2009 putnam county classic: race report

the 2009 edition of taconic putnam county classic was another outstanding event in its illustrious 33 year history. the race directors (emmy and lee), volunteers, sponsors, spectators, record field of runners, some of the best weather of the summer, and post-race refreshments and activities (including a kids run), all combined for a great 4th of july kick-off! this was my 3rd time running this hilly 8 mile loop of lake mahopac. weather-wise, the conditions were a far cry from the high humidity and rain we had in 2008.

before the race found myself in the "race kitchen" along with other volunteers prepping food for the post-race activities. i cut-up watermelons, pam cut-up bananas, and others took care of the bagels. we had at least a dozen trays of sliced watermelon loaded into the fridge - and to add spice and contrast to the mix, chips and salsa! pam then manned a water station at mile 3, and art (who also cut up watermelon) did some duty at traffic control on the course.

after the food prep, i switched my attention to the ham radio operators from pearl (putnam emergency and amateur repeater league). for the second year in row alex and his colleagues from pearl established a communications net that followed the runners on course and was linked to the ems personal stationed at the high school. once again they would be an invaluable part of the race day team (as a runner would need medical attention later that morning).

and no race, for me at least, would be complete without some pre-race socialization! i hung out with eliot, ilana, greg, michael (my neighbor and former wtc teammate), gregg (another former wtc teammate), and said a quick hi to julie as she left registration. then, in what was a huge pre-race surprise, i spotted don, as emmy and i reviewed the course map with alex! amazingly, i didn't see rob until we were off on the first mile of the race. i didn't see francoise until the race was over!

lee got the runners out to the start and made the pre-race announcements. one particular announcement that got some laughs came from emmy when she said "we're not starting the race until everyone is out of the bathroom!" that unintentionally gave me a minute to run back to the car and ditch my camera! i lined up with greg - and when he asked me what my time goal was for the race, i momentarily drew a blank. "an hour" i guess was my reply.

in all that pre-race rushing around, up to and including lining up for the start - i had practically forgotten there was a race to run! i figured a 7:30 pace should be doable. within 30 seconds of the start i spotted rob and said hi. i missed the mile marker for the first mile - but when i hit the 2 mile split in 13:46 i realized i had gone out a bit too fast. a sub-7 pace was unrealistic today, and it was time to dial it back.

just after mile 2, i saw emmy out on south lake boulevard handling traffic control (i'd also see bob and art out on the course doing traffic control as well). my pace slowed to 7:31 (a bit too slow now, it seemed) for a split of 21:17 at 3 miles. pam cheered us on at the water station - plus, anthony (and one of his beautiful daughters) and wayne were there too!

after mile 4 (7:34) the course looped around the northern part of lake mahopac. i was instantly hit with deja vu - and not from the prior putnam county classic races. last spring the sybil ludington 50k course was revised and we ran the northern portion, instead of looping around the south end of lake mahopac. one difference, where a stretch of mile 7 was unpaved dirt for the 50k, this time around it was covered with smooth asphalt.

the north lake boulevard stretch (miles 5, 6, and 7) can be described (charitably) as rolling hills. the most interesting contour, however, is the sharp downhill following the climb in mile 6! it's an eye-opening descent - and may even be tougher (at least for me) than the uphill! my splits for these miles were pretty consistent: 7:29, 7:33, and 7:22 - for a 7 mile split of 51:16. right on target for the sub-one hour finish.

emmy was once again on south lake boulevard directing traffic as we made the final turn back to the high school. with 3/4 of a mile left to run, i sped it up a little. one reason was that i had just retaken the lead from a cptc runner who had passed me a mile or so earlier. the second was emmy had just cheered on rob and urged him to catch me! i yelled back to him to hurry up and catch me! i ran the last mile in 6:45 flat - and finished just steps ahead of the cptc runner, in 58:01. a little competition goes a long way :D

afterwards, rob and i had some great captain lawrence brown ale with eliot to rehydrate with, as we cheered on the runners that finished. eliot had a growler of it, on ice, nestled in the trunk of his car! over at the field we meet up w/ilana, pam, micheal, don, and francoise for a bit more socializing. in a twist, instead of watermelon, i ate nothing but chips and salsa. probably the consequence of rehydrating with beer! then it was time for lee, emmy, and tom to present the awards.

i hitched a ride home with rob - and made it back in time to catch the tail end of our neighborhood fourth of july celebration at davis park. katie and her fellow girl scouts had manned the refreshment booth. then she did the 3 legged race and egg toss. afterwards, we went home an watched joey chestnut win his 3rd consecutive nathan's hot dog eating contest!!

check out my race photos.

joey chestnut wins his 3rd straight nathan's hot dog eating contest!!

yesterday joey chestnut defended his championship title by winning his 3rd straight nathan's hot dog eating contest!! last year it took a sudden death eat-off victory to defend his title when he and takeru kobayashi finished tied in regulation time.

the 2009 edition of this 4th of july coney island classic was marginally less suspenseful - there was no tie finish. but chestnut capped his victory by setting a new a world record with the 68 hot dogs he consumed in 13 minutes! kobayashi again finished second (64 hot dogs). the women's champion, sonya thomas, ate 41 hot dogs - and she too set a new women's record in the process!

i watched hour long live coverage on espn at noon - which, in turn, had followed a busy early morning at the putnam county classic in mahopac and a late morning at our own davis park 4th of july festivities. unfortunately, after all that excitement, the last thing i wanted to do was eat a hot dog - haha.

