Up and down, and then more up and then more down. All the way for the entire 5K. Hey, it’s the Heights after all!
This morning’s race was the first club points race of 2023, and as it happens in club points races, teams were sporting their bright colors at the start. The first winner of the day is Rachel Duncan, who delighted runners again for the third time with her spectacular 🎶singing of the national anthem. 🇺🇸
66 Flyers ran under our flag.
→(NB: 10 of the 66 that are included in the NYRR results have not renewed their memberships; please review your membership status or inform NYRR accordingly)←
We brought home two gold medals 🥇🥇 (Fran Breslauer and the 60+ men team won their age groups), one silver 🥈 (Delton Mace), and one bronze 🥉 (the 70+ women team came third in their age group). Way to start the season!
One of today’s stars 🌟 was Leyre Alejaldre, who came second for the Flyer women. I ran back with Ley and a group of finishers along the Hudson river, and we talked about the race and her journey as a runner. “Those hills…” she said. “But I managed to improve my time from last year. The best part of the race was meeting other Flyers after the finish. My biggest mistake today: starting way too fast, fastest than I have ever run!”
Ley is from Spain. 🇪🇸 She found the Flyers in September 2021 (“best decision ever”, she told me), as she was looking for a running club to cheer her up post-Covid. “The truth is that I’m a basketball 🏀player,” she told me, “and basketballers run a lot! So that’s where my love for running started. I have run in Barbados, Thailand, Spain, Gambia… but my favorite place to run is the streets of NYC.” Ley’s closest project is the NYC Half coming up in two weeks. But her long-term project is her third NYC Marathon. “Third time’s a charm 🍀,” she told me. “I’ll try to break 4 hours! But we all know that races are not math. So, my main goal will be to enjoy the crowds and organize my cheering squad so I can see them in many places.”
And here are the team’s full results:
On the men's side:
Francesco Presutti (yours truly) led the team with 19:55 (pace 6:25, AGP 80.56%, 4th AG place).
Jacob Olesen came second in 20:16 (pace 6:32).
Kazuhiro Shimbo finished third with 20:29 (pace 6:36, AGP 72.69%).
John Whitfield was fourth for the team (20:48, pace 6:39, AGP 79%)
Michael Alexander was fifth (1:10:15, pace 6:42).
The Open Men B Team came 8th (and is 8th in the club standings).
Delton Mace won a second place in his award age group with a time of 27:53 (pace 8:59). Congrats to Delton! 🎉
On the women's side:
Amanda Schachter led the team with 22:30 (pace 7:15, AGP 74.29%, 9th AG). Followed by:
Leyre Alejaldre (23:43, pace 7:38)
Yumi Morishige (24:08, pace 7:46, AGP 72.43%, 8th AG),
Jeanhie Hahn (24:18, pace pace 7:50, AGP 71.11%)
Mary Beth Ezra (24:31, pace 7:54).
The Open Women A Team scored 1 point and is now 10th in the club standings.
Last but not least, our amazing Fran Breslauer won her age group again with a superb time of 33:49 (pace 10:53, AGP 75.66%). Congrats to Fran! 🎉
Two teams won an award today:
• The 60+ Men Team, including Francesco, John and Jérôme Bérard (20:49, pace 6:42, AGP 77.07%, 8th AG), won their age group and are first in the club standings.
• The 70+ Women Team, including Fran, Hindy Schachter (46.12, pace 14:53, 5th AG) and Karen Kenney (48:17, pace 15:33), came third in their age group (and are third in the club standings).
Congrats to both teams! 🎉🎉
Kudos also to the following teams:
• Both the 50+ Men Team, including Francesco, Kazuhiro and John, and the 60+ Women Team, including Lisa Konorty (25:50, pace 8:19, AGP 71.78%), Nina Zoe Parks-Taylor (26:10, pace 8:26, AGP 74.48%), and Mindy Statter (27:37, pace 8:54, AGP 71.49%, 6th AG), finished 4th (and are 4th in the club standings).
• The 50+ Women Team, including Amanda, Yumi and Jeanhie, finished 8th (and are 8th in the club standings).
• The 40+ Men Team, including again Francesco, Kazuhiro and John, and The 40+ Women Team, including Amanda, Leyre and Yumi, both scored one point.
• The 70+ Men Team, including Delton and Felix Alicea (31:23, pace 10:06) did not have a minimum of three runners and did not score points.
Congrats also to the following additional three runners who scored an AGP of 70% or above:
Marc Bochner (20:50, pace 6:43, AGP 75.08%)
Colm Banfield (22.57%, pace 7:24, AGP 71.11%)
Neil Tipograph (23.19, pace 7:31, AGP 71.93%)
The team’s full results can be found here: https://results.nyrr.org/event/23WASH/teams/NYF
Finally, as this was also the first race where members could earn points for the 2023 Flyers awards, you will find the current member standing after today’s race by clicking the link below.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VP_ep20PtARmGc5OrdFBF9zGtHPuOmFrzBI3Zp-wjDc/edit?usp=sharing
→Please note that this point tracking spreadsheet is provisional, and may need be reviewed and adjusted by the Awards Committee (including for the members who have not yet renewed their memberships).←
Well done, Flyers!
-Francesco P, NY Flyers Blog Race Reporter