NY Road Runners All-Women Mini 10k Race Review by Fran

RUN REPORT 6/7/09
I have to report on my long run yesterday. I was "touristing" in NY City and decided a must do was to run in Central Park for my long run.
Shortly after I entered the park, it was evident a race was taking place (I was running in the opposite direction of the race). A bicyclist was ahead of the first runner who was flanked & escorted by police. I thought, WOW, must be important. Yep, it was--- supported by the fact that the first twenty or so runners had their names on their bibs! I was thrilled to be watching the New York Road Runners all women's Mini 10K (not sure why that name when it was a 10K!). Rose Kosgei, a Kenyan, who lives in SANTA FE, NM won the event. It was thrill to continue to watch as 6,500 WOMEN finished the event, which I was able to watch since I was running opposite the racers.
I chatted with a two runners since I needed water & a porta stop and then finished my run--- continuing whence I came, back down 7th Ave. from Central Park to the hostel where I stayed. I had wanted to just be able say I had run in Central Park, but the NYRR event made the run and memory even sweeter!

Fran

Cloucroft Race Report by Rick

At the 6/6 2009 (8.1 mile) Cloudcroft Rails to Trails run, Socorro runners turned out in force and cleaned up! The run was a (mostly) down and up loop with about a 900 food elevation change following old railroad beds and trails in the Sacramento Mountains (http://www.nmrailstotrails.org/race). Here's a photo of the happy crew c/o Steve and Lindsay Montoya.

(out of 126 Runners )

Steven Montoya: 1:11:09 (4th overall, 2nd in age group)
Tim Abeyta: 1:14:10 (8th overall, 2nd in age group)
Sierra Cahall 1:14:42 (11th overall, 3rd in age group)
Rick Aster: 1:17:19 (16th overall, 2nd in age group)
Ellen Aster: 1:17:46 (17th overall; 3rd female, 1st in age group)
Jan Tarr: 1:25:48 (30th overall; 1st in age group)
Jaron Martinez 1:28:08 (35th overall)
Nicky Mortensen 139.26 (57th overall, 2nd in age group)

Lance and Others at the Tour of Gila

The various reports from SSR members who made the trip to Silver city to see the Tour of Gila keep coming in. Catharine sent the following photos and AP press snippet. I've also added a video taken by my friend Silver, who went home to watch the race. It shows the pro men shooting by during the crit.







BELOW IS SCROLLABLE

ASSOCIATED PRESS PINOS ALTOS, N.M. -- The last big test for Lance Armstrong before the Giro d'Italia was more than 105 miles of steep roads and windy descents in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico. It was the hardest stage of the Tour of the Gila, but Armstrong and his teammates Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner passed the test. The Astana riders, who entered the five-day event as independents, used the tour as a tune up for the upcoming race in Italy. Armstrong said he feels good enough to be a contender for some stage wins in Italy but that Leipheimer has the best chance for an overall win. "The first priority is to protect him and make sure that he fulfills his potential there," the seven-time Tour de France winner said. "It would be an amazing thing for an American to win the tour of Italy again. I'd be pleased to be there and help." Leipheimer won the Tour of the Gila on Sunday after finishing first in two of the early stages and coming in third behind Armstrong in the last stage, dubbed the Gila Monster. Armstrong moved up in the overall classification from fourth to second after Sunday's stage. The Astana riders, who were wearing the kits of Armstrong's Mellow Johnny's bike shop, moved to the front of the peloton as it closed a gap of more than three minutes that had been built by a breakaway of 11 riders in the first 40 miles of the stage. At the start of a 7-mile, 1,600-foot climb to Copperas Vista, the Mellow Johnny's riders caught the lead pack. With Horner in front, he and Leipheimer positioned to get Armstrong the stage win. It looked like it was going to happen until the last 500 meters. "I didn't know the finish. I didn't know it was so much uphill. I thought maybe it would flatten out and there'd be a high-speed sprint ... but it kept going up," Armstrong said. He was caught behind the wheel of another rider and had to go around. By that time, Leipheimer was ahead with first-place finisher Philip Zajicek on his wheel. "When I finally got back to the wheel uphill, I was cooked," Armstrong said. Astana general manager Johan Bruyneel said the plan Sunday was for Armstrong to win the stage. "It didn't really play out like we wanted it to be," he said. "It's a little disappointment he didn't win the stage, but overall I think it was a good race for the team." It's also been a few good days for southwestern New Mexico. Several thousand people crammed downtown Silver City on Saturday to watch the criteriums and hundreds of people lined nearby Pinos Altos' main street to watch Sunday's finish. Leipheimer, who also won the Tour of California and the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon this season, said he's proud to grab another title with the Tour of the Gila. He said events like the Gila go a long way in igniting interest in American cycling. For the fans in New Mexico, Armstrong had one last message on his Twitter post: "Thanks to everyone here for showing us a great time. This is a great (and hard!) race." The riders are now on their way to Italy to be tested yet again. "With the Giro, we'll just take it day by day, kilometer by kilometer and just sort of have fun and do our best," Leipheimer said. There is a long list of Italians who will also be vying for the Giro's pink jersey, he said, including former winners Ivan Basso and Danilo Di Luca and Franco Pellizotti.

