Lookout Hill

Today I went for a run with my camera. I took a quick detour in my loop to run up and over Lookout Hill. Including curb cuts, I counted 99 steps to go up from Center Drive and 102 steps to go down the other way to Well House Drive.

This is arguably the second highest point in Brooklyn. The top is a compost heap so it keeps moving.

I would never recommend this for training purposes. The stairs are uneven in every dimension. They are of different heights, lengths and they are banked and crooked. Many of them are also broken. The "landings" between stair cases are poorly paved and full of puddles and rocks. This is one of the most poorly maintained parts of Prospect Park. It might be a nice place to go at the end of a long run, just to "chill out" but I would not go on a regular basis.

Have I made myself clear? Don't sue the Prospect Park Track Club, ChickenUnderwear or Google Blooger if you fall there. It is not a good place to run, or practice stair climbing.

See, it does not even look that nice. Disappointing....

It looks better from orbit


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NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix Presented by Continental Airlines: Bronx

Our teammates are Blogging:

Hills are my friends,
What you do now know because you are not me
Brooklyn Running

as usually tell me if I missed you...

42 Degrees Warmer than the Manhattan Half!

List by Team: PPTC

Distance: 13.1 Miles, 21.1 Kilometers
Date/Time: Feb. 8, 2009, 8:00 am
Location: Bronx, NYC
Weather: 56 degrees, 64% humidity, wind 7mph

19 matches found.

Click any blue heading to sort the list. AG = Age Graded.

Last Name

First Name

Sex/ Age

Bib

Team

City

State

Overall Place

Gender Place

Age Place

Finish Time

Pace/ Mile

AG Time

AG Gender Place

AG %

SANDERSON

EMILY

F42

363

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

232

12

4

1:31:00

6:56

1:25:47

11

76.7 %

CROWTHER

MARK

M37

721

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

257

244

47

1:31:50

7:00

1:30:10

329

65.6 %

MAZZUCHIN

DANIEL

M33

1630

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

262

249

58

1:31:56

7:01

1:31:47

397

64.5 %

DOLE

HELEN

F26

101

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

336

31

10

1:34:27

7:12

1:34:27

63

69.7 %

WANG

GARY

M35

3766

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

617

544

118

1:40:22

7:39

1:39:36

793

59.4 %

SKILLMAN

BRAD

M41

383

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

785

672

99

1:43:07

7:52

1:38:12

719

60.2 %

ROSENBERG-BERAN

REBECCA

F26

2422

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

944

146

48

1:45:04

8:01

1:45:04

231

62.6 %

HANSEN

DANIELLE

F44

2182

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

1214

227

26

1:48:43

8:17

1:40:25

134

65.5 %

DAVENPORT

ANDREW

M41

2105

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

1727

1326

192

1:55:22

8:48

1:49:52

1371

53.8 %

MCSHERRY

MARK

M45

2320

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

1843

1393

153

1:56:40

8:54

1:47:35

1240

55.0 %

FREYTOR

IGOR

M35

3188

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

2682

1850

367

2:08:55

9:50

2:07:56

2016

46.2 %

WILLIAMS

ERIC

M50

3544

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

2751

1885

159

2:10:13

9:56

1:55:09

1605

51.4 %

CANALE

ELIZABETH

F58

4079

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

2765

871

9

2:10:29

9:57

1:40:40

139

65.3 %

RIVERA

JUAN

M54

3435

PPTC

NEW YORK

NY

2998

2006

167

2:15:42

10:21

1:53:52

1564

51.0 %

KOFFLER

AARON

M58

6254

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3190

2091

92

2:21:29

10:48

1:56:35

1660

50.7 %

SOSKIND

PAUL

M65

6474

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3191

2092

14

2:21:30

10:48

1:49:07

1324

54.2 %

JNO BAPTISTE

MARVLYN

F45

2233

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3204

1105

73

2:22:11

10:51

2:09:51

953

50.6 %

RING

MICHAEL I

M45

4424

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3205

2100

240

2:22:11

10:51

2:11:07

2072

45.1 %

NILES

IRVA

F41

6773

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3565

1312

128

2:43:39

12:29

2:35:40

1309

42.2 %

NYRR Gridiron Classic List by Team: PPTC

Distance: 4.0 Miles, 6.4 Kilometers
Date/Time: Feb. 1, 2009, 9:00 am
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 30 Deg. 54% Hum., wind 9 mph SW.

