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FLRC Newsletter - February/March 2005 |
| World Record F50 for de St. Croix and Third Victory for LeBourne at Hartshorne | |
An Alberta Clipper roiled through Central New York, while the Vancouver Express roared around Barton Hall's track Saturday at the 38th annual Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile held at Cornell University. Maureen de St. Croix, 51, of Vancouver, British Columbia won her first Hartshorne elite women's title in 5:10.87, setting a pending indoor mile world record for women ages 50–54. Sarah Kramer, 44, of Trumansburg placed second in 5:11.17. Ithaca's Gillian Sharp, 43, the 2003 national masters F40 indoor mile champion, placed third in 5:25.47. de St. Croix and Kramer ran the second- and third-fastest times ever recorded by a female ages 40+ in the 25-year history of the women's Hartshorne masters mile.
In the elite men's race, Anselm LeBourne, 45, of Maplewood, NJ, won his third elite men's title in 4:23.88. Mike Egle, 41, of Des Plains, IL, placed second in 4:28.27, and 43-year-old Stuart Galloway of St. Catharine's, Ontario, was third in 4:35.22.
Both world-class masters track specialists, LeBourne and de St. Croix each won a prize purse of $300 for their victories, and performance bonuses of $400 each for breaking the time barriers of 4:26 (men), and (5:15) women.
The women's elite mile race was an eight-lap boxing match, until the final knockout punch was delivered right on the finish line. de St. Croix stepped to the starting line aiming to set an age-group world record, which she thought was 5:22. The F50 world mark was actually 5:14.00, set in March 2004 by Kathy Martin of Northport, NY. Kramer, who moved here from Utah in December, was hoping to break the Hartshorne women's meet record of 5:08.55. "Being an 800-meter specialist, I try to get off the (starting) line pretty quickly, and get out of trouble," said de St. Croix, who qualified for the 1976 Canadian Olympic team in the 800-meter event. "I went out faster than I planned to, but it felt great. I thought to myself, 'Great, let's hang in here, and see what I can do.' After three laps, Sarah's coach yelled at her to go, and she took off. But I knew I had to run my own race, and try to focus." The two women hit the 800-m split in 2:34, with Kramer boldly taking the lead, and pulling away from de St. Croix during the fifth and sixth laps. "I was running like a scared rabbit, with nothing ahead of me but an empty track," said Kramer, who in December set a pending F40 American record in the 1,500 (4:47.72). "But I've done all my training solo, so I was prepared to go. It was not an unfamiliar position for me. I just tucked in, and ran as comfortably as I could while I was leading. I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me."
Patience and confidence were de St. Croix's virtues, because she had set outdoor bests last year in the 800 (2:16) and mile (5:02). "I like to kick from 300 meters out, so I started moving on Sarah with a lap and a half to go," de St. Croix said. "On the back stretch, I wasn't gaining much on her, but I still had 150 meters to go. At the (final) corner, Sarah faltered a little bit, and I said to myself, 'Go for it!' The next thing, we were neck and neck. I almost fell with 50 meters to go, but I said, 'Dig deep, and pull this off.' I had angels with me today."
Kramer, who also is an elite masters cross-country and road race specialist, was powering on wobbly legs toward the finish line. "I could sense Maureen coming up on my shoulder, and I could listen to the crowd responding to our race," said Kramer, who won $150 for second place. "I hit that last stretch as hard as I could, and my legs felt like 100 pounds each. I couldn't hold her off, unfortunately. But it's my fastest time in a decade, so I can't argue with that."
The men's elite race set up a duel between two former Hartshorne mile champions, who are world-class track technicians with lethal kicks. LeBourne, who won Hartshorne in 2002 and 2003, and Egle, the 2004 Hartshorne winner, had met once before at the world masters championships, where LeBourne won titles in the 800- (1:54) and 1,500-meter (3:56) races, and Egle finished second. Although LeBourne is known for a third-gear over the final 20 meters which leaves everyone else standing still in their shoes, Egle believed this time he could beat him.
At the gun, designated pace-setter Scott Weeks, the Groton High School track and cross-country coach, pulled Egle and LeBourne through the half in roughly 2:11. For seven laps, Egle led, with LeBourne tucked in two strides behind him. A brave tactic by Egle, but futile. With less than a lap to go, LeBourne launched his infamous kick. "I wanted to stay right behind the rabbit, but he was too far ahead," said Egle, who competes for Fleet Feet Chicago. "So, I felt like I was doing all the work. Then I knew Anselm was right there the whole race, drafting off me, and that also scares you. But I'm not making any excuses; Anslem is simply amazing. I was on a pace to run the best time this year, but he had too much left."
LeBourne, who took a few years off from racing to be a soccer dad, feels a comeback at age 45 is looking good. "I was looking for a faster time today, but I'll take the win," said LeBourne of his third victory. "I went into the race thinking I'm going to sit behind Mike because he ran a 4:21 last year, and I figured if he was in that type of shape, he'd take me to at least a 4:20. But while I was sitting behind him, I was getting kind of anxious. I wanted to move a bit earlier because the pace was slow. But a win is a win. I'm 45 now, and to comeback and win, I can't complain about that at all."
Meet director Rick Hoebeke and co-director Tom Hartshorne in 2004 created the Charlie McMullen Memorial Award to honor the three-time Hartshorne Masters Mile champion from Rochester who died in August 2003 after a long battle with cancer. The McMullen award is given to the male who runs the fastest nonelite race mile time. The 2005 recipient is Dave Cole, 45, of Liverpool, NY, who finished in 4:51.30. Ken Zeserson & Associates, Cornell professor emeritus Bob Babcock, and the Hartshorne family again provided financial sponsorship for this year's men's and women's elite mile races.
[This article originally appeared in the Ithaca Journal.]
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