Greetings, runners! I’m Adam Engst, and I have the honor of serving as the president of FLRC this year. Many of you probably know me from my work directing track meets, timing races, captaining the High Noon cross country team, and organizing MITHACAL MILERS workouts and pancake breakfast runs.

In these hopefully regular Footnotes, I’m hoping to provide a look at some of the things that FLRC does behind the scenes, shine a spotlight on the work that your fellow club members do in putting on FLRC’s many races, call out the top performers in those races, and share details of FLRC group runs and other events. Thanks to Pete Kresock and others on FLRC’s Communication Team for development and editing help on this month’s Footnotes.

We have big plans for 2020, and we’d love to have your help in making them a reality—see our Volunteer Opportunities page. You can always reach me at ace@tidbits.com.

Read on for club news, details of our recent and upcoming races, and how to join FLRC group runs and workouts.

Club News

FLRC Elects New Board and Officers for 2020

Many people may not realize how much work goes into FLRC behind the scenes. Sure, you probably know that race directors and volunteers make our races possible, but even further in the background is FLRC’s Board of Directors. This year, FLRC members elected a new slate of officers and members-at-large, and you can now learn more about who these shadowy figures are on our Board of Directors page. Our board meetings on the second Wednesday of the month are open to the public; contact me or any board member for time and location details.

FLRC Testing New Discussion Forum—Check It Out!

You may have noticed that we’re testing a new Web- and email-based discussion system, with a General forum and a Group Runs & Workouts forum to start (along with a bunch of private forums for board business and committees). Take a look and join the discussions! As traffic increases, we’re considering additional forums for topics like training questions and injury advice. You can browse and read online at any time, but to get or post messages via email, or to respond to a poll, you’ll need an account. The system is easy to use and will even walk you through an online tutorial, but I’ve also written some instructions that explain more and offer additional configuration advice. If you have questions about how to use the site, there’s a Site Feedback forum.

Local Runners to Compete in the Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta

Three Ithaca-area women have qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials by running a sub-2:45 marathon on a certified course within the past three years. On Saturday, February 29th, Chelsea Benson, Bailey Drewes, and Ellie Pell will line up to compete against America’s top marathoners. In addition, keep an eye out for Julianne Quinn, who was a fixture on the Ithaca running scene for a number of years until recently moving to Virginia. In the Trials race, the top three men and women will make the US national team to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. You can catch the race on live TV on NBC, from 12–3 PM or rewatch the race online after its conclusion. While you’re watching the finish line, look for FLRC friend Pat Leone because his Leone Timing company will be there to ensure accurate times and quick results.

FLRC Annual Meeting Scheduled for March 8th from 3–5 PM at Agava

Save the date for FLRC’s Annual Meeting, where Chelsea, Bailey, and Ellie will be sharing stories from the Olympic Marathon Trials, showing pictures, and answering questions. At this free event, we’ll also be revealing our Volunteer of the Year, announcing new Lifetime Members, presenting the 2019 Trail Circuit Stonehead, Pebblehead, and Boulderhead awards, and enjoying the entries in our traditional dessert competition (nom nom!). And, of course, if you’d like to get more involved with FLRC, perhaps through races, other events, communications, or more, this is a great opportunity to learn more and talk to board members.

RACES

The start of the year is FLRC’s busiest time, with seven events in five weeks: four Winter Chill 5Ks, an indoor track meet, the venerable Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile, and the scrappy Super Frosty Loomis snowshoe race. Phew!

Winter Chill Series Sets Record Attendance, Boosts Club Membership

Thanks to race director Sarah Drumheller for putting on a successful Winter Chill series at Cass Park in January! The four Winter Chill races are free to FLRC members as a way of encouraging local runners to join the club, and thanks to her work with Winter Chill, we’re now at 651 members, up from 610 last year. We posted a record 388 entries across all four races, and a record 29 runners completed all four races, with Brennan Brockway and Caitlin Loehr setting the fastest average times among that dedicated group. You can see results for WC#1, WC#2, WC#3, and WC#4, plus the series standings and a collection of photos.

