Knickerbocker 60K

Nov. 21, 2009, today, was the Knickerbocker 60K, a race in Central Park that was sponsored by the New York Road Runners and worked by John Garlepp and Millrose AA. This race had its first running in 1978 (I'm told), and was conceived as a distance roughly halfway between a marathon and 50 miles.

Having run the New York Marathon three weeks ago, a 6-hour two weeks before that and a 24-hour two weeks before that, I wasn't sure I was up for another ultra just yet, but I was feeling good this week so I signed up. I thought I might have a chance at a win, depending on the competition. With this race being in Central Park and on the NYRR calendar, it has lately had a large turnout, and mostly runners who don't regularly run ultras, including a lot of first-timers. Possibly a lot of marathoners looking for another challenge. This is exciting, since it could be a start to a long-term ultra career for some of them, and it was a similar race back in 2002 (Kurt Steiner 50K) that served as my introduction to ultrarunning.

At the start, I said my hellos to some of my friends, and it was good to see them all there. One of them, Kevin Shelton-Smith, I thought could be a contender for the win, and I knew he'd be one to keep an eye on. But with so many new face (new to me), you never know who might pop up and have an incredible race.

At the start at the Engineer's Gate at 90th St., the runners take a 1.5 mile out-and-back to 102nd St., then return to the start to begin the first of 9 4-mile clockwise loops on the park road to 72nd St., to the west drive, up to 102nd St., across to the east drive and back to 90th. After the turnaround, I was surprised to see the number of runners. I'm told there were about 200!

Soon after the start, a group of four runners pulled ahead of me, including Kevin, two men I didn't know, and one man with "Dominguez" on the back of his shirt. I'd say I ddin't know him either, but I think I remember running behind him for a while towards the end of the Queens Half Marathon in September. I think I eventually passed hime there, but I'm not sure. (After the race, I learned his name is Jesus.) I felt like I was on a good pace, so I didn't chase, and sure enough, my first 4-mile loop was about 27:30, faster than I would be able to maintain, but it was feeling pretty comfortable, so I stuck with it.

I passed one of the lead group after a few laps, and back at the start was told I was in 3rd place. I don't remember passing anyone else, but it would turn out that I passed Kevin while he was taking a pit stop. After a couple more laps, I passed one of the other leaders, putting me in 2nd behind Dominguez, who I was told was moving at quite a speed. Thinking back to Queens, I was hoping I could just wait him out till he slowed.

At the middle of the race, I saw my cousin Kirstin and her boyfriend Sal (both marathoners themselves from New Jersey), who were lending me support and cheering for me. It was real nice hearing that in the middle of the race. This would also be a good time to mention all the great volunteers. No doubt most of them were there to fulfill their volunteer requirement for automatic entry to the NY Marathon, and at first it seemed like there were a lot more course marshalls than necessary, but boy, a lot of them were really cheering, and it felt great! There were three really great clusters, one at 72nd St., just before and at the turn north on the west side, a group at the turn onto 102nd St. on the west side, and especially a great bunch of people on the west side at 95th St. If any of you are reading this, thank you!

One volunteer on 72nd St. kept me apprised of the lead of Dominguez. On the 5th lap he was 7 minutes ahead of me, and on the 6th 5 1/2 minutes, so I was hopeful my patience would pay off. Then at the turn onto 102nd St., I was passed by a runner I didn't know who said "You can do it" as he passed me. Nice words, but not nice to pass me! (After the race he told me his name was Sebastian.) I trie dnot to let him get far ahead, and I kept him within 10 seconds, my pace now being about 28:15 per lap. On the 7th lap, I was told Dominguez was now just four minutes ahead, and at a point I passed Sebastian but he passed me back again. He was only about 7 seconds ahead when at the start/finish aid station he stopped to drink. I don't know why he stopped, but I saw my chance to move ahead at the start of the 8th lap. But I was worried this could come down to a sprint to the finish.

About halfway around on the 8th lap I passed Dominguez who was not crashing but not moving at his old speed. I felt conifdent, and was still moving at a good speed, but couldn't take any chances. On my final lap, I felt myself tighten up a little, but figured this was the final push, no reason to save anything. I finished first with a time of 4:22 and change, and had my first Central Park victory. I was very happy about winning, not just for the win itself, but because this is a historic race that speaks to the history of ultrarunning itself in the US. And it was a beautiful day, upper 50's, and lots of people in the park, who might not be classified as spectators as much as curious observers.

But a good day overall. Great to see my friends Frank C., Frank D., Emmy, Rob, Tony, Sal (another Sal), Kevin, Tony, Wayne, Harry, Lucimar, Shishaldin, my friend Ralph who came by, and of course Kirstin and Sal, and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting, and to make some new friends. And of course, Richie, our regular MC. Special kudos go to Nick Palazzo, who Emmy told me ran his 200th ultra today!!! Congrats Nick! Nice hanging out with the terrible trio of Frank C., Emmy and Rob afterwards for burgers and beer. Thanks for the ride home!