13 matches found.

Click any blue heading to sort the list. AG = Age Graded.

Last Name

First Name

Sex/ Age

Bib

Team

City

State

Overall Place

Gender Place

Age Place

Finish Time

Pace/ Mile

AG Time

AG Gender Place

AG %

WATSON

ANTHONY

M50

694

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

75

70

3

24:50

6:12

21:43

23

77.5 %

INGEBRITSEN

JENNIFER

F24

192

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

207

21

2

26:35

6:38

26:35

46

72.3 %

GONZALEZ

ARTHUR J

M61

2246

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

1603

1238

16

32:57

8:14

26:16

342

64.1 %

DE VRIES

TINEKE

F40

4149

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

2395

704

65

35:19

8:49

34:05

709

56.4 %

RIEMAN

MICHAEL E

M65

3552

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

2553

1766

11

35:49

8:57

27:32

550

61.1 %

RIVERA

JUAN

M54

2537

PPTC

NEW YORK

NY

3512

2193

142

38:40

9:40

32:43

1624

51.4 %

SOSKIND

PAUL

M65

6573

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3515

2194

22

38:41

9:40

29:45

1008

56.6 %

FERRARI

SANDRA

F35

3213

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3688

1427

191

39:12

9:48

38:47

1547

49.5 %

ISRAEL

JAMES F

M63

6963

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

4427

2516

55

43:03

10:45

33:43

1801

49.9 %

TOMASI

SUSAN

F43

4920

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

4578

2022

210

44:15

11:03

41:45

1953

46.0 %

TINOCO

MAJO

F33

6610

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

4673

2095

489

45:02

11:15

44:49

2225

42.9 %

LESTER

TRACI

F42

5356

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

4701

2119

227

45:17

11:19

43:05

2086

44.6 %

POPE

FRANCIS

M36

2999

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

5120

2718

489

53:46

13:26

52:18

2737

32.2 %

Photos From the Awards Dinner

Before I post the pictures I would like to point out that I think that Tom Meany should get an award for (without any hesitation) pronouncing Anne Perzeszty's and Rosemary Bezuidenhout's names correctly in one breath.


Our first set is thanks to Carolyn Kubischek

They came with a note:

Here's the first set of photos. Thanks for taking on the task of posting them, because I have no idea how to do it.

I answer" I don't know either, that's why I volunteered to do this?"

NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix: Manhattan List by Team: PPTC

Some of our members posted race reports Hills are my friends, Brooklyn Running and ChickenUnderwear.

Let me know if I missed yours.

		Distance: 13.1 Miles, 21.1 Kilometers Date/Time: Jan. 25, 2009, 8:00 am Location: Central Park, NYC Weather: 14 deg., 52% humidity, wind 6 mph 22 matches found. Click any blue heading to sort the list. AG = Age Graded.

