Race Reports and Other Anecdotes
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Tom Hartch's Comments on the Sam Elpern Half Marathon, 9/12/2009: Don, The 2009 summer series was a success. Congratulations. Since 2007 I have nominated the Lightfoot summer series as the top summer series to "New England Runner" magazine in its annual poll. I especially enjoyed the half marathon with its temperature of 63 degrees which helped me finish in 2:48:14 which is my best time in the last three years. Have a happy Thanksgiving and a merry Christmas. Tom
Don, The 2009 summer series was a success. Congratulations. Since 2007 I have nominated the Lightfoot summer series as the top summer series to "New England Runner" magazine in its annual poll. I especially enjoyed the half marathon with its temperature of 63 degrees which helped me finish in 2:48:14 which is my best time in the last three years. Have a happy Thanksgiving and a merry Christmas. Tom
Thank you letter from Senior Center, 6/5/2009
Norwalk Mayor Proclaims "Lightfoot Running Club Day", 5/10/2009
Cynthia Loynd's Comments on the Sam Elpern Half Marathon, 9/13/2008: Thanks, the half marathon was a great race! Lightfoot runners are wonderful hosts.
Thanks, the half marathon was a great race! Lightfoot runners are wonderful hosts.
Richard Kurtzman's Comments on the Norwalk Summer Series, 9/13/2008: Don, I just wanted to say "Thank You" to you and all the Lightfoot Volunteers who offered their time and effort to make this year another enjoyable Summer Series. Results were always posted in a very timely fashion, and awards were quickly, yet efficiently, given out. I first ran the Norwalk Summer Series back in 1982, and after all these years, it continues to be the very best summer series around. Thanks again for your dedication to this year's Summer Series. Richard S. Kurtzman
Don, I just wanted to say "Thank You" to you and all the Lightfoot Volunteers who offered their time and effort to make this year another enjoyable Summer Series. Results were always posted in a very timely fashion, and awards were quickly, yet efficiently, given out. I first ran the Norwalk Summer Series back in 1982, and after all these years, it continues to be the very best summer series around. Thanks again for your dedication to this year's Summer Series. Richard S. Kurtzman
Don Capone's Catskill Mountain Relay report, 8/10/2008: A very awesome day and I'm still flying high and have not come down yet. Emmy got us there in fine fashion with her usual 85-90 mile per hr. driving. She is amazing. Among other things we’re going to start calling her “Miss Multi Tasking” because she’s usually got 7 things she’s doing while she’s driving. I don’t know how she does it but she does and quite well I might add. As with any first initiative our primary shortcoming was timing. We were 15 minutes late for Franks leg (#4) and Pam had to start it for him after having run leg #2 & 3 consequently. Frank had to literally jump out of the car after 2 plus hrs of driving and attack the worst leg on the course. And I mean worst. The hills would bring tears to your eyes just looking at them and Frank had to do them with no warm up. As usual Frank is courageous and game but he still had to do a fair amount of walking. Leg #5 I did which was exactly opposite to Leg # 4. It was a net down hill. Only problem was half way thru the leg the weatherman fulfilled his promise for thunder storms and it started raining heavily. The scenery on this leg is really beyond description and you can view the photos to see for yourself. Myriam took the next leg. Courage and guts abounding and got soaked but with an excellent time. Emmy took leg 7 and did real well after having done 2 races on Saturday plus going to dinner with friends after the second. We all get reckless and overestimate ourselves occasionally. Frank took leg 8 and struggled. I’ll let him explain it to you. I took leg 9 and it was quite an experience relighting the fire. Real tight and wondered if I’d ever loosen up but I did. The hills don’t quit in the Catskills. They go on and on and when you think it will end around the next corner it just goes on and on. Finally you stop expecting the hill to end and that’s where the mental break through occurs and you can focus on the road directly in front of you. Expectations suck up your mental & physical energy. As I’m approaching the end of my leg I’m seeing Emmy’s not getting out of the car to start the final leg and I knew she was having a tough time getting restarted as we all did. She did “take the baton” for the final leg and finished in fine fashion. A couple of beers and some food smoothed out and rounded out the event at the end. Moral of the story: All’s well that end’s well. We all learned a lot.
