By Ernest Joseph – November 2005
Marathoners at Turkey Trot (L to R) – Joe Cymerman, Alisa Carbone, Laura Michello, Grandma Killeen, Bill Carpenter, Steve “chicken” Joseph, Joann Hodges, Laura Dimarino, Ernest Joseph and Anthony Ferraro.
While running in this past spring’s San Blas Half Marathon in Puerto Rico, members of the RRR team realized that the marathons they planned to run in the fall of 2005 would be on the same day. Instantly they thought of a team competition. After all, a competition would allow RRR members running these marathons to train together. A goal of competing against one another while training with one another would make the training period enjoyable. (Hmmm, the words marathon training and enjoyable in the same sentence!!!???) But today, looking back, each and every one of the participants would wholeheartedly agree that not only did they have fun, they also trained to be in the best possible shape for October 9th.
So, what was at stake? Bragging rights for the winning team; and turkey/pilgrim costumes at RRR’s Turkey Trot for the losing team. That’s enough to cause sleepless nights for some. After months of bantering, teasing, trying to change rules to one’s advantage, practicing voodoo on the rival team, and planting Gatorade with unknown salt to knock the opponents out, the teams were ready. It does not get any better than this!
The team captains were Kathleen Daly (Steamtown) and Joann Hodges (Chicago). Thirteen of the twenty-five or so RRR members running Steamtown and ten for Chicago had agreed to participate in the challenge and follow the rules set by captains Kathy and Joann. When the Steamtowners drove to Scranton the day before, they faced torrential rain and at that point it looked like they were going to have a very wet marathon. Meanwhile the weather forecast for Chicago was sunny and mild! Fortunately on the marathon day the rain held off and the conditions were ideal for both marathons.
Both teams took advantage of ideal conditions and scored many personal bests, some by as much as 30 minutes. At Steamtown former county champion from North Rockland Danny Cruz was running his first marathon and cruised at a Boston qualifying time of 2 hrs. 58 min., stopping to stretch along the way! Danny joined the training group for long runs and at times was humbled by the distance. But he learned fast, using training abilities sharpened during his track days. The long run is what puts the tiger in the cat! Alisa Carbone, injured during early part of the year, mostly had low but quality mileage with Laura Dimarino and long runs with the group. Alisa ran steady with Bill “the metronome” Carpenter to finish in 3 hrs. 41 minutes. This was a PR for both and a Boston qualifier for Alisa. Alisa was pleasantly surprised since qualifying for Boston was not in her plans. Bill, who came back to long distance running two years ago, is hoping that his improved training and advancing years will come together with a Boston qualifying time at Steamtown 2007, or 2017.
Ernest, Laura Michello, Mitch Pollack and Rafi Shrem were planning to run a 3:30 marathon, and Ernie was the metronome for this group. They started out on pace, joking along the way as if this was just another long run in Harriman. Laura was joking about how she successfully managed to qualify for Phoebe Snow division after gulping down gallons of Gatorade and stuffing loose change in her pocket. Laura and Ernie had met a year ago at David’s Bagels via Kathleen and had agreed that qualifying for Boston in the fall would be possible with the right kind of training. Laura stayed focused during the year doing daily runs with the six o’clock group and was ready. As she reached mile 25, and realized that she will be going to Boston even if she walks rest of the way, the emotions of accomplishment and joy started to flow. You see, Laura had to fight off few side stitches along the way, and it was not easy. But the pride you gain is worth the pain, and so she persevered. She dashed to the finish line, holding off tears as her husband Vinny was calling out her name. The clock read 3:34. Ten seconds later Ernie followed, both proud of the mission accomplished and realizing the vision they shared a year ago. And guess who was the Phoebe Snow division winner? Laura is still waiting for the trophy to arrive. Mitch needed 3:30 for Boston and he stayed focused the entire way, just missing his goal by 80 seconds! It’s only a matter of time, Mitch. Rafi was hoping to get under 3:35 but managed to finish in 3:42. Captain Kathleen Daly ran her PR of a sub-4-hour marathon. Anthony Ferraro and Joe Cymerman were running their first marathons. They executed their plans perfectly by running sub-4 hour marathons. Steve Joseph had a tough day. Anyone can run 20 miles. It’s the next six that counts. And so Steve ran and finished with his heart, scoring valuable points for the team. So did Robert Goldsmith. Brenda McCarville ran with a huge smile on her face from mile 1 to the finish.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, there were some fast times recorded too. Logan Scott, running his second marathon, had mentioned that he would like to run a 3:10 marathon. He lived up to his potential by clocking 3:09. Laura Dimarino, who wanted to slay the dragons that had haunted her at Boston, redeemed herself at Chicago with a solid performance of 3:19. Tim Hodges ran with Laura for a while, but a stomach ailment forced him to slow down a little and he finished in an impressive 3:32. Captain Joann Hodges, JC Santa Teresa, Jerry Quigley, Teresa Kenny, Marie “Grandma” Killeen, Enilda Indyk and Matthew Clement ran the times they were expecting.
Age-graded performance tables were used to offset the age differences among the participants and to determine the winning team. As a result, grandma Killeen and Enilda Indyk scored as high as Danny Cruz, Logan Scott and Laura Dimarino based on this scoring system.
A post marathon breakfast was held at Patti & Sean Daly’s beautiful home on the Hudson River and the Steamtowners were declared the winners by mere half a point. The close result reflected perfectly a year during which they all had trained together and obviously performed at the same level.
Many from both teams decided to wear costumes at the Turkey Trot to reflect the outcome and to celebrate camaraderie and friendship they developed during the year. A quote from Jesse Owens comes to mind – Friendships are born on the field of athletic strife and are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded but friends gather no dust. A fitting conclusion to the team challenge.
Reflections on Running & Life 