Ithaca 5&10 Sees Largest Field in 20 Years, New 10K Course Record

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We had great weather—cool and a little breezy—for hosting 421 finishers at the 2024 Ithaca 5&10, the largest field in at least the past 20 years. Pre-race setup and bib pickup went smoothly thanks to numerous volunteers, and nearly 30 kids kicked off the day’s events with a 1-mile untimed fun run on the paths between Ithaca High School and Boynton Middle School. The 5K and 10K started together 45 minutes later, taking over Cayuga Street temporarily before funneling down to run their way towards the Commons, back on Tioga Street, and around Boynton. The 5K runners finished into the IHS bus lane, and the 10K runners kept on for another loop. 

The 5K proved to be a bit of a grudge match from last year. Callum Coots of Missoula, MT (below left), dropped 66 seconds from his 2023 time to win in 15:39, with last year’s winner, Luca Corea of Rockville, MD, taking second in 15:56 despite lowering his time by 10 seconds. Jack Frank of Philadelphia, PA placed third in 16:23, a 28-second improvement on his sixth-place finish in 2023. On the women’s side, Diane Makovic of Western Springs, IL (below right), ran 18:42 for the win, edging Ella Whiffen of Madison, WI, who crossed in 18:51. Third place went to 42-year-old Liz Hartman, last year’s overall winner, in 19:44.

The men’s 10K, which served as the RRCA New York State 10K Championship, also saw familiar faces. In both 2022 and 2023, our winner was Henry Williams of Ithaca, who competed in the Olympic Marathon trials earlier this year, followed by Max Jaffe, also of Ithaca. This year, Jaffe turned the tables, dropping 1:43 from his 2023 time to win the race in a course record 31:24. Williams didn’t make it easy, though, breaking his own previous course record by 19 seconds, finishing second in 31:40. Third place went to IHS alum Alexander Simpson in 32:54. The women’s RRCA New York State 10K Championship title was claimed by Sarah Woodyear of Ithaca in 39:14 (below), with Anne Dygert of Brooktondale second in 39:42 and Dorothy Wong of Pennington, NJ, third in 42:47.

Full results are available, along with a slew of fabulous race photos from Jamie Love.

Special thanks to all the volunteers who made it happen, starting with race director Gary McCheyne. Thanks to club members Bob Talda, Tristan Lambert, Columbia Warren, Kathy Putnam, and Makoto Endo for setting up and taking down the course. Tonya Engst managed bib and shirt pickup, which was ably staffed by Rebecca Lambert, Dave Kania, Joe Nolan, Ducson Nguyen, Mark Booth, and Kathleen Sullivan. Adam Engst managed clothing sales, Karen Ingall coordinated the fun run, Sarah Drumheller and Molly Doruska provided food, Tim Ingall was lead biker, and Ian Golden announced all the finishers. Runners from the Cornell cross-country team helped Makoto Endo, Steve Nathans-Kelly, Aaron Proujansky, and Truck Rossiter course marshal at the many intersections in the race. Water stops were staffed by Pete Dady, Gretchen Gilbert, Wendy Bollum, Lola Schuler, and Ryan Allen-Parrot, and Bob Walters and Columbia Warren handed out tickets for free ice cream to all finishers. We appreciate Leone Timing for recording times and places, the Ithaca Fire Police for managing traffic at the busiest intersections, Purity Ice Cream for scooping for all the runners, and Ithaca High School for providing the venue.

We hope to see you at upcoming FLRC events, such as the Parallel of Latitude 8-Hour Endurance Run on September 28, the Danby Down & Dirty trail race on October 12, and the Turkey Trot prediction run on Thanksgiving morning. We also invite you to join our Tuesday night workouts and weekend group runs and race with us on our cross-country teams in the PGXC series.

Two Hollows Monster Marathon and Half 2024 Recap

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On Sept 1, the Two Hollows Monster Marathon and Half returned for a second year on the new course in the Kennedy State Forest, using segments of the Finger Lakes Trail and ‘international’ network of side trails within the forest (especially the Spanish and Swedish loops). Weather was seasonable and dry, with a cool misty setup starting at 6 AM to see the first runner out at 6:38. Temperatures started below 60, but then rose through the morning to just under 80 after noon. Conditions in the forest were shady and cool for most of the race, though as happened last year, the early afternoon may have been most challenging for those marathoners still out on course. The course was identical to last year, with a 9-mile Northwest section describing an out-and-back “question mark” folding back to a triple junction (‘fish hook” and “sickle” were other analogies we’ve heard, take your pick…) and a 4-mile Western out-and-back on a more tangled set of trails with technical footing and the challenging monster hill down to Daisy Hollow Road and back.

Out of 104 initial registrants, 78 runners started the race across the range of age- and gender-graded starts, with 15 marathon finishers and 58 half-marathon finishers. This represents an increase of ten finishers from last year, and we hope to continue building attendance in the race in the next few years. In addition to a beautiful run in the forest, runners received a post-race lunch that included sandwiches, fruit, beer, soda, and a suitably monstrous cake. Finishers received hand-crafted awards of hand-knitted hot pepper “medals” by co-RD Nancy and bottles of homemade “Monster Sauce” that co-RD Steve V. cooked up from his homegrown hot peppers (grown in soil, not fabricated from yarn). You won’t want to miss it next year!

