RSVP for FLRC’s Annual Picnic on August 24th!

Posted August 9, 2019 by Adam Engst

Please join us for fun, laughter, food and drink! FLRC will be hosting our Annual Picnic to appreciate our awesome volunteers and members. Bring the whole family—it’s a kid-friendly event.

The picnic will take place from 4 to 7 PM at the pavilion at Upper Buttermilk State Park. Food will once again be provided by Jacob Marnell of Fittnell Farms Catering, and we’ll have beer from Liquid State Brewing Company.

Don’t miss the penny raffle for lots of great prizes. The more a person volunteers, the more chances they have at winning a gift card to a great location in town. Admission is free, but please RSVP so we have a sense of how much food to get.

We’ll also be handing out awards to the winners of our MITHACAL MILE SERIES.

Don’t miss out on another great FLRC event!

Lots of “Littles” in FLRC’s July Track Meet—Results Now Available

Posted July 26, 2019 by Adam Engst

FLRC’s July track meet is now in the books, and it was a wonderful way to spend a summer evening, with perfect weather and lots of friendly runners. Thanks to the Auburn Pulsars, Ithaca Youth Bureau, Lansing Lightning, and SOAR clubs, we had tons of young kids—and not much is cuter than one 4-year-old handing off to another in a relay race. But there were some stellar performances from older athletes as well, culminating with the fast heat of the mile, where the top 8 runners all broke 5:00. Full results are now available.

With our kid-focused event lineup this summer, we started with the 100m, won by 35-year-old Chris Rogers in 12.65 seconds, just ahead of 14-year-old Gyasi Ruffin (12.69). 12-year-old Mackenna Keough of SOAR was the first female finisher in 14.53, well ahead of her teammate Alexis Collins in 16.12.

In the 800m race, last month’s 800m/400m double-winner Samual Voak defended his title with a 2;20 to place ahead of Lansing Lightning’s John Saunders in 2:21 and Aaron King in 2:24. Again like last month, 11-year-old Maggie Houp of SOAR ran a 2:42 to outpace 37-year-old Liz Hartman, whose 2:45 was a 6-second improvement.

To get a relay in before bedtime for our younger runners, we next ran the 4 by 200m relay, won handily by a team of Ithaca Youth Bureau coaches in 2:03. Seventeen other teams competed as well, with times from 2:14 all the way to 4:15.

Samuel Voak matched last month’s performance with his second win for the night in the 400m, running 56.66, well ahead of Tristan Lambert’s 1:00.35. Elsa Wood of SOAR took the women’s crown with a 1:20.63, outlasting sprinter teammate Mackenna Keough, who crossed in 1:24.36 and Abby Ringwood of the Auburn Pulsars in 1:25.59.

Our most exciting race came last, with the 1-mile race that’s part of FLRC’s ongoing MITHACAL MILE SERIES. In a stacked fast heat, Sean Dunn took the race out hard, but Adam Pacheck soon took over, hoping to defang the kick of Sam Lagasse, last month’s winner. Pacheck’s valiant effort was in vain, though, as Lagasse took the lead in the final lap and kicked hard to win in 4:25, ahead of Pacheck’s 4:27 (4 and 7 seconds faster than last month, respectively). In third again was Rich Heffron in 4:40, followed by Dunn in 4:43, Mik Kern in 4:44, 15-year-old Jared Smith in 4:47, Mohamad Alsabbagh in 4:52, and newcomer Adam Berkowitz in 4:53. On the women’s side, 13-year-old Elizabeth Baroody of the Auburn Pulsars won in 5:57, with SOAR’s Maggie Houp second in 6:05.

Although there are no official results from the long jump, shot put, and kid javelin practice hosted by Brett Shelton and Steve Wagner of SOAR during the meet, lots of kids participated and had a great time.

Thanks to Lansing High School and Coach Becca Lovenheim for hosting once again, and to the many volunteers who made the meet possible. Bob Talda took on the head timer duties, with past FLRC president Tom Rishel once again serving as starter. Jullien Flynn managed seeding with aplomb and published results within minutes after each event ended. Bill Watson and Dave Kania worked wonders in lining up all the heats. Adam Pacheck and his girlfriend Christine recorded bibs of finishers in the longer races. Tonya Engst ran registration with help from Lorrie Tily, and both helped with sprint timing, Truck Rossiter was backup timer and lap caller, Steve Folsom and Jim Derick helped wrangle the relay runners, and previous FLRC track director Tim Ingall stepped in once again to help with timing as well.