2009 putnam county classic: race photos and results

what a great morning to run a race! the perfect weather was a big change from the high humidity and rain from the 2008 edition of the putnam county classic. i finished the 8 mile course in 58:00, a 7:15 pace.

here is my race report.

here are the race results.

here are my race pictures:


me, eliot, and ilana


"pearl"


gregg


me and greg


greg, ilana, me, eliot (holding his son), and emmy


don and emmy


lee


me, rob, and eliot (and cap't lawrence)!


don, finishing!


finish line


anthony, his daugher, and wayne


don, francoise, emmy, and michael


emmy, tom, and lee


ilana and pam


francoise and rob


francoise


bob, pam, and ilana

check out emmy's race photos.

happy fourth of july!!

happy fourth of july!!

jim morrison died in paris of heroin overdose, 38 years ago today

on july 3, 1971, jim morrison was found dead in the bathtub of his paris apartment. while no autopsy was performed, the anecdotal evidence suggested that morrison died of a heroin overdose. and so closed the doors to his very brief, but intense, life on earth - he was only 27 years old! amazingly, the doors continued to perform and record without him, as a trio, until the band finally called it quits in 1973.

my interest in jim morrison and the doors peaked in high school, when that iconic image (the head shot of which is the above photo) of morrison, arms outstretched, was postered to my bedroom door. thereafter my fascination with would periodically reemerge: reading the now classic biography, "no one gets out of here alive," watching val kilmer play him in "the doors" and, most recently, watching two original band members in concert!

last year i caught "riders on the storm" with ray manzarek and robby kreiger, play at the fillmore here in nyc. their front man was a dead ringer for morrison, and so too were their covers of the doors classics. great memories!

so take a minute and listen to some doors music today - in honor of a wild child who broke on thru to the other side - way too soon.

r.i.p. jim morrison

ernest hemingway took his own life 48 years ago today

on july 2, 1961, ernest hemingway, one of america's greatest writers, committed suicided by a shotgun blast to his head - he was 3 weeks shy of his 62nd birthday. hemingway as a central character of the lost generation of writes (american expatriates in the 1920's), precursors to the beats. jack kerouac was a fan of, and influenced by hemingway's work.

while i was never a huge fan of hemingway, i count two of his works among my favorite books: the novel, "the sun also rises" and the posthumously published memoir, "a moveable feast." both focus on expatriate americans in europe (principally france and spain) during the 1920's. they are, along with henry miller's treatment of americans in paris the following decade (in his "tropic" novels), some of the best writings on the literary bohemians of that era.

"a movable feast," is memoir well-worth reading as a primer on hemingway - despite the controversy that surrounded its posthumous publication (or rather compilation, by his 4th and final wife), and its revised republication by his grandson almost 3o years later! hemingway had written the material well before his death - but specifically instructed his editors that he didn't want it published (and it didn't have an ending). in spite of his protests, it's some of his best writing - and we're all much richer with it published.

that said, it's probably time to reread it :D

july 2009 race schedule

i just put together my running plan for july and, except for the wlf group run #2 (in conjunction with nyrr long training run #1), all the races are old friends - in one way or another.

the highlight of the month will be a return to the escarpment trail run on the heels of the vermont 100 miler. that combination should be interesting!

the month kicks off with the putnam county classic, a race emmy and her co-race director, lee, have been working on for months. it's going to be a great time - try not to miss it!

that week is also includes my favorite father-daughter race, the 2-person relay at the waveny park summer xc series! 2009 will be the third year that katie and i team up for this xc relay (each person runs a mile, trades off with the her partner, until each has run 3 mile).

the month also includes the second wlf running team group run in central park. we up the mileage to 6, and will do an entire loop of the part (in conjunction with all the runners participating in the nyrr long training run #1). if you want to run (or are running) the nyc half marathon next month - consider running it on behalf of the world lung foundation!!

finally, july includes the 3rd and 4th races in the norwalk summer series. these too are great events - and if you're within shouting distance of norwalk, don't miss them!

7/4 - putnam county classic, 8m
7/7 - waveny park summer xc series, 2-person relay
7/11 - norwalk summer series 7 miler
7/12 - wlf group training run #2
7/18 - vermont 100 mile endurance run
7/25 - norwalk summer series 9 miler
7/26 - escarpment trail run, 30k

update: as a result of nasty weather forecast, the waveny 2-person relay was rescheduled for 7/9. katie couldn't partner with me on the new date. instead, emmy did - and we won our age group!