HMRRC Pentathlon

Schenectady, New York

August 10, 2000

* New Event Record

Race Director Vince Juliano

Pentathlon 2000

The HMRRC Pentathlon has a rich tradition of attracting competitive runners and showcasing their talent.

In the late 70's and early 80's Bill Robinson dominated the event with 5 Pentathlon wins. Those who knew Bill and especially those who ran against him, knew what a fierce competitor he was and how he excelled on the track.

In 1984 the Pentathlon introduced a new Olympic style scoring system that awarded points in each of the five track events based solely on time. No handicap is given for age or gender and therefore women or master runners will almost certainly score lower than their open male competitors. Simply put, the closer a runners time is to the established National Record for that event, the more points they will receive, with 1200 points being awarded for a record performance in any event. Unless the Kenyan Team decided to use the HMRRC Pentathlon for an Olympic qualifier, it is unlikely that we will ever see the maximum 6000 points (5 events x 1200).

In 1985, a 25-year-old John Noonan ran well enough to amass 4826 points, a record that would stand the test of time. John's running has also stood the test of time, as he continues to excel as a master runner in many local road races.

More recently, young relatively unknown but talented runners have burst upon the local running scene by winning the Pentathlon. In 1996 and again in 1997, Zack Yanonne won the 5-race event in hot and humid conditions. Zack is currently in the midst of his finest season with several big wins including the Adirondack Distance Classic & The Silks and Stars 5K. And last year, two more talented young runners, Nick Conway & Tyson Evensen squared off in a thrilling Pentathlon battle as Tyson won the overall championship a mere two seconds. In the process, Tyson set two individual records in the 400 & 800-meter events.

The 2000 Pentathlon continued this tradition, as another young runner decided to showcase his considerable talents and see just how many points he could score. Jamie Rodriguez, an Albany State collegiate runner won the initial 5K in 16:22, before losing a lunge to the wire in a thrilling 800 meters to Tyson Evenson. In the process, Tyson smashed his 800-meter record with a 1:59:0 clocking to stay in contention. Jamie's 1:59:6 also was under last year's record of 2:00:5, as both runners scored over 1000 points.

Jamie would then win the 3200-meter race by 5 seconds over Ben Greenberg, before succumbing to Matt DeNyse 's record 400-meter sprint. Matt's time of 52.4 shattered Tyson's event record of 53:8 set last year. Tyson, Jamie, and Matt Letko would all run 54 & change in a swiftly run 400-meter heat.

Jamie left no doubts though about the overall winner as he broke the record in the final 1600 meter race running a spectacular 4:35.6. The fourth record of the night was also credited to Jamie as he set the overall points record with 4931 points to move John Noonan to second {all-time} after a 15-year reign.

With the exception of 1992 when a former Colonie track star Michelle Simone rewrote the record book for women at the Pentathlon, young women have been reluctant to try this demanding event. So it was exciting to see the talented Shaker High School runner, Tara Sheedy compete and win this year's female division. Tara broke 20 minutes for the 5K and 6 minutes for the 1600 meters and showed fine form and consistency throughout all 5 events as she scored 2986 points. Submaster runner Chris Varley got stronger with each event to score 2191 points for second place.

The 60-year-old division attracted two competitive performers who battled for 5 events to a very close finish. Ken Skinner used his prior experience in the Pentathlon to edge veteran marathoner Jim Moore by just 7 points (2515 to 2508). Ken now owns both the Senior and Veteran records for the Pentathlon and has served notice that his term as HMRRC Club President will be anything but passive.

Special thanks are in order for the Pentathlon scoring team of Erle Daniels, Emily Bryans, Ed Neiles, Sharon Boelke, Dwight Wilson, & Pat Fitzgerald. If you have participated in the Pentathlon and enjoyed the event, please let them know.