by Christine Bishop
The third race in the HMRRC Winter Series featured three distances: 5k, 10k, and 25K and, was directed by Tom O’Grady. In total, 277 brave souls set out even with a dire warning of heavy snow, forecasted which fortunately for the race, but not if you like to ski, did not happen. In fact, the weather was temperate and made for good running. We were doubly fortunate because last year the race was cancelled due to blizzard conditions. Not this year!
As the first finisher and all following entered the SUNY Albany Phys. Ed. Building to hand in their running time slip, they were greeted by the delightful smell of cooking soup wafting through the building and then got a bowl of soup from ever welcoming Maureen Cox along with bread and other goodies to devour. The soup and coffee are donated by Bountiful Bread and cards for free yummy bread loaves of your choice from Bountiful Bread are given to all winners: overall and age graded.
Fight the Winter Blahs by Participating in the Last Winter Series-Feb. 12
The fifth and final Winter Series Event is on February 12. There will be a 4.5M, 10M (HMRRC Grand Prix Event), and 20M. To register now, click here. To volunteer, click here. The race directors for this event are Patrick Lynskey and Ed Hampston. All participants , other than having great fun running, will get to taste our boffo soup and bread and possibly win some.
5.5K Race
The top 10 winners in the 5.5 are listed below. The females really put in a strong showing with coming in 2nd and 3rd overall. Way to go ladies! Click on table below for complete results.
The 10K race had the most runners: 125. Click on the picture to the right for complete results.
25K Race
Click here for results
Robert Ordish came in first and kindly answered some questions.
I'm currently following a marathon training plan and the distance fit perfectly. I will be running Boston.
I was definitely surprised that I won! After the people running the 10k went to the finish, I found myself pretty alone. Back on the state office loops I looked around and thought, "Wait, am I in first place?!" The workout my plan had me doing was pretty tough, with long stretches at goal marathon pace, but I really hadn't considered that I might be running in the front of the race.
I obviously have been training outdoors during winter. It takes a lot to drive me indoors to the "dreadmill," so unless it's truly unsafe to run, I'll be outdoors. Lately I've been logging 40-45 miles per week.
I'm hoping to have a great day and set and new PR at the Boston Marathon this April. And if the conditions are favorable (a big IF at Boston), try to break 2:50!
I attached one of me and my dog Amelia after a run together.
Amanda Aussems, the female 1st place winner, also kindly answered questions about her race.
I picked the 25k to run because I am currently training for the Boston Marathon this upcoming April 2023. I had a long run scheduled for that Sunday so I figured it would be a good opportunity to practice my steady pacing and run with others!
I was not surprised by my time because my goal was to keep my pace steady. I’m only 2 weeks into my training so that’s about the time I was shooting for. I was surprised that I won though! I was truly using the race as a training run, so it was a nice surprise to learn that I won!
In the past month, I’ve been averaging about 38-40 miles a week. I’m expecting that to increase weekly as the Boston Marathon gets closer! I am training for a 3:15:00. My PR is 3:19:23 so we’ll see how it goes, but that’s what I’m shooting for! This is my first time doing Boston!
My goal for spring races is to stay healthy for Boston while also appropriately challenging myself through my training. The Boston Marathon is something I’ve worked hard to qualify for, and I feel so lucky to be running this year- I want to keep working hard and stay motivated.
Winter Series #3 - HMRRC Photos
January 15, 2023; University at Albany, Albany, NY; 5.5K, 10K & 25K; photos by Chris Bishop & Ray Lee.
Volunteers
We thank them, for without them, there would be no race!
Bailey, Marey
Barbato, Bob
Becker, Mike
Bennett, Thomas
Bishop, Christine
Brignoni, Annemarie
Celello, Michelle
Chase, Lisa
Chauhan, Divyesh
Christian, James
Cole, David
Cox, Maureen
Cutler, Karen
Davis, William
DeDominicus, Linda
DeFrancesco, David
Durkin, Dave
Finn, Daniel
Haley, John
Hao, Liwei
Hill, Connor
Hilt, Patrick
Hyphakowski, Henry
Jiang, Brian
Klinge, Lindsay
Lee, Michael
Lindsey, Steven
Lowry, Colleen
Lowry, Anna
McCann, Ryan
Mehan, Jill
Merlis, Josh
Mohlmann, Charles
Murphy, Patrick
O'Grady, Conner
O'Grady, Sara
O'Reilly, Colleen
OToole, Mike
Parisella, John
Scialdo, Lauren
Shyne, Gretchen
Silverberg, Steven
Somerville, Robert
Thoman, Dave
Thomas, Isaiah
Yavonditte, Joe
See you at Winter Series 5 on February 12
Click here to register. Click here to volunteer
Happy Winter Running!