The Inside Loop: April 2013

Thanks to Charlene for passing along the the great news that Coach Tony Watson won the USATF Masters Indoor Track & Field mile at the New Balance Track & Field Center at the 168th Street Armory in a time of 5:24 in the 50-59 age group. Kristin Uhrich speaks for the entire PPTC nation in congratulating Frank Deleo for his competing in the US 50km Championships and finishing 21st overall among the USATF competitors , 46th if non-USATF members are included and 2nd in the USATF masters 55-59 age division, 4th if you include non-USATF members. Whew, complicated! Frank's time was 4:56:28. Frank himself thought that " ...the PPTC ultra team was, um, under-represented...." although he did spot a few non-PPTC runners who train in Prospect Park. Past PPTC prez Bobby Fischer was also there doing the 25K.

On March 19th PPTC's Masters Women and Men completed in the Front Runners 14th Annual Indoor Track & Field Meet at the New Balance Center in Washington Heights. Leading the charge was coach Tony Watson 3rd in the Masters Mile in 5:29, Valarie Hing placed 1st in her 200m heat in 34.29 seconds. Zoe Van de Wiele finished 1st in her 400m heat in 72.32 and 2nd in the 60m Masters in 10.23 seconds. Patricia ChongTenn placed 1st in the Masters Women Mile in 6:59. Jan Vaughn placed 1st in her heat in the 200m. Many thanks to PPTC cheerleaders Charlene and Maculene and Jeorde who made the trek to cheer PPTC on. Well done!

Lynda Mules shoutout reflects PPTC's HUGE congratulations to Karen Ziga (1:23:40), Colleen Herbert (1:25:49) and Anna Tattan (1:27:27), three talented PPTC ladies who crushed the course in this March's NYC Half on a cold and chilly St. Patrick's Day. Way to lead the team, ladies!

Thanks to Stephen Blacklocks for pointing out that Karen's time is only 8:40 off the 2016 Marathon Olympic Trials B standard. That's a fair bit of time, but what a goal to aim for! Lots of PPTC PRs at this race too despite the cold and wind which many runners who competed would agree was definitely a factor. As Rod Stewart sings, "every picture tells a story" - and for those of us who hunkered down at the finish line area, the face of every runner who crossed the finish line told the story of victory!

USATF and NYRR extend thanks to PPTC volunteers who were shoulder to shoulder with the top finishing athletes, men and women, notifying them that their positions had been selected for drug testing. Imagine, after racing 13.1 miles, smelling the finish line from how many miles out, that final kick to leave it all on the road and save nothing, and then being notified that their positions had been selected for drug testing - only after being herded to the press with their ensuing interviews up the ying yang. Many thanks to PPTCers Wayne Bailey, Patty ChongTenn, Janice Fuld, and PPTC friends World Record holder Sid Howard and his lovely wife Asteria (CPTC) and Wayne's son-in-law and former ASU quarterback Trey Heard.

Gary Wang ran the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Washington, DC on March 16th with former PPTCers Helen Dole, Sarah Scott, and Brad Skillman. Special congrats to Helen for her new blazing sub 1:23:58 PR and her top 20 finish in a very competitive field and to Sarah for running the full in 3:31 in her first marathon post-baby. And that with a two minute 'detour off the course' for a bathroom break! Gary himself ran a negative split 1:30:01 after taking an overnight Greyhound bus to DC on Friday night. Gary's word of advice, if you ever want to try to get sleep on a bus, DON'T sit near the back! All in all, Gary reports a fun weekend and thinks there might have been maybe one or two other PPTCers who also ran there and apologizes if he didnt catch your face or time.

Thanks for keeping Paul Soskind in your thoughts and prayers. As I mentioned last month, sometimes those miles at the end of the race become the hardest.

Congrats to Jenn Bolstad and Walter Meyer, the proud parents of first son Elias Frederick Meyer, who crossed the starting line on Sunday, March 24th at 11:10 am. As of this writing there was no indication available of the running shoe brand or size that the newborn Elias seemed to prefer. Time will tell, we're sure.....

PPTC's coached speed workouts will be outdoors in April, just in time for the late spring and summer 2013 racing season.

And most importantly, on April 1st PPTC sent out an email to all members asking for the identities of those PPTCers who have not yet broken their January 1, 2013 New Year's Resolution(s). Please cooperate to the fullest since the identities of those who qualify will be used to source a reseach study with one participant being chosen at random to receive a paid year's membership in the gym of their choice. Scientific research, tough yes but someone's got to do it.....

As a rugby-playing Rhodes scholar once quipped, "the roads, the roads, my kingdom for the roads." See you there......