Since its creation in 2010, and especially since it became a spring event in 2010 and it adopted its Brooklyn-to-Manhattan course in 2018, the NYC Half has become one of New York’s most popular runs and it attracts fast runners from all over the world.💨
147 Flyers were among the 27,824 runners who finished the race this morning in beautiful spring-like weather. It was a glorious day for our team, and we won three team awards.🏆🏆🏆 Many other Flyers were on the course, cheering on runners, taking photographs, and volunteering in support of NYRR. Many of them volunteered at fluid station 7, located at one of the most scenic spots of the course, near Times Square, under Rachel Duncan’s masterful coordination.
This morning’s run had a special significance for Prinda Mulpramook, cousin of our beloved long-time Flyer Anick Jesdanun, who passed away in April 2020. In honor of what would have been Nick’s 55th birthday, Prinda decided to complete this morning’s NYC Half. Nick ran this half marathon twice, first in 2017 and then in 2018, when it switched to its current course. I talked to Prinda after her run.
Many of us will remember that Prinda honored Nick’s memory by completing the 50th running of the NYC Marathon in 2021. “This was the best way I knew to honor Nick's life,” she told me. “His dedication to just keep going and putting one foot in front of the other has been an inspiration for our entire family! Not only in terms of running, but as a way to live and enjoy life. When we are all together, we make a point of getting in our #miles4nick. We miss him every day and it helps us feel close to him.”
I asked Prinda about today's run. “It was tough!” she replied. “I hadn't trained at all. But I had a strong pull towards completing it because it fell so close to Nick’s birthday, and we share March birthdays. The weather turned out absolutely beautiful and I felt Nick by my side the whole time, encouraging me to keep going. Every time I moved on to a different part of the course I kept thinking, ‘Nick was here.’ It was so special to be able to share the same experience.”💖
The fastest Flyer of the day was Albert Pedemonte, who finished the race with a staggering time of 1:17:16 (pace 5:54). This is a big PR for Albert. He shaved off 1:10 from his previous half marathon PR, which he had set in Brooklyn last year. Albert finished 6th in his age group and scored an AGP of 82.54%. Behind Albert, Zac Charlton finished in 1:25:01 (pace 6:30) and placed second on the team. Francesco Presutti finished third for the team in 1:29:26 (pace 6:50, 4th AG place, AGP 80.93%). Jeff Gerbert came in fourth in 1:31:12 (pace 6:58, AGP 76:42%). Michael Alexander finished fifth for the team with a time of 1:33:39 (pace 7:09). The Open Men Team came in 44th and is 8th in the Open Men B standings.
The women’s team was led by super speedy Marcy Withington, who finished with an impressive time of 1:34:13 (pace 7:12, 5th AG place, AGP 82:21%). She was followed by Augusta Rice, who ran her half marathon in 1:36:18 (pace 7:21), also a PR! The third runner on the team was Silke Eiserbeck, who finished in 1:37:08 (pace 7:25, 9th AG place, AGP 80.73%). Bethany Shaw (Jones) came fourth for the team with a time of 1:39:02 (pace 7:34). The fifth runner on the Flyer women’s team was Arlyn Apollo. She finished in 1:39:20 (pace 7:35, AGP 76:09%). The Open Women Team came 19th and is 8th in the Open A club standings.
Today’s race is the second club points race of the season. Three teams won an award:🏆
- The 60+ Women Team, including Denise Iannizzotto (1:41:54, pace 7:47, 5th AG place, AGP 83.2%), Monique Seibert (1:47:24, pace 8:12, AGP 80.02%) and Deb Saat (1:58:11, pace 9:01, 8th AG place, AGP 75.84%), won the first place, and is tied for first place in the club standings with Taconic.
- The 60+ Men Team, including Francesco, Jérôme Bérard (1:37:26, pace 7:26, AGP 74:28%) and Clay Bracken (1:43:11, pace 7:53), also won the first place, and is tied for first place in the club standings with CPTC.
- The 50+ Women Team, including Marcy, Silke and Arlyn, came in second and is tied for second place in the club standings with Misty Mountain.
Congrats to all three teams!
Kudos also to the following teams:
- The 40+ Women Team, including Marcy, Silke and Arlyn, finished 7th.
- The 50+ Men Team, including Francesco, Jeff and Frédéric Veron (1:35:26, pace 7:17, AGP 71.71%), finished 11th.
- The 40+ Men Team, including Albert, Francesco and Jeff, finished 20th.
- The 70+ Men Team, including David Gaines (2:01:14, pace 9:15), and Ricky Lam (2:28:10, pace 11:19), did not have enough runners to gain points.
- The 70+ Women Team did not have any runner on the course today.
Kudos also, as always, to the other 8 Flyers, in addition to those mentioned above, who scored an AGP of 70% or above. They are:
- Emiko Fukagawa: 1:40:06, pace 7:39, AGP 70.55%
- Kristel McKanna: 1:42:15, pace 7:48, AGP 72.18%
- Jeanhie Hahn: 1:44:03, pace 7:57, AGP 75.36%
- Amanda Schachter: 1:45:03, pace 8:01, AGP 71.95%
- Neil Tipograph: 1:47:48, pace 8:14, AGP 70.55%
- Yumi Morishige: 1:50:23, pace 8:26, AGP 71.95%
- Nina Zoe Parks-Taylor: 2:03:08, pace 9:24, AGP 72.79%
- Mindy Statter: 2:05:45, pace 9:36, AGP 72.31%
The team’s full results can be found here:
Finally, this race counts also for the 2023 Flyers awards. The full list of races eligible for the awards and the latest member standings will soon be posted to the Flyers’ website.
Well done, runners!
-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter, #NYRR staff