran yesterdayâs marathon are part of the largest field ever to finish a marathon. Berlinâs record of 54,280 finishers last September, which had just broken the record set by 54,175 finishers of Paris last April, was broken again Sunday by the 55,646 athletes who completed our five-borough race. Congratulations to all runners. Wear your medals proudly. We have made history together. And special honor to our team mate Joe Kelly, and the 3 age-division teams (the 70+ Men, 60+ Men and 60+ Women Teams) who brought home a medal in this extremely competitive race. Kudos also to all those who set a PR on this challenging course.
Like in the 2023 marathon, our team was led by đ Albert Pedemont, who finished the run in the blazing time of 2:48:20 (a 6:26 pace) and scored an AGP percentage of 80.46%. Albert was first also in the Flyers 40+ Men Team. Former Flyers President đ„Chris Brennan came in second with a time of 2:59:53 (6:52), and an AGP of 75.95%. Chris set his marathon PR and realized his dream of breaking 3 hours. Chris was second also in the Flyers 40+ Men Team. For his part, đ„Zac Charlton, who finished third for the team, right behind Chris, came very close to breaking 3 hours too: his time was 3:00:13 (6:53).
I asked Chris how he felt about breaking 3 hours.
âAfter debuting at 3:31 in 2013 and following with 3:15 in 2014,â he said, âI assumed I would break 3 in a year or two. I guess I am thrilled, of course, but slightly disappointed that it took 10 years to shave that 15 minutes off of my second marathon. I hope it doesnât take another 10 years to knock off the next 15 minutes, which I will do. Always grateful to my Flyer coaches and teammates for the knowledge share and inspiration to keep trying.â
The NYC Marathon is the 10th club points race of the season. It is the only race of the series for which the open division team consists of only the top three runners. Our Open Men Team came in 51st and is now 7th in the Open Men B standings.
âJoe Kelly, who came in fourth for the team with a time of 3:03:13 (7:00) and an AGP of 86.54%, won silver in his brand-new age group. Congratulations to Joe!
Joe was also first in the Flyers 50+ Men Team and third in the 40+ Men Team.
The womenâs top runner was đ„Emiko Fukagawa, who finished in 3:29:59 (8:01) and scored an AGP of 70.1%. Emiko was first also in the Flyers 40+ Women Team. đ„Kristel McKanna took second place in the team with a time of 3:33:35 (8:09), and scored an AGP of 72.37%. Kristel finished her 14th NYC marathon with a personal course record of 3:33:35. After having to sit out last year due to COVID, it felt incredible for Kristel to be back on the course. Furthermore, Kristel was first in the Flyers 50+ Women Team, and second in the 40+ Women Team. đ„Amanda Schachter came third for the team with a time of 3:38:54 (8:21) and scored an AGP of 72.44%. Amanda was also second in the Flyers 50+ Men Team and third in the 40+ Women Team.
The Open Women Team came in 73rd and is now 13th in the Open A Women standings.
Three age-division teams were on the podium:
- The 60+ Men Team, led by Joe, and including Francesco Presutti (3:19:03, pace 7:36, 77.32%) and Neil Tipograph (3:49:50, pace 8:46, AGP 70.39%), won the second-place award. (Francesco was also third in the Flyers 50+ Men Team.) With only one race to go in the club points series, our teamâs lead in the club standings is stronger than ever. Our team only needs to finish 8th or above in the next and last club points race to secure the seasonâs first-place award (in the event that the runner-up team should win the race).
- The 60+ Women Team, including Denise Iannizzotto (3:48:58, pace 8:44, AGP 78.39%), Kim Hooper-Stanley (3:55:21, pace 8:59, AGP 76.26%) and Monique Seibert (3:56:43, pace 9:02, AGP 76.96%), also took silver. (Denise was also third in the 50+ Women Team.) The team is still second in the club standings. The seasonâs first-place award is unfortunately out of reach, but the team is a hopeful for the seasonâs second-place award. (The same is true for the 70+ Women Team, which however did not score any point in the marathon.)
- The 70+ Men Team, including Brad Goz (4:11:57, pace 9:37), David Gaines (4:33:18, pace 10:26) and William Nealon (5:21:59, pace 12:17), won the first place. Our team is currently 4th in the club standings, and has a slim chance of finishing the season on the podium, depending on what happens at the next race.
Congrats to all three teams! đđđ
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 scored an AGP of 70% or above. They are:
- Adam Pritchard:3:12:21 (7:21), AGP 74.23%, second in Flyers 50+ Men Team
- Frédéric Veron: 3:2:22 (7:55), AGP 70.12%
- Yumi Morishige: 3:54:12 (8:56), AGP 71.4%
- Jennifer Coyne: 3:56:47 (pace 9:02), AGP 70.63%
- Janet Stack: 3:59:24 (pace 9:08), AGP 70.82%
- Deb Saat: 4:26:59 (pace 10:11), AGP 71.42%
- Barbara Paer: 6:03:54 (13:53), fastest 70+ woman Flyer (in the absence of a Flyers 70+ Women Team)
- Maggie Schwartz: 6:51:25 (15:42), second-fastest 70+ woman Flyer (in the absence of a Flyers 70+ Women Team)
The teamâs full results can be found here:
https://results.nyrr.org/event/M2024/teams/NYF
Finally, this race counts also for the 2024 Flyers awards. The current member standings are on the Flyersâ website at https://nyflyers.org/2023-flyers-age-group-results
Well done, runners!
Congratulations also to the 43 Flyers who finished the Dash to the Finish Line 5K đ the day before the marathon. Check out the teamâs results at: https://results.nyrr.org/event/24DASH/teams/NYF Youâll discover that some of our team members ran both races back to back!
-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter, #NYRR staff