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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FLRC’s February Track Meet Hosts Fast 5000m and More

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Our second track meet of 2024 was once again a big success, with 199 athletes and numerous spectators. This month, 12 teams competed, and we racked up 427 event participations. Full results are available on the FLRC website, and we have photos in our public album from Abigail Silva and Jay Hubisz—contribute yours too! (Photos below each event writeup are from those events, but not necessarily of the people mentioned.)

We kicked off the meet with a tough race—25 laps for the 5000m. That didn’t stop it from being wildly popular, though, with 61 finishers across three heats. That’s almost twice as many as ran the 3000m in January. In the final heat, 40-year-old Sam Morse of the Syracuse Track Club and 16-year-old Riley Hubisz of the Ithaca Running Club set a sizzling pace, running together through 22 laps at sub-5:00 splits. In the end, age won out, with Morse pulling away slightly to cross first in an astonishingly fast 15:14, with Hubisz second in 15:22, almost a minute ahead of third place. On the women’s side, 14-year-old Lauren Kosek also ran an impressive race, laying down a 19:20 to beat 37-year-old Donna Langerfeld of the Genesee Valley Harriers, who finished in 19:29. Third place went to 50-year-old Heather Webster, also of GVH, in a strong 20:01.

In the racewalking sub-competition, Team USA’s Erin Talcott won in 28:47 after pacing 15-year-old Madison Tuttle for much of the race—she finished second in 29:03, with 14-year-old Madigan White third in 31:29.

Switching from long to short, we moved into 12 heats of the 60m, where Kyren Young of Watkins Glen took the top spot with a 7.09, beating Tyler Burke and Edson Jean-Baptiste of Morrisville State College and Ryan Haisler of the Cornell Track & Field Club, whose times ranged from 7.28 to 7.32, too close to call for hand timing. Our top woman was Erica Chiang of the Cornell Track & Field Club, whose 8.23 was almost a second ahead of the 9.10 from 14-year-old Carolyn Cherwinski. The first heat was once again cute beyond belief, and we decided that when you’re just 1 year old, as was Amedeo Bisogni, you’re allowed to have aerial assistance from your mother.

Given that we’d gone long with the 5000m, we traded our traditional mile for the 800m and were treated to some super exciting races. In the final heat, Isaac Mazzeo kicked hard to beat Lucas Baker by less than a second, 2:01.04 to 2:01.65, with Riki Sampson of the Cornell Track & Field Club just another second back in 2:02.79. The women’s race could have been equally as exciting, but Eliza Derito of the Ithaca Running Club wasn’t in the same heat as Ella Whiffen of the Cornell Running Club, with both clocking 2:27. Kudos also to Jesslynn Lewis of the SOAR Running Club, who racewalked the 800m in 5:07.

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 23.36, ahead of Edson Jean-Baptiste of Morrisville State College in 23.52, Riki Sampson of the Cornell Track & Field Club in 24.25, and Tyler Burke of Morrisville State College in 24.44. On the women’s side, Erica Chiang of the Cornell Running Club also doubled for the day, winning in 29.11, beating 15-year-old Gretchen Hulsey, who came through in 31.62.

Throughout the meet, Brett Shelton of the SOAR Running Club managed the long jump, with 45 athletes completing a jump. The top two spots for the men went to Merritt Cox of the Cornell Track & Field Club and Tristin Weeks of the Groton Project, both of whom recorded jumps of 17 feet, 11 inches. The women’s competition also saw a distance tie, with Megan Wong of the Cornell Track & Field Club and Makenna Keough both jumping 15 feet, 4 inches.

The same thing happened in the high jump, managed by SOAR’s Steve Wagner. Max Paciorek and Nick Spoto, both of the Cornell Track & Field Club, cleared 5 feet, 8 inches for the men, and for the women, both Makenna Keough and Gretchen Hulsey jumped 4 feet even. All told, 21 athletes cleared the bar.

The last event of the day was the 4x200m relay, with 18 teams across three heats. Cornell Track & Field Club teams took first and third in 1:39 and 1:42, with Morrisville State College placing second in 1:42. All told, six teams went under 2:00.

The meet went smoothly, and we appreciated all the kind words from runners and coaches. Tonya Engst, Carl Franck, Damian Clemons, Jamie Loehr, Jean-Luc Jannink, and Michelle Woods 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 added to his experience as head timer, and Heather Cobb and Rich Bernstein managed the heats. Laurel Gilmer and Dave Kania kept HyTek Meet Manager running smoothly for results, Molly Doruska recorded bibs for longer races, and Truck Rossiter counted laps and ran the backup timer. Our sprint timing team was Jon Lewis, Truck Rossiter, Ruth Sproul, Molly Doruska, Tristan Lambert, Kate McCormick, and Anne Shakespeare. 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, assisted by Ted Boscia, Tim Tucker, and Maren Golden.

