The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself - the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us - that's where it's at. (Jesse Owens)

Running in the buff
You can now mask up in style for your socially distant runs by sporting the fabulous new buff, which features our team colors and the snazzy new Flyers logo! 130 have already sold in just a couple of days, but there's still time to make one, two, or more your own. You can order here.

Spring
While we're a long way from returning to normal life (if indeed we ever completely do), the terrible surge we've been waiting for hasn't been remotely close to what was expected, and for that we should all be grateful. Ongoing thanks to our first responders, medical professionals, delivery people, restaurant and grocery employees, and maintenancea and custodial staff who continue braving illness every day to keep our society moving.

Stay safe, all
As one who finds putting on band-aids disagreeable, I'm not equipped to offer any medical advice other than to urge everyone to please listen to and follow guidance from the CDC and WHO. Equally importantly, please consider that however you feel about COVID-19 as it relates to catching it yourself, we all have an obligation to each other and especially to our most vulnerable to do our utmost to limit its spread.

Let's close this update with thoughts from Thomas Paine:

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.

Long and strong
On the last day of standard time, over a hundred Flyers and Flyer friends took to the streets for the Little Red Lighthouse long training run. I'm currently schumping a slowly-recovering bum knee around on runs of 20 minutes, but based on all the photos and posts I saw on points through the course, the up to 20 mile distance looked like a superbly fun day of fitness. There were no NYRR races this weekend and I couldn't find any Flyer results in the NYCRUNS Spring Fling races, so I'm dropping the sentences here and going to see what's in the fridge.

In the Heights
Thanks and appreciation to Richard B and the newly minted guy with the master password, Chris Brennan, for doing the weekly writeup while I was in Seattle last week. With St. Patrick's day just around the corner, today's relatively temeperate and sunny conditions were a welcome harbinger of spring and a great way to kick off the NYRR Washington Heights Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K. The sixteenth place Flyer Open Women's team consisted of nearly all Master, Veteran, and Senior Veteran runners, starting with Beein Gim, who placed first for both the Flyer Open Women and the sixth place Flyer 40+ Women and seventh in the 45-49 age group in 21:12 (6:50 pace). Senior Veteran Heather Tolford placed second for the Flyer Open Women and the Flyer 40+ Women, and first for the fourth place Flyer 50+ Women and the first place Flyer 60+ Women as well as first in the 60-64 age group in 21:24 (6:54 pace). Denise Iannizzotto triple scored with third for the Flyer Open and 40+ Women and second for the 50+ Women, along with third in the 55-59 age group in 21:54 (7:03 pace). Stephanie Tang represented for the 30-somethings, placing fourth for the Flyer Open Women in 22:18 (7:11 pace), and Mary Beth Ezra placed fifth for the Flyer Open Women in 22:44 (7:19 pace).

Yumi Morishige captured the third scoring position for the Flyer 50+ Women and fifteenth in the 50-54 age group in 23:40 (7:37 pace). Nina Parks-Taylor placed second for the Flyer 60+ Women and seventh in the 60-64 age group in 25:45 (8:17 pace), and Elaine Rosen placed third for the team and ninth in the 60-64 age group in 26:04 (8:24 pace).

The Flyer Open Men placed sixteenth in their division, and this one was a mostly Masters and Veterans show as well. Tim Decker triple scored, capturing first for the Flyer Open Men, first for the thirteenth place Flyer 40+ Men, and first for the second place Flyer 50+ Men as well as fourth in the 50-54 age group in 18:31 (16:11 pace). Chris Brennan captured second for the Flyer Open and 40+ Men in 19:27 (6:16 pace), and Michael Alexander placed third for both the Flyer Open and 40_ Men in 19:47 (6:23 pace). Marc Bochner double scored with a fourth place finish for the Flyer Open Men and second for the Flyer 50+ Men in 19:58 (6:26 pace), and Deniz Saat stood up for the twenty-somethings with a fifth place finish for the Flyer Open Men in 20:33 (6:47 pace).

Dave Kleckner finished in third place for the Flyer 50+ Men and seventeenth in the 55-59 age group in 20:55 (6:44 pace). The Flyer 60+ Men won their age group, with Guy Simoneau placing first for the team in 23:50 (7:41 pace), followed by Howar Tanz, who double scored with a second place finish for the Flyer 60+ Men and first for the second place Flyer 70+ Men in 22:54 (7:42 pace), also placing third in the 70-74 age group. Jeffrey Wollman placed third for the Flyer 60+ Men in 24:16 (7:49 pace). David Dempsey locked in second for the Flyer 70+ Men and sixth in the 70-74 age group in 25:40 (8:16 pace), and Delton Mace brought it home for third place in 28:40 (9:02 pace and fourteenth in the 70-74 age group). Other age group honors went to Brad Goz (tenth in the men's 65-69 age group); Deborah McDuffie-Saat (tenth in the women's 60-64 age group); Barbara Paer (sixth in the women's 65-69 age group); and Barbara Fratta (third in the women's 70-74 age group).

Flyers Travel to Brooklyn for the Al Gordon 4M
After a week that followed the increasingly popular Highbridge Long-Training Run and included our monthly new member's run/social, our runners donned their fastest kicks for an away game at Prospect Park, Brooklyn where the Al Gordon 4M race was held. Beein Gim placed first for the team and third in the 45-49 age group in 27:27 (6:50). Rounding out the top three females were Jillian Hobson and Ilse Abusamra who finished in 30:06 (7:32) and 31:10 (7:48), respectively. Also, congratulations to Deborah McDuffie-Saat for her 2nd place age-group award, finishing in 34:22 (8:36)!

On the men's side, Hector Martinez was first to finish in 27:35 (6:54). He was followed by David Horvilleur in 28:21 (7:06) and Brad Goz in 29:57 (7:30). Special congraulations to Brad for he also earned himself a 3rd place age-group award for his performance. Not to be outdone, Howard Tanz won the 70-74 age group by finishing in 30:30 (7:38). Howard finished 6th overall for the Flyers.

Congratulations to all finishers! Next Sunday, March 1st, we kick off the NYRR Points Race season and our own Age-Group Racing Series with the NYRR Washington Heights Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K. Here's to a great season to all!

Lucky sevens
The morning after a night of rock and roll glam, nearly a hundred Flyers crossed the finish line in the NYRR 7 Miler. The Flyer women brought home a third place time finish, led by two age group winners: Heather Tolford placed first for the team and first in the 60-64 age group in 49:50 (7:08 pace), followed by Denise Iannizzotto, who won the 55-59 age group in 50:06 (7:10 pace). Amanda Schachter placed third for the team and fourth in the 45-49 age group in 52:16 (7:28 pace). Elena Riecke placed fourth for the team and nineteenth in the 25-29 age group in 52:34 (7:31 pace), and Laura Sackler captured fifth for the team and seventh in the 45-49 age group in 53:18 (7:37 pace).

Jeffrey Tente led the Flyer men to the finish line in 45:17 (6:29 pace and twentieth in the 30-34 age group). John LeBreton picked up a cool second place team finish in 49:06 (7:01 pace), followed by Tomohiro Inoue in 49:20 (7:03 pace). Dave Kleckner brought home a fourth place team finish and seventh in the 55-59 age group in 49:24 (7:04 pace), and Sebastian Lieng placed fifth for the team in 50:32 (7:14 pace).

There were age group honors aplenty today, too. Honorees were Arlyn Apollo (ninth in the women's 45-49 age group); Yumi Morishige (second in the women's 50-54 age group); Guy Simoneau (fourth in the men's 60-64 age group); Howard Tanz (second in the men's 70-74 age group); Sophie Miller (tenth in the women's 50-54 age group); Deborah McDuffie-Saat (eighth in the women's 60-64 age group); Elaine Rosen (ninth in the women's 60-64 age group); Gary Smeal (seventh in the men's 70-74 age group); Barbara Paer (second in the women's 65-69 age group); Fran Breslauer (first in the women's 75-79 age group); Barbara Fratta (third in the women's 70-74 ag group); and Mindi Adler (fourth in the women's 70-74 age group).

$85 right down the can
I woke up Saturday feeling distinctly under the weather, and at 5 pm made the judgment call to keep my germs to myself and stay home instead of attending this year's Gala. While I'm sorry to have missed out on all the fun, I woke up feeling a lot better this morning. While the Awards Page is being updated, head on over to our Facebook Discussion Group to get a first look at the photo gallery.

Iron strength
Superbowl Sunday started with the NYRR's Gridiron 4-Miler pregame event. You see in the results that Dev Baid exploded on the scene with a first place team finish, but he reports that this was a timing mat error owing to a late start. Being the good guy he is, he reported the issue to NYRR, so we expect that a correction is forthcoming. If we normalize the results accordingly, Tim Decker placed first for the Flyer men and fifth in the 50-54 age group in 24:48 (6:12 pace). Jeffrey Tente and Dave Kleckner picked up second and third for the team in 25:35 (6:24 pace) and 27:30 (6:53 pace and eighth in the 55-59 age group). David Horvilleur gave it his all for a fourth place team finish in 28:04 (7:01 pace), and Guy Simoneau placed fifth for the team and seventh in the 60-64 age group in 29:56 (7:29 pace).

NYRR 60-64 Runner of the Year Heather Tolford placed first for the Flyer women and second in the 60-64 age group in 27:57 (7:00 pace). Amy Knepper captured second for the team and seventh in the 40-44 age group in 28:05 (7:02 pace). Laura Sackler finished third for the Flyer women and third in the 45-49 age group in 28:26 (7:07 pace), followed by Amadnda Schachter in 29:20 (7:20 pace and sixth in the 45-49 age group) and Elena Riecke in 29:41 (7:26 pace).

Other age group honors went to William Herbert (ninth in the men's 60-64 age group); Yumi Morishige (sixth in the women's 50-54 age group); Howard Tanz (second in the men's 70-74 age group); Janine Smith (ninth in the women's 50-54 age group); Lisa Konorty (seventh in the women's 55-59 age group); Laura Guerra (ninth in the woment's 55-59 age group); Nina Parks-Taylor (seventh in the women's 60-64 age group); Gary Smeal (eighth in the men's 70-74 age group); Delton Mace (tenth in the men's 70-74 age group); Barbara Paer (third in the women's 65-69 age group); Fran Breslauer (first in the women's 75-79 age group); Barbara Fratta (fifth in the women's 70-74 age group); and Mindi Adler (sixth in the women's 70-74 age group).

Penguin power
February opened with the NYCRUNS Frozen Penguin 5K and 10K. In the 5K, Jeff Zimmerman brought the team in with a sixth place finish in the men's 40-49 age group in 24:07 (7:47 pace). Peter Lewy placed second in the men's 60-69 age group in 26:14 (8:28 pace), and Joseph Hill captured seventh in the men's 50-59 age group in 27:18 (8:49 pace), and Jodie Fischer placed sixteenth in the women's 50-59 age group in 32:59 (10:39 pace).

In the 10K, Kristel Mckanna and Guy Simoneau represented for the Flyers. Kristel scored third placein the women's 40-49 age group in 47:44 (7:42 pace), and Guy won the men's 60-69 age group in 52:21 (8:27 pace).

The whole half
The first NYRR half marathon of 2020 kicked off on Sunday, the day after our first real January snow. It wasn't exactly Snowpacolypse this time, and the sun made a welcome appearance in time for the race. In the men's race, Jeffrey Tente placed first for the team in 1:31:50 (7:01 pace), followed by Veteran superstar Tim Decker in 1:37:45 (7:28 pace and twenty-fifth in the 50-54 age group). Dave Kleckner and Jon Riecke also represented for the Flyer Veteran Men, placing third and fourth for the team in 1:41:22 (7:44 pace) and 1:41:35 (7:45 pace). Leonardo Souza finished fifth for the Flyer men in 1:42:34 (7:50 pace).

In the women's race, Marcy Withington and Frieda Edelmann placed first and second for the team, third and fourth Flyers overall, and first in the 50-54 age group and seventh in the 45-49 age group in 1:37:53 (7:28 pace) and 1:40:15 (7:39 pace). Laura Sackler captured third for the team and tenth in the 45-49 age group in 1:41:57 (7:47 pace). Arlyn Apollo placed fourth for the Flyer women and twelfth in the 45-49 age group in 1:42:55 (7:51 pace), amd Manasi Agrawal brought it home for the team in 1:45:57 (8:05 pace).

There were plenty of other age group honors to go around, too: Ami Thakkar (fourth in the women's 50-54 age group); Denise Iannizzotto (fifth in the wome's 55-59 age group); Brad Goz (ninth in the men's 65-69 age group); Yumi Morishige (seventh in the women's 50-54 age group); Howard Tanz (third in the men's 70-75 age group); Vice President Elaine Rosen (seventh in the women's 60-64 age group); Debora McDuffie-Saat (ninth in the women's 60-64 age group); Barbara Paer (sixth i nthe women's 65-69 age group); Barbara Fratta (fourth in the women's 70-74 age group); and Karen Kenney (ninth in the women's 70-74 age group).

Make mine iced
It was an unseasonably warm Sunday for a race based around cocoa, but the NYCRUNS Cocoa Classic 4-Miler drew a handful of Flyers who channeled their inner snowstorms for the race. Adolfo Ferrando was the first Flyer to cross the finish line and fifth in the men's 40-49 age group, finishing in 26:58 (6:45 pace). Lisa Konorty finished second for the team and third in the women's 50-59 age group in 33:04 (8:16 pac), followed by in 33:54 (8:29 pace and fifth in the men's 60-69 age group). Teresa Palomero and Scott Martin finished in 35:52 (8:58 pace and eleventh in the women's 40-49 age gorup) and 37:52 (9:28 pace and sixteenth in the men's 50-59 age group), followed by in 39:00 (9:45 pace and fourth in the women's 60-69 age group), Andrewe Paer in 40:42 (10:11 pace and twelfth in the men's 60-69 age group), and Jodie Fischer in 43:59 (11:00 pace and sixteenth in the women's 50-59 age group).