FLRC January Indoor Track Meet

Despite unseasonably warm weather in the 60s, FLRC opened the 2020 indoor track season with a fun, relaxing meet in Cornell’s Barton Hall. Along with some fast times and exciting races, we had numerous heats of kids, with 23-month-old Jude Heffron taking the prize for youngest runner after he completed the 60m dash. His father, Rich Heffron (who won both the mile and the 3000), says Jude is now training hard with a goal of breaking 30 seconds at the February 23rd meet. Full results are available, and we’ve also published an album of photos.

Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile Makes the TV News

Now in its 53rd year, the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile once again attracted some of the top masters runners in the country, thanks to the efforts of Adam Engst (your humble president), Charlie Fay, and Tom Hartshorne. Special thanks to Megan Powers for creating a professional results booklet that garnered numerous compliments from runners.

The winning times were a 4:36.65 from 48-year-old Peter Brady of Scarsdale, NY and a 5:30.08 from 49-year-old Dianne DeOliveira of Brick, NJ. In terms of age-grading (a technique that levels the field among athletes of different ages—anything above 90% is world-class), 61-year-old Susan Lynn Cooke of Odessa, FL, took the overall honors and was top woman, with a stunning 97.15%. For the men, 55-year-old Kenneth Barbee of Philadelphia netted the top prize with a 91.06%. Our oldest competitors were the 95-year-old Dixon Hemphill of Fairfax Station, VA (25:02) and the 85-year-old Edna Hyer of Fairport, NY (13:43). Check out the complete results, Steve Gallow’s fabulous photos, race reports from runners, and the TV news coverage of the event.

Super Frosty Loomis Enjoys Perfect Weather and Posts Record Numbers

Now in its sixth year, the Super Frosty Loomis snowshoe race has become a fixture among Northeast snowshoe races, thanks to the hard work of race directors Boris Dzikovski, Dave Kania, and Eric Sambolec. This year’s race went off earlier today without a hitch, with race director Eric Sambolec winning the 10K but recusing himself from the eclectic awards because he was pretty sure he’d failed the drug test (kidding!). Amelia Kaufman was the top woman in the 10K. In the 5K, Colin Ridgley won the race, but finished just a half-second ahead of top woman Avery Voehl. Results are now available, and photos from the race will be coming soon.

Sign Up for FLRC’s February 23rd Indoor Track Meet

Whether you want to go long (5000m) or short (60m), there’s an event for you at FLRC’s indoor track meet on February 23 in Barton Hall. Runners of all ages are welcome, and we particularly encourage families to bring kids—it’s a great environment for kids to get started with running, especially during the cold, wet, winter months. Learn more and (please!) pre-register.

Group Runs and Workouts

Sunday Skunkday Group Runs Start in February

Are you training for the Skunk Cabbage Classic 10K or half marathon? Or would you just like some company on your Sunday long run? FLRC is organizing a simple Sunday group run each week through Skunk, which takes place on Sunday, April 5th. All we ask is that you sign the FLRC Training Programs waiver if you haven’t already done so in 2020. For the first Sunday Skunkday run, we’re meeting at Barton Hall at 8:30 AM on February 2nd. Check the Group Runs & Workouts forum for subsequent run details; things may change.

MITHACAL MILERS Tuesday Night Workouts Continue in Barton

Want to train indoors? FLRC’s MITHACAL MILERS group meets every Tuesday night at 7 PM in Barton Hall. Workouts focus on the 1-mile race with the goal of helping runners improve their mile time throughout FLRC’s winter track season. Each week, your humble president will set a pace-based track workout (see the Group Runs & Workouts forum), lead the group in dynamic warmups, and close with strength and mobility exercises. All ages and abilities are welcome, although adults should be running at least 15–20 miles per week to ensure that the workouts are appropriate. These workouts are part of the FLRC Family Running Program, so children 7–13 are welcome and will run custom workouts based around running games. FLRC membership is required. Learn more and be sure to sign the FLRC Training Programs waiver once for 2020.

