Brrrr!🧊🧊 Winter has not officially started yet, but it felt like we are right in the middle of a New York chilly winter for the 4,053 finishers of this morning’s race, the Ted Corbitt 15K. The race takes runners twice along Central Park’s aptly named Ted Corbitt Loop, in celebration of the legacy of running legend Ted Corbitt. 79 Flyers joined the race – and what a glorious day it was for our team, full of awards and PRs! Congrats to all runners!
Our 60+ Men Team made the headlines. This was the last of the 11 races on the NYRR club series. The 60+ Men crowned a very strong year by winning their age division this morning. It is their 5th win this year – and thanks to their mega performance, the team won the season title! This is a remarkable accomplishment for our team, especially because, unlike their women counterparts, it had been a long time since the men had won a season award. Congrats to all the Flyers in the team, and in particular to the many who contributed points.
Special honors also go to the other 3 age-division teams (70+ Women, 70+ Men and 60+ Women Teams), who made the podium and finished in the top three in the season’s final rankings, as well as to the 5 Flyers who won individual age-group awards (1 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze). Kudos to all those who set a PR in this challenging race.
As always, our gratitude goes to Rachel Duncan. Rachel beautifully sang the National Anthem last year for this race, and – after delighting us with her singing at so many other races since – she fired us up with the power of her voice once more this morning, before joining the race with the rest of the team!
The team was led by three Flyers who all joined the club in 2024. If anyone ever doubted it, here’s the proof: our team is the ultimate whirlwind of energy! 🏆Joe Kelly brought home the team’s fastest – and most spectacular – result: he finished in 1:00:39 (pace 6:31), and won his age group’s award. Joe scored an AGP of 86.99%, which earned him an incredible 8th place overall age-graded. Joe was also first in the Flyers 60+, 50+ and 40+ Men Teams. 🥈Adam Pritchard came in second for the team with a result of 1:01:08 (pace 6:34, AGP 77.84%). This was a big, fat 4m50s PR for Adam! Adam was also second in the Flyers 50+ and 40+ Teams. 🥉Jeff Gurwin was the team’s third fastest runner.
This was Jeff’s second race with the Flyers, after the New York City Marathon. He finished in 1:01:26 (pace 6:36). Jeff is an old friend of the 6am “family” of the Flyers, but was racing unattached until recently. I spoke to Jeff after the race and asked him what triggered his decision to become part of our team. “I wanted to join the Flyers”, he replied, “because I have friends that are on the Flyers and I wanted to officially join.” I also asked Jeff how he felt about the race. “I felt great in the race,” he told me, “and the cold was refreshing!” Welcome to New York’s friendliest club, Jeff! Jeff was also third in the Flyers 40+ Teams.
🌟Deniz Saat finished fourth in the team in 1:03:59 (pace 6:52). 🌟Francesco Presutti took the fifth place with a time of 1:05:02 (pace 6:59, 7th AG place, AGP 78.79%). Francesco was also third in the Flyers 50+ Men Team. Our Open Men Team came in 21st today and finished the season in 8th place among the Open Men B teams.
A second Flyer man won an award alongside Joe: Brad Goz (1:15:13, pace 8:05, 73.77%) won bronze in his age group.
🏆Silke Eiserbeck was the fastest runner in the women’s team. She finished in the extraordinary time of 1:07:02 (pace 7:12) and won the 3th AG place award. Silke scored an AGP of 83.38%, which earned her an amazing 9th place overall age-graded! Silke was also first in the Flyers 50+ and 40+ Women Teams. 🥈Kristel McKanna came in second in the women’s team with the very fast time of 1:12:03 (pace 7:44, 10th AG place, AGP 73.04%). Kristel was also second in the Flyers 50+ and 40+ Women Teams. 🥉Ley Alejaldre Biel was third for the team with a time of 1:14:32 (pace 8:00). Ley was also third in the Flyers 40+ Women Team. 🌟Melida Barbosa came in fourth with 1:14:39 (pace 8:01). 🌟Denise Iannizzotto was fifth with 1:14:44 (pace 8:02, 7th AG place, AGP 80.79%). Denise was also first in the Flyers 60+ Women Team and third in the 50+ Women Team. The Open Women Team was 12th, and finished the season in 14th place among the Open Women A teams.
Two more Flyer women won an award in their respective age groups alongside Silke: Mindi Adler won silver (2:23:02, pace 15:21), and Teresa Gancayco won bronze (1:34:40, pace 10:10, AGP 71.42%).
As mentioned above, 3 more age-division teams were on the podium, alongside the 60+ Men:
- The 70+ Women Team, led by Teresa, and including Christy Putnam (1:36:45, pace 10:23, 5th AG place, AGP 72:05%) and Barbara Paer (1:42:32, pace 11:00, 7th AG place), won the age division and finished second in the season’s final ranking.
- The 70+ Men Teams, led by Brad and including David Gaines (1:23:35, pace 8:59, 5th AG place) and David Dempsey (1:30:20, pace 9:42, 4th AG place), won the age division’s second-place award and went on to win the season’s third-place award.
- The 60+ Women Team, led by Denise and including Emily Altman (1:19:38, pace 8:33, AGP 75.81%) and Deb Saat (1:23:52, pace 9:00, 5th AG place, AGP 76:07%), won the age division’s third-place award, and finished third in the season’s final ranking.
Kudos also to the other Flyers, in addition to those mentioned above, who finished in the top 3 of the Flyers age-division teams, and/or in the top 10 places of their age groups and/or scored an AGP of 70% or above. They are:
- Marc Bochner: 1:07:08, pace 7:13, AGP 74.18%
- Jérôme Bérard: 1:09:09, pace 7:26, AGP 74.1%%, third in Flyers 60+ Men Team
- Neil Tipograph: 1:14:28, pace 8:00, 5th AG place, AGP 72.27%
- Nina Zoe Parks-Taylor: 1:25:44, pace 9:12, 10th AG place, AGP 73.37%
- Delton Mace: 1:33:24, pace 10:02, 5th AG place
- Karen Kenney: 2:39:35, pace 17:08, 4th AG place
The team’s full results can be found at: https://results.nyrr.org/event/24TC15K/teams/NYF
Finally, this race counts also for the 2024 Flyers awards. David Gaines’s final ranking (with the winners of each age group) is available online at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CzC1bjJq1iaTf7uHbmESU-i3e__mb9Jr/edit
Well done, Flyers! 🎉
-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter, #NYRRstaff