A very awesome day and I'm still flying high and have not come down yet. Emmy got us there in fine fashion with her usual 85-90 mile per hr. driving. She is amazing. Among other things we’re going to start calling her “Miss Multi Tasking” because she’s usually got 7 things she’s doing while she’s driving. I don’t know how she does it but she does and quite well I might add. As with any first initiative our primary shortcoming was timing. We were 15 minutes late for Franks leg (#4) and Pam had to start it for him after having run leg #2 & 3 consequently. Frank had to literally jump out of the car after 2 plus hrs of driving and attack the worst leg on the course. And I mean worst. The hills would bring tears to your eyes just looking at them and Frank had to do them with no warm up. As usual Frank is courageous and game but he still had to do a fair amount of walking. Leg #5 I did which was exactly opposite to Leg # 4. It was a net down hill. Only problem was half way thru the leg the weatherman fulfilled his promise for thunder storms and it started raining heavily. The scenery on this leg is really beyond description and you can view the photos to see for yourself. Myriam took the next leg. Courage and guts abounding and got soaked but with an excellent time. Emmy took leg 7 and did real well after having done 2 races on Saturday plus going to dinner with friends after the second. We all get reckless and overestimate ourselves occasionally. Frank took leg 8 and struggled. I’ll let him explain it to you. I took leg 9 and it was quite an experience relighting the fire. Real tight and wondered if I’d ever loosen up but I did. The hills don’t quit in the Catskills. They go on and on and when you think it will end around the next corner it just goes on and on. Finally you stop expecting the hill to end and that’s where the mental break through occurs and you can focus on the road directly in front of you. Expectations suck up your mental & physical energy. As I’m approaching the end of my leg I’m seeing Emmy’s not getting out of the car to start the final leg and I knew she was having a tough time getting restarted as we all did. She did “take the baton” for the final leg and finished in fine fashion. A couple of beers and some food smoothed out and rounded out the event at the end. Moral of the story: All’s well that end’s well. We all learned a lot.
Joe Handleman on the Lightfoot 3-miler, 6/14/2008:
Hi Don - Just a brief note to tell you how much I enjoyed the 3-miler and how much I am looking forward to the next five races. You are doing a great job with the summer series. As you know, I was rushing off to a wedding in Princeton right after the race. The ice cream hit the spot - then the rapid scoring enabled me to get to the wedding on time. I ate my fresh bagel while driving and then enjoyed the rest of the day. I didn't get home until 1:00 AM, driving in a heavy rain storm. So THANK YOU again for handling the race so efficiently. Your running friend, Joe
Jeff Steadman on Al Nirenstein:
DON: I'm looking forward to the runs this summer and expect to get back to Connecticut in time to see you Saturday morning. I have a thought that I meant to share with you earlier but neglected to so so. I believe Al Nirenstein (hope I've spelled his name correctly) passed away last winter. My thought is that you might consider some special recognition for him this year, either by dedicating the 2007 series to his memory or naming the 11-mile race in his honor. Most of the current runners probably don't recognize his contribution to the series over the years or recognize him for the hero he was and for his sacrifice in Vietnam. I remember years ago a number of times that I ran neck and neck with him and tried to beat him (while he was trying to beat me) without considering that he was in a wheel chair; we only considered that we were competitors. I could run faster than he could on the up-hills; he was faster down-hill; and we were fairly even, I recall, on the flats. I also remember the time that an abandoned or stolen car was left on a narrow bridge which I believe was on the 11-mile race course the night before the race, and Al removed it before the race by himself. From his wheelchair he hooked a chain to the car and his van and towed it out of the way. Today, when so many people seem to be so self-absorbed with their own enjoyment, I think it's more than appropriate that we take a moment to think about someone who made such a sacrifice and never to my knowledge complained about anything. GEOFF
Al Toth on Gus Stepp, November 25, 1931 - August 7, 2007:
My friend Gus has let me down. First time, though. He was supposed to help me out at the first water stop on the Lightfoot 11 miler. From now on water stops and running Sunday 6 a.m., walks, and poetry readings and jazz performances will have a pinching void for me. He was from Detroit. His father worked shifts at Chrysler and died at 42 from cigarettes and rye whiskey and working shifts. His mother, Gus told me, was a true saint, and he still believed that even when she gave his new leather shoes to a barefoot kid in the neighborhood. Gus learned the art of stuffing just the right amount of paper in his old shoes, and maybe that carried, over into his shoe-gooing the hell out of old running shoes. He actually tried out for football in high school and didn't start running seriously until he was in the Air Force. You could get out of KP and cleanup if you were on the battalion running team. He was in Korea during that war, in the signal corps, and that got him into studying electrical engineering at Syracuse, on the GI Bill. He worked for GE, and he was most proud of his contribution at Cape Canaveral in guidance tecnology for GE. He got an MBA and moved to Wilton, getting a job at Stauffer Chemical in Human Resources. When that company left, he consulted for Pitney-Bowes, and moved on to become a full-time employee. He retired three years ago and stayed very busy with running, poetry groups, reading to children in Bridgeport schools, sitting on the board of Renaissance. And of course helping out at races for Pequot, Wolfpit, and Lightfoot. At the seven and nine milers he tried in vain to correct my handing left-handed water cups to right-handed runners and other defects in my aid-station techniques. And I never lost the opportunity of trying to get him to swear off watching boxing, of which he was pretty knowlegeable. I'd say our back and forths ended in a draw, which is the way it should be with friends. And that's it. A life. A life of a classy man who never raised his voice and always tried to help out his fellow man and fellow runner.Goodbye, Gus. It was an honor to have known you. Al Toth
Emmy Stocker's race report on the '06 Knickerbocker 60K I decided a few weeks ago to give this Central Park 60K a try, as I had entered the JFK 50 and somewhat trained for it (3 marathons in 5 weeks)...but decided that 50 miles was too far and too close to NYC marathon...I had alot of issues about the 50 miler (what shoes to wear? was i mentally ready to be on my feet for 12 hours, etc). Will try for next year...but in the meantime, I had run the 50K distance 4 times before at a training pace and felt fine, so hoped i could at least finish 37.2 miles...I was familiar with the loop course and if I had to drop out, the 60K was cheap ($20) and would serve as a season-ending long training run. But when i start a race, I'm pretty committed to finishing! unless I have pain.The timing of this race was difficult as I had to go to a birthday party for my brother in NJ the night before, but got away with not drinking...I was so tired that i slept well the night before...got to the NYRRC at about 8 a.m. for the 8:30 start - the club was crowded with some familiar faces and some ultra-types - as usual I sized up the women -they looked pretty strong. My unofficial goal was to come in third woman (obviously out-of-my control) and to run under 6 hours (a 9:40 pace). I saw my friend Anna, an Ironman triathlete (who ended up winning for the females), and knew she would win. I also saw my friend Ruth, a woman in her 60s who runs a marathon a week (she had run Philly last weekend). Rob Leder, an ultra-friend from Stamford, was running and we agreed that we would start out together - he even had a cheat-sheet with split times. It was chilly but the weather was predicted to be perfect - sunny and 55 degrees. I was nervous about how I would feel as i hadn't done anything more than 7 miles since the marathon 3 weeks earlier (and was sore from a rainy tempo-run 5K on thanksgiving) - I also had right calf pain from wearing new trail shoes - would the muscle hold up? We walked to the start where we put our bags in a guarded area (one could get to them during the race also)...I had Tylenol, gel, and an extra pair of shoes. At the start, Rob pointed out the likely winner - a well-known ultra runner who came in second in the VT 100.The course was out and back to 102nd street and then 9 loops of the 4-mile inner Central Park loop, clockwise - we ran down cat hill on the east side, and then climbed all the way back up (or so it seemed) to 102nd street - about 4 or 5 women took off quickly, and Rob and I ran the first 2 loops together at about a 9:30 pace - I felt so tired at 9 miles, i really questioned the sanity of doing this -37 miles? was i crazy to go 6 more miles than i had gone? Rob and I talked about his VT 100 experience (he made it 73 miles, and ran alot in the dark) - thinking about 100 miles made 37 seem 'just a walk in the park'. He also told stories of the 'stone cat 50 miler' - a horrific trail run (don't they ever make these ultras easy??), where he was moving for 12 hours.I drank some coke and gatorade and ate some pretzels (every 2 miles was an aid station) and tried to enjoy the scenery and the people coming toward us (we were going against running traffic!), and also we had to look out for bikers and strollers...also, construction on the 72nd street transverse, making footing difficult ( one had to almost walk as the pavement was all torn up) - when Rob went to the port-o-john, I left him and cranked out another 2 laps - at mile 17, I then felt better but still had 5 laps of that difficult loop to go! At mile 25, the clock read 3:58 - my first marathon over 4 hours! This really got me going on the next loop (the 7th) and i ran a 9 min pace - the leader men then started to lap me - they were really moving. Mile 29 read 4:34...2 loops to go! I knew i could walk 8 miles but was starting to feel good, despite the tight calf and the fact that i was overdressed...the sun had come out and i was wearing tights and a dri-fit long sleeved shirt. I stopped at the port-o-john and then Rob passed me - he said 'we ae under the 6 hour mark if you can keep going at this pace' and then took off - I tried to follow him and managed to run a -9 min pace for the 8th loop - the clock said 5:15? I passed 2 women and when i came through on the last lap, they said i was third (it turns out I was fourth!) - The last lap was the best feeling - I knew that i never had to run those roads again (at least for the day) and I knew the end was in sight - as fatiqued as my body was, I pushed on, not walking, and stayed at a 10 min pace...on 102nd street, a bunch of girls rang cow bells and cheered us on - i was euphoric - only 3/4 of a mile to go! I cross the finish line in 5:53 - a 9:30 pace...Rob had finished in 5:52. They handed me a big plaque for the 'first 40 year female" (4th female?)- all rob got was a ribbon. Even though they advertised trophies for all, they just had top age-group plaques and ribbons...I still don't know the official times of any runners but the upfront men were cranking. It seemed like they had about 20 women and about 80-100 men, no doubt because of the good weather!Rob and I changed and cheered on the finishers - alot of people were starting their 9th lap when i finished. One of the things I liked about this course was that it was easy to pace yourself...and the race draws so many different people then a regular road race. I tryed to go 38-39 minutes for each loop - the food at the aid stattions included pizza and pastries, also.
I decided a few weeks ago to give this Central Park 60K a try, as I had entered the JFK 50 and somewhat trained for it (3 marathons in 5 weeks)...but decided that 50 miles was too far and too close to NYC marathon...I had alot of issues about the 50 miler (what shoes to wear? was i mentally ready to be on my feet for 12 hours, etc). Will try for next year...but in the meantime, I had run the 50K distance 4 times before at a training pace and felt fine, so hoped i could at least finish 37.2 miles...I was familiar with the loop course and if I had to drop out, the 60K was cheap ($20) and would serve as a season-ending long training run. But when i start a race, I'm pretty committed to finishing! unless I have pain.The timing of this race was difficult as I had to go to a birthday party for my brother in NJ the night before, but got away with not drinking...I was so tired that i slept well the night before...got to the NYRRC at about 8 a.m. for the 8:30 start - the club was crowded with some familiar faces and some ultra-types - as usual I sized up the women -they looked pretty strong. My unofficial goal was to come in third woman (obviously out-of-my control) and to run under 6 hours (a 9:40 pace). I saw my friend Anna, an Ironman triathlete (who ended up winning for the females), and knew she would win. I also saw my friend Ruth, a woman in her 60s who runs a marathon a week (she had run Philly last weekend). Rob Leder, an ultra-friend from Stamford, was running and we agreed that we would start out together - he even had a cheat-sheet with split times. It was chilly but the weather was predicted to be perfect - sunny and 55 degrees. I was nervous about how I would feel as i hadn't done anything more than 7 miles since the marathon 3 weeks earlier (and was sore from a rainy tempo-run 5K on thanksgiving) - I also had right calf pain from wearing new trail shoes - would the muscle hold up? We walked to the start where we put our bags in a guarded area (one could get to them during the race also)...I had Tylenol, gel, and an extra pair of shoes. At the start, Rob pointed out the likely winner - a well-known ultra runner who came in second in the VT 100.The course was out and back to 102nd street and then 9 loops of the 4-mile inner Central Park loop, clockwise - we ran down cat hill on the east side, and then climbed all the way back up (or so it seemed) to 102nd street - about 4 or 5 women took off quickly, and Rob and I ran the first 2 loops together at about a 9:30 pace - I felt so tired at 9 miles, i really questioned the sanity of doing this -37 miles? was i crazy to go 6 more miles than i had gone? Rob and I talked about his VT 100 experience (he made it 73 miles, and ran alot in the dark) - thinking about 100 miles made 37 seem 'just a walk in the park'. He also told stories of the 'stone cat 50 miler' - a horrific trail run (don't they ever make these ultras easy??), where he was moving for 12 hours.I drank some coke and gatorade and ate some pretzels (every 2 miles was an aid station) and tried to enjoy the scenery and the people coming toward us (we were going against running traffic!), and also we had to look out for bikers and strollers...also, construction on the 72nd street transverse, making footing difficult ( one had to almost walk as the pavement was all torn up) - when Rob went to the port-o-john, I left him and cranked out another 2 laps - at mile 17, I then felt better but still had 5 laps of that difficult loop to go! At mile 25, the clock read 3:58 - my first marathon over 4 hours! This really got me going on the next loop (the 7th) and i ran a 9 min pace - the leader men then started to lap me - they were really moving. Mile 29 read 4:34...2 loops to go! I knew i could walk 8 miles but was starting to feel good, despite the tight calf and the fact that i was overdressed...the sun had come out and i was wearing tights and a dri-fit long sleeved shirt. I stopped at the port-o-john and then Rob passed me - he said 'we ae under the 6 hour mark if you can keep going at this pace' and then took off - I tried to follow him and managed to run a -9 min pace for the 8th loop - the clock said 5:15? I passed 2 women and when i came through on the last lap, they said i was third (it turns out I was fourth!) - The last lap was the best feeling - I knew that i never had to run those roads again (at least for the day) and I knew the end was in sight - as fatiqued as my body was, I pushed on, not walking, and stayed at a 10 min pace...on 102nd street, a bunch of girls rang cow bells and cheered us on - i was euphoric - only 3/4 of a mile to go! I cross the finish line in 5:53 - a 9:30 pace...Rob had finished in 5:52. They handed me a big plaque for the 'first 40 year female" (4th female?)- all rob got was a ribbon. Even though they advertised trophies for all, they just had top age-group plaques and ribbons...I still don't know the official times of any runners but the upfront men were cranking. It seemed like they had about 20 women and about 80-100 men, no doubt because of the good weather!Rob and I changed and cheered on the finishers - alot of people were starting their 9th lap when i finished. One of the things I liked about this course was that it was easy to pace yourself...and the race draws so many different people then a regular road race. I tryed to go 38-39 minutes for each loop - the food at the aid stattions included pizza and pastries, also.
Kate Stoker's race report on the '06 BUPA Great North Half-Marathon in Newcastle, England
9/27/06 Here I am again, sitting on a plane headed to Heathrow. My last trip to England was just over a month ago. That trip was a family vacation spent in England and France to celebrate my mum's 70th Birthday. I figured that I would get a few training runs in while I was there, but never dreamed of running 9 of the 12 days. I also got to run several times with my brothers. I ran a few times in the beautiful countryside of Northern England, a few times in Paris and the last one was through Kensington Park and Hyde Park in London. My long run was an 11 mile route that took me from the Eiffel Tower, along the River Seine, to the Place de la Concorde, up the Champs Elysees, past the Arc de Triumphe and back again. I don't think I've ever smiled so much on a training run. Now I am making the trip back to England to run in The BUPA Great North Run half marathon with my oldest brother. This race accepts 50,000 entrants and is the largest half marathon field in the world. I have been a spectator on several other occasions and was always so proud to see my brothers run in it. Richard has run it nine times and my other brother, Pete, has run it once. I only took up running about three years ago and never thought I would see the day that I could run a half marathon. I couldn't even run ¼ of a mile when I first started out. However, since I started racing in August of 2004 I have run a total of 102 races, including two marathons. 10/1/06Today is race day. Richard and I get up early and eat a light breakfast together and head out towards Newcastle. I was very nervous at this point and really wanted to make my family proud. We got to the Metro station and jumped on a subway train that was packed to the doors with runners. You could just feel the excitement in the air. Once off the train we walked over to the Town Moor, where the race was set to start. I was amazed by the sight of all the runners. There was a series of 11 sets of starting gates that seemed to take up about ½ a mile. We made our way to the back of all the gates to drop off our things at the baggage bus and then headed back to the front to go to our assigned gates. Gate A was for elite runners and celebrities, then it goes one through 10 based on your projected speed. My brother was assigned to gate one and I was assigned to gate two. At this point we gave each other a big hug and headed to our gates. We had a good 40 minute wait before the start, but I wanted to be as close to the start of the gate as possible. The temperature was perfect, in the 40s. I got to chat with some people from the South of England and before you know it the gun went off. Our gate was not opened until the runners from the two prior sections had moved out so that there was not much congestion. By the time I made it to the start line I was running at a comfortable pace. We started out going along the bottom level of a motorway (highway) bridge, while the other half of the field headed for the upper level. Every time we went under a bridge the runners up front would chant 'Oggy oggy oggy' and then the ones behind would respond with 'oy oy oy'. This is a typical chant heard at English soccer matches and was a great way to get us all pumped up for the run ahead of us. The first mile was slightly downhill and seemed to go by like the blink of an eye. The atmosphere was amazing and I felt really good about myself. There were spectators all along the route yelling encouragement to the runners. There were also many children and runners yelling the Oggy chant. However, in mile two one of my hips started to hurt and I thought I had little chance of obtaining a good time. Usually my hip doesn't start to ache until 10 to 15 miles into a race. I slowed down for a few moments and then realized that I had some Aleve in my pocket so I fumbled around for that. It took me a while to get the package open, but within 5 minutes of taking it I felt really good. Probably more due to the hip loosening up than from the pill, but either way I was happy. We went over the Tyne Bridge with the Red Arrow planes flying overhead trailing their red, white, and blue smoke. What a spectacular sight! For much of the race I was chanting back to the kids who were yelling by the side of the road and they loved it. My brother had told me where to expect the hills and how steep they were so I was prepared for every challenging mile. As the miles went by I felt more confident about my ability to get a PR for this distance. (The British would use the term PB, which stands for Personal Best). As I came up towards the end of mile 12 there was a short, but very steep downhill. I flew down the hill as fast as I could, with the knowledge that the last mile was all flat or downhill, with a beautiful view of the North Sea. I was grinning from ear to ear as I finished that last mile. I felt like I passed about 50 people on that home stretch. As I crossed the finish line I had a tear in my eye because I was so happy. I met my family afterwards and got a huge hug from my brother. It was a wonderful experience and can't wait to run it again next year.Kate
Don Capone's race report on the 1st NYC Half-Marathon
Alarm went off at 4:27 having slept very little. Totally forgot that my Quads would keep me up all night from the Westport race and that's exactly what they did. Picked up Frank and Emmy at 5:37 in Scarsdale and headed into the City. I was told they closed out the race at 10,000 runners but the announcer said between 10 & 12 K. Anyways it was a mess of people. By the way I felt, I was doubtful I could finish. The race started in Central Park and it looked like the same ole boring Nyrrc race course of loop de loop the park but this time we did one and a quarter loops and then took a left turn onto 7th ave. WOW. Like hearing the bridge of a funky rock tune, you could just feel the lift of inspiration plus AC/DC was blaring some rock tune over the load speaker. Once on 7th ave. it started to rain but nobody cared. We were all into it big time. We ran right through Time Square (nothing boring about that) then took a right turn onto 42nd St. and headed for the West Side Drive. Took a left onto the WSD, ran past Ground Zero and finished in Battery Park. Baggage Claim was not good. Took over an hour and a half to get my stuff and a subway ride back to the car. Seventh Ave was unforgettable. Felt like an American in a great American city with great American people.