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Club Race Results
TEAM RACE #1:
OPEN MEN, WOMEN, M40s WIN IN ROAD MILE
Steve Lewandowski made his club debut at the Midland Mile, and…what a debut it was.
The Mountain Lakes, LaSalle graduate found himself in a heated battle with teammate and seasoned road racer Aaron Leskow (3:43 1500m PR) for the win, and after a full mile’s worth of battling back and forth, Lewandowski edged out the win, 4:18.50 – 4:18.94.
Speaking of wins, the open men, open women, and M40s pulled out team dubyas at the road mile championship which is controversially held just weeks before the association’s half marathon championship.
The open men completely dominated the event, finishing their six teams 1-2-3-4-6-8, averaging 4:38, 4:46, 4:48, 4:55, 5:03, and 5:12 for the top five runners on each team. Of the 33 runners that cracked 5:00, 21 of them wore black and gold, and 7 of these 21 were on the club’s masters team.
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| Lewandowski and Leskow battle with 200m to go |
The M40s pulled out a razor close win, as they averaged 4:52.16, edging out the second place team’s 4:52.79. Spread over five scoring finishers, that equals out to .7 seconds a runner.
The women’s teams finished 1-2-5, with Emily Rosario defending her title from last year with a dominating 5:06 win. Suzanne Forlenza’s 5:18 was perhaps the biggest surprise of the night, good for 4th overall, while 35 year old mother-of-four Caryn Gerke, making her club debut, finished 5th with a 5:23.
The W40s finished an impressive third, as Gabrielle Panepinto (6:10), Kim Aspholm (6:14), and Anne Balfour (6:39) teamed up to average 6:21.
TEAM RACE #2
GSTC CRUSHES 5K XC RACE; ENJOYS PICNIC TRADITION AFTERWARD
Although August is way too early and hot for cross country season, the GSTC continued its tradition of the team circle and the post-race potluck at Natirar Park weeks ago.
Kyle Price was the top finisher for the club with teammates Evan Ward, Brendan Conway, and Garrett Derringer all cracking the top ten. Derringer, having the fall season of his life, finished 8th in 16:53.
The women’s team had a fantastic showing, as Erika Meling (18:38) and Emily Rosario (18:54) finished 1-2 in the race. Danielle Shannon, Kate Ashley, and Gabrielle Panepinto teamed up with them as the winning team.
Because this race is only a week after the road mile, many athletes were understandably hesitant to do both. Thus, the M40s and M50s were both 2nd, while the W40s were 5th.
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| Mike Anis, who starved himself for two days leading up to the club potluck, preps for round three after Sunday’s 5k xc race. |
Overall, the race wasn’t well attended due to both its time of the year and time in the race schedule. Not only did those racing the mile not want to double back, but many were on vacation.
Regardless, the men put four teams in the top seven, and the women went 1 and 4.
TEAM RACE #3
OPEN MEN, WOMEN, M40s, M50s, W40s ALL WIN GOLD IN 12K CHAMPIONSHIP
This was a race a firsts. It was the first 12k ever in USATF-NJ history. It was also the first time a championship race was officially announced just weeks before race day. It was the first race where there were “limited race day entries” and the first race where you couldn’t pay with cash at the race site. Finally, it was the first time a championship race was delayed by almost thirty minutes at the starting line.
It was a historic day indeed, and the club had one of its finest days of the year. Winning teams included the open men, open women, M40s, M50s, and W40s. The M60s were 2nd overall, their highest finish in years, while the men swept the top four team spots, and the women teams went 1-2.
2016 Olympic Trials marathon qualifier Matt Gillette won the inaugural event in a (default) club record of 39:50 with Kyle Price steps behind, in 2nd, in 40:10. Derringer, Brad Kilheeny, and Walter Ingram were then 4-5-6. Overall, GSTC had 8 in the top 10, 17 in the top 20, and 25 in the 30.
On the ladies side, Erika Meling continued her fabulous season, winning in 46:45, or 6:16 pace. The surprise #2 finisher for the club was 2:10 half miler Kelly Gorman, making her GSTC debut. Seconds behind her was another half miler, Emily Rosario, to round out the team’s top three. Cara Guth, from Haddonfield, also made her club debut, helping the A Team secure their first ever 12k team title.