In the half marathon, trail regular Donna Langerfeld of Port Byron took first with a 1:49:40 (all times age graded), with Cornell grad student Sarah Woodyear taking second less than ten minutes behind at 1:57:53. Neither time was fast enough to beat the course record set by (re-)founding Two Hollows race director Nancy Kleinrock last year at 1:39:35. Another Cornell grad student, Augustus Pendleton, took third, and race director Stephen Jesch took fourth, with Cecelia Madsen of Freeville fifth; the times up to eighth (Damian Clemons of Phelps) were all tightly clustered between 1:58 and 2:10. In the marathon, Ryan Allen-Parrot of Burdett set a new course record of 4:25:23, beating Steve Jesch’s time of 4:36:14 set last year. Sean Meissner of Perkinsville, VT was second in just under 4:28. Experienced ultra veteran Lori Johnson of Berkshire was the earliest starter and third finisher at 4:50, with Brian Wegman of Martville and FLRC board member Diana Hackett and Danby Down & Dirty race director Pete Kresock rounding out the places to sixth in a cluster of times from 5:05 to 5:24. A standout first marathon performance came from first-year Cornell student Michael Gallagher of King of Prussia, PA, finishing the rigorous Monster marathon course in excellent, relaxed form in 5:34. Welcome to the trails, Michael! We were also happy to see FLRC veteran Joel Cisne keeping it weird and keeping his return to the trail distance circuit on track (single-track, that is) at 5:32, just in front of Michael.

Full results can be found here for both distances.

We’re monstrously indebted to the many volunteers who stepped up to help prepare and execute on race day, many of whom stayed for multiple shifts: Dave Kania helped the race directors make short work of marking the course the day before running in the half marathon; Stephanie Mulinos, Makoto Endo, and Diana Hackett helped with early setup and bib pickup. Ian Golden ran the Hilsinger Rd aid station heroically as a solo effort while the finish line/HQ aid station and post-race lunch tables were taken on by Eve Mercer, Stephanie Mulinos, Hannah Blair, Jon Marks, Tom Teeter, Adam Moody, and Jeney Wierman. Stephanie Mulinos tripled her volunteer commitment by also picking up lunch food and the famous cake in Dryden. Thanks, Stephanie, and also Pizza and Bones and Clark’s Grocery in Dryden, who supplied the sandwiches and cake, respectively. The FLRC timing team of Adam Engst, Heather Cobb, and Bob Talda pulled off another impeccable effort over many hours as well—we can’t thank them enough. Meanwhile, in the fun department at the bottom of the monster hill near Daisy Hollow Rd, the monsters multiplied in their native habitat since last year: Ithaca High School students Connie Zheng and Marina Okada, and Selina Cowan with her son and daughter, created a four-monster and one-mermaid) forest haunting committee to roar their approval to passing runners. Kuwanna Dyer-Pietras, Gerrit Van Loon, and Makoto Endo took on the crucial course sweep run and flag/marker pickup, even recovering our sturdy (ahem, a bit too heavy) “beware of monsters” sign. Huge thanks as well to Ryan Healy and the committed volunteer Wilderness Search & Rescue crew who tracked bib numbers and ensured our safety at key points through the course, and Gary McCheyne who helped us and even anticipated our needs with supplies. Local trail steward Alex Gonzalez also deserves enormous recognition for constructing and maintaining the trails in the “international” network as well as maintaining the main Finger Lakes Trail that passes through the area.

Photos of the race were captured by photographer Jamie Love. You can view them here and download any you like free of charge. If you have pix you’d like to share, please upload them here.

If you enjoyed the Two Hollows Monster Marathon, plan to join us next year in late summer 2024 (precise date to be set) and tell your friends about it. If you have any suggestions for improving the event, email the RDs at monster@fingerlakesrunners.org; we’ll take your thoughts into consideration. In addition, if any of you write a report for your own website, blog, or whatever, send us a link—we’d love to read about your experience.

Happy trails from your RDs,
Nancy Kleinrock, Steve Shaum, Steve Jesch, and Steve Vanek

Forge the Gorge 2024 Race Results

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Last Thursday evening, 97 runners met at Fillmore Glen State Park to participate in the 2024 Forge the Gorge Trail Races. Although it rained for an hour before the race, leading to wet and muddy conditions (some would say perfect trail running conditions), the rain subsided for the actual race, improving the experience for runners and volunteers alike. 

Full race results and some candid photos are now available. If you have any race-day photos to share, please upload them to our community album.

Results

In the 3-mile short course, 13-year-old Leo Lang of Skaneateles was the overall winner with a time of 23:52, his second FLRC trail race win of the year on top of Forest Frolic. Not far behind were Dan Augustyn of Mansfield, Massachusetts, who crossed in 24:29, and Dave Kania of Ithaca, who finished in 24:36. On the women’s side, 11-year-old Ada McKinzey of Trumansburg ran the fourth fastest overall time to win the women’s race in an impressive 25:43.  She was followed closely by Olivia Genson of Moravia, in 25:59, and Liza Ferro of Cortland, in 27:28. This race also saw finishers as young as 5 (Liam McKinzey from Trumansburg) and as old as 79 (the venerable Bob Congdon from Ithaca).

In the 8-mile race, the overall winner was Ithaca’s Banyan Love, who cruised to victory in 55:07, ahead of Dan Timmerman, who finished in 56:16, and Isaac Mazzeo, who crossed in 1:02:12. Banyan now leads both the Stonehead and Pebblehead categories on the FLRC Trail Circuit leaderboard, but will be transferring his competitive racing to the Paul Smith’s College cross-country team, leaving openings for other local trail runners. Sarah Woodyear of Ithaca handily won the women’s race in a time of 1:05:41. Emily Jones of Moravia crossed second in 1:16:19, followed by Groton’s Julie Barclay in 1:18:34.

Thank you to the volunteers!

Special thanks to all the volunteers who made Forge the Gorge a success! Adam Engst led the timing crew, supported by Bob Talda, Heather Cobb, and Jesse Koennecke. Course marshals Zsofia Franck, Pete Kresock, and Laura Helmerick ably directed runners along the route. Lorrie Tily and Pete Kresock expertly handled registration, and Inger Aaberg and Audun Dahl swept the course. Special thanks to the Jones family, Henry and kids Ella, Rosie, Lucy, Frank, and Magie for manning the water station for the 3rd year in a row. 

Thanks to all the runners and volunteers for helping make this an enjoyable and successful event!

Trackapalooza Invitational Sees Unprecedentedly Close Finishes

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The second year of our Trackapalooza Invitational track meet was again a success, with glorious summer weather on the scenic Lansing High School track. Full results are now available on the FLRC website, along with some meet photos from runner Sarah Woodyear when she wasn’t competing. If you have any photos of the meet, please upload them to our community photo album to share with others and document the day.

The meet was 20% bigger than last year, with 172 athletes competing in 395 events, many from 5 teams, including the Groton Project Track Club, Baldwinsville Harriers Track Club, Kingston Tigers, North Penn-Mansfield, and the Tompkins County Pole Vault Club. The increase partly came from adding the pole vault, thanks to Matt Scheffler of the Tompkins County Pole Vault Club, and the high jump, managed by Steve Wagner of the SOAR Running Club. Those field events joined the long jump and triple jump, coordinated by Brett Shelton of the SOAR Running Club, and the shot put and discus, managed by volunteers from the Groton Project. Special thanks to Lansing High School for letting us use the track.

On to the results! We had exciting finishes in almost all the races, with the top two runners in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1600m separated by a cumulative total of 1.61 seconds, the top four teams finishing the 4x200m relay within 3 seconds, and the top two pole vaulters tying. I’ve never seen so many close finishes in an FLRC meet.

  • 100m: Thanks to lots of younger kids, the 100m was the most popular event of the day, with 58 finishers. Andres Martinez claimed the win with an impressive time of 10.97 seconds, just slightly ahead of Joey McDonald of the Kingston Tigers in 11.08. (Post-race video confirmed that the first person across the line had jumped the gun.) Kristen Johnson of the Groton Project was the fastest woman in 13.56, followed by teammate Chloe Bishop in 14.38.
  • 200m: The 200m finish was even closer than the 100m, with Quinn Sweet outleaning Andres Martinez 22.46 to 22.53. Anneliese Hubbard took the crown for the women with a time of 27.21, besting Megan Snell, who crossed in 29.40.
  • 400m: Despite the longer distance, the 400m was nearly as close as the shorter sprints, with Nathan Glidden of the Baldwinsville Harriers running 51.73 to beat his teammate Christopher Zellar, who came through in 52.08. The top 11 runners all broke 60 seconds! For the women, Megan Snell crossed the line first in 1:07.80, one place ahead of trail runner Donna Langerfeld, who set a PR by running 1:09.65.
  • 800m: The 800m looked like a foregone conclusion, with Riki Sampson of the Cornell Track & Field Club leading throughout. However, local distance standout Lucas Baker unleashed a ferocious kick and closed to within 1 second before running out of room at the line. Sampson won in 2:00, with Baker second in 2:01. After her second place in the 400m, Donna Langerfeld doubled in the 800m, taking the women’s title in 2:31, with Reagan Burnham of Dryden High second in 2:39.
  • 1600m: The 1600m also offered plenty of excitement, with Will Boscia of Ithaca High (who placed high in the state in the 800m for freshman boys) leading through three laps before former Hartshorne Masters Mile rabbit Mik Kern took the lead. But Boscia fought back in the final 100 meters to outlean Kern at the line: 4:54.5 to 4:54.6. On the women’s side, Liz Hartman repeated her Trackapalooza win from 2023 with a 5:45, with Emily Jones second in 6:20.
  • 5000m: The 5000m looked like a two-person race until ex-Ithaca High runner Alexander Simpson broke away from eventual second-place finisher Joe Anderson. Simpson ended up running an impressive 15:46, a personal record, to Anderson’s 16:25. Sarah Woodyear took the win for the women in 19:30.
  • 4x200m Relay: In the final running event of the day, 14 teams competed in the 4-by-200m relay, laying down some impressive times. The Kingston Tigers won in 1:35.9—the fastest relay time of FLRC’s 2024 meets—followed closely by the Baldwinsville Harriers in 1:37.4. But it was far from a two-team race, with the Groton Project A team coming across third just one second later in 1:38.4 and an ad hoc Trackapalooza team fourth in 1:38.9.
  • Long Jump: The most popular of the field events was the long jump, with 42 athletes scoring. The jump of the day went to Logan Manor of the Kingston Tigers, who cleared 19-10.25, well beyond the second-place tied jumps of 19-02 from teammate Joey McDonald and the Groton Project’s Westin Walker. For the women, Kristen Johnson of the Groton Project jumped 15-05 to place first, followed by Lola Douglas at 12-11.
  • Triple Jump: The hop-skip-and-jump triple jump was limited to experienced jumpers, with Tom Pinkowski of the Groton Project clearing 39-08.75 for the win and Logan Manor of the Kingston Tigers placing second with a 37-11 jump. Kristen Johnson of the Groton Project claimed her third first-place finish for the day with a jump of 34-04.75, while Anneliese Hubbard jumped 30-00.25 for second.
  • Discus: In the discus throw, Brody Williams threw 124-09 for the win, with David Shea of the Groton Project second with a throw of 114-04. The women’s competition was a nail-biter, with Kaylee Kastenhuber throwing 85-10 for the win, with Tuuli Overturf just 2 inches behind in 85-08.
  • Shot Put: In the shot put, the Groton Project’s David Shea improved on his second place in the discus, claiming the win by heaving the shot 40-08 to surpass Leander Boreland’s 35-05. Tuuli Overturf also avenged her second-place result discus with a winning shot put toss of 26-01, proving to be the only person of the day who could beat the Groton Project’s Kristen Johnson, who threw 25-09 for second.
  • High Jump: Although the high jump didn’t attract as many athletes as it did indoors this year, Joey McDonald of the Kingston Tigers won it with an impressive 6-02 jump that tied the season’s top height and bested Hunter Heyden, who cleared 6-00. Lola Douglas jumped 4-06 to win for the women, beating Rose Johnson’s 3-04 jump.
  • Pole Vault: In our inaugural pole vault competition, Dominic Mikula and Moss Dengler cleared 15-06 to tie for the win, a foot above second place Gabe Snyder, who vaulted 14-06. On the women’s side, Alyssa Kelleher made over 10-00 even to claim the win, with Evelyn Jackson in second in 9-06. 

As always, FLRC track meets are the work of numerous volunteers. Thanks to Tonya Engst for helping prepare for the meet the day before and then managing bib pickup, ably assisted by Rebecca Lambert and Lauren Milano. FLRC equipment manager Gary McCheyne was also a big help by renting a truck and bringing FLRC tents, tables, and chairs to the meet, and Carl Franck, Alan Lockett, Kacey Strang, and Laura Taylor helped with setup. Former FLRC president Tom Rishel reprised his traditional role of starter in the hot sun, Patrick Boyle conducted everyone as head timer, Jesse Koennecke and Dave Kania reseeded heats and produced results, and Bob Talda and Rich Bernstein coordinated the heats. Laurel Gilmer counted laps and recorded bib numbers for the longer races, and we had lane timing assistance from Keith Eggleston, Carl Franck, Tristan Lambert, Verity Platt, Amalia Skilton, and Kathleen Sullivan. On the field event side, Ricky Stewart assisted Brett Shelton with the long and triple jumps, Jamie Loehr helped Steve Wagner with the high jump, Ted McCrone helped Matt Scheffler with the pole vault, and Kacey Strang helped the Groton Project team with the throws.

Trackapalooza is our final track meet for 2024, but we hope to see you indoors in 2025!

Tortoise and Hare Trail Race hosts 108 10K+ runners and 15 fun runners at Buttermilk Falls

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The 2024 Tortoise & Hare Trail Race took place at Buttermilk Falls State Park in Ithaca on Sunday, July 7. We caught a little break with the weather in between two hot and humid days, and 108 runners completed the 10K+ course, with participants ranging in age from 9 to 82 and representing locations from Paris to California! Plus, 15 kids completed the 1-mile fun run.

Full race results and race day photos taken by Jamie Love are now available.

Christopher Petroff was the overall winner with a time of 47:50, and Sarah Woodyear took the top spot in the women’s division in 58:23. Veronica Pillar was the top finisher in the nonbinary division in 1:29:35. Additional age-group winners included Cecelia Petersson, Sarah Ridenour, Ilana Brito, Tonya Engst, Gillian Haines-Sharp, Karen Burns, Banyan Love, Oliver Lambert, Scotie Jacobs, Brian Lee, Alan Lockett, Rick Mazzeo, and Robert Kern. Age-group winners enjoyed mini-pies from Dolce Delight with an add-on of a Purity ice cream gift card for the overall winners.

Those who make it all possible…

None of these events would be possible without our volunteers, and we had a terrific crew! A million thanks to:

  • Course marking: Mo Ramras
  • Check-in table/bib pickup: Rebecca Lambert and Paula Kilts
  • Head Timer: Adam Engst
  • Assistant Timers: Dave Kania, Jesse Koennecke, Zsofia Franck, and Kaleb Smith
  • Fun Run Sweeper: Kaleb Smith
  • Food Director: Caitlin Loehr
  • Food Assistant: Sarah Drumheller
  • Course Marshals: Makoto Endo, Zsofia Franck, Selena Cowan, Pam Cronk, Tom Barron, and Martha Gold
  • Course Sweepers: Inger Aaberg and Audun Dahl with assistance from Makoto Endo
  • Equipment Manager: Gary McCheyne
  • Plus many of the above stayed to help clean up, which is always appreciated!

We look forward to seeing you next year!

Laurel Gilmer (Race Director) and Patrick Boyle (Assistant Race Director)

FLRC’s June Track Meet Sees Fast Times Despite Record Heat

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Well, that was a hot one! With temperatures in the 90s, our first summer track meet drew fewer people than it sometimes does, but those who braved the heat (and enjoyed the extra shade and hose sprinkler) ran, threw, and jumped well. We had 90 athletes and 185 event participations. Full results are available on the FLRC website, and be sure to check out the many photos in our public album from Gerald McKinley and Tammy Walsky—contribute yours, too! (Photos below each event writeup are from those events, but not necessarily of the people mentioned.)

Special thanks to Lansing track coach Matt Scheffler for hosting the meet and providing access to Lansing’s PA system and field event equipment!

100m

After the requisite heats for the littlest kids, we worked our way up to the speedsters. Ryan Serp won the race with a time of 11.43, but Carter Naginey of the Groton Project was second in 11.45—a distinction that’s too close to call with hand timing. Zayvion Davis and Nathan Fromme tied for second with 11.57, and Ross Bush of the Groton Project and Aidan Tierney tied for third with 11.68. Phew! On the women’s side, 14-year-old Reagan Burnham ran 14.58 for her first win of the day, besting 13-year-old Madelyn Weeks of the Groton Project, who came through in 15.32.

1600m

With the early sprints out of the way, we settled into three heats of the 1600m, the final heat of which proved surprisingly quick given the heat. A four-man pack went through 800m together before breaking up in the third lap. Finally, Alexander Simpson threw down a blistering kick in the last 300m to win in 4:25, four seconds ahead of Lucas Baker’s valiant 4:29. Overall, we had nine finishers under 5:00. On the women’s side, Liz Hartman ran her fastest time of the year to win in 5:47, with Erin Eldermire second in 6:22.

200m

Zayvion Davis came roaring back from his second-place finish in the 100m to win the 200m convincingly in 24.07, with Derran Morris of the Groton Project second in 24.88. Abby Wagner of the SOAR Running Club took the crown for the women in 29.52, with her teammate Molly Doran second in 30.95.

