| April 2003 Newsletter |
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Hartshorne
(Results)
Endurance may be all important in distance running, but few races can boast the longevity of the Hartshorne Masters Mile. In its 36th year, the Hartshorne Masters Mile has been around longer than many of us, and even Tom Hartshorne, who sat out this year while helping to line up the elite runners, was barely a teenager when his father Jim Hartshorne founded the race in 1968.
The first women's heat this year produced not just excellent times but an exciting race. A four-woman pack of sub-master Karen Grover of Alpine, NY, Lorrie Marnell of Locke, NY, Diane Sardes of North Tonawanda, NY, Shirley Woodford of Burdett, NY, took the race out hard, trading first place until the bell lap, when Marnell unveiled a blistering kick to bring her through the tape in 6:03, with Grover and Sardes just a few seconds behind. Notable times also came from Trumansburg, NY's 51-year-old Diane Sherrer, who bested last year's time by 3 seconds to finish in 6:46; Katy Gottschalk of Ithaca, NY, who at 61 dropped her time 12 seconds from last year to 7:28; and Helen Bueme of Lakeview, NY, who turned in an astonishing 8:47 at age 72.
It initially seemed as though the women's elite heat would produce a similarly exciting finish, with sub-master Becky Heuer of Orchard Park, NY rabbiting 45-year-old Patty Blanchard of Dieppe, New Brunswick through the first few laps. Coming into the race, Blanchard held the masters women's indoor world record for the mile in 4:57.71, and she and Heuer went through first 400 meters in 77 seconds and 800 in 2:35. Trailing them was a pack of Ithaca's Gillian Sharp, Karen Kennedy of Portland, Ontario, Suzanne Myette of Endicott, NY, Sue Munson of Orchard Park, NY, and Beth DeCiantis of Rochester, NY.
At five laps, though, it became clear that Blanchard was taking it easy, and as Heuer fell back, Blanchard ratcheted up her pace, pulling into a huge lead and winning easily in 5:08.55, itself a new indoor world record time for women 45-49 (and an undoubtedly sweet victory, as Joan Nesbit-Mabe broke Blanchard's masters indoor world record with a 4:53.91 in the Tar Heel Classic meet on the same day). Heuer came through in second in 5:17.08, barely holding off a kick from the 41-year-old Sharp, who had outpaced the rest of the second pack to finish in 5:19.55. 45-year-old Myette kicked hard but missed picking off the 44-year-old Kennedy with Kennedy finishing 5:24.36 and Myette in 5:24.83. DeCiantis, 40, trailed them by a mere second in 5:25.65, and 43-year-old Munson came through in 5:28.10. But the race didn't end there, with Ruth Yanai (44) of Syracuse, NY finishing in 5:39.39, and 51-year-old Coreen Steinbach of Pompey, NY leaning at the finish to nip 39-year-old Leatha Damron of Syracuse by 33 hundredths of a second in 5:44.29 versus 5:44.62. Patti Ford (47) of Lafayette, NY finished off the elite heat with a 5:51.00.
As with last year, the men's race broke down in four heats. The first heat produced a slate of stunning times, with Ithaca's Don Farley (69) winning the race and the 65-69 age group in 6:45, though he was pushed along by 48-year-old Irene Thompson of Syracuse, who had arrived too late to run in the women's race. Another fixture of the Ithaca running community, 69-year-old Chuck Collins, passed Bill Taylor (52) of Horseheads, NY in the final lap to finish in 6:53, with Taylor trailing by only a second. Sandy Bueme of Lakeview won the 75-79 age group in an impressive 7:26 anchored by a nice kick, with Dick Sullivan of Buffalo, NY, taking the 70-74 age group in 7:42.