Overall, only 184 runners participated in the event.
TEAM RACE #4
GSTC SURVIVES ANOTHER YEAR OF THE NEWPORT HALF MARATHON
The Newport Half Marathon had yet another year of painful humidity and excessive turns, yet dozens of GSTC’ers were able to escape alive and with respectable performances despite such challenges.
One big surprise on the women’s side was half miler Emily Rosario. Running only her second career half, her first one- Liberty Waterfront last year- ended in an extremely rare DNF. Last weekend, however, the more experienced and savvy trackster put together a fantastic race, finishing in 1:28:46- good for 4th woman overall. Jessica Redden also cracked the top 10 (1:33:19), and these two teamed up with Amy Williams, Angela Colarusso, Shannon McKenna, Melissa Farley, Danielle Shannon, Kim Chriscaden, Katharine Brundage, and Atsuko Maryuma for the overall win. They are all pictured above, looking fabulous and organized.
Speaking of looking fabulous and organized, we need to talk about the men next, but they are far from both qualities. Thankfully they can run, though, and had teams finish 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th.
Kyle Price had a fantastic race, grabbing the overall win in 72:53. Teammates who also cracked the top ten included Evan Ward (4th/ 75:13), Jamie Hartrop (5th/ 75:51), Garrett Derringer (6th/ 77:06), Walter Ingram (7th/77:10), Will Appman (9th/ 77:43), and Elliott Frieder (10th/ 77:48).
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| Elliott Frieder, in the homestretch, celebrating another M40s team win. |
Speaking of Elliott Frieder, he and his twin, Jonathan, originally planned to tempo the race to help the M40s take one closer step to winning the NJ team title. However, noticing that their masters teammates were struggling, they negative split the second half of the race, moving from a 79-80 minute result to a 77:xx time. This decision made all the difference, as Jason Gers (81:01) ran tough as the #3 man, but #4 Jason Timochko, #5 Gary Leaman, and #6 Shawn Williams struggled in the humidity. Thankfully, their collective efforts were enough to win by over 4:00 minutes.
The M50s also pulled out a big win, as Leaman, John Hendy, Nick VanLangen, Russ Forsythe, and Peter Auteri rallied together to average 1:35:01. The 60s squad of Forsythe, Auteri, and Fran Beideman were 2nd overall.
Is Gary Leaman Deep State?
Who brings a bath towel to a race? When it’s 90 degrees and 100% humidity?
WOODY WINS SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE MONTH
Come back to New Jersey, Woody. NJ > Bay Area. Trust us on this one.
Aya & Karl:
Always Running. Always Having Fun.
MEME OF THE MONTH
Nochta Forgets To Put On His Shirt Ten Times,
Counts Them All on His Fingers
FRIEDER TWINS NOT IMPRESSED WITH YOUR EFFORT TODAY
“We are 47 years old, and we ran longer, faster, and harder on our training run this morning than you did. Young lad, you need to step your game up. We’re old enough to be your father for godsake.”
M40s CLINCH USATF NATIONAL GRAND PRIX TEAM TITLE
Based on prior races, the M40s team seemed a lock to win the USATF National Road Mile Championships in mid-August out in Flint, MI. After dominating earlier events, winning the USATF-NJ M40s team title the week before, and bringing five sub-5 guys to the event…what could go wrong, right?
Little did anyone know the Genesee Valley Harriers also had an incredibly strong team, and after an hour’s worth of drama, the dust finally settled, and the GSTC edged out GVH by two total seconds, 14:43-14:45. See the full story on the USATF website here.
Chuck Schneekloth and Sam Teigen finished the hilly, turny course 3rd and 4th overall, respectively, with a time of 4:49- marking the best 1-2 finish in club history at a national event. GVH, however, then had two come in just behind them, followed by David Ferruggia (5:05), Jason Timochko (5:07), and a half-injured Thom Knowles (5:14). After perusing results and doing the math, the crew warmed down knowing they had won be a mere two seconds.
