After a long, dry summer, it was surprising when September 11th dawned wet and drizzly, but that didn’t stop runners and volunteers from around the area from converging on Ithaca High School to participate in the Ithaca 5&10. At 8:30, 18 kids and parents kicked off the day’s events with a 1-mile untimed fun run. Then, at 9:30, 166 runners took over Cayuga Street for the 5K and 10K mass start.
Just 16 minutes and 35 seconds later, 18-year-old Gabriel Garcia of Staten Island crossed the finish line to win the men’s 5K title, with 18-year-old Charlotte Tysall of Melrose, MA taking the women’s 5K crown in 18:40. In the RRCA New York State Championship 10K race (pictured below), 23-year-old Henry Williams won with a speedy 32:09—yes, he would have won the 5K as well—and 37-year-old Nora McIver-Sheridan (who also won the contest for most points in this year’s FLRC Challenge) crossed the line in 44:10 to win for the women.
Full results are available, and don’t miss the great race photos from photographer Steve Gallow. It’s also not too late to buy an Ithaca 5&10 T-shirt for just $20 at the FLRC Online Store.
With a large downtown race like this, volunteers are essential for keeping runners safe and on course, and we had over 60 people helping out. Many of our course marshals were student athletes from Ithaca College and Cornell—thanks to Coach Jim Nichols of Ithaca College and Coach Mike Henderson and Rachel Bonnet of Cornell for bringing their runners down. Special thanks to Julie Holcomb and the City of Ithaca, and to Samantha Little, Heather Williams, and Amy Augustine of the Ithaca City School District for allowing us to run on City of Ithaca streets and stage the race from Ithaca High School. Also key were Bill Gilligan and the Ithaca Fire Police for traffic control. Vinny Cappadora of Happily Running lent us his finish arch, and Pat Leone of Leone Timing ensured smooth registration and accurate times.
Thanks to club members Aaron Proujansky and Allan Lockett for setting up and taking down the course, Joe Nolan and Matthew Clark for bib pickup, Mickie Sanders-Jauquet for shirt sales, Kayla Slater and Linda Eckert for managing the food table, Bob Talda for announcing finishers, Zsofia Franck for providing water at the finish line, Karen and Eamon Ingall for directing the fun run. Props to Jack Jansons, Max Whitton, Jack Lynch, and Helena Blobel for staffing the course water stations. Finally, a special thanks to FLRC President Adam Engst for being of good humor when receiving panicked emails, texts, and phone calls from pre-race drama!
We hope to see you at upcoming FLRC events, such as the Danby Down & Dirty trail race on September 24th or the Turkey Trot prediction run on Thanksgiving morning at Ithaca High School. Or just join one of our group runs or workouts.
Looking forward to next year! –Gary