THE INSIDE LOOP
by Tom Byrnes and Friends
Congrats to David Chen and his wife Enid Li Chen on the recent birth of their son Chase Li. No news on height, weight, nor running shoe size as yet. At present David is also sizing up the possibilities for his son's own personalized Dragon Boat but issues remain as far as color of the boat and corporate infant sponsorship. It wasn’t too long ago that David and I were chatting doing warmup laps at one of Coach Tony Watson's Park Slope Armory workouts when we realized we both had been at an elementary school in Sunset Park at the same time, he as student , myself as the school's Guidance Counselor. Inasmuch as David was one of the school's stellar students, his visits to the guidance office were never recorded on radar.
Sorry to see Danny Dougherty with his lower arm in a cast the end of May as a result of an accident at work some weeks ago . Danny is in the PPTC record books for one of , if not 'the', fastest marathon times, a
2:31 in Boston and a a 1:10 at the Philly Half. Heal well Danny. Looks like Claire Dougherty is back out on ther roads garnering some bling at the first Summer Speed 5k in May. Running with her daughter Emily and friend at the Dolan 5k it seemed that Clair was being chased ( but never caught ) by one of her students. ""Mirror mirror on the classroom wall, who's the fastest of them all", bragging rights! And speaking of fast marathons , all of PPTC is wondering just what was in those last few jars of Guiness that had fired up Chris O Brien to run a 3:23 at the Connemara Marathon in Ireland on April 1st. Certainly no April Fool's joke , Chris' placed 47th overall and garnered accolades from the crowds toasting the Yank in the PPTC singlet as he wailed across the finish line. Karen O' Brien took some great pics which I'm sure will be shared at one of the upcoming PPTC general meetings.
In case you couldn't make the memorial run in Central Park on Friday night April 6th for Micah True , El Caballo Blanco, ( PPTC Open Forum ) you can read "Born to Run " by Chris McDougall for insights into the man, his exploits , and his passion for ultra trail and wilderness running. Micah True, American ultra runner, 1954-March 2012, may he rest in peace.
PPTC's homegrown version of Micah True , Louie Rios, is alive and certainly ''well'' on the inside loop many weekdays, grinding out the miles, usually 20 to 30 per workout. At the recent Sri Chimnoy Six Day Ultra in Flushing Meadow, Louie's mileage totaled 314 miles in six days. Mike Ring in his blog quotes Louie as mentioning that he never looks at the mileage tally score board," it is not a race, but a meditation. " Yeah Louie!
Look for former PPTC President Bobby Fisher to start grinding out the bike miles again as his recovery from recent foot surgery this spring heals all his wounds. He was out and about volunteering at the finish line at Dolan 5k June 3rd.
Marcy Greenberg and Tom Byrnes both biked the Five Borough Bike Tour in May . With this year's Bike NY Expo at pier 17 on the East River the days before the event, the ride's staggered starts, and this year's changes to the course to make rolling through the five boroughs even smoother, this event keeps getting better and better. Someone forgot to tell the weather gods about the tradition of rain on the night of the first summer speed series 5k 's in the park, this year's kickoff event on May 23rd saw no precip. Quote of the night, " “...the course came around the lake ? What lake?" Sometimes when you're speeding , you lose sight of things. I guess....
Reports are that the fish population of the Hudson river was in no way endangered by the efforts of the PPTC fishing subcommittee. Another exciting adventure has been scheduled for the first weeks of June so bait up to the Open Forum to express your interest. Nikolien Bezuidenhout ,Pieter and Rosemary's speedster, ran a 5k recently in 32.58! Mom mentions she was running behind Nikolien shouting, "SLOW DOWN!" fearing a flameout but Nik never ran out of gas . Watch for this grammar school aged young lady on the roads in the times to come.
Thanks to Tom Tobin for pointing out that PPTC had a great day in Staten Island on Memorial day. Much
to the race organizers credit, they’ve changed the results to include all of our finishers. We had the first
place Masters Womens Team (Maggie Deschamps, Marianne Van Ooij, Zoe Van DeWeile), a third place Mens Masters Team (Justin Burke, Tom Tobin, David Halloran) with individual awards to Marianne Van Ooij (2nd 40-44), Maggie Deschamps (2nd 45-49), Zoe Van DeWeile (3rd 45-49) Tom Tobin (3rd 55-59), and Art Gonzalez (2nd 65-69). Honorable mention to Tom's niece, Christina Thompson, visiting from Colorado (3rd place 20-24). This athlete had recently run a 50 miler back home and did the Wisconsin Ironman Tri in 12:09 at 19 years old. Tom finds her amazing. She just graduated from the Air Force Academy, she’s going on to flight school (fighter jets) in August, and is apparently the youngest starter at this years Leadville 100 but dropped out after 70 miles. Rocky Mountain Colorado highs!
Great to be able to congratulate PPTCer Mickey Newman on his completing 765 races over the course of his lifetime ! Wonder how many pairs of running shoes Mick has gone through......
Congrats to Christine Boutross for moving up to join the ranks of 'Master Trainer' at NYSC/Cobble Hill.
PPTC's applaudes Wayne Bailey's recent appointment to the Community Board 8! Wayne and his favorite son- in- law Troy also voluntered with USADA and drug testing at the Healthy Kidney race in Central Park in May.
Bravo to Rich Weaver for gathering PPTC 's cheering section at the Park Circle area along the inside loop at the Brooklyn Half, the shout- outs were much appreciated. Rich was also spied on the outside rail in much the same area at the Dolan 5k , can't miss that voice!
Thanks to Tom Tobin's for setting up the PPTC 10x10 ''up-in-not-quite-a -flash'' tent and PPTC banners at this years Kenny Dolan 5K . We all saw the PPTC Youth Runners who Sean Rice and company is whipping into road racing winning form. In the fall on the cross country courses, in the winter indoors on the track, and now outdoors on the road and the track, hard work is paying off and the hardware is coming home to roost.
Speaking of race bling, PPTC had a good showing at Dolawith 2nd in women's open team, a first place in the in women's masters team division , and a second place in men's masters team division. Maggie Dechamps placed 1st in her age! No news yet as to which PPTCer won the award for the most beer consumed or age group awards in the hot dog and hamburger eating divisions. Check the race results for more info.
Who was it that said " let them eat cake "? If youre interested in running races with awards that you can eat, check out the Rockaway Running Seies at www.rockapulcorun.com You place in your age and you win a pie or a cake or a sack of delicious cookies ! There are races on Thursday evenings at 7pm rain or shine and on other days throughout the summer starting and ending at Beach 95th street and the Boardwalk in Rockaway Beach NY, easily accessible by car and or by subway a few blocks away. This fall's venue includes a half marathon on Saturday September 1st and a full Rockaway Marathon on October 13th. Back in the day we'd drive out for one of the Thursday nite 5k's and inevitably someone in the car would win a pie or a cake which never made it back over the Marine Parkway Bridge. Good sharers we were! Sometimes you just have to stop and reload those carbs, no matter where you are!
PPTC sympathies to Marilyn Bucich and family on the loss of her sister Kathryn Bucich on Sunday May 27th in West Haven Connecticut after Kathryn's long and painful illness.
Be 'sun smart' these days! Lotion up and cover up especially between the hours of 10am and 4pm. All exposed skin is susceptible to the rays that can lead to malignant melanoma, skin cancer. If you say "it can't, it won't happen to me...." you don't want to be wrong, believe me.
See you on the roads