Last Name

First Name

Sex/ Age

Bib

Team

City

State

Overall Place

Gender Place

Age Place

Finish Time

Pace/ Mile

AG Time

AG Gender Place

AG %

SANDERSON

EMILY

F42

1588

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

330

18

4

1:31:35

6:59

1:26:20

16

76.2 %

CROWTHER

MARK

M37

461

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

470

432

93

1:34:59

7:15

1:33:16

598

63.4 %

SKILLMAN

BRAD

M41

1833

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

594

535

75

1:37:14

7:25

1:32:36

555

63.9 %

WANG

GARY

M35

3951

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

1001

849

178

1:42:39

7:50

1:41:52

1141

58.1 %

ROSENBERG-BERAN

REBECCA

F26

2598

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

1112

184

64

1:44:05

7:56

1:44:05

291

63.2 %

TOBIN

TOM

M54

2938

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

1483

1198

71

1:48:13

8:15

1:30:48

470

64.0 %

HANSEN

DANIELLE

F44

2259

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

1530

301

31

1:48:43

8:17

1:40:25

189

65.5 %

JONES

DAVID

M46

1320

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

1795

1400

165

1:51:33

8:30

1:42:01

1148

58.0 %

MCSHERRY

MARK

M45

2463

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

2184

1646

198

1:55:33

8:49

1:46:33

1440

55.5 %

GONZALEZ

ARTHUR J

M61

3262

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

2205

1661

21

1:55:44

8:50

1:32:44

562

63.8 %

DAVENPORT

ANDREW

M41

2140

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

2562

1873

287

1:59:18

9:06

1:53:37

1914

52.1 %

JNO BAPTISTE

MARVLYN

F45

2327

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

2702

760

52

2:00:57

9:13

1:50:27

500

59.5 %

WILLIAMS

ERIC

M50

3741

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3080

2148

143

2:05:38

9:35

1:51:06

1745

53.2 %

CANALE

ELIZABETH

F58

4093

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3159

974

8

2:06:41

9:40

1:37:44

132

67.3 %

CLARK

ROLAND

M46

5149

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3689

2440

303

2:14:43

10:17

2:03:12

2343

48.0 %

PENDARVIS

MARK

M50

6545

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3918

2546

193

2:19:11

10:37

2:03:05

2337

48.1 %

RING

MICHAEL I

M45

4581

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3946

2558

319

2:19:52

10:40

2:08:59

2514

45.9 %

SOSKIND

PAUL

M65

6645

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

3966

2566

20

2:20:25

10:43

1:48:17

1567

54.6 %

RIVERA

JUAN

M54

3585

PPTC

NEW YORK

NY

4023

2595

201

2:22:00

10:50

1:59:09

2188

48.8 %

KOFFLER

AARON

M58

6354

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

4040

2603

111

2:22:29

10:52

1:57:25

2106

50.4 %

RODRIGUEZ

ELBA

F55

4591

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

4055

1447

19

2:22:59

10:54

1:55:00

681

57.2 %

DAVENPORT

LAUREN

F36

6145

PPTC

BROOKLYN

NY

4505

1703

243

2:51:43

13:06

2:48:51

1733

38.9 %

I wanna see the plane

This morning we met for our regular group run. At about 8:01 someone said," Where do you want to go?" About half the voices then simultaneously said " I wanna see the plane"

Why not..



So here we are. You could not get that close. I drew an arrow and a red circle around the plane. It is on the other side of the ramp that leads to the ferry dock that takes people to Hoboken and Liberty State Park.



There is another thing that should be noted about this morning's run. Way off in the distance is the Watchtower Building. The temperature was 8 degrees.

Some Measured Distances (update)

If anybody is interested, the distance around the 7th/8th Ave subway stop on the F line is 1433 feet or 0.271401 mi. I measured it twice and got the same 1433 feet so I assume I got it correct. If you cut the corners, you can call that loop a quarter mile. It never rains or snows down there and if you ask nicely, the token clerk might hold your sweatshirt. It is not recommended that you run there during rush hour. It is not really a running place so the Prospect Park Track Club is not really encouraging anybody to run there. You might not actually be legally allowed to run down there, but it has been done. You might get some sort of ticket, so don't blame the Prospect Park Track Club if you do. So if you wanted to know how big the loop is, it's that big.

A more acceptable place to run is the amoeba-shaped running surface around the plastic grass in Columbus Park (Cadman Plaza). I measured it today at 2103 feet or 0.398295 mi. There was an inch of snow on the ground when I did this so I might be off by a foot or two. (Update, I just got word that the Parks Dept measured that loop at 2164 feet or 0.409848 miles. I guess it is shorter in the snow.)

I also measured the distance of the span of the Brooklyn Bridge. I started at the Manhattan side. There is a small patch of shrubs just before you get to Park Row. Between the shrubs and Park Row there are two plaques. I started between the plaques and ended where the pedestrian path splits to go to Cadman Plaza or towards Tillary Street. That distance is 5714 feet or 1.08219 mi. If you choose to run loops of the towers, that distance is 1630 feet or or 0.308712 miles.

I did not bring a pen so I took photographs of the wheel. As you can see it was snowing, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this measurement. The wheel rolled over snow, salt chunks and the bridge. At best it is mostly made of bumpy wood.

See below:

Above is from Park Row to the Manhattan Tower

Above is the continuing measurement at the yellow line in the middle of the bridge

Above is the continuing measurement at the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn tower

Above is the final measurement where path splits.