400m

The final individual event of the day was the highlight of the meet. The Groton Project’s Carter Naginey set out with a goal to break the Groton High School 400m record of 51.4 seconds. His heat was stacked with two other runners seeded at 51 seconds and one at 53 seconds, and they didn’t disappoint, with all four going under 52 in an exciting race. In the end, Alexander Simpson won in 50.73, with Carter Naginey breaking his school record with a 51.30. His teammate Ross Bush, who’s only 15 and has two more years at Groton High, ran 51.51 for third and will likely capture the record in the future. And Riki Sampson of the Cornell Track & Field Club ran 51.75 for a very close fourth.

Reagan Burnham notched her second win of the day for the women, running 1:07.63 to best Abby Wagner of the SOAR Running Club, who crossed in 1:08.55.

Long Jump

Throughout the meet, Brett Shelton of the SOAR Running Club managed the long jump, with 30 athletes completing a jump. The top spot for the men went to Ezra Schutt, thanks to a jump of 19 feet, 10½ inches. Ross Bush of the Groton Project took second with 18 feet, 9¼ inches. Kristen Johnston of the Groton Project jumped 17 feet, 3 inches for a dominating win, followed by Reagan Burnham at 11 feet, 10¼ inches.

High Jump

In the high jump, managed by SOAR’s Steve Wagner, Ryan Serp claimed his second title of the day with a jump of 5 feet, 8 inches, with Matthew Funicelli second with 5 feet, 6 inches. Kristen Johnston of the Groton Project can jump both high and long, taking her second win with a 5-foot jump, well ahead of Alyssa Johnston, who cleared a height of 4 feet 2 inches.

Discus

On the hill above the track, Scott Weeks and his Groton Project volunteers coordinated the discus. Matt Funicelli threw 134 feet, 1 ¾ inches for the win, with Kevin Vigneault close behind with a throw of 133 feet, 2 inches. Ariana Hillery of the Groton Project claimed the win for the women with a 66-foot throw, and her teammate Reese Brockway was second with a throw of 50 feet, 2¼ inches.

Shot Put

After an hour of the discus, we moved on to the shot put, with some familiar names taking the top spots. Matt Funicelli and Kevin Vigneault went one-two again, with throws of 47 feet, 2½ inches and 40 feet, 7½ inches. Kristen Johnston of the Groton Project took her third win with a throw of 28 feet, 8 inches, with her teammate Ariana Hillery second with 24 feet, 6¾ inches.

4x200m Relay

The final event of the long day was the 4x200m relay, with 8 teams in a single heat. Two ad-hoc teams of some of the top sprinters combined to make it an exciting photo finish, with the Last-Minute Runners winning 1:38.23 and the second-place Unattached team crossing just a hair later in 1:38.37. Only one Elmira team ran faster in the 2024 indoor season, clocking 1:37 in January.

Despite the heat, our volunteers did a great job. Tonya Engst, Carl Franck, Gerald McKinley, Kacey Strang, and her friend Raid arrived early to help set up. Tonya continued to run the registration desk and answer questions with Rebecca Lambert. Tom Rishel reprised his traditional role as our starter, Patrick Boyle served as head timer with aplomb, and Kelly Houk and Heather Cobb managed the heats. Dave Kania and Jesse Koenecke kept HyTek Meet Manager running smoothly for results, Crosby Woods recorded bibs for the 1600m and relay, Kathleen Sullivan counted laps, and Alan Lockett was our backup timer. Our sprint timing team was Elena Gaffney, Diana Hackett, Ronke Ilegbusi, Tristan Lambert, Kate McCormick, Crosby Woods, and Kathleen Sullivan. Gerald McKinley and Tammy Walsky took photos. Special thanks to Steve Wagner of the SOAR Running Club for managing the high jumps with assistance from Carl Franck, to Brett Shelton of SOAR for coordinating the long jump with help from Laura Taylor and Scott Nissenson, and to Scott Weeks and his Groton Project volunteers for managing the throws with help from Ricky Stewart.

Our next track meet is Trackapalooza on July 20, when we’ll return to Lansing High School for a full Saturday morning invitational, complete with the pole vault, thanks to Matt Scheffler and the Tompkins County Pole Vault Club. Hope to see you there!

Thom B. Trail Runs sends 126 runners looping around Hammond Hill State Forest

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As we await the recap of yesterday’s delightful Tortoise & Hare race, let’s reflect back on FLRC’s first trail race of the season: the Thom B. Trail Runs.

Last month, 126 intrepid runners toed the line at Hammond Hill State Forest for the 32nd Thom B. Trail Runs. Runners opted to tackle 8.5 miles (one loop), 17 miles (two loops), or a full marathon distance (3 loops plus an extra 0.7 miles). Lots of fabulous race photos from Jamie Love and full results may be found on the race page.

A cool, crisp morning gave way to a warm and humid day, as the marathoners began their journeys at 7:00 am while 17-mile runners and 8.5-mile runners began at 8:00 am and 9:00 am, respectively. The two aid stations on the course—one at the start/finish and the other midway through the loop—remained well stocked, and finishers were able to enjoy food director Dina Maxwell’s spread of bagels, cream cheese, hummus, granola bars, veggies, watermelon, orange wedges, candy, cookies, chips, cupcakes, and plenty of water.

One-Loopers Podium (8.5 miles):

In the men’s race, Glenn Seeholzer of Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, finished in first place, with a time of 57:50. Hot on his heels was Kristofor Norberg of Lansing, who took second in 58:02, less than a minute ahead of Mike Surrena of Ithaca, who finished third with a time of 58:58.

In the women’s race, Nora McIver-Sheridan of Ithaca defended her 2023 title with a blazing fast time of 1:04:08. In an exciting finish, Julie Barclay of Groton crossed the finish line next in 1:19:35, just two seconds ahead of third-place finisher Cecelia Madsen of Ithaca.

Two-Loopers Podium (17 miles):

The women dominated the 17-mile race. Ithaca’s Chelsea Benson was first overall to cross the line, taking the tape in a time of 2:13:14. Donna Langerfeld of Port Byron was the second overall finisher, coming across in 2:20:12. Brenda Osovski finished in 2:56:31, taking home third place in the women’s race.

