Good times all around at the PPTC picnic

We had perfect weather for our annual picnic on Saturday, June 15! It was a great morning for camaraderie, laughter, and catching up with friends old and new. The crush of red singlets and shirts contrasted nicely with the beautiful early-summer green of our home park.

Just before 10 a.m., Al Goldstein and Doug Olney pulled 33 slips of paper from a manila envelope, creating eleven random teams for our traditional relay race. Each participant ran or race-walked one 1.7-mile lap around Prospect Park Lake via Wellhouse Drive.

PPTC picnic warm-up

Team G, composed of speedsters Jason Fleischauer, Liesje Hodgson, and Frank DeLeo, led from start to finish. Teams J and H had a showdown coming into the finish line, with team J holding the edge for silver.

Click here for more results!

Thanks, BRRC, for planting a tree for Paul Soskind

We were surprised and honored to receive the following certificate from our friends at Brooklyn Road Runners Club:

Arbor Day Paul Soskind

A note was enclosed:

Paul was a great athlete and a true individual. His passing is a loss to all Brooklyn runners.

With our condolences,
BRRC
Howie A., Michael B., John S., Scott Mc.

We couldn’t agree more. Thank you, BRRC, for keeping the flame of camaraderie burning strong in our borough.

 

Weekend Preview: May 18-19

A view from the pre-race party.

A view from the Brooklyn Half pre-race party.

This weekend promises to be a busy and exciting one for PPTC, as many of our members prepare to run, volunteer and/or cheer at the Brooklyn Half Marathon on Saturday, May 18th and/or support the community of Breezy Point by running in the 33rd Annual Buckley’s Kennedy’s 5K on Sunday, May 19th.

NYRR is expecting the biggest field ever for this Saturday’s Brooklyn Half Marathon and, for the first time in the race’s history, there will be two wave starts – the first starting at 7:00 am and the second beginning at 7:35 am. The route for the race is the same as in 2012, beginning on Washington Ave. by the Brooklyn Museum, then following a scenic route outside the park, looping around Grand Army Plaza and heading down Flatbush Ave. and Ocean Ave. to Parkside Ave. The race continues with a full loop of the park and a nice run down Ocean Parkway to Coney Island, ending in grand style on the boardwalk. Many PPTC members are planning to run the race on Saturday. If you are running, make sure to check your bib to see if you are listed as being affiliated with PPTC. If “Prospect Park Track” is not listed on your bib, go to the help desk at the pre-party to have NYRR add it to your record.

Lynda Mules and Yvetta Barner proudly display their Brooklyn Half numbers at the pre-race party.

Lynda Mules and Yvetta Barner proudly display their Brooklyn Half numbers at the pre-race party.

Whether you are running in the Brooklyn Half, cheering, volunteering, or none of the above, come celebrate after the race on the beach at Coney Island, starting at around 8:30am at the PPTC Brooklyn Half Marathon Picnic. Look for the PPTC banners and lots of PPTCers on the beach near the Parachute Jump, just east of the pier and close to the finish and baggage areas. (For those who attended last year, this is NOT the same location.) Pastries, snacks, water, ice, and other goodies will be provided. Feel free to bring food and beverages to share. Pack your towel and sunscreen!

On Sunday, May 19th, several PPTC teammates are planning to head out to Breezy Point, Queens for the Buckley’s Kennedy’s 5K . The theme of this year’s race is “run, rebuild, revive.” If you are interested in running in the race, sign up online by noon today (Friday).
 
Have a great weekend!!! We’re looking forward to seeing lots of PPTC singlets, banners and teammates this weekend!!! Go PPTC!!!

Weekend Preview: May 11-12

Many of us PPTCers are tapering for next week’s Brooklyn Half, or recovering from last week’s long distance races, but this weekend promises a number of opportunities to lace up your racing shoes.

Central Park will be abuzz on Saturday morning for the NYRR UAE Healthy Kidney 10k, which boasts a number of Pro appearances. Brooklyn-based runners can keep busy without crossing the East River at the McCarren 5k in Greenpoint or the Brooklyn PTA 5k in Prospect Park. For ultra- and trail-runners, there is a 25k and 50k trail race in Plainview.

Sunday is NYRR’s Japan Run (4m) in Central Park as well as City Tri Mother’s Day Duathlon and 10k in Prospect Park. Elsewhere, there are the Delaware and Rhode Island marathons– Any PPTCers going 26.2 at either of these events?

This week also starts NYCRUNS Riverside Park Summer Series. Did someone say summer? Spring was very short-lived, huh? Kicking off the summer series is the Lousy T-shirt race on Wednesday, May 15. Need an explanation for the race name, ask Steve, perhaps he can explain.