Don’t miss our final summer meet of 2019 on August 20th!

August 2019 Outdoor Track Meet

Results from FLRC’s Record-Setting June Track Meet Now Available

Posted June 20, 2019 by Adam Engst

The first FLRC summer track meet of 2019 is in the books, and it was our largest summer meet ever, with 153 athletes and 312 event entries! Many of those runners came from the Ithaca Youth Bureau’s increasingly popular track program, along with the Lansing Lightning club, SOAR and Team Prefo from Corning, the Auburn Pulsars, and a team from the OnTech Charter School near Syracuse. Full results are now available.

Given the huge number of little kids (the youngest was 3, and there were plenty of 4- and 5-year-olds), we tweaked our event lineup this year to focus on shorter distances. That meant we led off with the 100m, which was by far the most popular event, with 85 entries. Isaiah Smith took the crown by a hair over Christopher Simmons, running an 11.37 to Simmons’s 11.39, with Samuel Voak taking third in 12.06. On the women’s side, 14-year-old Cascade Benenati ran a 13.47 to beat 12-year-old Sarah Jackson-Palmer of the Ithaca Youth Bureau.

Changing gears, we moved on to the 800m, where Samuel Voak took his first win of the night, kicking hard in the final lap to win in 2:12, just ahead of the 2:15 notched by local physical therapist and coach Jason Tuori, who arrived just in time from his strength and conditioning class. SOAR’s 11-year-old Maggie Houp won the women’s race in 2:42, with Liz Hartman second in 2:51.

To cater to the kids, we switched back to a short race: the 4 by 100m relay. It was a bit chaotic to distribute 24 runners across the start and three exchange points, but great fun was had by all, and the OnTech Charter School kids ended up taking first (the boys’ team in 54.5 seconds) and second (the girls’ team) in 1:00.

Back to the sprints with the 400m, Samuel Voak notched his second win for the evening, running a 55.8 to beat Christopher Simmons’s 57.7. 53-year-old former Olympian Michelle Rohl won the women’s race in 1:08, and on the other end of the age spectrum, 12-year-old Ikeara Moye of the Ithaca Youth Bureau took second in 1:14.9 in a squeaker, just 0.1 seconds ahead of 17-year-old Julia Hubbard’s 1:15.0.

In our marquee event of night, the 1 mile race that’s part of FLRC’s ongoing MITHACAL MILE SERIES, we were treated to a classic mile as a three-man group of Sam Lagasse, Adam Pacheck, and Rich Heffron stuck together for two laps before Lagasse and Pacheck pulled away slightly. They ran neck-in-neck for the next lap, but in the final 400, Lagasse unleashed the kick that has kept him undefeated across two years of 3000m races indoors to win in 4:29. Pacheck came through second in 4:34, with Heffron holding on to a solid third in 4:44. On the women’s side, Megan Luckner ran a fast 5:21 for the win, with 11-year-old Maggie Houp of SOAR a strong second in 5:59.

Although there are no official results from the shot put and long jump practice hosted by Brett Shelton and Steve Wagner of SOAR during the meet, lots of kids participated and had a great time. We hope to be able to continue to include such field event practices in the future.

Thanks to Lansing High School and Coach Becca Lovenheim for hosting once again, and to the many volunteers who made the meet possible. Bob Talda took on the head timer duties, with past FLRC president Tom Rishel once again serving as starter. Jullien Flynn managed seeding and results with aplomb, even after our laptop ran out of power halfway. Bill Watson and Sandy Gregorich worked wonders in lining up 12 heats each of the 100m and 400m. Adam Pacheck and his girlfriend Christine recorded bibs of finishers in the longer races. Tonya Engst ran registration and helped with timing, Aaron Proujansky was backup timer and lap caller, and previous FLRC track meet director Tim Ingall stepped in to help with timing as well.

Come run with us next month at our second meet on July 23rd!

Twilight 5K Results and Thank You

Posted June 14, 2019 by Pete Kresock

Thanks to all who showed up for the race. We had a great time and the weather was terrific! We had 420 participants including five Girls on the Run teams, members of the South Hill Striders youth running group and the Ithaca Youth Bureau Couch to 5k program. Thanks to all our participants!

