And that's a wrap! The last club points race of 2022 is in the books. Among the 70 Flyers who finished the race, 3 individual members (3 men) and 2 teams (the 60+ men and women teams) won awards this morning. Both teams finished the season in the top three: the 60+ men team, 2nd in the final club standings, and the 60+ women team, 3rd! Isn't it wonderful? More details below! 🏆
Runners were greeted by light rain at the start of this morning's classic 15K, which celebrates the life and legacy of Ted Corbitt. Corbitt, the founding president of NYRR, looms large in the history of long-distance running. He is known as “the father of long-distance running” for the lasting impact of his work on our sport. Corbitt was also an incredible inspirational role model and a tireless champion of inclusivity across all ages, races, genders, and abilities. His son Gary reminded us of his accomplishments before the start of the race this morning.
Gary Corbitt's speech came right after Flyer Rachel Duncan's powerful rendition of the national anthem.🎶 By the time Rachel's singing had stopped, all 7,764 runners of the race felt pumped up and ready to beat the rain. (Is it me or Rachel's singing of the anthem is getting more beautiful each time we hear her beautiful voice at the start of a NYRR race?)🌟
On the women's side, Nicole Theodore came first for the team with a fast 1:05:01 (pace 6:59, AGP 70.78%). This is Nicole's PR for the distance - in 2021 she ran this race in 1:11:53. I spoke to Nicole after the race. "I love the Ted Corbitt 15K", she told me, "for both the course and what it stands for. I wasn’t sure what to expect today for performance because I took a bit of a break from training for the past few weeks." Congrats to Nicole on her huge PR! Nicole officially joined the Flyers in February 2022. "I reached out to Jon and Francine about the 6am running group", she told me, "and I quickly felt like these were my people! I have always been a solo runner but as I was training for the ‘22 United Half during graduate school, I felt like I needed community and to surround myself with others who love this sport. I have been grateful for my experience with the Flyers." And we are happy to have Nicole among us!☺️
Nicole was followed by Kristel McKanna, who finished in 1:09:34 (pace 7:28, 7th AG, 73.93%), Laura Sackler, who finished in 1:10:44 (pace 7:36, 8th AG, AGP 72.71%), Lisa Konorty, who finished in 1:17:14 (pace 8:18, 8th AG, AGP 75.16%) and Jillian Hobson, who finished in 1:18:08 (pace 8:23). The women's open A team came 6th in today's race (4 points) and finished the season 10th.
On the men's side, Tim Decker led the Flyers team with a fast 1:01:33 (pace 6:37, AGP 77.32%). Francesco Presutti came second with a time of 1:02:31 (pace 6:43, AGP 80.41%). Francesco won a 2nd place age-group award and broke the Hall of Fame record for the distance of 1:05:18, set by Gary Smeal on March 27, 2011 (https://nyflyers.org/hall-of-fame/). Edvard Major came third with 1:02:49 (pace 6:45), Michael Alexander came fourth with 1:05:44 (pace 7:04), and Jérôme Bérard came fifth with 1:06:42 (pace 7:10, AGP 75:38%) and won a 3rd place age-group award. The men's open B team came 4th in today's race (8 points), and finished the season 6th.
Kudos also to Delton Mace also won a 2nd place age-group award with 1:34:04 (pace 10:06).
As mentioned, two teams won awards today:
The 60+ Men Team, including Francesco, Jérôme and Neil Tipograph (1:14:04, pace 7:57, 5th AG, AGP 71.23%) won a gold medal 🏅- and thanks to the 15 points they gained they finished the season with a 2nd place among clubs.
The 60+ Women Team, including Mindy Statter (1:25:50, pace 9:13, 4th AG, AGP 73.29%), Nina Zoe Parks-Taylor (1:26:08, pace 9:15, AGP 71.05%) and Deb Saat (1:28:39, pace 9:31, AGP 69.98%) won bronze🥉, gained 10 points and finished the season 3rd.
Congrats to both awesome teams!🏆🏆
As for the other teams:
The 50+ Women Team, i.e. Lisa, Jeanhie Hahn (1:18:27, pace 8:25), and Ami Thakkar (1:21:01, pace 8:42), and the 50+ Men Team, i.e. Tim, Francesco and Jerome, both finished 5th (6 points).
The 40+ Women Team, i.e. Kristel, Laura and Lisa, and the 40+ Men Team, i.e. Tim, Francesco and Edvard, scored 1 point each.
The 70+ Men and 70+ Women Teams were not complete, as our award winner Delton was the only Flyer above 70 on the men's side, and Jeanine Hartnett (1:49:42, pace 11:47, 8th AG) and Karen Kenny (2:35:52, pace 16:44) were the only two women above 70, and therefore did not score any points.
One more runner scored an AGP above 70%: Brad Goz (1:17:10, pace 8:17, AGP 70.44%).
The team’s full results can be found here: https://results.nyrr.org/event/22TC15K/teams/NYF.
🌟Congrats to all runners!
**An important reminder: if you are a Flyer and your result is not listed in the NYRR website, you are not gaining points for the team, and we are also missing you. Please notify NYRR as soon as you can of your club affiliation, so we can celebrate your accomplishment together! 🎉
-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter, #NYRRstaff