In the men’s race, Mark Perry of Ithaca took first place with a time of 2:27:59. Coming in about 10 minutes later was Bjarke Refslund of Aarhus, who finished in 2:38:39. Dan Dofton of Vestal took third with a time of 3:16:51.

Three-Loopers-Plus-Baby-Loop Podium (Marathon):

In the men’s race, 2023 winner and course record holder Jamal Diboun once again took first with a time of 3:44:11. Audun Dahl of Ithaca finished a strong second in 3:50:27, and Ithaca’s Josh Nogaret edged out Banyan Love by 3 seconds to take third in a time of 3:57:04.

In the women’s race, Diana Hackett of Ithaca took the win in 5:08:57. Second-place finisher Heather Moldofsky of Cohocton crossed the line less than two minutes later, in a time of 5:10:32. Rebecca Townsend of Marilla took third in 5:57:42.

Podium finishers in all three races won cupcakes baked by FLRC’s Amy Dawson.

Thanks to those who make it all possible

No FLRC event would be possible without our amazing volunteers! Thanks to all those who generously gave their time to make this year’s Thom B a success. Dan Scales and Bob Talda arrived early to help set up. Inger Aaberg and Crosby Woods ably managed the bib pickup table. Adam Engst served as head timer, with help from Heather Cobb, Bob Talda, and Crosby Woods. Food director Dina Maxwell provided a bountiful post-race spread. Ian Golden and Dennis Stadelman served up drinks and encouragement at the Star Stanton Aid Station, while Jamie Love snapped photos along the course. David Rossiter and Dan Verderosa swept the course, and Eric Sambolec and Gerrit Van Loon stuck around to help clean up.

The Thom B Trail Runs are part of the FLRC Trail Circuit, and results are now reflected in the annual Pebblehead/Stonehead/Boulderhead leaderboard.

Congratulations to all finishers, and until next year, happy trails to all!

~ Joel Cisne and Gary McCheyne, Race Directors

New Skunk Courses a Success for 725 Runners on a Gorgeous Day

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Oh, for the day! We couldn’t have asked for better weather for Skunk Cabbage this year, and nearly 80 volunteers worked together to put on a highly successful race. Attendance continues to move toward pre-pandemic numbers, with 851 registrants and 725 finishers enjoying our new courses, an increase of 22% from last year. The 10K was again more popular, with 415 finishers versus 310 in the half marathon.

10K Results

In the 10K, Paul Sulfita of Rochester came in hot for the win in 32:13—a 5:11 pace! Not far behind was Jared Burdick of Fayetteville, who crossed in 32:29. Local runner Tim Phelps put Ithaca on the podium with a 34:50 in third. The top masters (40-49) runner was another Ithacan, Aaron King, who ran 40:54, and our veteran (50+) winner was the 62-year-old Erik Maki of Blodget Mills, who came through in a stunning 40:28.

On the women’s side, even though she’s running Boston soon, 41-year-old Jennifer Boerner of Elmira ran 39:00 flat for the win, outpacing 22-year-old Emily Miller from Freeville, who came through the finish in 39:44. Third place was claimed by Sarah Woodyear of Ithaca in 41:32. Liz Hartman of Ithaca won the masters division with a 43:01, and Jody Musolino of North Tonawanda took home the veterans prize in 43:54.

Half Marathon Results

In the half marathon, Matthew Goyden of Endwell ran 1:14:20 for the win, with fellow Binghamton-area runner John Salva of Conklin second in 1:17:47. Cornell grad student and former FLRC cross-country runner Alex Drazic came across third in 1:18:39. The masters and vets prizes went to FLRC regulars, with Roger Moseley of Newfield taking the masters crown in 1:19:52 and Jean-Luc Jannink outrunning other vets in 1:33:42.

In her half-marathon debut, Cornell grad student Bella Burda notched a decisive win by over 11 minutes, breaking the tape in 1:21:46. Second place went to Nora McIver-Sheridan of Ithaca, herself no stranger to the podium in local races. Third place was claimed by Michaela Thomas of Chicopee, MA, in 1:35:21. Ithaca College cross-country coach Erin Dinan was our fastest masters half marathoner for the day, posting a 1:41:12, and FLRC stalwart Julie Barclay of Groton won the vets division with a 1:43:36.

Full results are available on the FLRC website, and don’t miss RunSignup’s 10K and half marathon awards pages to see who took home the custom Total Eclipse of the Skunk fridge magnets as their awards. (If you won but didn’t stay for the award ceremony, contact me to pick up your award.) Race photos from Jamie Love and Steve Gallow are available now.

Thank You, Volunteers

While there’s no room to thank every one of the volunteers who made Skunk possible, I want to call out my super volunteers. Marte Reps was once again a lifesaver for estimating, ordering, and picking up the massive quantities of food necessary to feed hundreds of runners, and Lauren Milano provided key setup and food replenishment coordination. Tonya Engst left no detail to chance—so many signs and sets of instructions!—while managing a large crew of registration volunteers. FLRC equipment manager Gary McCheyne set up the course with help from Alan Lockett (who also arranged for the big road sign on Turkey Hill), and Gary did double-duty breaking it down and schlepping the significant amount of gear necessary to put on a race. Ian Golden again made the finish line special by announcing everyone as they crossed, and Joel Cisne painted all the mile markers and turnaround points before the race. Special thanks to Bruce Roebal and James Dean for their course marshal work in the hot seat of the busy Route 366/Pine Tree intersection!

In terms of organizations, we greatly appreciate the assistance we received from Cornell University Athletics, the Cornell University Police, Bangs Ambulance, Dryden Ambulance, the Ithaca Hash House Harriers, the Tompkins County Dairy Princess Program, the Varna Volunteer Fire Company, the Cornell Dairy, Ithaca Bakery, Ithaca Milk, Wegmans Food Markets, the Barton Hall facility staff, the Finger Lakes Running Company, Leone Timing, Rentals To Go, and USA Racing.