City life

I was awaken at 3:30 this morning by someone playing loud music from their car, and I'm on the 5th floor! I got up and looked out the window and sure enough, they were right below me - man and woman on the sidewalk and one person in the car. Last time this happened I was wishing I had something to drop on them. Fortunately, this time I had some rotten fruit in the fridge. (Don't even say it - you've all got something rotten in the fridge!) Fortunately or unfortunately, by the time I realized this, they turned off the music and drove away. Even a rotten pear could've done some damage to a convertible top or falling on someone's head. Even a warning shot could've brought on massive retaliation. Still, it's convinced me not to throw away that rotten pear! Maybe I'll go get some balloons, just in case.

Visit home

Last week I finished up a quick trip to Norfolk, Nebraska to visit my family, visit my old school, see some football, and basically just come home for a bit. Right when I got into town on Thursday the 22nd I got to see my HS football team, the Norfolk Catholic Knights, finish up an undefeated regular season, in cold wind and rain.

Friday I drove down to Lincoln to see by brother Tim, his wife Jane and their kids. Tim and I went to the Husker game Saturday, my first in 16 years! Of course, it turned out to be an embarrassment against Iowa State (no offense to Iowa State fans). But by any stretch, 8 turnovers, including four fumbles within the opponent's 5-yard line is an embarrassment. And we lost 9-7. Ugh. But I'm nothing if not loyal, and I will always bleed Cornhusker crimson (as if I had a choice).

Sunday was very special as I got to speak to my HS cross-country team at their annual year-end banquet. Just a few days before the boys' team had won their 4th state championship in a row!!! This is in Class C (out of A, B, C, D), so it's a smaller school, which I only mention because senior Jarron Heng won the all-class gold medal for the second year in a row! He ran a time of 16:05. He could be one to watch, folks. So I was honored by coach Doug Zoucha (who was my junior high social studies teacher) to be asked to speak, and I told a few of my ultra adventures, and hopefully convinced the students and their parents that I wasn't crazy and that there is something of value here. (Full disclosure - I didn't run XC in high school, I played football - poorly - but I was a sprinter on the track team.)

So it was a very nice trip, but went by fast. But it was good to see my Dad and my brothers and their families, and since I usually only get back at Christmastime, it was good to see Nebraska in the fall.

Addendum

I neglected to mention that Richie Innamorato was one of the 60th birthday honorees today, and he responded by running the whole race, about 25 miles. He said it was the most he's run at one time since 1995! Way to go Richie!

6-Hour 60th Birthday Run

Today was the 10th annual 6-Hour 60th Birthday Run at Sunken Meadow State Park, Long Island. This is always one of my favorite races, it's the last event of the year in the Grand Prix, everyone finishes at the same time, and there's always lots of great food at the end.

Now for me, who loves running in the rain, and I generally prefer cold weather, even I say this was really crappy weather. Low 40's, light but steady rain, strong winds. The trail sections of the 2.11-mile loop were in pretty good shape at the start but got pretty muddy by the end.

I haven't run more than 6 miles at one time since the 24-hour two weeks ago, but I thought if things went well I might be able to get 40 miles. The first two hours were quick and comfortable, but soon enough the miles caught up to me. But I was able to keep running and did finish with 40.6 miles, good enough for 2nd place to who else but Byron Lane. Since I won this race in 2005 and 2007 I was secretly hoping to keep winning the odd numbered years, but that just wasn't to be. Jodi Kartes-Heino won the women's race for the third (or fourth?) time. In the tradition of this race, special recognition was given to the runners who turned or turn 60 this year - who were born in 1949. The men's 60-year-old winner was veteran and good friend Grant McKeown with 34 miles and change. (I apologize that I don't remember the name of the women's 60-year-old winner. Results will surely be up soon at www.newyorkutrarunning.org.

The food at the finish didn't disappoint, with 6-foot subs, rice and pasta dishes, and birthday cake that the 49'ers were willing to share. It was a good race, a good hard run, and I'm happy to be back and warm and clean in my toasty apartment!

North Coast 24 Hour Run

October 3-4 was the date for the first North Coast 24 Hour race, and it also served as the 2009 national championship. I was very excited about running this one, as those involved in organizing the race had a great reputation, and it was indeed a great event, a real pleasure to run. You couldn't hve asked for better with the course, the weather, the aid station o the staff and volunteers, not to mention the other runners who were a real pleasure to spend a day with.