History of the Harry's Handicap Race

We Got Some Love

Smart Mom (Louise Crawford) is the author of Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn and a column in the Brooklyn Paper. Every year she compiles a list of The Park Slope 100. This year she included somme of our friends, like Kirsten Marino owner of Slope Sports and Brenda Becker of A Year in the Park.

But look right between Ann Prescott and Mallory Y. Rutledge. . . there we are!

PROSPECT PARK TRACK CLUB because of the Turkey Trot, the Cherry Hill Run and all the other running events you do in and around Prospect Park.

OK, she got the name of the Cherry Tree Race wrong but. . .we got some Love.

The Turkey Trot Blogisphere...

Hay, It is Whatyoudonotknowbecauseyourarenotme guest blogging for the Prospect Park Track Club. Here is my Turkey Trot Race Report.

Everybody's race results can be found here.

The Runner's World forum is getting long, looks like people had a good time.

We got a shout out out from Brooklyn Running

Guvea told the world in the Brooklynian Forum that he loved the race

Brooklyn Runner gave us some free publicity and even got positive feed back on his site regarding our race.

Curlygirl posted a great race review on Runango Running Forum. Looks like she missed the start! It is OK, lots of people did.

Time Out New York gave us some pre-race publicity but they said the race was to be in Central Park. I hope nobody got lost!!!

Brooklyn Garden Hopeful put the medal on the dog Enzo, cute!

NYMetroParents said “Families can celebrate Thanksgiving watching the Prospect Park Track Club. The Turkey Trot is an annual Brooklyn tradition.” I hope some families participated.

One happy finisher published her photos on Flicker. If you scroll around you

can find our ‘Santa”.

Only The Blog Know Brooklyn gave us credit for “almost 2000 runners”. Wow, I guess she counted Live to Run.

Live to Run ran like a bandit, its ok, but I don’t think we ran out of numbers. It is a fundraiser! PPTC will be ok, but you should send Bishop Ford $10. (Sorry, Live to Run, I just found out we did run out of numbers, I hope you had fun)

Alana Taylor said she was gonna run the race, she did not say in her blog if she did. I looked her up, she did!!!

Coyboy Hazel realized that there is no need to grab water during a 5 mile race. I agree.

Runnin’ Down

a Dream had a great time (and took some nice pictures!!)

There is a race report in from a blog in a language that might be Chinese, Japanese, Korean or maybe something else, but there are nice pictures!

Somebody wrote a fictional essay about the New York Road Runners Marathon called the Turkey Trot. Really

A +G had a great time, scroll down a little to see their happy running poses!

My Favorite Run member Watthree mapped our race at 4.95 miles! (he also listed the race in Manhattan?

Citi Coach was proud of their results

The Nike Central Park Track Club congratulates our on son of a member Noah Lansner for getting a PR.

Our own Gil had a very focused race, He stayed "in the moment" for the whole race

And because my blog, had a link to a blog that announced that the Turkey Trot results were up, it came up in my search of Turkey Trot blogs???

Did I miss your blog, or your comment on some newsgroup? Send it to me at membership@pptc.org and I will add it to the list.

OMG, I missed the coolest blog, our own Amy in the Moment , not only a great Turkey Trot post, but a blog worth bookmarking!!!

Found another one!! Elizabeth was very proud of herself. And she really enjoyed Prospect Park

Yet one more!!!! Anuday ran with Uptal. They were happy to see our Santa Click on A New Day and scroll down for a nice photo.

It is after Christmas and I found one more CNY found computation where he thought there was none

Marathon Afterthoughts

What a day! The weather was cool (cold at the start) and sunny. The PPTC delivered its precious cargo in plenty of time to take advantage of the port-o-sans and maybe even the World's Longest Urinal - and maybe more than once. Thanks to Michael Ring for his tenacity in making the breathing life into the marathon reception, run the event and take pictures along the route. Talk about multitasking! Of course, Al Goldstein who was the architect of the reception back in the day was at his post at the bus stop at 5 a.m. to take the runners bags to the school later in the day. Richard Weaver, PPTC Volunteer Coordinator,

At the school, Susan Tomasi, chair of the PPTC board, worked the room liked a pol, getting people to volunteer for the Turkey Trot. Julio Zavala was the food guru again, making sure that there was enough hot water for hot chocolate, tea, coffee, whatever. Pres Tom Meany, aided and abetted by wife Pat, got equipment and Julio to the school even before the custodian was on site. Mike Rieman

PPTC MARATHON CELEBRITIES

It is almost time for the cannon in the harbor to announce the start of the NYC marathon. Actually, there will be a number of starts and each one will have its own cannon burst.

