When PPTC last raced the Washington Heights 5K in 2020, we still gathered in large groups, the eponymous Coogan’s was still open, and Covid was a mild curiosity. Little did we know that it would be the last NYRR Club Points race for two years. This past Sunday marked the triumphant return of club points races, at the 2022 edition of the Washington Heights Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K. This year, 61 members of PPTC packed the starting corrals, eager to race again on the hills of Fort Tryon Park.

Sean Q. on his way to finishing third in his age group

The women’s open team secured 7th place with Joelle Reeves (17:28), Junko Matsuura (19:29), Holly Chase (20:34), Katie Lau (21:38), and Jana Veliskova (22:09) scoring for the team. Joelle ran a blistering first mile from the AA corral and held on to run a 25 second PR. In the process she finished 10th overall, won the 35-39 age group by 40 seconds, and set the new club 5K record. Junko Matsuura racked up another age group win — her second NYRR win of the year — with a PR that also earned her a spot on the PPTC records board.

The men’s open team came in 6th, finishing ahead of all the teams we can reasonably expect to finish ahead of. Leading the way, Sean Quealy continued his streak of fast races, but faced some seriously stiff competition in his age group. He came in third in the 40-44 age group and equalled his PR of 16:33. Tom Anderson closed in a blazingly fast final 300 meters, finishing in 16:39 to best his time on this course from 2020 by 10 seconds. John McElroy followed in 16:45, taking second in the 45-49 age group. New member Ricardo Cortes took a break from doing triathlons to set a new PR, finishing in the same time as John. Lexi Nastos scored in his first club points race running for PPTC, with a 16:52 PR. Noah Devereaux traveled all the way from Seattle to grace the team with his speed and unique brand of motivation. He finished in 16:59 to get the top 5 PPTC men all under 17 minutes.

The men’s masters 40+ team finished third, with Sean, John, and Will Ngo scoring. Will ran a speedy 18:35 PR on the hilly course. PPTC runners dominated the men’s 60-64 age group with Iain Levine winning in 19:18. He is in the process of changing his team affiliation, and hopes to race for PPTC soon. Finishing second in the age group, Manuel Serrano used his track speed to run a 19:31 and finished 2nd in the 60-64 age group. He also led the men’s grand masters 50+ team to a 5th place finish, along with Oren Efrati (19:53) and Josh Carter (20:30). Oren’s time was a 30 second PR and his first time under 20 minutes.

Tom A. speeding into the finishing stretch

Notable performances:

Adam Devine (19:57) somehow used the hills to his advantage to dip under 20 minutes for the first time.
Tom Surgent (17:35) broke 18 for the first time, followed closely by John Vaghi (18:00) and Dan Ubilla (18:04).
Kishor Vayyala and Yushiro Okamoto both ran 19:20 for big PRs.
Audrey Rosenblith finished her first NYRR race with a time of 28:54.
Erica Harper finished with a new PR of 35:13.

Age-Graded 80%+:

Joelle Reeves
Junko Matsuura
Sean Quealy
John McElroy
Iain Levine
Manuel Serrano

Age-Graded 70%+:

Holly Chase
Tom Anderson
Lexi Nastros
Noah Devereaux
Tom Surgent
John Vaghi
Dan Ubilla
William Ngo
Oren Efrati
Josh Carter

Congrats to all who raced. The next club points race will be the RBC Race for the Kids 4M on April 24. If you have any races, NYRR club points races or not, that you want us to feature, we’ll be sending out a Google form prior to the next report or you can email us at training@pptc.org

Some of the team pre-race
Photo courtesy of David Coleman

Text by: Training & Competing Committee
Photos by: Linda S. Chan, other than noted
Produced by: Linda S. Chan

PPTC is a diverse and supportive team. We want to celebrate the diversity of our club and membership. We welcome and encourage everyone to share their stories with us.

Washington Heights 5K Race Report

Notable performances:

Age-Graded 80%+:

Age-Graded 70%+: