FLRC’s March Meet Closes Out 2023’s Indoor Season on a High Note

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Count us among those who aren’t in favor of changing the clocks twice yearly, as the switch to Daylight Saving Time cut into attendance. But we still had 4 teams and 122 runners who completed 314 events. Full results are on the FLRC website. For those taking photos at the meet, please share your images in our public album—we’d love to see what you captured!

With Barton Hall still quiet as people shuffled in, we kicked off the meet with two heats of the 3000m. In the second heat, Paul Zimmer took control right away, running a 9:15 for a comfortable win, though Lucas Baker worked hard to close the gap in second in 9:22. Our top woman was Liz Hartman, whose 11:55 was one place ahead of the second woman, Ashley Moscowitz, in 12:06.

The energy in the building picked up throughout the 60m, with 8 heats culminating in some seriously fast times. Braddock Salisbury took the win in 7.17 seconds, just a nose (almost literally) ahead of Ryan Haisler in 7.19 seconds and Aidan Tierney in 7.50 seconds. Tess Eisner was the fastest woman for the day, crossing in just 8.16 seconds, edging out Jalasia DeMember in 8.44 seconds and Megan Wong in 8.54 seconds.

After several exciting heats of the mile, the final question was if Paul Zimmer could double for the day. Although Ryan Lyppens led a tight pack for the first few laps, Zimmer soon gapped the group and pushed it in for the win in 4:37. Closing hard was Issac Mazzeo, one of our regulars at the Tuesday night MITHACAL MILERS workout, who finished in an impressive 4:38, with Lyppens third in 4:42, just edging out Alexander Simpson in the same time. Gretel Hillson-Schneider took the crown for the women in 5:36, with Liz Hartman second in 6:06. Speaking of doubling—props to 75-year-old triathlete Deb Bliss, who ran the mile in 9:14, 6 seconds faster than her time in January, and that was after doing the 3000m in 18:12.

Our final and most popular individual races were the 15 heats of the 200m, where Aidan Tierney avenged his third place in the 60m by breaking the tape in the 200m in 24.29, edging out Ryan Haisler’s 24.57 and Ryan Lyppen’s 24.66. Mattison Lucey of the Groton Project continued her dominance of the women’s 200m with her third win of the season and fastest time: 27.58, almost a full second in front of her January time. Second place went to Gretchen Hulsey in 32.02.

Throughout the meet, Brett Shelton and Steve Wagner of the SOAR Running Club managed the high jump and long jump. Those events proved popular again, with 23 in the high jump and 40 in the long jump. In the high jump, Hunter Heyden cleared 6 feet for the win—the same height as February’s winning jump—with Braddock Salisbury and Hicham Oulida tying for second with jumps of 4 feet, 8 inches. Gretchen Hulsey was the top woman with a jump of 4 feet, 4 inches, and Hadley Murray of SOAR was second with 4 feet. In the long jump, Noah Bosket leaped 16 feet for the win. Second place was also the first woman, with Megan Wong jumping 14 feet, 11 inches. Third (and second for the men) went to Camden Hulsey in 14 feet, 3 inches, with Maren Golden (second woman and fourth overall) notching an impressive first try at the event by leaping 13 feet 5 inches.

The final event of the day was the 4x200m relay, where 17 teams ran across three heats. Four teams broke 2:00 this month, with the win going to the ad-hoc Not Fast, Just Furious in 1:46, followed by a Cornell team in 1:47, an unattached team in 1:55, and the ad-hoc 😃 TC B team in 1:56 (who says emoji can’t run?).

As always, the meet was made possible by the highly amiable and capable efforts of 25 dedicated members of our track volunteer team—an embarrassment of riches! Gill Haines-Sharp showed up early to help us set up. Carl Franck once again served as head timer and master of the PA system, with Josh Brockner stepping in as head timer later in the meet, David Rossiter did a bang-up job as starter (sorry!), and Patrick Boyle and Heather Cobb kept everyone lining up on schedule. Jesse Koenecke and Laurel Gilmer were speed demons with Meet Manager, producing results in record time. Tonya Engst and Rebecca Lambert reprised their roles at the bib pickup table, recruited for the relays, and answered runner questions (before Tonya ran her season best in the mile). Moss Dengler was unflappable while recording bibs for the longer races with help from Sandy Gregorich, Katie Gannon handled backup timing and provided enthusiastic cheering, and Tom Rishel counted laps for the leaders. Our sprint timing team was Aeron Jauquet, Crosby Woods, Bob Swizdor, IHS students Jesse and Andrew, plus others filling in from other jobs. Once again, Bethany Schiller assisted Brett Shelton with the long jump, and Elodie Fey helped Steve Wagner with the high jump. Special thanks to Mickie Sanders-Jauquet for bringing FLRC clothing to sell and promoting FLRC’s philanthropic efforts with local coaches.

That’s a wrap of the indoor track season! Huge thanks to Cornell University and specifically Cornell Athletics for allowing FLRC to use the Barton Hall track and the high jump and long jump equipment. Cornell’s commitment to helping the community is extremely welcome and well beyond the norm among US educational institutions from the stories we hear.

FLRC’s next event is the Skunk Cabbage Classic 10K and Half Marathon coming up soon on April 2nd, and if you want to run, please register soon. If not, we need your help volunteering! Our next outdoor track meet will take place on June 27th, and we’re looking forward to our first outdoor track invitational, called Trackapalooza, on July 22nd.

FLRC’s February Meet Offers Lots of Running and Jumping Opportunities

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We’re getting back into the swing of indoor track meets again with our second meet of the year. Attendance was up, with 145 runners, including 7 teams, who completed a total of 338 efforts. Full results are on the FLRC website. Although we didn’t have a professional photographer at this meet, several people have uploaded their photos already, and if you took some, we’d love to see them too. It’s really easy to upload to the public album—give it a try!

Although the 5000m race, our first event, didn’t compare in size to our February 2020 meet, when we had 86 registrants and 71 finishers across 3 heats, we still ended up with 24 runners, enough for a box start to separate the crowd. Lucas Baker took the lead in the 25-lap race early and kept it all the way to the finish in a solid 16:39, holding off Jordan Varano in 17:04. Liz Hartman won for the women in a personal best of 20:16, ahead of Olivia Zeigler of Northwestern Elementary School in 21:32.

Moving from longest to shortest, we switched gears for the 60m sprints, where we had 10 heats. In the final heat, Braddock Salisbury ran 7.28 seconds for the win, edging out Noah Bosket in 7.53 and Karim Nimaga of Morrisville State College in 7.58. Matti Johnston of Corning was the fastest woman in 8.39 seconds, followed by Madelyn Weeks of the Groton Project Track Club in 9.60 seconds.

The mile was our most popular race of the day, with 62 finishers across 5 heats. After top seed Lucas Baker scratched, the race became incredibly tight, with a five-man pack running close together the entire race. Charles McCurdy stayed at the head of the pack for the win in 4:49, holding off the hard-charging Dan Timmerman in 4:50 and Scott Weeks of the Groton Project in 4:51. Our first woman was Heather Webster of GVH, who ran a strong 5:49, and Olivia Zeigler of Northwestern Elementary claimed her second silver of the day in 6:07, just ahead of Abigail Wagner of the SOAR Running Club in 6:13.

Our final individual event was the 200m, where Zuri Ruffin took the win in a blistering 23.85, outpacing Corning’s Brady Hughes in 24.57. Mattison Lucey of the Groton Project repeated her January win, breaking the tape in 27.91, which was 0.6 seconds faster than last month. This time, however, she had close competition with Matti Johnston of Corning just a half-second behind in 28.43.

Throughout the meet, Brett Shelton and Steve Wagner of the SOAR Running Club managed the high jump and long jump. Those events proved popular again, particularly with the GIAC Navigators and SOAR Running Club kids—33 competed in the high jump and 43 in the long jump. In the high jump, Noah Ruffer cleared 6 feet for the win, with Connor Trimber, Brady Hughes, and Matthew Gonzalez tying for second with jumps of 5 feet, 6 inches. Matti Johnston of Corning was the top woman with a jump of 4 feet, 10 inches, and Molly Doran of SOAR was second with 3 feet, 6 inches. In the long jump, Noah Ruffer took home another win by leaping 19 feet, 2.75 inches, ahead of Connor Trimber’s second-place jump of 17 feet, 8.75 inches. Tess Eisner won for the women with a jump of 17 feet 3.75 inches, with Samantha Oakes second thanks to a 14-foot, 4-inch leap.

The final event of the day was the 4x200m relay, where 15 teams ran across three heats. Only three teams broke 2:00 this month—some of the Ithaca High sprinters from last month were volunteering at this meet—with the win going to Morrisville State College in 1:45, just ahead of an unattached team in 1:47 and a High Noon & Friends team in 1:59.

As always, the meet was made possible by the highly amiable and capable efforts of 28 members of our track volunteer team. Ronke Ilegbusi and Crosby Woods showed up early to help us set up. Carl Franck once again served as head timer and master of the PA system, Tom Rishel helped train David Rossiter as starter, and Patrick Boyle and Heather Cobb kept everyone lining up on schedule. Jesse Koenecke managed Meet Manager with help from Ronke Ilegbusi and Moss Dengler. Tonya Engst and Rebecca Lambert held down the bib pickup table, recruited for the relays, and answered runner questions. Molly Doruska recorded bibs for the longer races with help from Kaleb Smith, Katie Gannon handled backup timing, and Izzy Silbert counted laps, and they teamed with Amalia Skilton, Sandy Gregorich, Anne Shakespeare, Ayoub Oulida, Diana Hackett, Max Sheehan, and Clara Bennett to time the sprints. Bethany Schiller and Aya Oulida assisted Brett Shelton with the long jump, and Elodie Fey helped Steve Wagner with the high jump. Special thanks to Brett and Steve of the SOAR Running Club for making the jumps possible!

See you again on March 12!

FLRC’s January Meet Brings Community Indoor Track Back to Barton Hall

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Thanks to excellent work by old and new volunteers alike, our first indoor meet since 2020 went off well. We hosted 134 runners, including 7 teams, who completed a total of 280 individual efforts. Full results are on the FLRC website, along with fabulous professional photos from Jamie Love. (The pictures below are representative of each event but don’t necessarily show the people mentioned.)

After a little behind-the-scenes stress caused by our meet management software crashing whenever a particular USB-C hub was attached, we kicked off the meet with three heats of the 3000m. The final heat belonged to 2022 Skunk Cabbage half-marathon champion Henry Williams, who cruised to the win in 8:59 (4:49 mile pace), with Nick Ryan hanging on gamely to finish second in a still-strong 9:40. The women’s race was even more of a blowout with Stephanie Bitcon running an impressive 10:12 that was good for fourth overall, well ahead of the strong trail and cross-country runner Donna Langerfeld in 11:21.

Next up were the sprints, where numerous heats of the 60m were filled by runners in the 10-and-under set, particularly kids from the GIAC Navigators and the new Groton Project Track Club. Ultimately, the win went to Skylar Lagramada from Watkins Glen in 7.70 seconds, edging out Candor teammates Wyatt Stouffer (7.90) and Matt Fitch (7.92). Candor took the top two spots for the women, with Jess Wells winning in 9.01 seconds and Angelina Porras second in 9.62. 12-year-old Lauren Younkin of the SOAR Running Club was third in 9.78.

In the mile, our Hartshorne Masters Mile rabbits tested out their legs. First, Henry Williams showed that he had plenty of speed to pace the elite men by running 4:30 for the win not long after his 3000m victory. This time, his competition came from Lucas Baker, who crossed just 4 seconds later in 4:34. Then women’s elite rabbit Bella Burda ran a controlled 5:13 to prove that she’d be able to pace three-time Olympian Michelle Rohl to a W55 American record. Donna Langerfeld settled for second again in 5:46. Finally, a shout-out to our pack of older milers, with 63-year-old Laura Helmerick (8:14), 68-year-old Steven Clark (8:46), 65-year-old Joe Sullivan (8:59), 75-year-old Deb Bliss (9:20), and 74-year-old Jim Miner (9:34) all testing their legs in advance of running Hartshorne. Apart from Bliss, who was a handful of seconds slower, the others all ran significantly faster at Hartshorne, with Helmerick dropping 19 seconds, Clark 20 seconds, Sullivan 19 seconds, and Miner a whopping 77 seconds.

Our final individual event was the 200m, where Candor’s Matt Fitch avenged his third place in the 60m by nudging out Watkins Glen’s Skylar Lagramada by 3 hundredths of a second, 25.65 to 25.68. (We’ll pretend that our hand timing is accurate enough for that to be meaningful; in reality, it’s not.) However, the women’s side wasn’t even close, with Mattison Lucey of the Groton Project breaking the tape in a speedy 28.51. Nearly 4 seconds later, second place went to Candor’s Jess Wells in 32.45.

Throughout the entire meet, Brett Shelton and Steve Wagner of the SOAR Running Club managed the high and long jumps. This was the first time we’ve officially hosted field events at an FLRC meet, and both proved popular with kids, with 34 competing in the high jump and 43 in the long jump. In the high jump, Candor’s Ayasha Schweiger cleared 4 feet, 8 inches for the win, followed closely by her teammate Angelina Porras, who jumped 4 feet, 6 inches. In the long jump, Ross Bush of the Groton Project soared to the win by jumping 16 feet, 9.75 inches, with Patrick Milano (our third Hartshorne rabbit) leaping 12 feet, 9 inches for second.

The final event of the day was the 4x200m relay, where 16 teams ran across three heats. Five of the teams ran 2:00 or faster, with a team of Ithaca High runners running powerfully and employing blind handoffs for the win in 1:42. Second place went to Candor in 1:52, with a Watkins Glen-anchored team third in 1:55.

As always, the meet was made possible by the highly amiable and capable efforts of the dedicated track volunteer team. Carl Franck reprised his role from the summer as head timer, Tom Rishel once again served as starter, and Patrick Boyle and Laurel Gilmer stepped into the clerk of course role to keep everyone lining up on schedule. Jesse Koenecke managed Meet Manager with help from Dave Kania, who also timed and performed other essential tasks that cropped up. Tonya Engst and Amelia Kaufman held down the bib pickup table, recruited for the relays, and answered runner questions. Rich Bernstein recorded bibs for the longer races, Katie Gannon handled backup timing, and David Rossiter counted laps, and they all teamed with Bob Swizdor, Rebecca Lambert, Aeron Jauquet, and Bob Talda to time the sprints. Thanks to all, and extra appreciation to Steve Wagner and Brett Shelton of the SOAR Running Club for volunteering their expertise with the jumps!

See you again on February 19th and March 12th!

Hartshorne Masters Mile returns to host a new W55 American record

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After a two-year pandemic hiatus, FLRC brought the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile back to Barton Hall on January 21st, 2023, putting on mile races for 65 local and elite masters runners from the Ithaca area, upstate New York, and throughout the US and Canada. The event went well, with fast times, exciting races, and a new W55 American record!

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!

Race Results

Combined Women & Men: Our leadoff race showcased some of our older runners, with 63-year-old Laura Helmerick cruising to the win in 7:55, followed by 82-year-old Dennis Featherstone of Ottawa in 8:08 and 73-year-old Robert Vidulich in 8:13. 75-year-old triathlete Deb Bliss was the second woman across the line in 9:25.

Men Section 2: After 56-year-old Jack Salisbury went out hot for the first 800m, the more level-headed 61-year-old Neal Coffey took the lead and held it through the tape to win in 6:02. He outpaced the 71-year-old Spider Rossiter, who met the legendary Don Farley’s goal of “under 7:00 at 70” with an impressive 6:09. 66-year-old Gary Passamonte was third in 6:20.

Women Section 1: After some last-minute scratches, this race was small, with only five runners. Without the expected competition, 58-year-old Roxanne Springer ran alone for the win in 6:10, with 54-year-old Kim Jackson bettering her seed time handily with a 6:43 for second place and 59-year-old Betsy Stewart third in 6:58.

Men Section 1: 48-year-old ultramarathoner Damian Clemons found out just how tough short distances can be by leading through six laps before 50-year-old Mike Middendorf took over and ran the last two laps for the win in 5:38. 53-year-old Rob White laid down a 5:45 for second place in his second mile ever, and 63-year-old Keith Eggleston kicked hard in the final straightaway to run a 5:48.39 that snuck past both 51-year-old Steve Vanek (5:48.79) and Clemons (5:48.95).

Men Elite 2: This race proved one of the most exciting of the day, with three top area runners facing off. 58-year-old Mike Nier, the organizer of the Pete Glavin XC Series, tucked in behind rabbit Patrick Milano to take the early lead, with 61-year-old Joe Mora and 57-year-old Jim Derick hot on his heels. Derick moved past Mora into second in the fifth lap and ran on Nier’s shoulder the rest of the race but couldn’t match Nier’s kick in the final 100m. Nier finished in 5:02.47 for the win, with Derick second in 5:03.25 and Mora third in 5:09.08, barely holding off the fast-closing 46-year-old Tristan Lambert in 5:10.88.

Women Elite 1: Expectations were high for this race, not because three-time Olympian Michelle Rohl had any competition, but because she was attempting to break Kathryn Martin’s 16-year-old W55 American record of 5:19.87, set when Martin was 55. At 57, Rohl was on a roll in 2022, taking over the indoor and outdoor 800m records, the outdoor 1500m record, and the indoor 3000m record.

After a 15-minute delay for the third USATF official to arrive so times would be eligible for records, rabbit Bella Burda took off at the gun, with Rohl slipping past 40-year-old Jennifer Boerner in the first lap to move into the lead. From then on, it was textbook, with Rohl clocking even splits that never varied by more than 1.4 seconds, running a 2:36 800m en route to a 5:16.70 win that broke Martin’s record by 3.17 seconds. 44-year-old Carly Shea outkicked Boerner for second in 5:34 to Boerner’s 5:35. 45-year-old Alison Schwalm was fourth in 5:49, 48-year-old Andi Camp was fifth in 5:54, 54-year-old Amy McMahon took six in 5:58, 40-year-old Liz Hartman ran 6:00 for seventh, and 57-year-old Melissa Chiti was eighth in 6:03. Although she was last in the heat, 61-year-old Lorraine Jasper’s 6:10 gave her a 92.33% age grade, second only to Rohl’s 100.81% for the entire meet.

Men Elite 1: In the final race of the day, despite rabbit Henry Williams sprinting out at the desired pace, the pack didn’t stay with him, resulting in the first two laps being surprisingly slow at 39 and 37 seconds. Then 41-year-old Jaret Herter started to ratchet the pace down, clocking a 35, three 34s, a 33, and a final 32.25 to win in 4:41. More exciting was second place, where 41-year-old George Young worked his way up from ninth place after the first three laps and closed with a blistering 31.29-second final lap—the fastest of the day—to sneak past 43-year-old Mark Walchinsky at the line, 4:48.44 to 4:48.59. Walchinsky’s teammate, 43-year-old James Coates, was just behind them in 4:49.70, and 50-year-old Scott Weeks came next in fifth in 4:51. Multi-year Hartshorne winner Mark Williams, also now 50, took sixth in 4:52.72, outkicking 42-year-old Dan Timmerman in 4:52.89. 43-year-old Jordan Varano was eighth in 4:53, 40-year-old Chuck Terry was ninth in 4:54, and 45-year-old Ian Golden rounded out the race in tenth in 4:56.

Volunteers

Hartshorne requires a significant volunteer effort, starting with my assistant race directors, Charlie Fay and Tom Hartshorne. Jim Miner and John Whitman arrived early to help set up, along with Carl Franck, who configured our PA system. Jim and John continued to manage the registration table with help from Brenda Featherstone until Jim had to warm up for his race and John moved to help Charlie with race operations, after which Rebecca Lambert and Kathleen Gibson took over registration. Bruce Roebal took over as clerk of course this year, and Dan Hurley once again started all the races. Tonya Engst handed out shirts to volunteers before assisting Megan Powers with the saddle-stitched race booklet (and special thanks to Megan for all her work before the race getting the booklet ready to accept results). Rich Bernstein counted laps and rang the bell, and David Rossiter read lap splits to runners. Izzy and Ursula Silbert helped runners take photos in front of our photo banner, and Patrick Boyle, Aaron Proujansky, and Walter Silbert helped keep bystanders off the track during the races. Thanks to you all!

Sponsors

Finally, I’d like to thank the sponsors who make 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 2023 sponsors include Joe Daley, the Hartshorne Family, Sean Nicholson, Javier Martinez, Cayuga Medical Center, 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!

390 runners at 50th Turkey Trot raise record amount for Loaves & Fishes

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The 50th running of the Finger Lakes Runners Club’s Turkey Trot was a huge success. A record $5,895 (and growing) was raised for Loaves & Fishes, and about 390 people participated on a sunny, 40-degree morning. We have some runner-taken photos from the race, and if you took any, please upload them!

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)

Next year will be the 50th anniversary of the Turkey Trot and might be, after 17 years, my last year directing this wonderful event. The Turkey Trot is totally hands-on. Paper meets pen. Tradition. Family. Memory. If you are interested in helping out as assistant race director in 2023 and carrying forward the torch in future years, please contact me at bar2@cornell.edu. The Turkey Trot is near and dear to my heart. I can only leave it to someone who will devote themselves to it at least half as much as I have.

I have spent the month since the Turkey Trot transferring 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” has now been uploaded, as well as a list of those closest to their predictions. 

Thanks to Ithaca Bakery for their donation of 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 Rob Kurcoba for designing the 50th Turkey Trot t-shirt, which sold out of the straight orange version and very few left of the fitted lime-colored ones. We plan to repeat the shirts next year, with, hopefully, the fitted version in orange.

Thanks to my many volunteers: my wife, Kathleen Gibson, for her endless help and for being my food czar; Tom Hartshorne for directing traffic (and tireless behind-the-scenes work on the trails); Joel Cisne and Jessica Sterns for directing traffic; Adam Engst and Tonya Engst for publicity, logistics, and, with help from Dave Kania, distributing our 50th Turkey Trot shirts; and to Christina Culver, director of Loaves & Fishes, and her crew of registration line/finish line/food helpers.

Finally, I believe I left my bright-orange Columbia winter coat at the event. Anyone find it?

I hope to see at least 500 of you at the 50th Anniversary next year!

Gobble Gobble!
Bruce Roebal, Director
Ithaca Turkey Trot 

Danby Down & Dirty concludes FLRC’s 2022 trail running season

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The Finger Lakes Runners Club concluded our 2022 trail racing season with the Danby Down & Dirty on September 24th. The earlier-than-usual race date didn’t provide warmer weather and drier trails compared to previous years, but it was a nice morning in Danby State Forest nonetheless. Several runners completed their first trail race, with at least one completing her first race of any kind. 

Results are on our race Web page, with detailed age-group breakdowns on Webscorer. Photographer Jamie Love once again captured the runners and volunteers in action and her photos are available to download from our Yogile gallery for free.

10K

81 runners finished the single-loop 10K after a few dropped down in distance mid-race. 16-year-old Banyan Love led all runners in 50:34, edging Griffin Erich by 7 seconds. Nora McIver-Sheridan, who also won the Ithaca 5&10, showed her off-road prowess by earning her second 10K win of the month in 52:25. 10-year-old Mckenzie Leonard was once again our youngest finisher as she completed her fifth Trail Circuit race this year. At 73, Tom Teeter was the day’s oldest finisher. 

23K

The newly expanded longer course follows the 10K course for the first loop before runners tackle the full 8-mile Abbott Loop for their second circuit of the forest, completing 14.2 total miles with 2,600 feet of uphill. 2018 20K winner Dan Timmerman far outpaced the field to finish in 1:48:20. He also led all runners through 10K, splitting the first loop in about 44 minutes. The win was Timmerman’s fourth in five Trail Circuit races this year. Amelia Kaufman continued her hot streak to take the women’s crown in 2:13:50. Both winners also locked up perfect 300 scores in the Trail Circuit’s Pebblehead rankings and established baseline course records for the new 23K distance. 32 runners completed the 23K race. 

Thank You

This race wouldn’t be possible without a dedicated volunteer crew. Thank you to the following individuals: Shane Eversfield for arriving early to help set up before running the 23K, then staying to help with cleanup afterward; Damian Clemons for driving 80 minutes to help with setup before running the 10K; Nancy Kleinrock and Steve Shaum for handing out bibs while fielding questions from runners, working at the Smiley aid station, and then helping to break down the staging area and pack up the van; Bob Swizdor and Tom Barron for handing out food and water at the Bald Hill Road aid station and directing runners where to go; Melissa Wallace for helping the timing team and sweeping the 8 miles of trail; and Adam Engst, Heather Cobb, and Jesse Koenecke for timing the race and helping pack things up. 

We’ll have a separate recap of the Trail Circuit rankings announcing the winners, coming soon. For now, you can check the final standings on our dynamic leaderboard. 

FLRC has one race remaining in 2022. Come celebrate 50 years of Ithaca’s Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning at Ithaca High School! After that, enjoy the holidays before we see you at the Winter Chill 5K series in the new year.

Happy trails!

Pete Kresock

Race Director, Danby Down & Dirty

35 runners brave Monster’s rocky trails; Dan Timmerman flirts with the course record

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On August 27th, 35 hardy runners took to the trails in Robert H. Treman State Park in the Monster Marathon and Half Marathon. The conditions were perfect for trail running, though they also attracted the 150-person Cornell crew team, which plugged up the trails for a few runners. Unique among FLRC’s races, Monster features age- and sex-based early starts for all but men under age 38.

In the half marathon, 42-year-old Pebblehead leader Dan Timmerman (below left) came blasting into the finish at full speed, finishing the 13.1-mile course in 1:28:04. Alas, when we checked the records, he had missed Adam Pacheck’s 2017 course record by just 3 seconds! In the marathon, 35-year-old Jeff Hansen (below right) took the crown in 4:12:36.

Full results are now available, and the Pebble/Stone/Boulderhead standings have been updated on the 2022 Trail Circuit leaderboard. Don’t miss Steve Gallow’s excellent race photos in FLRC’s photo library!

Many thanks to all our volunteers who made the race possible! Mik Kern, Brian Lazzaro, and Dan Timmerman helped mark the course. Bob Talda and Tonya Engst picked up food for volunteers and runners. Diana Hackett managed bib pickup. Thanks to our aid station workers who provided essential in-race food and drink: Eric Sambolec, Brian Lazzaro, Nancy Kleinrock, Steve Shaum, Aaron Proujansky, and Cat Massa. Adam Engst served as the head timer, with the able assistance of Heather Cobb. Carl Franck and Zsophia Franck pitched in to help with cleanup. And of course, special thanks to Jan Vanek and Evan, our 2022 trail monsters!

Ithaca 5&10 returns with fun run, 5K, and 10K races

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After a long, dry summer, it was surprising when September 11th dawned wet and drizzly, but that didn’t stop runners and volunteers from around the area from converging on Ithaca High School to participate in the Ithaca 5&10. At 8:30, 18 kids and parents kicked off the day’s events with a 1-mile untimed fun run. Then, at 9:30, 166 runners took over Cayuga Street for the 5K and 10K mass start.

Just 16 minutes and 35 seconds later, 18-year-old Gabriel Garcia of Staten Island crossed the finish line to win the men’s 5K title, with 18-year-old Charlotte Tysall of Melrose, MA taking the women’s 5K crown in 18:40. In the RRCA New York State Championship 10K race (pictured below), 23-year-old Henry Williams won with a speedy 32:09—yes, he would have won the 5K as well—and 37-year-old Nora McIver-Sheridan (who also won the contest for most points in this year’s FLRC Challenge) crossed the line in 44:10 to win for the women.

Full results are available, and don’t miss the great race photos from photographer Steve Gallow. It’s also not too late to buy an Ithaca 5&10 T-shirt for just $20 at the FLRC Online Store.

With a large downtown race like this, volunteers are essential for keeping runners safe and on course, and we had over 60 people helping out. Many of our course marshals were student athletes from Ithaca College and Cornell—thanks to Coach Jim Nichols of Ithaca College and Coach Mike Henderson and Rachel Bonnet of Cornell for bringing their runners down. Special thanks to Julie Holcomb and the City of Ithaca, and to Samantha Little, Heather Williams, and Amy Augustine of the Ithaca City School District for allowing us to run on City of Ithaca streets and stage the race from Ithaca High School. Also key were Bill Gilligan and the Ithaca Fire Police for traffic control. Vinny Cappadora of Happily Running lent us his finish arch, and Pat Leone of Leone Timing ensured smooth registration and accurate times.

Thanks to club members Aaron Proujansky and Allan Lockett for setting up and taking down the course, Joe Nolan and Matthew Clark for bib pickup, Mickie Sanders-Jauquet for shirt sales, Kayla Slater and Linda Eckert for managing the food table, Bob Talda for announcing finishers, Zsofia Franck for providing water at the finish line, Karen and Eamon Ingall for directing the fun run. Props to Jack Jansons, Max Whitton, Jack Lynch, and Helena Blobel for staffing the course water stations. Finally, a special thanks to FLRC President Adam Engst for being of good humor when receiving panicked emails, texts, and phone calls from pre-race drama! 

We hope to see you at upcoming FLRC events, such as the Danby Down & Dirty trail race on September 24th or the Turkey Trot prediction run on Thanksgiving morning at Ithaca High School. Or just join one of our group runs or workouts.

Looking forward to next year!   –Gary

Fillmore Glen’s gorge forged by 97 intrepid trail runners

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Trail runners flocked to Moravia’s gorgeous gorge on August 11th to tackle Fillmore Glen State Park’s trails, stairs, and footbridges at FLRC’s only Thursday evening race. A reroute on the North Rim Trail made for two new race distances, with the short course half a mile shorter than before at 3 miles and the long course expanding by a mile to 8 miles, guaranteeing personal bests and course records at this year’s race. Longtime FLRC volunteer and runner Alan Lockett came out of race director retirement to organize the race. Overall and age group winners took home fresh baked cookies made by Alan’s daughter Emily, and everyone enjoyed the post-race pizza party. 

Full results are available on our Web site, with age group breakdowns on Webscorer. The dynamic Trail Circuit leaderboard also now reflects the race results. Official race photographer Steve Gallow’s fabulous photos can be found in our Yogile library—download yours for free today! 

3 Mile

In the men’s race, 16-year-old Banyan Love fended off FLRC Trail Circuit veteran Eric Sambolec and 36 other runners to win by 10 seconds in 21:50. Only days later Love would put in a big-mileage weekend to complete the FLRC Challenge, likely fueled by the box of artisan cookies he earned for his win. The win bumped Love into the top spot for the Trail Circuit Pebblehead standings. Sambolec, an FLRC mainstay with dozens of podium finishes, returned from a long-term injury for his first FLRC race in more than a year. 

In the women’s 3-mile, 59-year-old Sandy Gregorich took the top spot in 28:35 and was awarded a box of cookies as well—she sits firmly atop the Trail Circuit Stonehead rankings at the moment. Our youngest finisher, and third female, was 9-year-old Ada McKinzey. 

8 Mile

57 runners forged the gorge’s 8-mile route, with Benjamin Grodner and Amelia Kaufman taking the men’s and women’s wins in 1:06:37 and 1:08:17, respectively. The long course’s youngest runner was 9-year-old Liam Scanlon, who finished the race with his father. At 73-years young, the indefatigable Jim Miner was the oldest finisher. 

Thank you to all of the runners and volunteers who came out for a “gorgeous” evening! With two FLRC trail races remaining, there’s still time for things to shift on the Trail Circuit’s leaderboard.  We hope to see you at the Monster Marathon and Half on August 27th and the Danby Down & Dirty on September 24th!

Experience triumphs over youth at this year’s Forest Frolic

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104 runners flocked to Virgil to frolic along the singletrack trails in Kennedy State Forest, with 46 running the 7K and 56 completing the 15K. This summer’s drought left the trails bone dry, and the heat and humidity were noticeably more runner-friendly than normal for the late-July race day. This led to the Frolic’s best race-day weather in years.

Photographer Jamie Love was on site and her photos are available to download for free. Full results are posted on our Web site and on Webscorer. 

7K

Eliza O’Donnell was the first woman across the line, clocking 38:50 for the 4.1-mile loop. She outpaced Margo Lee, last year’s winner, by 1 minute. For the men, experience overcame youth, with 43-year-old Peter Frazier winning by just over a minute in 32:35 and second place going to 16-year-old FLRC regular Banyan Love. Our youngest finisher was the intrepid 8-year-old Logan Timmerman, who was paced the entire way by Steph Bailey. Tom Joyce and former long-time Forest Frolic race director Steve Ryan were the oldest finishers at age 71. 

15K

The 15K course is a figure-8 where runners can choose which direction to run the opening loop before continuing along the 7K course for the back half. Recent trail convert Chelsea Benson took home another FLRC Trail Circuit win in 1:16:00, well ahead of the next woman. This catapulted her into the lead in the Trail Circuit’s women’s Pebblehead rankings. On the men’s side, experience once again overcame youth, with 42-year-old Dan Timmerman running 1:04:25 to top 16-year-old Crosby Woods by 3 minutes. This was Timmerman’s second Trail Circuit win in as many races, setting him up for a perfect 300 Pebblehead score if he can notch one more win this year. The clockwise direction was preferable among the speedsters—Benson, Timmerman, Woods, and the rest of the top seven finishers all took the first loop in the same direction. 

FLRC has two more trail races this month, with Forge the Gorgeous at Fillmore Glen State Park on August 11th and the Monster Marathon and Half Marathon at Robert Treman State Park on August 27th. We hope to see you in the woods again soon!