The overall male and female winners were Sam Lagasse with a time of 16:20, and Aubrie Russel with a time of 20:40. Full results can be found at on our race web page. Age group winners can be found on the Leone Timing website (click and scroll down.)

Many thanks need to go out to a number of folks and organizations: ESPN Ithaca for finish line tunes and announcements; Papa John’s for the pizza delivery; the Ithaca Fire Police for keeping runners safe on the major intersections; Girls on the Run Upstate for coming out and having fun; GiveGab for the Giving is Gorges campaign to support GotR; Ian Golden and Finger Lakes Running Company for hosting packet pickup the day before the race.

A huge thank you to all the excellent volunteers for which we couldn’t put on the quality races that we do:

Pre-race day packet pickup folks: Joe Reynolds, Pete Daby, Mike Sullivan, Amelia Kaufman, Shelly Marino, and KC Ryan.
Day of registration/packet pickup and food servers: Steve Shaum, Brenda Michaud, Mike Allinger, and Shelly Marino.
Course staging and cleaning up: Bill King and John Donaldson.
Course Marshals: Denice Cassaro, Lesa Carter, Pete Kresock, Bill Watson, Jullien Flynn, Amelia Kaufman, Aaron Proujansky, and Heather Cobb.
Water Station Attendants: Bob and Emily Talda, Mark and Bryce Jauquet, Butch Sanders and Debbie.
Starting Announcer: Joel Cisne.
Past Race Director: Gary McCheyne for equipment and advice.

Thanks to all of these awesome volunteers.They help make the day that much better!

ESPN Ithaca did a pre-race interview with GotR Executive Director Danielle Fleckenstein to discuss the organization’s partnership with FLRC and Giving is Gorges for this year’s Twilight.

There was no rain and no train this year, but plenty of volleyball players and a bluegrass band in Stewart Park. Who knows what next year will hold for us? Until then enjoy the racing season and have fun outdoors!

Next up is the first of our three summer outdoor track meets, June 18 at the Lansing High School track. The meets are family- and beginner-friendly and registration is open for all three.

Thom B Results and Recap

Posted May 7, 2019 by Pete Kresock

A lovely in-vernal morning greeted a fully stocked field of happy runners out on course today, with many stellar performances and memorable moments, hopefully doing proper justice to the rites of spring and this event’s namesake. Some runners recognized Star Wars Day (“May the Fourth be with you!”) by dressing up in full Star Wars regalia. In all, we had 29 finishers in the marathon, 28 in the two-loop 26K, and 90 in the single-loop 13K.

The marathoners powered up Hammond Hill Road bright and early, at 7 AM. Ian Golden, fresh off a win at the Castle to River 50k, took the lead, gapped the field by eight minutes after one loop, and won by a solid margin. Ellie Pell, in training for the Buffalo Marathon later this month, was the only other runner to break four hours, wining the women’s race and finishing second overall. Ian and Ellie both nabbed course records in the marathon’s second year.

In the 26K, Greta Sieve was our women’s winner and fifth overall. In the men’s race, Eric Sambolec battled Scotie Jacobs for the win, with Eric crossing the line first by about three minutes. Eric already won the Loomis 10k earlier this year, and has set him self up nicely for another Pebblehead title.

Fiona Coleman, of Connecticut, was our women’s 13k champ after she edged Megan Turnbull and Julie Barclay by just over a minute. There was plenty of excitement on the men’s side too, as Brian Lee outsprinted Kristofer Norgerg on the final downhill to win by two seconds, 58:02 to 58:04. Adam Engst followed less than a minute later.

Full results on our website and on Webscorer.

Got any photos? Share them here, or tag @FLRCithaca and #ThomBTrailRuns on Instagram and Twitter.

We had a slight alteration in the course this year, in order to avoid further deteriorating the finger Lakes Trail just south of Star Stanton Road. (This meant leaving the FLT to follow Y4 up to Star Stanton, adding about 0.3 miles to the loop, but using a flatter, less technical, and less muddy trail.) Since the course change was generally well-received amongst this year’s sacrific—er, participants—next year’s run will feature earlier and properly staggered start times. We may also potentially float forward a weekend (since spring’s onset varies like the wind)… we shall see.

Thank you again to the efforts of Wilderness Search and Rescue team members Ann, Will, Capt. Jason, and home base Sgt. Ann, and to registration/finish line crew members Savannah, Katie, Adam E., David K., and Megan P. Due in no small part to all of these folks, there were no miscues and all runners were accounted for, save a few bashed knees and muddy… well, everything.