PPTC has much of which to be proud. Danielle Hansen is representing the entire borough of Brooklyn in the 5-boro race-within-a-race. Keep your eye out for her and cheer, cheer, cheer!!! We have three runners whose times have qualified them for the local elite start: Helen Dole, Frank DeLeo and Maggie Deschamps. Another celebrity is one of PPTC icons, Jack Stetch, who has run more than 30 NYC marathons and will be running again on November 2nd.

There are 42 runners registered as PPTC runners in the marathon. Some will be cancelling due to injuries before the big day. However, PPTC will be well represented on the course, both running and cheering. Here's to all our marathoners, the pride of PPTC.

The Last 10 Miles

LAST 10 MILES
This was a scene from the first PPTC aid stop just before the Willis Avenue Bridge connecting Manhattan to the Bronx. We had about 20 runners in our group. The day was crystal clear and crisp - a great day to run. There were two PPTC cars so that one could scoot to the finish at Tavern on the Green after helping to set up at the second stop, Engineers Gate. Juan Rivera again rode "shotgun" on his bike and Richard Weaver, Diana Ortiz and Julio Zavala made sure that our runners had fuel to finish. At the finish line, there was hot chocolate and bagels (bought in Brooklyn as a touch of home).

There were lots of runners out on this Saturday, from a number of different groups. One group even had numbers! ????

This "last 10M run" is in its 16th year, as near as I can figure. It started as an informal group of us from one of Bob Glover's classes in 1993. We were the only group doing it and we kept getting questions from bystanders - "Is this the marathon?." The next year a runner who had planned on running the last 10 was injured but intended to run the marathon eight days later. She had promised her doctor she would not do anything before that, so she brought her car into Manhattan and the rolling aid station was born. Word of mouth brought PPTC members to 59th Street and 1st Avenue soon afterwards. Not surprising, given the strong PPTC marathon tradition, and the PPTC Last 10 Miles was born.

PPTC Women Rock the Staten Island Half

What an outstanding performance! PPTC women took the FIRST PLACE TEAM AWARD in the Staten Island Half on Sunday, October 12th, finishing a full 10 minutes faster than the second place New York Flyers team. Congratulations to Emily Sanderson (1:30:44), Helen Dole (1:31:13), Sarah Scott (1:31:17), Corre Kombol (1:41:40), Danielle Hansen (1:43:21). Emily and Helen were award winners in their respective age categories. Will Abrams carried the banner for the PPTC men, first PPTC finisher and taking second in his age group in 1:26:03.

Our collective PPTC hats are off to all our finishers and our buttons are popping with pride over our award winners.

Marathon Countdown

RUN THE LAST 10 MILES OF THE MARATHON – OCTOBER 18TH
PPTC will be running the last 10 miles of the marathon on October 18th. If this is your first NYC Marathon or your tenth or even if you are only thinking of doing it “someday,” this is the run for you. The group will leave 59th Street and 1st Avenue at 8 a.m. SHARP! Unlike the day of the marathon, the streets will not be closed so we want to avoid as much traffic as possible. We will have a rolling aid station and can carry a small bag for you from the start to the finish at Tavern on the Green where you will be able to change into your clean clothes.

If you are driving, you have a choice – park on the west side and grab a cab to the starting point on the east side –or- park on the east side and cab it back after finishing. The best plan is to take public transportation. The 4 or 5 train stops at 59th Street and Lexington Avenue, a short walk to 1st Avenue.

This is a free event, open to all runners as in support of the running community. We would appreciate a call or an email if you are planning to come. That way, we’ll know how many bagels to buy!


DANIELLE HANSEN: ING NYC MARATHON’S BROOKLYN MOM
From Gil Torres:
What a way to kick off the winter speed workouts!!
Danielle shared with her PPTC teammates at the coached workouts on Tuesday night one of the proudest moments of her running life - she has been selected as this year's Brooklyn representative for the NYC marathon. Every year, NYRR selects a runner to represent each borough in the NYC marathon. The theme for this year's selection was "running moms."

