2002 Distinguished Service Race

By Mark and Angela Warner

 

The 31^st running of the Distinguished Service 8 Mile Race was preceded by the awarding of the  Distinguished Service Award to Lori Christina for her years of outstanding volunteer service to the Hudson-Mohawk Road Runners Club.  The award was presented by club president, Debbie Beach.  Lori has served as race director of both the Winter and Fall marathons for a number of years.  She has also served a year each as club President and Vice President and four years as Treasurer.  As an added piece of trivia, Lori is the first Distinguished Service Award winner who has also been a past winner of the race winning the women’s division in 1992.  Lori has distinguished herself as a HMRRC volunteer for many years and her efforts are greatly appreciated by the members as demonstrated by her selection as the 40^th Distinguished Service Award winner.

 

This year’s race returned to the old course along SUNY Albany’s perimeter road and around the lake and athletic fields.  The weather was almost ideal for a summer race with overcast skies and temperatures in the 60’s.  The race had a  turnout of 111 finishers, the fourth most in race history.

 

For the third year in a row, the overall men’s and women’s winners both won this race for the first time.  On the men’s side, 21 year old Jamie Rodriguez picked up the pace dramatically over the last few miles to beat his training partner and last year’s winner Chuck Terry.  Jamie ran 43:43 to Chuck’s 45:52.  Ben Maynard finished 3^rd in 46:07 completing a Team Utopia sweep of the top three places.  On the women’s side, 31 year old Karen Dolge led all the way winning in 54:11.  25 year old Jeannine Salvo finished 2^nd in 55:00 with 51 year old Martha DeGrazia running an impressive 56:49 for third.

 

There were several excellent performances in the women’s age groups.  The most impressive run may have been by 69 year old Anny Stockman who once again defended her age group running 67:41, over two minutes faster than last year (and this was the day before her 70^th birthday).  After winning the 35 - 39 year old age group the past few years, Jessica Spatz moved up to the Master’s division winning the 40 - 44 year old age group and finishing 5^th overall in 58:23, over a minute faster than last year.  Jessica needed this minute improvement to beat Nancy Taormina who was runner-up in the age group in 59:33.  Two other returning age group winners were Tara Sheedy in the 19 and under division and Jill Nagengast in the 20 - 24 year old division.  Tara improved by 51 seconds to 57:27 finishing fourth overall to beat 14 year old Melissa Bredice who ran 61:51.  Jill won her division with a time of 69:34.  The closest women’s race was the 35 - 39 year old division where Mary Buck edged Deborah Holden by 37 seconds with a time of 67:27.  Another close race was in the 45 - 49 year old division where Susan Elderboom beat Susan Burns by just over a minute in 64:24.  Judy Phelps finished 8^th overall to win the 50 - 54 year old division in 62:22 and Penny Tisko ran 65:41 to win the 30 - 34 year old division.

 

On the men’s side, there were three repeat winners from last year.  Craig Fischberg (4^th overall) improved by over a minute to 46:18 to repeat in the tough 35 - 39 year old division.  Adrian Soto (6^th) in 47:30, Chris Dunn (7^th) in 47:59 and Russ Lauer (9^th) in 48:27 all of Team Utopia also ran in the 35 - 39 year old division.  Derrick Staley (5^th overall) once again repeated in the 40-44 year old age group with another strong performance running 47:23.  Dale Keenan, five time winner of this race and the owner of the fastest time in the history of the race (40:22 in 1983), dropped one place overall to 8^th but once again won the 50-54 year old age group with a 48:05.

 

Rounding out the top 10 overall was James Jacobs winning the 45 - 49 year old age group in 49:42.  The closest age group race was the 55 - 59 year old division where Ron “no knees” Bagnoli’s 58:57 beat Tom Kollar by just over a minute.  61 year old Peter VanGarderen finished 20^th overall to win his division in 56:43.  Wade Stockman matched his wife’s win in the 65 - 69 year old division with a time of 59:35.  In the younger age divisions, 15 year old Mark Reilly beat his 13 year old brother Matt to win the 19 and under division in 57:17.  Ben Genthner won the 25 - 29 year old division in 52:25 and Ben Littler won the 30 - 34 year old division in 54:04.  In the 70 and over division, Pat Fitzgerald won in an impressive 67:15 beating some formidable competition in Joe Corrigan, Ken Orner and Harry Hennessy.

 

A number of past Distinguished Service Award winners joined Lori Christina in running this year’s race.  Lori completed the race in 77:49. Other past Award winners running the race included Ray Newkirk (’84), Al Maikels (’93), Jim Tierney (’99) and Charlie Matlock (’92).  A number of past Award winners volunteered including Art Tetrault (’01), Ken Skinner (’00), Doug Bowden (’98) and Ed Neiles (’91).

 

This year’s race was successful not only because of the many competitive runners, but even more so due to the great help of the volunteers.  While the number of racers was up this year, the number of volunteers was down slightly.  Fortunately, the volunteers we did have came through to ensure everything went smoothly.  The help that each volunteer provided was greatly appreciated and made the 31st running of this race a success.

 

Let’s give Lori one final thanks for her years of dedication to the club.  THANKS LORI!