Black Diamond 1st and 3rd Saturday Group Runs Continue Apace

Thanks to Heather Cobb taking over as group run coordinator from Shelly Marino, our 1st and 3rd Saturday morning group runs continue on the Black Diamond trail. These free runs start and finish at the base of the Black Diamond Trail behind the Ithaca Children’s Garden at Cass Park (121 Turtle Lane, Ithaca, NY 14850). Registration, warmup, and mingling start at 7:30 AM, and the run begins at 7:45 AM. We’ll run out on the wide, smooth Black Diamond Trail for 30 minutes, and then turn around and run back. You’ll likely find someone at your pace, and everyone should finish at about the same time. Feel free to add in some walking, or to turn around before 30 minutes. Learn more and be sure to sign the FLRC Training Programs waiver once for 2020.

Until next month, happy running!

—Adam Engst, FLRC President and VP of Track

The next best thing to running is reading about running, right?

The FLRC Lending Library is a collection of books covering our sport, from the mile to ultramarathons and everything in between. Genres include everything from training guides to memoirs and biographies, fiction, philosophy, and many more.

Best of all, our library is open to anyone. FLRC membership is not required and there are no fees. The collection is located at Natural Health Family Chiropractic—103 Sharlene Drive, Ithaca. No appointment is required; you can stop in during the office’s normal business hours to sign out books of your choosing.

The library originated as a collection by the late Diane Sherrer. Over the years, members of the community have donated their used books for others to enjoy, and the catalog has been growing steadily.

Library Catalog:

Alphabetical By Author (PDF)

Alphabetical By Title (PDF)

Sunday’s race at Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua was the fifth and final race in the 2019 Pete Glavin Upstate New York Cross Country Series. Although High Noon missed winning the Masters race by a single point, and thus the season, we still had a highly successful meet.

Individual Results | Team Results | Series Results

Photo Gallery (all pictures taken by Adam Engst)

High Noon Men

The High Noon men’s Open team—fresh off a commanding victory at Taughannock the week before—was at full strength. However, they were up against the dominant Syracuse Track Club team that won three of the five series races. Despite strong races from Adam Pacheck (5th), Alex Drazic (7th), Sam Lagasse (8th), Adam Berkowitz (10th), and Mik Kern (19th), the team racked up 49 points to STC’s 25. Nevertheless, our Open team still managed to take second for the season, beating out Checkers by two points and GVH by three.

The heartbreaker came in the Masters race, where we again fielded one of our strongest teams ever but were up against a loaded GVH squad. Scott Weeks (1st), Eric Sambolec (6th), Ian Golden (8th), Jay Hubisz (10th), and Earl Steinbrecher (14th, running down from Vets) combined for 39 points, just one point behind GVH’s 38. Unfortunately, since High Noon and GVH went into the final race tied for overall season points, that one point meant that we took second for the season, but still finished well ahead of third place Checkers.

Fielding a full and strong Masters team—coupled with one of our runners turning 50 during the season—meant that we were finally able to field a strong Vets team as well. The High Noon Vets took second to GVH. Sean Nicholson (5th) led the team, followed by Alex Colvin (6th, and running with a cold), newly minted vet Joey Randall (8th), Jean-Luc Jannink (12th), and Tom Mullins (19th, running injured). We were a distant fourth for the season due to not fielding a team for most of the races.

Finally, the High Noon SuperVets team of Casey Carlstrom (1st), Charlie Fay (7th), and Carl Franck (19th), took third in the race, and due to the number of teams in the category, fifth for the season.

FLRC Women

There was no competing with Checkers for the women’s Open division this year—in this race, they took 1-2-3-5-6 for a total of 17 points. But FLRC once again fought off GVH to take second. FLRC was led by Jenny Berkowitz (7th), Amanda King (11th), Julie Barclay (12th, running down from Masters), Cat Massa (15th), and Julie Daum (16th). After a slow start in the first race, the FLRC women took second in every subsequent race, locking up second place for the season as well.

On the Masters side, FLRC took fourth, thanks to Julie Randall (13th), Ruth Sproul (14th, running down from Super Vets), and Kim Kelchner (15th). They were third overall for the season.

The FLRC Vets finally put it all together, winning their first race of the year and the coveted case of beer for our post-season party. Caitlin Loehr (2nd) led the team, followed by Brenda Osovski (4th) and Gill Haines-Sharp (5th). That win, coupled with a couple of second places in previous races, enabled the FLRC women to take second for the series behind Checkers.

Individual Series Places

These awards require some explanation. For each race, the top 15 finishers receive points on this schedule: 20-17-14-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. You are scored on your best four races, and you must run the final race to score for the series. The maximum number of points you can get for the series is 80, and the runners in the top 10 all received a bottle of wine for their achievements (or a mug and chocolate for the U19 runners). High Noon and FLRC runners who scored points in the series include:

M1-19
2:  Aidan Lazzaro (48 points)
3:  Oliver Lambert (46 points)
4:  Alexander Drazic (40 points)
5:  Kieran Stewart (39 points)
6:  Jack Phelan (36 points)
7:  Benjamin Lambert (33 points)

M20-39
4:  Adam Pacheck (42 points)
8:  Sam Lagasse (35 points)
10: Adam Berkowitz (31 points)
13: Mikhail Kern (17 points)
14: Rich Heffron (16 points)

M40-49
2:  Scott Weeks (57 points)
3:  Eric Sambolec (51 points)
5:  Brian Lazzaro (36 points)
9:  Jay Hubisz (25 points)
11: Ian Golden (18 points)
12: Joey Randall (16 points)
18: Steven Folsom (7 points)

M50-59
2:  Alex Colvin (51 points)
9:  Earl Steinbrecher (25 points)
11: Sean Nicholson (24 points)
18: Jean-Luc Jannink (10 points)
20: Thomas Mullins (6 points)

M60-69
6:  Casey Carlstrom (40 points)
7:  Charlie Fay (33 points)

F20-39
6:  Jenny Berkowitz (38 points)
13: Amanda King (11 points)

F40-49
4:  Julie Barclay (48 points)
15: Julie Randall (6 points)
16: Kim Kelchner (1 points)

F50-59
3:  Caitlin Loehr (52 points)
4:  Brenda Osovski (41 points)
7:  Sandra Gregorich (37 points)
8:  Gillian Haines-Sharp (27 points)
15: Tonya Engst (7 points)

F60-69
9:  Ruth Sproul (23 points)

In case you missed it, here are the High Noon and FLRC recaps from the previous races in the 2019 series.

• Race #2 (Rochester)
• Race #3 (Buffalo)
• Race #4 (Ithaca)

Given that the greater Ithaca area doesn’t begin to compare in population size to the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse, we competed well above our expected per-capita, and everyone should be proud of the teams’ accomplishments. And as much as it was great to see so many of our runners and teams picking up prizes at the awards banquet, the main thing is that we fielded what has to be our largest set of teams ever and had a ton of fun for the season. That’s what cross country is all about—everyone plays, everyone counts, and everyone socializes before and after.

We hope you’ll join us next year for the 2020 season!

As part of the FLRC Family Running Program, our Kids & Tots running group will continue through the winter all the way through our final Indoor Track Meet on March 29. Led by Nichole Cappadora, this running group is for children age seven and under. It’s a great way to introduce kids to the sport in a fun and low-key manner, without the pressure of competition.

To participate, be sure to fill out Nichole’s questionnaire with your family’s info to provide us with a little information about your kids.

Practices will be at 3:00 PM on Sundays and last about 30-40 minutes. The plan is to have two Sundays a month inside Barton Hall throughout the winter. When spring comes, we’ll add more weekends outside, weather permitting.

The group will meet on the following Sundays:

• November 10 *
• November 24 *
• December 15
• December 29
• January 5
• January 12 — Indoor track meet
• January 19
• February 2
• February 9 (or 16. May have to wait till we get closer to solidify date.)
• February 23 — Indoor track meet
• March 8
• March 29 — Indoor track meet

* Outside, if weather allows.

We look forward to helping your kids get active and learn the basics of running! For more information, please contact group leader Nichole Cappadora at nichole@happilyrunning.com.

For the first time in many years, the High Noon men’s Open team captured the overall team title in Sunday’s fourth Pete Glavin Upstate New York Cross Country race at our home course at  Taughannock Falls State Park. Not to be outdone, the High Noon Masters team also held off a strong GVH team to win its second race of the season.