FLRC’s March Track Meet Draws Near-Record Numbers

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Our March track meet is usually the smallest of the indoor season, but despite the slight confusion presented by Daylight Saving Time, it was by far our largest of the year and one of our largest ever, with 248 athletes and numerous spectators. This month, a record 13 teams competed, including St. Dominic’s Academy from New Jersey, and we racked up 556 event participations. Full results are available on the FLRC website, and we have over 1,500 photos in our public album from Dirk Swart—contribute yours, too! (Photos below each event writeup are from those events, but not necessarily of the people mentioned.)

2 Mile

In a nod to recent indoor and outdoor world records, our long-distance race for the month was the venerable 2 mile, which requires 16 laps (plus 18 meters) on Barton’s track. Although a lead pack ran together for much of the race, by the end, it had dwindled to Jack Frank of the Cornell Running Club and Gabriel Diamante, with 52-year-old Scott Weeks of the Groton Project working his way up to join them. In the end, Frank kicked in for the win in 10:24, with Diamante and Weeks essentially tying for second in 10:26. On the women’s side, 15-year-old Lauren Kosek took the tape in 11:58, outpacing Ella Zilli of the Cornell Running Club, who crossed in 12:09. Also of note—14-year-old Madigan White racewalked the distance in 17:32.

60m

The most popular event of the day was the 60m, with 112 runners across 17 heats. Kyren Young of Watkins Glen recorded the fastest time for the second month in a row with a 7.00, though hand timing isn’t precise enough to separate that from the 7.01 run by Edson Jean-Baptiste of Morrisville State College, so we’ll call it an effective tie. Megan Wong of the Cornell Track & Field Club led the women with an 8.50, just ahead of 12-year-old Molly Doran of SOAR, who flew through in 8.68.

Most amusing was the leadoff 60m heat, where 1-year-old Cora Schrafel participated in her first 60m toddle, coming in a bit behind 2-year-old Eloise Jackson of the SOAR Running Club.

400m

This meet featured a 400m in addition to the 60m and 200m, giving sprinters another option. The Cornell Track & Field Club dominated, with Ryan Lyppens winning in 52.27, beating teammate Riki Sampson’s 52.80. For the women, Lauren Rogers made it a sweep for the team with a 1:07, but second place was even more notable, with 72-year-old Coreen Steinbach of the Greater Philadelphia Track Club running a 1:23 that converts to a smoking fast 57-second age-graded time.

1 Mile

After that, we returned to the middle distances with our traditional 1-mile race, which didn’t disappoint. After a self-appointed rabbit dropped out at 800m, it came down to a three-man race, with Lucas Baker taking the win in 4:30 thanks to a strong kick unmatched by Callum Coots of the Cornell Running Club (4:31) and Jay Bartishevich (4:32). Ella Whiffen put the Cornell Running Club back on top in the women’s race with a 5:24, followed by 41-year-old Jennifer Selig of the Bunny Gang team in 5:41.

200m

The final individual running event of the day was the 200m, where Kyren Young of Watkins Glen took his second win for the day in 23.39, this time convincingly ahead of Edson Jean-Baptiste of Morrisville State College in 23.75 and Roosevelt Lee in 23.84. On the women’s side, Erica Chiang won in 28.43, beating Megan Wong of the Cornell Track & Field Club’s 28.77.

Long Jump

Throughout the meet, Brett Shelton of the SOAR Running Club managed the long jump, with 64 athletes completing a jump. The top spot for the men went to Dan O’Malley of the Cornell Track & Field Club with a jump of 20 feet, ¼ inches. Ross Bush of the Groton Project took second with 19 feet, 6 inches. The Cornell Track & Field Club also won the women’s competition, with Megan Wong jumping 15 feet, 9 inches, followed by Abby Wagner of the SOAR Running Club in 12 feet, 9¾ inches.

High Jump

In the high jump, managed by SOAR’s Steve Wagner, Morrisville State College’s Isaac Sylvain led the way with a jump of 6 feet even, with Ross Bush of the Groton Project clearing 5 feet, 8 inches for second.

For the women’s high jump, Ruby Feenan of the Trumansburg Track Club and Emma Smith and Alessandra Castaneda, both of St. Dominic’s Academy, tied for first with a height of 4 feet 2 inches. All told, 23 athletes cleared the bar.

4x200m Relay

The last event of the long day was the 4x200m relay, where we had a whopping 22 teams across five heats. Cornell Track & Field Club teams took first, third, and fourth in 1:39, 1:42, and 1:53, with Watkins Glen breaking up the pack in second in 1:41. 

Although many people were a little tired from losing an hour of sleep to Daylight Saving Time, our volunteers did a great job managing so many heats for so many runners. Tonya Engst, Carl Franck, Amy Dawson, Scott Dawson, Jesse Koenecke, and Melissa Wallace arrived early to help set up. Tonya continued to run the registration desk and answer questions with Rebecca Lambert. Tom Rishel reprised his traditional role as our starter, Patrick Boyle once again did a great job as head timer, and Heather Cobb and Sandy Gregorich managed the heats. Laurel Gilmer and Jesse Koenecke kept HyTek Meet Manager running smoothly for results, Ronke Ilegbusi recorded bibs for longer races, and Truck Rossiter counted laps and ran the backup timer. Our sprint timing team was Jon Lewis, Truck Rossiter, Militsa Yaneva, Crosby Woods, Tristan Lambert, Kate McCormick, and Anne Shakespeare.  Dirk Swart took photos, and Jamie Slater sold FLRC clothing. Special thanks to Steve Wagner of the SOAR Running Club for managing the high jumps with the able assistance of Kathleen Sullivan, and to Brett Shelton of SOAR for the long jump with help from Jasmine Wagner.

Our next track meet isn’t until June 18, when we’ll return to Lansing High School for an evening outdoor meet on one of the longest days of the year. Hope to see you there!