Encouraged by the support of her Tuesday night speed group, and Amy Duquette's recent article in "Meet the Members," Danielle was thrilled beyond her dreams to win the berth. A vital part of PPTC’s fearsome 40+ women's team, and an avid participant in our club functions, no one is more deserving of this honor. Let's also recognize her children, Dalilah, Jeremiah and Antonio and husband, Jimmy, who played a big role in qualifying her for the nomination.

Blisters That Heal

If you didn't grease your feet, you may have literally set a blistering pace in Sunday's soggy Music That Heals 5K. In spite of a steady rain, PPTC was well represented among the couple of hundred runners who did Kathy Lord's race.
Maggie D took second woman overall, Tony Watson, Al Prawda and Mickey Newman took their age groups, and Kathy O'Rourke, Amy Duquette, Carolyn K, and David Lansner all placed. Paul Soskind led all walkers.

A New Order Rules

There had to be a knowing smile on Tony's face after yesterday's 5th Avenue Mile.
In what has to be one of the most electrifying results of the last 2 years, Troy Phipps beat out Coach Tony Watson by 2 seconds in this high profile mile event, clocking a 5:08.
Troy has been tearing through PRs all season, but I don't know that anybody expected this dramatic outcome. Nonetheless, the day must have been a proud moment for Tony whose dedicated coaching has brought so many of our runners to levels they didn't think possible. Etienne Tchitchui led PPTC in 4:51, while 4 others ran sub 6, and 3 more were just knocking at the door. Corre Kombol led the women in 6:03.

In Brooklyn, the 20th Chris Hoban 5M saw Maggie Deschamps win it all again, with Danielle Hansen taking 3rd overall. Placing in their age groups were Tyrone Sklaren and Al Prawda, who took 2nd and 3rd, Marvlyn Baptiste 2nd, and Mickey Newman 1st. James McFarlane, our first man accross, took the Sanitation Dept. honors. Irva Niles and Chi Iregbulen strutted their stuff placing high in the Athena division.

If you have any news about the Liz Padilla Run or any others, mail them in to contact@pptc.org, and I'll be happy to share them on the blog.

It was a great day for racing in the sun, and ending the day watching the Yankees play their final game at Yankee Stadium.

PPTC in Mighty Hamptons Tri

Kathleen O'Rourke and Christopher O'Brien represented PPTC at Sag Harbor's Olympic distance tri, the Mighty Hamptons on Sept. 14th.
Tony Watson's coaching couldn't help them with the swimming and biking, but it sure helped to get them through that 10K at the end. Good show, guys.

Dalilah makes Al Prawda a grandaddy

Al Prawda became the proud grandpa of little Dalilah, 6lbs. 10oz. born to his daughter Emily and her husband, Andrew. All are healthy and happy, and Zoe is now an aunt! Al ponders, "will she be fast twitch or slow twitch, sprinter or ultra?"

"Panther" is back

And there he was, without warning, Will Abrams, taking 6th in 50-54M in the Queens Half!! After suffering a near fatal bout of pneumonia, we've seen Will around the park mostly on his bike. He did show up at the picnic, and blistered through the course, huffing and puffing a bit. But his presence at the Queens Half was unexpected, and a 1:29:43 on Sunday puts a smile on our faces. Will is one of our top runners ever, and used to lead speed workouts, and marathon groups some years back for the club members.
Showing in the top 10 in their age groups also were Emily Sanderson (6) and Danielle Hansen (9) in 40-44F, and recent member Liz Canale (5)in 55-59F.
Great run everybody!

PPTC-TNG off and running

Lauren stared down Hanna, and Hanna blinked. That blink lasted long enough that Lauren and Andrew Davenport went off with daughter Bijs in her stroller, officially kicking off PPTC- The Next Generation, an opportunity for parents to come out w/ their kids and explore how to help each other stay fit. The next outing will be announced, and will hopefully lead to fun filled runs for moms, dads and kids together. If you have a friend who's interested and not a member, bring them along anyway. Fun is free.

Did you hear of Helen...of Troy?