Sign up for FLRC’s next track meet on March 10, when we’ll go old school with both the 2-mile and a 1-mile, plus a bonus 400m. Hope to see you there!

Amidst Other Fast Times, Hartshorne Masters Mile Runner Breaks W85 American Record

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Continuing the tradition, the Finger Lakes Runners Club organized the 55th annual Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile at Cornell University’s Barton Hall on January 13, 2024, playing host to 67 local and elite masters runners from the Ithaca area, the Northeast, and throughout the US and Canada. Six heats of the mile were contested, with fast times, thrilling finishes, and a W85 American record-breaking run from 89-year-old Edna Hyer.

We have full results on the FLRC site with age-grade percentages and times. Leone Timing’s results are also worth a look for their split times and position changes. Don’t miss the fabulous race photos and race videos! (You can also click the header links below to watch the associated videos.)

Race Results

Combined Women & Men: In our leadoff race, the first two runners—43-year-old Maria Tabatabaei (8:08) and 46-year-old Gerald McKinley (8:26)—brought the average age of the heat down to 68. But the second man was 69-year-old Steven Clark in 8:35, and 76-year-old Deb Bliss was the second woman across the line in 9:44. The real star of the show, though, was 89-year-old Edna Hyer, who ran 14:02.99 to best Tami Graf’s previous W85 American record for the indoor mile of 14:18.28 by 15 seconds.

Men Section 2: Although top seed 71-year-old Spider Rossiter controlled the pace for the first lap, the race quickly turned into a battle between 62-year-old Steven Hoover and 53-year-old Chris Cox. At the bell, however, Hoover threw down a blistering kick that went unchallenged and cruised in for the win in 6:11. And Cox ended up third after hard-kicking Gary Williams (59), who snuck past him at the line to take second in 6:14.43 by 0.10 seconds. Rossiter ended up fourth in 6:26, which was still good enough for the 70–74 age group win.

Men Section 1: Talk about a race! Last year’s winner of this heat, 51-year-old Mike Middendorf, took control of the race from the gun, opening up a 30-meter lead within a few laps. But a four-man pack gradually reeled him in, with newly minted master Patrick Boyle starting his kick from 300m out, taking the lead at the bell, and fighting off a ferocious kick from 64-year-old veteran miler Casey Carlstrom to win by 0.28 seconds in 5:34.52. 48-year-old James Kinton crossed less than a second later in 5:35.18, with Middendorf fourth in 5:36.15 and 49-year-old Damian Clemons fifth in 5:36.26. That’s five finishers across the line in 1.74 seconds!

Men Elite 2: Although the eventual first and second runners tucked into those positions behind rabbit Patrick Milano for the first three laps, 50-year-old Terrance Shea took the lead at the halfway point and looked like he might be able to hold on for the race. But at the bell, 49-year-old Roger Moseley found another gear that gave him a 34-second last lap to Shea’s 40-second lap to win handily in 5:06. Sharing that gear was 47-year-old Tristan Lambert, whose last lap was even slightly faster than Moseley’s, enabling him to overtake Shea for second in 5:10, with Shea coming through in 5:12.

Women Elite: With the return of four-time Hartshorne champion and W45 American record-holder Sascha Scott, who has never been beaten in this race, the top spot was never in question. The 48-year-old Scott hadn’t raced a mile for two years before this but tracked rabbit Bella Burda closely for five laps before cruising in for an uncontested win in 5:16. Had 58-year-old Michelle Rohl been in the kind of shape she was last year, when she broke the W55 American record with a 5:16.70, Scott might have had a race on her hands. Instead, Rohl ended up in a three-woman pack with 45-year-old Carly Shea and sub-master Donna Langerfeld for the middle of the race before blasting the final three laps to take second in 5:37, with Shea following her in 5:41. Rohl’s time was still good for the top age-grade percentage of the day, at 91.59%, with Scott second age-graded for the women with an 89.90%.

46-year-old Alison Schwalm outran Langerfeld in the last lap for fourth in 5:45, with Langerfeld fifth in 5:49. 50-year-old Heather Webster trotted in next at 5:53, followed by 41-year-old Liz Hartman in 5:58, and 43-year-old Erin Dewalt in 6:08. Ninth place went to 62-year-old Lorraine Jasper, who held off a kicking 44-year-old Jade Barth to cross in 6:18 to Barth’s 6:19. Then, just a few seconds later, 47-year-old Debra Vertoske overtook 60-year-old Louise Kelley in the home stretch for eleventh place in 6:21 to Kelley’s 6:22. Jasper, Kelley, and Webster took home the remaining age-graded prize money with Jasper hitting 84.84%, Kelley 82.23%, and Webster 81.65%.