FLRC’s 2023 Accomplishments

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For those who just run a race or two each year, FLRC can be a bit of an iceberg, with a lot more happening under the water than is obvious. The club had an amazing 2023, coordinating a race or a group run every weekend, along with a coached workout every Tuesday night the entire year. Club membership hit an all-time high, and we ended the year in our strongest financial shape ever. All these accomplishments were made possible by volunteers, which is to say, by you!

Here are a few stats to give you a sense of the breadth and depth of FLRC’s accomplishments in 2023.

  • Races: Although we had some challenging weather conditions that forced the cancellation of Super Frosty Loomis and the postponement of Twilight, we put on 23 races during the year with a total of 3,505 finishers from:
    • 7 trail races with 728 finishers
    • 10 road races with 2,064 finishers
    • 6 track meets with 713 finishers
  • Cross-country: We coordinated FLRC and High Noon teams in the five-race PGXC series, placing third overall in the Club Cup, behind only the much larger Syracuse Track Club and Checkers Athletic Club (Buffalo). Highlights included:
    • 78 runners and 229 race participations for the season
    • Pre- and post-season gatherings of roughly 30 people each
    • Hosted the third PGXC race at TC3 for 270 runners from around the state 
    • FLRC’s U19, Super Vets women, and Ultra Vets women won their categories for the series
    • 3 FLRC and High Noon runners won their age groups overall for the series, with another 5 placing second and 2 more placing third.
  • Group runs: We organized numerous group runs, workouts, and team events with over 2,200 participations for the year, including:
    • 22 weeks of MITHACAL MILERS indoor track workouts with 1,101 participations (and lots of kids as part of the Family Running Program)
    • 10 weeks of Summer Speed workouts with 175 participations
    • 9 weeks of XC workouts with 271 participations
    • 9 FLRC Challenge group runs with 212 participations
    • 8 weeks of Sunday Skunkday runs with 169 participations
    • 14 general group runs with 188 participations
    • 6 race course preview group runs with 85 participations
    • 150 attendees at the FLRC Annual Picnic in August
    • 6 weeks of the Happy Holidays Scavenger Hunt online game in November and December, generating oodles of amusing photos on the forum
  • Volunteers: This was our first year of working with the Helper Helper volunteer management system, and it proved tremendously helpful in improving volunteer coordination and communication. (And it’s already making this year’s volunteer setup vastly easier.) Helper Helper also makes it easy to pull out some astonishing stats, such as the following, which don’t even include board meetings, committee meetings, and informal discussions among club leaders:
    • 220 people volunteered for at least one FLRC event, but we had a great collection of super volunteers:
      • 50 people volunteered more than 12 hours (1 hour per month)
      • 16 people volunteered more than 24 hours last year (2 hours per month)
      • 8 people volunteered more than 48 hours last year (4 hours per month)
    • 2,232 hours volunteered (over 3 months!), including:
      • 360 hours for Skunk Cabbage
      • 203 hours for group runs and workouts
      • 145 hours for the Turkey Trot
      • 141 hours for Trackapalooza
      • 129 hours for the Hartshorne Masters Mile
      • 120 hours for the Monster Marathon
  • Donations: We donated or helped coordinate $33,140 in charitable donations, including:
    • $12,410 for the Friends of Hammond Hill trail work (acted as fiscal sponsor)
    • $6,730 for Loaves & Fishes (through Turkey Trot donations)
    • $2,000 for the Ithaca Youth Bureau track and cross-country programs
    • $2,000 in scholarships for two graduating high school seniors
    • $1,550 for an accessible porta-potty on the Dryden Rail Trail from May through October
    • $1,500 for a porta-potty on the Black Diamond Trail from May through October
    • $1,500 for Wilderness Search and Rescue (for helping at our trail races)
    • $1,500 from $500 each to the GIAC Navigators, Groton Sports Boosters, and Lansing Athletics for youth running development programs
    • $1,200 to Girls on the Run programs at BJM Elementary School
    • $1,000 for the Finger Lakes Trail Conference (Finger Lakes Trail maintainers)
    • $950 for the Four Town Ambulance and First Aid (the profits of the Fillmore 5K)
    • $800 for the Cornell Botanic Gardens (in relation to the FLRC Challenge)
  • Fundraising: Although most of our donations are funded through income from race registrations, we also offset some of our donations through direct donations from the community. Plus, sponsors (and in-kind donations) made the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile and the inaugural year of the Trackapalooza Invitational possible. Thanks to everyone who donated!
    • $2780 raised in donations during race registrations
    • $400 raised for the trail porta-potties
    • $9500 raised from track sponsors
  • FLRC Challenge: In its third year, the FLRC Challenge once again gave numerous local runners structure for their running from April to August. Some stats from the leaderboard:
    • 173 signups, with 140 people completing at least one course
    • 98 completions
    • 4 completions of the FLRC 100K Ultra Challenge
    • 2,602 total runs logged
    • 12,623 miles covered
    • 874 run report “star posts” from participants sharing with the community
    • $1,564 awarded across 201 prizes to 44 athletes
  • Online presence: As much as we’re all about interacting in person, an online presence is essential in today’s world. Accomplishments include:
    • Grew the FLRC Forum to 1,245 members, up 263 from last year
    • Hosted 4,300 forum posts for the year
    • Racked up more than 378,000 page views on the forum
    • Increased the size of our photo library by 26 albums and 6,889 photos
  • Media coverage: FLRC featured in three local media articles in the last year:
  • Club governance: With hard work behind the scenes, we: 
    • Massively increased club membership from 656 last year to a record 872 at the end of 2023 (and it’s now at a new all-time high of 897!)
    • Managed over $147,000 in investments, the proceeds from which helped fund FLRC’s philanthropic efforts
    • Brought in four new board members to replace departing members and fill gaps in the board’s skills, experiences, and demographics

Now let’s see what we can do together in 2024!

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