Helen Dole made it back from her summer in Colorado to close out the Al Goldstein Summer Series in grand fashion. Her altitude training paid off as she led all women in a time of 19:49.
And what about Troy Phipps, who continues to improve by leaps and bounds, taking over half a minute off his previous best, and leading all PPTC runners in 18:50.

The welcome mat was also laid out for Carolyn Kubitschek and David Lansner back from their sojourn in Italy, who changed in the back of the cab from the airport rather than miss the series finale. Carolyn took first in her age group, and David 3rd.

Congratulations to other PPTC standouts in their age groups: Maggie Deschamps (2nd woman overall), James McFarlane (3rd), Frank DeLeo (1st), Al Prawda (1st), Aaron Koffler (5th) and Sabrina Ring (1st under 10).

Thank you again to all the volunteers who made it such a succesful season, and who received high praises throughout the summer from many runners new to our speed series.

Team Champs 2008

Troy Phipps led PPTC men in 33:06, and Emily Sanderson led the women in 34:08.
It was beautiful weather for club pictures and running too. Our women took 11th place overall, and the 40-44 took 7th Place in the age group standings.
Noteworthy was Sarah Scott's maiden race w/ PPTC, finishing 3rd among our women. More accostumed to the longer distances, she said of her first 5 miler, "That was hard," as she reached for her inhaler after the finishing kick.

Our top 3, Emily, Maggie and Sarah finished under 34:30, and the next 2, Jimena and Corre came in under 35:30. Way to go, ladies.

Welcome also to new member Tjanysa Clarke, who wasted no time getting a photo opp with club prez, Tom Meany, and Frank DeLeo.

Good to see Olga Kalanz back on our roster again.

Geoff Vincent was not only inadvertently put into the lead corral, much to his chagrin, but his number was reported as his new alias , Tomas Vazquez. Vaya con Dios, Geoff.

My math abilities after running 5 miles were somewhat compromised as I offered that I could drive 5 members back to the Slope. I forgot to count myself, so the group got closer than they cared to on the ride back. Troy Phipps and John Nickles are still trying to straighten out their legs.

Thanks to our volunteers who put together the PPTC welcome table, Anne, Julio, Tom M. and Michael Rieman. Despite our elbow to elbow proximity to the Polish Club's table, rumors of a merger were denied by both sides.

And by the way, our men's team placed 25th (out of 25), and morale remained as high as ever. Krishna ran a PR, I had a strong run and felt rested for a change, Frank was in need of rest from his busy racing this year, Troy was back from vacation and still ran strong, Brad was knocking at 35, and John N. sees his times improving. Our senior ambassadors 60+ also posted good times, anchored by ageless club founder Jack Stetch. An editorial comment about our 25th place: "So?" We are rebuilding, and helping each other improve, and that's what matters. Good job, everybody.

Daniel Slotwiner trounces old runner

Daniel's father has been a long time client of mine. When I met Daniel at the speed workouts, I weighted whether to risk losing the business, or run him into the ground.
The second option was more fun, but now he's paying me back and having some fun of his own. Yesterday, he took off on the uphill start, and never looked back, beating me by 11 seconds. He medalled in 4th place among 35-39 men, and was second PPTC overall behind Frank DeLeo with a PR of 22:31. Determined to get back his former speed, he's discovered that less is better when it comes to getting faster. He's laying off the high weekly mileage, and concentrating on more quality workouts with good results.
Last week it was Krishna, this week it was Daniel, thank God there's only one more 5K left in this summer's series.

Is That Jessica Kavoulakis in the Parade Car?

Yes, it is. And she's waving from Canton, Ohio during the parade for Art Monk's induction into the NFL Hall of Fame.
After serving as race director for the 7/30 Speed Race #6, she packed up and swooshed off to Ohio. Wow, first it was Frank DeLeo, and now Art Monk--that girl's connected.
We hosted the MAC Grand Prix last night, and "the bridges" spanned the awards podium.
Chris O'Brien was back in form as first PPTC overall in 19:33. Emily Sanderson was second woman overall, first female PPTC and first in her age group. Corre Kombol, Al Prawda and Frank DeLeo also took first in their groups.
Anjolie Nagarwalla, visiting with her dad, Neville, will take home a first place souvenir in the 10-14 category. Little sister cheered at the finish from her bike.

If you have a beef about your time, it will have to wait till Jessica gets back next Tuesday. Look, look, she waved again.