Though the places in the first men's heat didn't change much after the first few laps, the second heat couldn't have been more different. Kevin Thompson (44) of Ithaca took the first lap out hard, but let Ithaca's 57-year-old Herb Engman and Elmira, NY's Bob Huddle (55, and father of Notre Dame's freshman cross country phenomenon Molly Huddle) pass him in the second lap. But Thompson tried again, retaking the lead in the third lap, before Engman pulled in front for good at the half mile and worked through the rest of the race to win the 55-59 age group in 5:28. Huddle held on to second through most of the rest of the race, but he was surprised by Ithaca's Terry Habecker (55), who came from nowhere to outkick him and finish second in 5:33. Huddle came through 1 second later, with Thompson barely managing to hold off the kicking Ken Zeserson (55) of Lancaster, PA in 5:41.
With six members of Ithaca's High Noon Athletic Club and several of their primary competitors in the race, it seemed as though the third men's heat would feature some serious competition. In fact, the race turned tactical early on, with no one willing to push the pace until 800 meters went by in a too-slow 2:33. Then Fred Robbins (46) of Stouffville, Ontario and Leo Finucane (45) of Pittsford, NY sprinted out to a commanding lead. Responding too late to go with them were Lansing's Tim Ingall (43) and Ithaca's John Hylas (46), with a large pack clumping up a ways behind them. Though Robbins led for most of the second half of the race, Finucane showed off a blistering kick to win the race in 4:50 (talk about negative splits!), with Robbins finishing a solid second in 4:57, matching his time from last year. Hylas pushed hard but wasn't quite able to break the 5 minute barrier, finishing third in 5:01, with Ingall behind him in 5:02 (a full 7 seconds faster than last year's race). The next five runners crossed the line in a pack separate by a mere 3 seconds, with Ithaca's John Whitman (48) outkicking the group to finish in 5:12, just a half a second ahead of Rochester's Pete Glavin (40) and a second ahead of Ithaca's Jeffrey Juran (46). Tim Payne (52) of Orillia, Ontario crossed the line in a 1 second gap before Ithaca's Terry Delaney (46) leaned a half a second in front of Elmira's Kevin Coughlin (45), both finishing in 5:15. Dennis Featherstone, 62, of Ottowa, Ontario bulled through in 5:26 to win the 60-65 age group.
Before the elite men's heat, it looked as though the race could be a repeat of the previous year, with favorite Anselm LeBourne, 43, of Maplewood, NJ returning to defend his 4:22.24 time against Schenectady, NY's Tom Dalton, also 43 and last year's second place finisher. 46-year-old Bob Carroll of Orchard Park, NY was the long shot, and Ithaca's Casey Carlstrom was the top hope for the local fans after being outkicked by Tim McMullen (50) in last year's race.
Scott Weeks, the Groton High Schoool cross country coach, was once again the designated rabbit, and he led LeBourne and Dalton out fast, going through the 800 meters in 2:09 before letting them go on their own at 1200 meters. Meanwhile, Carroll was running a lonely third, with Carlstrom in fourth for most of the race. McMullen started out at a relaxed pace, but moved up slowly until he'd caught up with Carlstrom at the 800, after which they ran together for most of the rest of the race. Despite LeBourne's desire to kick for the last two laps, the places stayed essentially fixed until the final lap, when Dalton broke past LeBourne as the bell sounded, but he was able to maintain his lead only for about 50 meters before LeBourne unleashed his kick, retaking the lead around the far turn and breaking the tape in 4:24.46 to Dalton's 4:25.35. Despite running by himself the entire race, Carroll didn't let up, finishing third in 4:39.02, but Carlstrom paid McMullen back for the previous year by holding him off to finish fourth in 4:43.25, 25 hundredths of a second ahead of McMullen's 4:43.50, which still gave him the 50-54 age group award. Sixth, seventh, and eighth places were similarly tight with Mark Rybinksi (47) of Manlius, NY finishing in 4:49.02, 49-year-old Jim Robinson of Rochester 8 hundredths of a second back in 4:49:10, and Dave Carroll (40) of West Seneca, NY in 4:49.81. Closing out the elite heat was 46-year-old Gary Radford of Cicero, NY, with a 4:55.28.
The 36th running of the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile was sponsored again this year by two of Ithaca's most loyal supporters of the masters mile - Ken Zeserson and Cornell University emeritus professor Bob Babcock.
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