THE INSIDE LOOP TOM BYRNES and FRIENDS

May 2010

THE INSIDE LOOP

TOM BYRNES and FRIENDS

Boston, Boston, Boston, PPTC rocked! Check the race results for all the best! Hope you were the Monday May 3rd PPTC general meeting to hear all about it up close and personal.

Now that Tupper Thomas has left her position at Prospect Park, whom do the insiders say stands the best shot for taking the baton and running with it? Stay tuned PPTC! Let’s all hope that the next up knows PPTC, why Harry’s Wall is so-named, and exactly where the inside loop starts and ends.

At the Prospect Park YMCA’s recent fundraiser, Spinners for Strong Kids, on April 10th, PPTC ‘s Bobby Fisher took to the saddle for the four fundraising spin bike classes in a row, one hour each, “strength, interval, endurance, and race day”. A Great way to ‘’spind’’ a Saturday afternoon with the Y family and friends and for a cause that can’t be beat.

PPTC sure crowded out the awards podium at April’s JFK’s Rotary 5k Runway Run. Congrats to Rebecca and Sarah the top two female finishers along with the other PPTC medalists throughout the age group categories. Thanks also to Mike Ring and Charlene for sharing this love as they say. For more specific times and places, check out the race result section.

Lots of competition for PPTC’s time and energy the weekend of May 1st and 2nd but some of us decided to get the bikes to the start of the annual Five Borough Bike early on the first Sunday morning in May in Battery Park and ride north through Manhattan, through Central Park, north through Harlem to “ da’ Bronx” , back along the upper East Side Drive for more of Manhattan, over the Queensborough 59th Street Bridge to Queens, up to Astoria Park, back south through Queens through Greenpoint and Williamsburg, cutting through some of Brooklyn Heights, into the BQE “trench’’ at Atlantic Avenue , along the Gowanus and the Belt Parkway to Bay Ridge’s Cannonball Park by the base of the Verrazano, and up and over into Staten Island for the ride’s festival at Fort Wadsworth. Great cross training , 42+ miles of riding , 30 thousand bikers in all.

I’m sure that Geoff Vincent will post the Kenny Dolan 5k on Sunday June 6th in June’s edition of his Let’s Go Racing column so when you see the mention, take out the red pen and circle the calendar for this “ya gotta do this one” 5K. In our park, registration at Bishop Ford, collector edition tee shirts, a too fast downhill start, timed splits at every mile, water tables at mile one and the top of the zoo hill, finish into the Bartel Pritchard lot from the inside loop roadway, and absolutely the best post race party and barbeque in town. While waiting for the race results to be posted on the wall of Bishop Ford’s 20th street courtyard, enjoy BBQ’d hotdogs and hamburgers, cold beer, icy soda, the sounds of the great live band Hell or High Water, and all the camaraderie that the Brooklyn running community has to offer. Shorter races for the “yoots” as the main 5k is winding down with medals to all the runners of tomorrow! Face painting and the fantastic balloon slide. Rain and the party goes indoors to the Ford student cafeteria adjacent to the outdoor courtyard. Kenny Dolan’s legacy is storied on the race app and all the proceeds of this great event go to the Kenny Dolan Scholarship fund at Iona College. PPTC shows up at this big time so plan to hook up.

‘Whatta’ a strong showing for PPTC’s women runners at Cinco de Mayo in Prospect on May 2nd. A very competitive race under rather sunny, warm conditions! An awesome women's team took 1st place and fast PPTC females placed 1st, and 2nd and 3rd OVERALL in the race!!Jenny Ingebrtsen took 1st overall, winning a trip to Puerto Rico (seems that in the last few years the Cinco D race committee has sent several PPTC fast females to Puerto Rico ! ), PPTC Sarah Scott took 2nd overall, followed by a close 3rd by Rebecca Rosenberg-Beran. Maggie Deschamps came in 4th overall and 1st in her age group. Coach Tony Watson placed 1st in his age group and led our men's team to a 3rd place male team’s victory. Several other PPTCers also won age group awards; Corre Kombol and Regina Cahill both placed 1st in their age groups and new member Lori Bezahler placed 3rd. On the men's side Frank Deleo and Gill Torres both took medals in their respective age groups. A great way to welcome in May! Thanks to many at PPTC who were at this race and reported it back on the PPTC group email! Sorry if anyone was left out, check our race results section in this newsletter for the rest of the details.

Although May has been designated National Skin Cancer Awareness Month, we should be vigilant about our exposure to the sun’s rays all year round. Many say that today’s skin cancers are the result of those bad sunburns we had when we were much younger but there’s no definitive proof that that’s the only way we can get this form of cancer. Sure many can remember those times as kids at the beach when we didn’t slather on the suntan lotion or that we stayed out in the sun too long without cover-up protection. Too late to do anything about those times back in the past but today we can think about our exposure to the sun, especially between the hours of 10am-4pm, use lotion with a high degree of sun protective factor ( SPF ) , and wear hats and clothing that covers exposed areas of skin. There are even running shirts and hats made out of sun block fabric. Eyes are also susceptible to sun damage, so wearing sunglasses that are UV protectant is also a good move. Remember, when you’re diagnosed with a cancer of the skin, it’s too late to prevent getting the disease. It’s never too late to be treated of course but the time to prevent skin cancer starts now and continues everyday for the rest of your life. Protect yourself, protect your kids, protect everyone in your family, and remind your friends!

Hope you‘ve checked the date on your running calendar for this summer’s Summer Speed 5k series, see you at first one, Wednesday May 26th.