Full individual and team results are available, as are the photos from the race. Be sure to check them all out—there are some great shots, including Adam Pacheck’s huge smile in first place, Columbia Warren’s mid-race impression of The Fonz, Alex Colvin demonstrating proper running form after the race, and oodles of High Nooners modeling their snazzy new jerseys in the Taughannock scenery.

The High Noon Open team fielded its strongest group of the year and tallied an impressive 19 points, handily beating the Syracuse Track Club’s 52 points. Adam Pacheck won the 6K race overall in 19:32, followed by Sam Lagasse in second in 19:42, Alex Drazic in third in 19:47, Adam Berkowitz in sixth in 20:06, and Rich Heffron in seventh in 20:11. Matt Wilber filled out the team with a thirteenth place finish in 20:17 after pushing through hamstring pain. A 45-second spread from one to six is an
impressive pack! Beyond those six runners, we had enough people to field an Open B Team, which took fifth overall.

The High Noon Masters team had a tougher race but ran strong and won with 30 points to GVH’s 36. Scott Weeks led the team with a first place Masters finish, followed by Eric Sambolec in fifth, Brian Lazzaro in seventh, Ian Golden in eighth, and Earl Steinbrecher in ninth. Alex Colvin (11th) and Joey Randall (15th) filled out the team.

The High Noon Vets team took fourth but the race was closer than it sounds. GVH took the win with 41 points, Syracuse Track Club was second with 51, Checkers placed third with 57, and High Noon finished fourth with 69. A coaching error on my part resulted in the High Noon Super Vets team taking seventh, since we went into the day with nine runners across two teams but lost four before the race and I only heard from three, so I didn’t adjust the team composition properly. Even still, the best we would have placed would have been third.

Individually, High Noon brought home a good amount of age-group chocolate. In 20-39, after Adam Pacheck’s win (for wine), Sam Lagasse took chocolate for first in the age group. In 40-49, Scott Weeks won, as did Casey Carlstrom in 60-69.

The FLRC women’s Open team—with strong finishes by Jenny Berkowitz, Amelia Kaufman, Amanda King, Julie Barclay, and Liz Hartman—took second, edging out GVH 67 points to 73. The FLRC ladies finished well behind the dominant Checkers team that notched up only 20 points. In a heartbreaker, Checkers also snuck by FLRC’s Vets team, 12 points to 14. Caitlin Loehr led our Vets, followed by Brenda Osovski, Gill Haines-Sharp, Sandy Gregorich, and Lorrie Tily. FLRC’s Masters team took fourth and the Super Vets team took third.

Individually for the FLRC women, Julie Barclay took third in the 40-49 age group, and Caitlin Loehr was third in the 50-59 age group.

Once again, FLRC’s 19-and-under team won its division, with Tito Maresca taking first (and 17th overall in the race), followed by Nick Marnell, Aidan Lazzaro, Oliver Lambert, Kieran Stewart, and Ben Lambert.

In the U19 age group, Alex Drazic took home chocolate for the win, with Tito Maresca in second.

Our final race is a hilly 8K next Sunday, November 3, at the Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua. We’ll see how how the High Noon and FLRC teams can finish out the season and compete for the PGXC cup.

Results and photos are in from the Pete Glavin Cross Country Series Race #3 The 6k race was held Sunday in Akron Falls, New York (just east of Buffalo).

Apart from a second place from the High Noon Open team, our teams suffered from a number of our best runners sitting this one out due to the long drive, resting up for Wineglass, or having run Danby Down & Dirty the day before. (High Nooner Eric Sambolec won that race handily, but chose not to race in Buffalo too.) Lots of third, fourth, and fifth places.

High Noon captain Adam Engst captured some great mid-stride shots of runners from all our teams.

Individual Results

Team Results

The next race in the series is Sunday, October 27, at Taughannock Falls State Park. This is our home course, and we’d love to see many of you out there to support our runners. Better yet, consider joining our team! It’s not too late to sign up for one or both of the remaining meets.

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