Men Elite 1: In the final race of the day, rabbit Adam Pacheck took top seed Sam Morse out at the requested 33-second pace, and the 40-year-old Morse stuck with him for five laps before taking off on his own to race in for the win in 4:31. Last year’s winner, 42-year-old Jaret Herter, dogged Morse for the entire race but was never able to close the gap and finished second in 4:35. 51-year-old Mark Williams, a three-time Hartshorne champion, maintained third place for most of the race but couldn’t hold off the hard-charging William Hoyne, age 41, who closed with the fastest lap of the day to nip Williams at the line 4:39.31 to 4:39.94. Nonetheless, Williams’s time converted to a 90.74 age-grade percentage to take home the top age-graded prize.

Last year’s surprise second-place runner, 42-year-old George Young, bested last year’s time by 2 seconds, running 4:46.54 for fifth and holding off 41-year-old Chuck Terry in 4:46.79. 40-year-old Samuel Mackenzie was seventh in 4:47, crossing ahead of 44-year-old Mark Walchinsky in 4:48 and Mackenzie’s high school coach, 51-year-old Scott Weeks, who finished in 4:51. Filling in the final two spots were 44-year-old Jordan Varano in 4:59 and 58-year-old Benoit Hogue in 5:04. Hogue may have been last in the heat, but his time was good for second place in the age-graded prize money with a 88.29%. Weeks was third with 87.20%, Herter fourth with 86.39%, and Morse fifth with 86.38%.

Volunteers

Hartshorne requires a significant volunteer effort, starting with race director Adam Engst and assistant race directors Charlie Fay and Tom Hartshorne. Jim Miner, Bob Swizdor, and Bob Talda arrived early to help set up. Jim Miner and John Whitman managed the registration table until Jim had to warm up for his race and John moved to help Charlie with race operations, after which Rebecca Lambert took over registration. Shana Snyder sang the national anthem, Bruce Roebal served as clerk of course this year, and Dan Hurley once again started all the races. Tonya Engst coordinated volunteers. Laura Helmerick and Bob Talda counted laps and rang the bell, David Rossiter read lap splits to runners, and Rich Bernstein monitored the finish line. Megan and Erica Powers helped runners take photos in front of our photo banner, and Aaron Proujansky, Kim Jackson, and Jesse Koennecke helped keep bystanders off the track during the races. Finally, Marte Reps coordinated the award luncheon. Thanks to you all!

Sponsors

Finally, we’d like to thank the sponsors who made this year’s Hartshorne possible. It takes a lot of money to put on a national-level meet like this, with rabbits, an announcer, extensive race photos, video of all the races, a post-race banquet, and cash prizes to attract some of the top talent in the US and Canada. The race’s 2024 sponsors include Sean Nicholson, Joe Daley, the Hartshorne Family, Javier Martinez, Cayuga Health, and Bangs Ambulance. The masters running community is tremendously appreciative of their support. Just because we’re not so young anymore doesn’t mean we don’t take our racing seriously!

See you next year!

FLRC’s January 21 Meet Kicks Off the 2024 Indoor Track Season

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Our first track meet of 2024 is in the books, with some smoking-fast times and impressive jumps. We had 216 runners, including 11 teams, competing in 477 events. Full results are available on the FLRC website, and we have photos in our public album from Jamie Love and Jay Hubisz—contribute yours, too! (Photos below each event writeup are from those events, but not necessarily of the people mentioned.)

Our first event was three heats of the 3000m, with Lucas Baker taking control of the race halfway through and cruising for the victory in 9:21, ahead of Curtis Mann’s 9:36. The first woman was 15-year-old Ella Devlin, who ran an 11:18 to outpace Liz Hartman by 5 seconds. In a racewalking sub-competition, 14-year-old Madigan White bested 63-year-old Dave Talcott 17:30 to 18:06.

Switching from long to short, we moved to 14 heats of the 60m, where Chase Luangsuwan and Benjamin Rhode went one-two in 6.97 and 7.00 seconds—too close to call for hand timing. On the women’s side, Olivia Haley sprinted to the win in 7.94 seconds, beating out Jalasia Demember in 8.18 seconds. But the most fun in the 60m was the first heat, which featured a slate of three- and four-year-olds—cute beyond belief!

The marquee event of the day for many was the mile, where 16-year-old Riley Hubisz, one of the top scholastic middle-distance runners in the area, laid down a stellar 4:24 for the win, easily outpacing Nate Wilsoncroft’s 4:35 in second. The women’s race was never in question, with 14-year-old Tsadia Bercuvitz, a national standout, running a 5:03, 37 seconds ahead of teammate Eliza Derito. Also notable among the nine heats of the mile were 76-year-old Deborah Bliss running a 9:25 and 14-year-old Isaac Hendrickson racewalking in 9:54.

