|
|
FLRC Newsletter - Dec 2003 |
| Upstate NY XC Wrap-Up | |
Saturday, Oct 25th marked the 4th race out of five in the Upstate NY X-C Series. Our new FLRC Women's team made a mark for ourselves both as a team and as individual competitors among elite athletes in cross-country from Buffalo, Syracuse, and Rochester.
Nine of us made the 2 hour trip to Cobbs Hill; along with the High Noon Mens team of Ithaca. We had plenty of time for a warm up, although the course had not been officially marked yet and there were many people meandering through the woods offering bits of advice on the course route. At 11AM we lined up at the start of the 3.79 mile course among a sea of black, signifying the dominant GVH Team. Shivering from both cold and anticipation, we grouped together by athletic ability. Rebecca, Katie, and Valerie silently worked together at the gun to begin easy, picking up speed to pass runners one at a time to finish 1st, 2nd, and 4th--all three of these amazing ladies have recently completed fall marathons. I finished 12th with Nicole on my heels at 14th, giving us 33 points total and First Place Honors in the Open Women's Division for the day. I am pleased that we had a full team with Amy, Christine, Zsophia, and Diane to displace a number of other competitors as well, every runner counts!.
Our awesome team will be heading to Cato-Meridian HS
for the Championships on Nov 15 to complete the series. The double-point
scoring system at this race will give our ladies the exciting opportunity
to win our division. The FLRC Ladies will be ready!
The Upstate NY Cross-Country Championships offered a tough course; a 5k for women and 4mile run for the men including at least 3 inches of snow, a huge hill, suicide curves, and several obstacles to leap over. Many of us have never ran in those type of conditions, let alone raced in them, and we found it tough to gain traction even with the aid of spikes. Some of the High Noon Men chose cleats and paid the price afterward for mangled toes. There were several spills and tumbles; most occurring on a rather steep, snow covered slope while others lost footing in the mud and returned with ripped singlets and torn flesh. Luckily we only sustained one such injury, as Joe returned with bloody knees and elbows, although still finishing strong with his wife Christine clanging the cow bell as he finished on a full head of steam.
Our FLRC Open Women's Team managed to place 2nd in the race and claimed 2nd over-all for the series, the High Noon Men's Open took third over-all. Pete Glavin shook my hand at the awards ceremony as a welcome to the series and hopes to see our ladies again next year. "We'll be back" was my comment. Both Open teams earned gloves for our efforts.
Our group managed to take away some individual awards as well. I hope my memory is accurate and I have not left anyone out--although I still feel that Gill Sharp should have earned some points for her efforts at the two races she completed, and might have placed in the top ten as well, but was apparently overlooked in the standings.
| Prev Article | Front Page | Next Article |