However, race organizers declared GVH the winners at the awards ceremony, resulting in an hour’s long dialogue about how and why. When the USATF official finally arrived an hour later, the club presented their argument: for whatever reason, team results left our Ferruggia, so Timochko was listed as the third and final scoring runner. Indeed, the two second difference between the two was the difference between winning and losing.
The protest was accepted, and the group had to track down GVH down the road, celebrating their win at a local watering hole. The teams exchanged team plaques and medals without incident, and with that, this win clinched the overall 2018 team title for the club. The Grand Prix takes the top five results, and the GSTC now has four golds and one bronze, eliminating the Atlanta Track Club from contention.
NEW YORK CITY ACTION
5th Ave Mile Results
Several GSTC’ers raced the 5th Ave Mile in early September. On the ladies side, Caryn Gerke finished 4th in the 35-39 race, hitting the tape in 5:21. Kate Ashley, above, ran 5:23, a road mile PR. Chelsea Stachura also PR’ed with an impressive 6:27.
Half miler Nate Wojick, above, was the GSTC’s top dog in 4:28, good for 4th in the 15-24 age group. In addition, Steve Rathbun ran an all-time PR with a solid 4:33.
LEITZES RACE BERLIN
Three GSTC masters men hauled in some nice hardware at the Shepherd Lake 5k in early May. Brian Harris was 11th overall in 20:40, winning the 50s age group. Peter Auteri also won his 60s age group with a 23:05, while Fran Beideman ran 24:04 for 2nd in his age group.
OLD MAN CHUCK MAKES WORLD 800M FINAL
GSTC president Chuck Schneekloth competed in the 2018 WMA World Championships last week in Malaga, Spain. After finishing 12th of 61 in the M40-44 first round with a 2:02.39, he came back the next day to run 2:00.63 in the semi-finals, pictured above. This was the 10th fastest time of the 24, thus qualifying him for the 12-man final the next day by .20. Despite going out with the lead pack in 58 in the final, he faded worse than his hair line in the final lap, finishing 11th in 2:02.64, beating only Isaac Kiberenge of Kenya. His semi-final time, however, was the fastest 800m of any American at the meet.
GSTC Crushes the
Philly Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon
Mateescu Runs GSTC #2 All Time
In this picture we most certainly didn’t pay for, several GSTC’ers ran well despite some humid, rough weather down at the Philly Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon. Sam Teigen (1:14:22), Niky Mateescu (15th overall, 1:17:22, #2 GSTC all-time), Joe Hegge (1:19:20), Carl Blickle (1:24:21), Mike Kennedy (1:25:16), Chris Del Fattore (1:28:05),Tomas Nochta (1:30:52), and Kim Aspholm (1:43:19).
Mateescu’s time was just shy of the club record of 1:16:55, set in 2015 by Crystal Burnick. And Teigen was second in his 40-44 age group, just eighteen seconds behind four-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman.
Also, we are really hoping that this is not a joke, and that finisher #291’s name is really Yellow Milkshake. We need to recruit him.
RANDOM: DERRINGER WINS NYRR VIRTUAL MILE IN 4:12
Garrett Derringer is having one heck of a fall season, but somehow he bamboozled the system and won the NYCC Virtual 5th Ave Mile race, evidently taken from a Strava segment? We don’t know, we don’t understand, but it sure seems shady. On a positive note, Mark Parisen saw it on TV and posted it, marking his lone contribution to the club this fall.
Early Fall Marathon Action
Anthony Bocchine (left) and some other dude we don’t know (right) celebrate after the Chasing the Unicorn Marathon, whereas Anthony PR’ed with a 3:30:02. Newly minted master runner Dov Gertulin also ran 3:09:30, qualifying for Boston next spring.
Shannon, Gorman Win 5ks
It isn’t everyday you get to win a race, but both Kelly Gorman and Danielle Shannon, pictured above, did so last month. Danielle PR’ed at the Heroes Run with a 19:18, while Kelly won the Belmar SOL with a 19:09. To Danielle’s credit, she’s run almost every team race this fall while training for a fall marathon.
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Practices start this weekend!
