The Pace Setter August 2009 - Hudson Mohawk Road Runners Club

The GHI CorporateChallengeThe only thing hotter than the temperatureon May 21st was the competition at the 31st annualGHI 3.5 Mile Workforce Team Challenge.On one of the warmest days this year, 7700people from 340 teams jammed the street inthe shade under the plaza on Madison Avenuebefore the start. More than six minutes after thestart, runners were still cresting the hill at Madisonand Lark Streets, long after Chuck Terryhad led the field through the 1 mile mark. Terrywho won the race the previous two years, leda small pack including previous winner LouDiNuzzo, as well as Brad Lewis and Pat Cullenfrom the College of Saint Rose. The leaderswere strung out a bit by mile 2, with Terry havinga narrow lead on Ben Englehart, and a gapseparating the rest of the field.Coming out of the park and down the hill,Englehart had captured a small, but comfortablelead on Terry and went on to win in17:26, with Terry 2nd in 17:44. Englehart, astudent at Arizona State University in PhoeniX,is in town for the summer visiting his parentsand was running for Fortitech, Inc. where hisfather works and he is interning. Englehart is a3000m steeplechase specialist at ASU and histrack speed was evident in the later stages ofthe race. "I was just trying to hang in as long asI could and sprint coming out of the park." Hesaid he felt fortunate to have enough left to pullout the win. "This was a nice race, on a goodcourse with a lot of nice people. I liked it." Healso stated that running in the heat in Phoenixmight have helped."I'm just glad it's over," Terry said. "Therewas a lot of pressure to win a third straight year,but it's tough to string them together. I'm hopingto have some longevity in this sport. TomDalton won all those races spread out overmany years; that's the key." When asked aboutthe new course, Terry, who ran for New Visionsof Albany, replied, "Well, I won twice onthe old one, so we'll have to see 'what happensnext year." I'm looking forward to seeing thatrace.On the women's side, Tonya Dodge tookthe win in 21:15, with Eileen Combs finishing2nd in 21 :49. Dodge, who recently movedback to the area after several years away, is anadjunct professor of Psychology at SkidmoreCollege. "It was hot, but nice. I had a reallygood time, though I was hoping to run a bitcloser to 21:00." Both women said they likedthe new course, as they train on very similarterrain.The GHI Workforce team challenge is, ofcourse, about the teams though - teams ofjust a few or a horde of co-workers. Big teamswere seen from GE, Skidmore College, SienaCollege, and First Niagara to name a few. Thewinning teams were as follows:Co-Ed: General Electric A-Ahmed Elasser,Ty Remington, Teal Reeves, and Andrea12 - The Pace Setterby Patrick LynskeyMcGuire.Female: Voorheesville Central School District-MaribethBernarde, Eileen Bracket, AshleyHillard, and jen Pros.Male: College of Saint Rose - Pat Cullen,Bradley Lewis, joseph Sullivan, Andrew Rickert.The big winner this year, however, wasTrinity Institution, the recipient of the GHIWTC Charity of Choice. Trinity Institution wasfounded in 1921 by Reverend Creighton Storeyand provides services to promote and supporthealthy families within the community througheducation, employment, and drug treatment.The institution received $2551 in the form ofdonations from runners/teams. Next year, Iplan on running the race for the first time, and Ihope to see a lot of you out there. 0HMRRC­The Best OfSurveyby Jon RoccoHave you ever heard a politician state thathe or she does not pay attention to polls? Thenext question is 'Do you believe them?' Pollsseem to be everywhere and often provide asnapshot of what people are thinking on a particularissue. Polls often give 'bragging rights'to those who come out on top.Several of the publications in our area putout an annual ;Best of' survey, namely Metroland,The Times Union, and Capital RegionLiving MagaZine. In seeing this over the years,I thought, "Why not get the pulse of the membersof HMRRC in a similar fashion?" just whatis the favorite 5K? Where is the favorite venueto hold a race? Which race is the best in theFall months? Which local park do runners useto train?I put together a 35-question survey whichcan be found on the opposite page. The mainfocus is the races you choose to be involvedin throughout the year. The survey also takes alook at race preparation and training.We ask that you complete the form and returnit as noted on the bottom of the survey.The surveys are due by September 7, 2009.You can answer as many questions as youlike, but those who complete at least 30 of the35 questions will be eligible to receive a $25voucher for HMRRC club apparel. 3 winnerswill be drawn at random.The results with commentary will be publishedin a series of articles over a 3-month periodin the November, December, and januaryissues of The Pace Setter. Each month will takea look at a dozen or so of the questions.We thank you for your time and input andhope you have fun with the survey. A link willalso be added to www.hmrrc.com to allowyou to access the survey on line. 0Having trouble loggingonto the HMRRCwebsite?Please contact Ed Gillenat edgillen7@aol.comfor assistance.