Speaking of whom, another aspect that excited me was the depth of the men's field. There were a number of runners who'd run t least 140 miles in the last couple of years - Bill Allen, Michael Henze, Serge Arbona, Akos Konya as well as myself. Also present were last year's top three - Byron Lane, defending champ (and my roomie the night before the race), veteran John Geesler and Dan Rose. There were also Matt Chaffin from this year's national 24-hour team, Todd Baum and Keith Straw from this year's Badwater, Umstead winner Dave James, Scott Jurek (no introduction needed) and current recordholder Mark Godale. My apologies to anyone else I missed, there were so many great runners. Admittedly, I wasn't paying as much attention to the women's field, but Connie Gardner was going to shoot for the women's record, and Deb Horn and Jill Perry were also among the favorites.



I admit I was going for that men's record of 162.4 miles. On the .9-mile course, 181 laps would do the job. I was feeling healthy, ready and confident at the start. The course looked perfect, the weather was perfect - cool and cloudy, with a chance for scattered showers during the day, and a projected high of about 60. I tried not to go out too fast, and there were a number of runners who quickly pulled ahead of me. After the first lap, I noticed that I did indeed have room to slow down a bit and stay on schedule for a potential record run. I had the assistance of Tania Pacev, who was supporting what seemed like a dozen runners, and who kept imploring me to slow down. Mostly just smiled at her and said "I will". Among those in front of me were Mark Godale, who lapped me quicklya number of times, although I was told that he didn't intend to run more than 100k, Dave James who was also zipping around nicely, Scott Jurek and Serge Arbona, who were running together about half a lap ahead of me.



I continued on my schedule, and all felt good for several hours. At some point I passed both Serge and Scott, and had lapped most of the other runners, and by 9 hours it looked like my main competition would be Dave, several laps ahead. It looked to me like he was shooting for afast 100-mile split, and I was hoping he might slow down after that. After about 9 hours, I started slowing down off record pace, so I let that happen and continue at a relatively comfortable pace.



At about 11:30 into the race, I felt pain on my left foothill from something in my shoe. I stopped into the medical tent, and it was not a serious problem, apparently a malplaced seam on my shoe, but Dr. Andy and the wonderful staff there pt on some lubrication, and while I was there they took care of a couple blisters and gave my legs a quick rubdown. After about a 2-minute delay I was back on my way, now with a long-sleevd shirt, which came off again after one lap.



Dave got his 100 miles in an incredible (and certified) 13:06, one of the best times ever by an American, and kept on truckin. I hit my split (uncertified) in 14:48 and was now running at the same speed as Dave, who was 11 laps ahead of me. At this point all I could do was keep on and see if Dave would tire. At one point Bill Allen told me that he saw Dave going into his tent to lay down. This was confirmed as time went on and Dave's total laps stayed the same at 133 laps. What a feeling it was when I overtook the lead at 134 laps! So I just kept plugging away. I felt more relaxed and was checking the screen for placement of other runners, and saw that Bill was second male runner on the course. Jill Perry was very high in the overall placement as well, and for a while was second overall. As time went on, Bill stepped off the course but John Geesler and Dan Rose were moving strong. By the end of the race, they would repeat their 2nd and 3rd place finishes from last year, but this time each with over 139 miles, enough to qualify them for the US team. Keith Straw, who was giving some very nice words of encouragement finished 4th with 137 miles. Jill won the women's race and 5th overall with 136 miles. Anna Piskorska and Deb Horn were 2nd and 3rd women.

It was a great race, and there were many friends there - from the New York area and beyond. A particularly good representation from BUS (Broadway Ultra Society), and from the state of New York in general! A special thanks to Byron for his support - and looking forward to our next battle, and to Frank and Annette for their friendship, and to Deb and Roger, and also to Ray Krolewicz, who seems to be my good luck charm, as he seems to be present at my best races, and always helpful in keeping track of all the runners.

This was my first 24-hour win, and I admit that this was one race that I really wanted to win. I felt relaxed and confident throughout. I didn't get the record, or even a personal record, but it was maybe the most satisfying race I've ever had, and I hope I'm able to build on it and have continued success at the next race!

Labor Day weekend (Labor Weekend)

Howdy all (if more than one person is reading this!). Having computer problems so it's tough to update this, on top of my laziness. It's been a good weekend for running. I'm still not hitting the real high mileage, last week and this past week up to about 80 miles each. Still want to enjoy myself. But I did get a nice 6-hour training run in yesterday. Ran to City Island in the Bronx, then up to the Westchester (the New Rochelle, the Mt. Vernon) before coming back to the Bronx and the Van Cortland Park and finally back to the Manhattan. About 37-38 miles roughly, I never measure too carefully. Felt great, though and finished up Ft. George Hill (a steep 1/4 mile hill - roughly). I'm in the office now to get on the computer, don't want to spend too much time here. It's a beautiful day out. Have a nice Labor Day!