Next on our Trail Circuit is the 6.7-mile Tortoise & Hare, at Buttermilk Falls on June 2, followed by Jim Chely’s 5-mile Tanglefoot Trail Run on June 16. Registration is open for both.

Ellie coming in for the marathon win

Star Wars trail runners

Introducing the Skunk Cabbage Virtual 13.1

Posted April 26, 2019 by Pete Kresock

Missed running the Skunk Cabbage Classic this year but want to earn a sweet medal (the skunk moves!)? Looking for extra motivation to get through a long run this spring? Want to support the Finger Lakes Runners Club?

Introducing the Skunk Cabbage Classic Virtual 13.1!

Run 13.1 miles anytime between now and June 30 and earn a sweet medal.

Cost: $10 (all proceeds to support Finger Lakes Runners Club programs)

How to register: Email race director Alex at ak235@cornell.edu with proof of your run (subject line: Skunk Virtual 13.1), she will send payment info (cash, check or PayPal), and arrange for pickup/mailing of your medal!

When and where? Anytime you want to run or walk 13.1 miles. Road, trail, track, treadmill, outer space in zero gravity… this is a virtual race—it’s your choice.

Hammond Hill Trail Work 4/27—Volunteers Needed

Posted April 20, 2019 by Pete Kresock

Barkeaters and Stoneheads rejoice! Trail season is upon us, as the cherry trees blossom and the Mayapples burst forth. The spirit of Thom Bugliosi returns once again in two weeks for the FLRC’s spring trail opener, featuring one, two, or three loops for up to a full marathon’s worth of muddy mayhem!

This year our course is changing to spare the FLT section on the back portion of the course (off Y4), which adds a few feet to the course distance but is much more scenic and runnable. We will update the race website as soon as possible with this minor change. We figured y’all would appreciate the improved flow as you leap and bound through the forest.

To prepare the course, we are once again partnering with Mike Ludgate, Ann and Charlie Leonard, Red Newt Racing, and Friends of Hammond Hill for some trail work. Meet at the parking lot off Hammond Hill Road next Saturday, April 27, with hoes, rakes, shovels, and gloves — our goal is mostly water bar cleanup after a wet fall and spring. Meet at 9:00 AM at the Hammond Hill parking lot (the start of the Thom B race) on Hammond Hill Road. We should be done around noon-ish.

Our field is already half-full, with a cap of 150, so get with it and sign up today!

Your favorite zookeepers of Beastialis Barkeatis wishing you all a lovely spring—

~Mr. Hector & Mr. Eckshonn

Looking for a Workout? Check out FLRC’s Family Running Program!

Posted April 16, 2019 by Adam Engst

We’re pleased to announce the start of the FLRC Family Running Program, designed to provide adults and children with structured, age-appropriate workouts. Unlike many youth running programs, adults and children run at the same time, allowing parents to get in an interval workout while their kids learn more about running and enjoy some exercise.

Currently, one Family Running Program group is in the middle of a 7-week session running through mid-May. On Tuesday nights, adults are running 5K/10K workouts designed by Jason Tuori, a USATF-certified coach. Kids ages 7 to 11 are being coached by Sandy Gregorich, who is also a USATF-certified coach, has extensive experience coaching children of different ages in a variety of sports, and has up-to-date adult and child first aid and CPR certificates; the group also benefits from kid-wrangling assistance from FLRC board member Bill Watson. Communication about adult workouts will take place on the main FLRC mailing list; details about the kid workouts will be posted to the new Youth Running mailing list.

FLRC members may now run on the Ithaca High School track

Posted April 16, 2019 by Adam Engst

FLRC is pleased to announce that club members may now run on the Ithaca High School track in the mornings before school starts. IHS custodians are unlocking the track starting at 5 AM and the track will remain available through 7 AM. Thanks to ICSD for working with us to reopen the track for running!

Sports practices may start at 7 AM, and if so, anyone running on the track at that time would need to leave, and regardless, the school may start using the track for gym class starting at 8:30 AM.

We talked with ICSD about using the track after school in the afternoons and evenings, and on weekends, but there are too many sports practices and games for there to be regular hours. Some games even start later than might be expected—a recent lacrosse game went until 10 PM. Nevertheless, ICSD is investigating how to make the track accessible to runners on evenings and weekends when it’s not in use.