The final individual running event of the day was the 200m, where Chase Luangsuwan notched his second win for the day in 23.78 seconds, though Kyren Young’s 23.80 in the previous heat was too close to differentiate with hand timing. Olivia Haley also doubled for the day, winning for the women in 27.51 over Zalayna Brown in 28.81.

Throughout the meet, Brett Shelton of the SOAR Running Club managed the long jump, with 51 athletes completing a jump. Rocking some sporty flannel bottoms, Allen Simms, Jr. jumped the longest, at 19 feet, 9 inches, just edging out Ross Bush, who recorded a 19-foot, 7-inch jump. The top women’s competitors were similarly close, with Makenna Keough jumping 15 feet, 9 inches, to Piper Hooey’s 15 feet, 7 inches.

In the high jump, managed by Steve Wagner of SOAR, Dylan John cleared 6 feet, 2 inches for the win, besting Nick Spoto’s 5-foot, 10-inch jump. Mia Wilcox led the women with a 4-foot, 8-inch jump, and Makenzie Kitner and Amelia Maxson tied for second at 4 feet, 6 inches.

The meet closed with a 4x200m relay, with a whopping 22 teams across four heats. The Elmira Track & Field team took the day with an incredible 1:37 (for 800m) time, outpacing Watkins Glen in second with a 1:43. Notably, however, the next two teams tied at 1:44, the two after that tied at 1:45, and overall, the top ten teams all broke 2:00. An exciting set of races!

The meet went smoothly, and we appreciated all the kind words from runners and coaches. Tonya Engst, Carl Franck, Joe Schlimmer, Jonah Schumacher, and Michelle Woods all showed up early to help set up in the heat of Barton Hall before the custodian opened the doors to let in cool air. Tonya stuck around to run the registration desk and answer questions with Rebecca Lambert, and Jamie Slater did a great job of selling FLRC clothing. Tom Rishel reprised his traditional role as our starter, Patrick Boyle did a bang-up job in his debut as head timer, and Heather Cobb and Rich Bernstein managed the heats with aplomb. Laurel Gilmer and Jesse Koennecke kept HyTek Meet Manager humming smoothly for results, Katie Gannon recorded bibs for longer races, and Truck Rossiter counted laps and ran the backup timer. Our sprint timing team was Jon Lewis, Truck Rossiter, Ruth Sproul, Bob Swizdor, Crosby Woods, Militsa Yaneva, and Katie Gannon. Special thanks to Brett Shelton and Steve Wagner of the SOAR Running Club for managing the jumps, and to Tyler Craige and Kathleen Sullivan for helping them.

Sign up for FLRC’s next track meet on February 18, when we’ll swap the 3000m for a 5000m and the 1 mile for an 800m. Hope to see you there!

2023 Turkey Trot raises record amount for Loaves & Fishes

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The 51st running of the Finger Lakes Runners Club’s Turkey Trot was a smashing success. A record $6,730 was raised for Loaves & Fishes, and 458 people participated on an overcast morning in the mid-30s. Did you know the Turkey Trot is now FLRC’s second-largest race after Skunk Cabbage? Consider adding the Skunk Cabbage Classic to your schedule in April as a volunteer or a runner. We have fantastic photos from the Turkey Trot, and if you took any, you can add more photos to that album!

Donation History

2010–13: Truckloads of cans and boxes of food collected
2014: $2,024 collected with 333 participants
2015: $2,855 (423 participants)
2016: $2,756 (268 participants)
2017: $4,030 (397 participants)
2018: $2,549 (211 participants)
2019: $4,137 (312 participants)
2020: $4,192 (virtual, 157 participants)
2021: $4,251 (289 participants)
2022: $5,895 (390 participants)
2023: $6,730 (458 participants)

This year was the 50th anniversary of the Turkey Trot and was, after 17 years, Bruce Roebal’s last year directing this wonderful event. We thank him for his efforts and energy in directing this staple of Ithaca’s race schedule. Steph Bailey will direct next year’s Turkey Trot.

Bruce transferred the names and actual times submitted on stickers handed out at the finish line to the signup sheets with predicted times. “By hand” takes time! A PDF of the “results” is online with a list of those closest to their predictions.

Thanks to Ithaca Bakery for donating bread, bagels, and pastries; Purity Ice Cream for the prize-winning pies; and Cornell Orchards for apples. FLRC picked up the tab for everything else. Thanks to all those who were so generous to Loaves & Fishes.

Thanks to all our volunteers! Although there are too many to list everyone who helped out, the race wouldn’t have been possible without Kathleen Gibson coordinating the food; Tom Hartshorne organizing the police, Scott and Amy Dawson publicizing the race and managing the course marking signs, Adam Engst and Jamie Slater handing out T-shirts, and Christina Culver for putting together a crew of Loaves & Fishes volunteers.