SSR Ran For The Zoo

A few of us made it to the Run For the Zoo in Albuquerque. Brian Borchers finished the 10k in 47:42 and Fran led a group of 3 Sarracino Middle School kids in the 5k. Their group's times aren't up but they did beat the start of Socorro consolidated Schools' quarantine that would have kept them from traveling.

Other locals were noted in the 10k. Stacy Timmons finished in 50:55 and Veronica Allsion came in a little over 1 hour 26 minutes.

Big Sur Marathon Report

From Jan, who squeezed in a sub-4 hour marathon on a really hilly course (hubbie Rick ran a ~3:45):

Big Sur lived up to its reputation as a beautiful marathon. Runner's World magazine said "if you are only going to do one marathon in a lifetime, do Big Sur". So, we flew there on Saturday, and Sunday morning found us shivering in the redwoods at 6:45 am waiting at the starting line. Someone sang the national anthem, a flock of white doves was released, and off we went.

We ran the first 5 miles in the redwoods, and then the rest along the ragged coast-- the waves crashing down below, gulls flying, spring flowers and grasses waving in the wind. Oh yes, did I mention the wind? It was (and usually is) a headwind for the entire run, peaking around Hurricane Point where it was blowing heavily. And it is a HILLY marathon. Up and down. Not a fast marathon. However, there was a great variety of music about every 3 miles-- from the middle school bands to the reggae singers and their plastic pot plants (at least I thought they were plastic), to the grand piano at Bixby bridge. Over 3,000 runners are in the marathon.

There are other, shorter, races that day also along the highway, so as you near the finish line you converge with everyone else. I was hanging on by my teeth by mile 22 and watching others go whipping by me, wondering if they were in a shorter run. It keeps you humble.

Rick reports he felt like Ryan Hall for the first 8 miles, and then like Ryan's grandma for the last eight.

We flew home Monday, with hopes of returning next year for Big Sur's 25th anniversary.

Run for Your Life 5k Results

I counted 37 runners and a few walkers for the 5th annual Run For Your Life 5k Run/Walk. Between all of the happy volunteers and the great turnout, it made for a wonderful Saturday morning race.








Sue and Brian also have a better collection of the start:
http://picasaweb.google.com/borchers.brian/RunForYourLife#

Below are the results:

Name	Age Group	Time
Julie Aster	8-12	0:27:55
Anastasia Lewark	8-12	0:47:29
Antoinette Lopez	8-12	DQ
Brianne Loya	19-29	0:22:47
Stefanie Azevedo	19-29	0:24:06
Rebecca Galvan	19-29	0:30:34
Katarina Florance	19-29	0:32:18
Kim Shaffer	40-49	0:25:00
Denise Contreras	40-49	0:35:55
Karen Haughness	50-59	0:31:11
Fran Hazlewood	50-59	0:33:51
Rheda Brown	50-59	0:40:58
Addy Bhasker	50-59	DQ
Lynette Napier	60+	0:37:12
Catharine Stewart-Roach	60+	0:40:59

Name	Age Group	Time
Adrian Avalos	7 & Under	0:51:29
Adonis Lazano	8-12	0:31:58
AJ Baca	8-12	0:37:55
David Avalos Jr.	8-12	0:38:01
Richard Lewark	8-12	0:39:50
Juan Gamez	8-12	0:52:34
Sierra Cahall	13-18	0:21:11
Isaiah Vigil	13-18	0:21:11
Sergio Leyba	13-18	0:40:14
Tyler Haughness	19-29	0:18:41
Adam Deller	19-29	0:19:52
Aaron Meurer	19-29	0:21:30
Howard Rios	19-29	0:29:06
Felix Martinez	19-29	DQ
Brian Borchers	40-49	0:22:17
Juan Alvarado	40-49	0:25:54
Robert Cordova	40-49	0:26:15
Robert Abernathy	40-49	0:26:34
Matt Perini	40-49	0:27:29
Pat Contreras	40-49	0:29:01
Dave Finley	60+	0:25:14
Clint Janes	60+	0:33:42
Bill Holmes	60+	0:40:42

Tour of Socorro Article in Mountain Flyer

For a fun take on the 2009 Tour of Socorro, check out Mountain Flyer, an online and print magazine devoted to all things cycling in the Rocky Mountain area.