Pete Glavin Upstate NY XC Series

A beautiful day to run marked the first race in the xc series. The course, a 5k jaunt around some of the trails of Mendon Ponds that Pete Glavin used to like to run on, included a taxing climb up Cardiac Hill.
Complete individual and age group results are available here. I will post team standings as soon as I can find them.
Our Open women's team was lead by Keri Baker in a time of 21:50. James Roche was our first male finisher in 19:50. We had a nice tight team finish for the men's 50-59 age group, with John Benson, Al Vasbinder and Frank Quattrone within 21 seconds of each other.

Cross-Country Racing

Time to start gearing up for the fall cross country season. The Pete Glavin Cross-Country series begins September 26 with a race at Mendon Ponds Park.
The other race dates are:
10/10 at Beaver Island Park on Grand Island
10/31 at Watkins State Park
11/7 at Longbranch Park, Liverpool
11/14 at Centre Park in Fairport (the championship)

Cost is $50 for the series, but it may cost a few bucks more for the FF team and shirts. I will find out soon.

A couple of key changes, there will be 30-39 age group teams and the women 40-49 and 50-59 age groups only need 3 finishers each to qualify for team points.

More information forthcoming.

XC Race Report Jamesville Beach

Thank you to everyone who represented and ran for our Fleet Feet team on Saturday. It was a perfect day to run cross-country on the two-loop 5k course. I really appreciate and have respect for our team members who ran the 1/2 marathon or marathon the week before, and a couple who did the Highlander Bike tours on top of the races. Awesome that you came out and ran with us. We also had at least three people who continued the weekend by racing at the FingerLakes Triathlon on Sunday!
Check Pete Glavin's Upstate NY Cross-Country web site for complete finishing times and places.

To those of you who witnessed my meltdown and temper tantrum before the race, I'm sorry. Thanks to everyone who assisted in carrying stuff to our site and set up the tent. You are all great and I appreciate the understanding.

A quick explanation is that I arrived at the race site about 15 minutes later than desired, through no one's fault but my own. But then we had to park at least 1/2 mile from all the other team captain's parking area. When I asked about this I was told I could not move in order to unload stuff. Let's just say I was a bit upset, but got a great warmup running to the car, getting all the stuff out, and running back with the tent. Some friends helped carry the shirts and food, staying far back as the steam from my head created a localized warming effect.

As to the race, I thought we did well. Mary Lee was first in the women's 40-49 age group with a great time of 22:33. Brenda Reeb was our other finisher in that age group. Terry Christo was 3rd in the 50-59 division with a time of 22:24. Our Vet women's team with Terry, Jan and Eileen earned two points and finished in fourth place out of six.

The men were led by Marty Coffey in a nice time of 20:15 and our 40-49 team finished fourth. Carl Palmer, Alan McAllister, Sean Hendrick,Ken Rhoda and Richard Doe completed our team.

Our men's vet team was short one runner and didn't score. But, Frank Quattrone ran a nice race, in 21:14, followed by Mike Weinpress, myself and Lou Katz.

My goals for the next race:
1. Leave earlier and be set up at least 1 hour before the race starts.
2. Run faster.
3. Have complete teams in all divisions.
4. Beat GVH (don't tell them)
5. Don't have a temper tantrum.
6. Remember everyone's name (we need to have a meet and greet, though I think most of you did that on your own).
7. I like the support everyone seemed to have for teammates and found it nice to know other FF people were all around me. This might sound weird, but I mean it.

Let me know what kind of food/drink you want for after the race. Last time we had gatorade, water, danish, cookies, bananas. The cookies seemed to be the favorite.

Next race, Sunday, October 11, 11am, 6k in distance (about 3.8 miles). It's about a 90 minute drive from Spencerport. Jan and I can pick up two people at the LeRoy tollbooth area if anyone wants a ride.

Beaver Island State Park
2136 West Oakfield Road
Grand Island, NY 14072

Upstate NY Cross-Country

The annual Upstate NY cross-country series is set to begin on Saturday, September 19, at Jamesville Beach st park, southeast of Syracuse. The races continue as follows;
October 10: Grand Island State Park
October 25: Ithaca College (confirmed) 11:00am
November 1: Seneca Park (Rochester) 11:00am
November 15: Finger Lakes CC (Championship Day) Women's 6K @ 10:30, Men's 8k at
11:15am.
Fleet Feet Sports of Rochester is sponsoring teams of men and women for the Masters and Senior divisions this year. In 2008 our Senior men's team finished third overall in the series.
More information about the series will be presented on this blog as the series progresses.

Once a Runner

Finally completed my newly acquired copy of John L. Parker's book, "Once a Runner", available in hardcover at your local Fleet Feet store. A great novel about running, one that I will definitely keep to read again.
Here is one quote from the novel, Cassidy, the main character, is talking about his disgust for xc (or is this MW?), "over hill and dale out in the middle of nowhere. Spit freezing on your goddamn chin. Five hundred complete wild men in the mud, running up on your heels with long spikes. Oh, I love cross-country all right. I also like being flayed alive with a rusty straight razor."

Running with Fleet Feet Team

Here is my (submitted by MW) top 10 list as to why I enjoy being on the FF team.

1. Run and then wine tasting.
2. Eco friendly. We can get to a race using the less vehicles than GVH.
3. Mike McWinoneforthegipper is incredibly organized and keeps us in line.
4. I enjoy being the fastest of the non counting times.
5. Post race restaurants at exotic locations.
6. Ethnic diversity. Lou is from Queens!
7. Get to run a race that has a Mt. Everest on the course.
8. Sponsored by FF which is advertised in Runner's World, which is my favorite book.
9. Telling friends I run for the FF team. Heavily recruited. Know the owners personally.
10. The only team where one of my teammates lets me kiss her on the lips. Yeah baby!

Why I love Cross-Country Races

10. Running through the woods like a deer.
9. Shopping for and buying spikes at my favorite running store (Fleet Feet).
8. The courses are so different than running on the roads. Grass, trees, roots, dips, gravel, paths, wood chips, leaves, damn I tripped again.
7. How many times do you get to run (walk?) up a hill during a race that's so steep it's called Mt. Everest?
6. Being part of a team again, our shirts are the coolest.
5. Seldom does a plain bagel taste so good than after 6k in the mud.
4. Mytriathletewife races too and I can beat her!
3. Mikey WhydidmywifemakemedothisIonlylikeroadsPress (seen in photo) is a great sixth man.
2. We travel to neat places like Vernon, Ithaca, Canandaigua, Mendon and Syracuse.
1. Feeling like your lungs are going to burst open, gasping for air while knowing you still have another mile left.