Summer hours aren’t currently in the cards due to planned maintenance work. But if that doesn’t end up happening or finishes early, we’ll see what we can do to provide access.

Much as with using Barton Hall’s track in the winter, you need to be an FLRC club member to use the IHS track. If you’re not already a member, join today.

March Track Meet Closes Out FLRC’s 2019 Indoor Season

Posted March 12, 2019 by Adam Engst

We closed out our winter indoor track season with a smaller, relaxing meet that showcased some fabulous races and times. The March meet is often a bit smaller because high school kids are done with their indoor season and taking some downtime before outdoor track starts. But we still drew nine teams, including collegiate running clubs from Binghamton, Buffalo, and Syracuse, plus two from Cornell, in addition to our regular youth teams: the Auburn Pulsars, GIAC Navigators, SOAR Running Club, and Candor CSD Running Club. Nasty morning driving conditions, daylight saving time, and illnesses making the rounds also hurt attendance a bit, but we still had 143 runners and 289 entries across four individual races and a relay. Full results are now available.

With everyone having been forced to wake up an hour earlier than normal, it wasn’t surprising that our fast 3000m heat started out as a tactical race, with a big clump of runners sticking together through a slow first mile. Then it started to break up, with Cornell grad student Sam Lagasse, Joshua Lacey and Kody Parrot from the University of Buffalo, and the Cornell Running Club’s Ethan Seltzer pulling away from the pack. Lagasse ended up throwing down a ferocious kick to claim the victory in 9:20, with Lacey coming in second in 9:31. For the women, Cornell’s Krista Scibisz beat 14-year-old Bethany Lorenzo of the Auburn Pulsars, 12:08 to 12:26.

Next we moved into the 60m, and after a bunch of munchkin heats with runners as young as 4, the University of Buffalo’s Nicholas Abdo won in 6.9 seconds, beating Candor’s Lance Jensen and five other runners who were in the 7.3 second range. The women’s title went to 12-year-old Makenna Keough of the SOAR Running Club, just a hair ahead of Raquel Morehouse of the Cornell Track and Field Club, both in 9.1 seconds.

In the 200m, Nicholas Abdo and Lance Jensen repeated their places, with Abdo taking the win in 23.2 second and Jensen taking second in 24.0. On the women’s side, Buffalo’s Yuleiny Fernandez cruised through the tape in 29.1 seconds, followed by 11-year-old Maggie Houp of SOAR in 30.7 seconds.

The mile race was the most popular and most competitive, with all the runners in the fastest heat seeding themselves at under 4:50. The race didn’t disappoint, with numerous lead changes that ended with the Cornell Running Club’s Oliver Rapp kicking hard in the final lap to beat James Felice, 4:35 to 4:39. The winner of the women’s race was never in question, with national masters mile champion and Hartshorne Masters Mile winner Sascha Scott coming down from Syracuse to get some competition from men since there are few women of any age, and almost no masters runners, who can run with her. Despite feeling lousy in her warmup and getting tangled at the start, Sascha ran even splits and moved up strongly in the final laps of her race to lay down a 4:54.1, her fastest time of the year and one of the fastest mile times by a 40-44 woman in the world. The next fastest woman was 20-year-old Gabriella Dunkelberg in 5:45 that just outpaced an impressive 5:46 by 43-year-old Richarda Ericson.

Finally, the University of Buffalo runners ran a strong 4x200m relay to win handily in 1:37, beating a tough Candor team that came through in 1:44.

Huge thanks go to the many volunteers who made this and the other indoor meets run so smoothly. We consistently receive compliments from coaches and runners about how our meets are among the best run anywhere, and that’s a testament to our dedicated volunteer team. Jullien Flynn coordinates all entries, seeding, and results in the Meet Manager app. Josh Brockner was once again our head timer. Tom Rishel served as starter, working with good humor through a cranky starter’s pistol. Adam Pacheck managed the finish line with help from Truck Rossiter. Tonya Engst and Jesse Koennecke wrangled registration and bib pickup (and then both went out and ran PRs in the mile). As clerks-of-course, Bill Watson and Becca Lovenheim arranged runners into heats, with help from Ellie Pell. Aaron Proujansky did backup timing and lap counting, and Carl Franck set up the PA system and helped out in numerous places. Thanks to each and every one of you for making FLRC’s track meets such a success!

See you outdoors on Lansing High School’s track on June 18th!