So many races to run, so many goals accomplish … oh and Happy Mother’s Day!  Shout out where you will be this weekend!

PPTC Masters Women compete at Penn Relays

On Friday, April 26, 2013 at 7:15 p.m., in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, twelve masters women’s teams lined up on a track. The event was the world-famous Penn Relay Carnival, a five-day celebration of running, with Olympic-caliber competition its highlight.

PPTC Penn Relays 2013 start

Set as team “H” were four women sporting a comforting shade of red and four familiar letters: PPTC!

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Emphasis Again on Safety at Weekend Races

This weekend’s races in New York City will again feature tightened security measures, so runners should get to the events on the early side, race officials are saying.

The headline events for runners this weekend are the Verrazano Festival of Races, starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday at Shore Road Park Pier in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and the Run-as-One four miler taking place Sunday at 8:30 a.m. in Central Park. Another weekend option is the Run for Hope 5k run/walk, to be held in Prospect Park at 9 a.m. on Sunday.

PPTC’s very own Steve Lastoe, the founder and driving force behind NYCRUNS, the organizer of the Verrazano Festival, urged runners not to bring bags to the races, if at all possible. Organizers are “reserving the right to search bags (and will search oversize bags) and throw unattended baggage into the river,” he said in an email interview.

The Verrazano Festival features three races, a 5k and 10k, along with a half-marathon that is slated to start at 9:30 a.m. The races are sold out.

The Run-as-One race, organized by New York Road Runners, will have the same security procedures that were in effect for last weekend’s Run for the Parks, according to Skip Stiles, a NYRR representative. The increased focus on security comes in response to the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15.

“We are complying with the security measures put in place with the NYPD,” Stiles said. The Run-as-One race is not sold out, and those still interested can sign up on site early Sunday morning. Over 8,000 runners participated in last year’s Run-as-One event.

Both Stiles and Lastoe indicated that tightened security measures will be in place for the foreseeable future, but did not go so far as to say they were “the new normal.”

Given the new security situation, a big logistical challenge is looming for NYRR, which recently decided to expand the field for the Brooklyn half-marathon in May. Last year, just over 14,000 runners completed the route, stretching from the Botanical Gardens to the Coney Island boardwalk. This year, according to Stiles, the race could have upwards of 25,000 entrants, almost the same size as the Boston Marathon.

NYCRun’s Lastoe hopes to take the very popular Brooklyn Marathon out of Prospect Park and on to the streets of King’s County in the near future. He says he doesn’t expect current security concerns to hinder those plans. He added that early indicators suggest most runners remain committed to organized racing.

“It’s a strong community. No one is running away,” he said.

It’s time to vote: 2013 PPTC Elections

The 2013 PPTC elections are here. Voting begins today and the online ballot will remain open through April 29th. Single members are entitled to one ballot, family members to two.

The link to vote was sent to all current members from membership@pptc.org this morning.

Below are the statements of intent for the candidates.

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Weekend recap: April 20-21

After a week of tragedy and confusion comes light and unity!

Check out this cool tribute run: Linus Ly wrote out “Boston” via GPS map. He titled it “Boston between US” as it was done between Avenues U and S.

NYC showed Boston some love with a Unity Run lead by NY Flyers on Saturday morning. From the looks of it, many people came to run and show they care.

NYRR held their City Parks Foundation Run for the Parks Sunday morning in Central Park. PPTC was well represented; although the results are missing a few club affiliations… hopefully that problem will be fixed soon! Many ran wearing “Run for Boston” T’s and/or bibs. It was a sea of blue and yellow. Everyone was running for Boston.

Sunday afternoon in Central Park was a Solidarity Run for Boston, and a few local running clubs made some noise. It’s amazing what social media can accomplish, there was quite a turnout of runners. Let’s just say I’ve never seen so much love for Boston and the Red Sox in NYC. Mary Wittenberg made an appearance. Steve Lastoe was there, and mentioned that NYCRuns raised over 10K for The One Fund Boston through the Virtual 5k Run. If you haven’t signed up yet, do so today! The deadline for your own 5k is at 2:50 p.m. marking the time the first blast went off.

Other races that took place over this weekend were PurpleStride NYC 5K, the Inaugural Brooklyn 15k, The Leatherman’s Loop, and the London Marathon.

 

If you ran it, we want to hear about it.

Have a great week! Boston always in our hearts.

Get out there and run this weekend: April 20-21

Get out there and run this weekend–whether in an organized race or with a group of friends at a solidarity run. While you’re at it, support a worthy cause. PPTCers and runners everywhere are moving to honor those affected by Monday’s horrible events.

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