Richs Race Notes-The Inside Track

 

 

The Kurt Steiner 50-Kilometer was held in conjunction with the 31^st running of the Metropolitan 50-Miler on February 17. The event was a co-production of the New York Road Runners (NYRR) and the Broadway Ultra Society (BUS), and was held on a 3.98-mile rolling loop in Central Park. When I arrived at the site on race morning, I noticed that one of the Portosans was turned on its back. I realized that could be a problem. unless the ultra entrants were willing to go in the prone position or were EST graduates. I would realize later that it would be a sign of things to come.

 

The 50-Miler was scheduled to start at 8:00 AM, and to conclude by 5:30 PM, an elapsed time of 9 hours and 30 minutes. The New York City Department of Parks strongly prefers running events not to be held in the dark, hence the time limit. Since some entrants might not finish within the time limit, an early start at 6:30 AM was established. Early starters received instructions in the mail that they would be responsible to time and record their completed loops and provide their own refreshments during the time of 6:30 AM and 8:00 AM. Two early starters arrived without watches. Maybe they were thinking about using a sundial, but it was raining at the time.

 

The forecast for the day was not promising; rain, wet snow and high winds. Due to the possible conditions, I requested two tents from the NYRR archives to provide shelter to the scoring volunteers and for the runners belongings. But opening the tents reminded me of Charlie Brown opening the lawn chair on the Thanksgiving Special. I thought I might have to serve cereal and maybe toast as the post race meal. After 45 painstaking minutes, the tents were finally erected. Then, it stopped raining. Good thing. Each tent had a tear in the roof. Maybe the tears were there as a skylight.

 

The 8:00 AM start for the 50-Miler happened without fanfare. At one time, the Met 50 was the jewel of ultra running. It was the site of five National Championships, the Womens World Record and many National class performances. The event record of 5:09:58, set by Don Paul in 1980, is one of the all-time American ultra performances.

 

The 50-Miler start may have had little fanfare, but there was a hitch. I personally started the event, while clicking my watch. A race official simultaneously also started the digital timer, but the timer malfunctioned. We did have a backup. I gave the said official my watch to restart timer # 2, but he inadvertently stopped my watch. I thought our last resort might be the sundial. Luckily, another official ignited his stopwatch at the start, and at least there was one official time still operating. I immediately hired a Pinkerton Guard without airport experience to secure that watch.

 

The 50-Kilometer was scheduled to start at 9:00 AM. To complicate matters, the 50K start was mile away. Race officials scrambled to get all the entrants to the 50K start on time. Starting on time was another story. Its amusing, but when you are coordinating an event, things around you seemed to be going at 100 miles per hour. Sometimes, certain communications get lost in the translation. I thought I conveyed to the official with the watch and to the Pinkerton Guard, that the 50K started exactly one hour after the 50-Miler. I guess not. It was like the Tower of Babel or LIRR announcements to Babylon. The 50K started 44 seconds ahead of schedule. At that time, I was craving a bacon, double egg and cheese sandwich. I wanted a coronary. I also wanted to hail a cab home.

 

We got back to the finish line area to rally the scoring volunteers and to explain the snafu. It seemed the race demons were also affecting the entrants, especially with the wearing of the bib numbers. Some wore them under their jackets; others wore them half in their pants. One runner had his bib affixed to his leg with just one safety pin, and another had his bib upside down. Maybe these runners thought the scorers were super heroes or employees from Marvel Comics.

 

By 10:00 AM, I was able to calm the storm, and the race seemed to be running itself like it should. The weather, surprisingly, was cooperating. The temperatures were brisk, but there was a mixture of sun and clouds and no precipitation. I thought that maybe we would luck out. I thought too soon. The weather was not the problem. Securing the supply wagon was. One criterion of Metropolitan ultras is that they are very well stocked with food and drink during and after the race. But this time we would encounter our toughest challenge. The first distress signal came just after the noon hour. Were running low on peanut butter sandwiches and bananas at station one.

 

How can that be, I asked? I equipped the station with 360 mini sandwiches and 40 pounds of bananas. I have heard of tales of yore of combining the two items into a culinary delight, but not to this extent. Were we invaded by a mass of pre-schoolers on their way to recess? Before an emergency trip was summoned to the supermarket, there was another SOS. We need cookies! There were originally hundreds. How much is enough? Keebler elves had to be stirred. Something was drastically wrong. Was there outside pilferage, sabotage or Weight Watchers who were cheating?

 

Pilgrimages to the local Food Emporium were constant and so often, that I got to know the cashier personally. (Im meeting her parents next week.) Besides furnishing the aid stations, I also brought a Care package of goodies for the scorers and myself. Highly nutritious delicacies like Bugles, Hershey miniatures, M & Ms, Oreos, potato chips, pretzels, Ritz peanut butter crackers, etc. I donated them to the aid station cause. The above items were devoured in less than hour. Did the Pocono bears migrate east? Never, ever, ever in my 25 years as an ultra director, have I witnessed such a feeding frenzy and at such a rapid rate. Thank God, I didnt tell the runners the name of the aid station monitor was Raoul.

 

The ultra buffet was not just outdoors. Post race activities were at the NYRR Building on East 89^th Street, and included distribution of awards and refreshments. The refreshments were 12 gallons of tomato soup and 200 bagels with butter, cream cheese and jelly as condiments. It wasnt enough. We had to purchase more soup. No wonder, Mrs. Campbell said Buena Sera when she did.

 

After the event, I was somewhat upset that we originally did not have ample supplies. I realize the number of participants was high 148. But three years ago, the total of the two races had 169. I compared the inventory list from the 1999 event with the current and it was the same. And the 1999 races had leftovers. The only difference was the temperatures this year was 15-20 degrees colder. I guess the runners were using food (a lot of food) as fuel.

 

I also realize that we also must have done something right. Over 80% of the field finished. The completion rate was very satisfactory, considering the conditions. Thanks to the volunteers for providing their usual excellent support. There were also some very fine performances. Bob Sweeney ran virtually alone to win the 50-Miler in 6:04:27. Bob has won the Met twice before (once with an outstanding 5:38:41 clocking), and has been a member of the US World Cup 100K team. Another repeat Met winner was Hanna Ben-Shoan with a time of 7:29:26. Hanna has recently moved from Brooklyn to New Jersey and thrives on longer distances. Hans Put, at age 41, was the surprise 50K overall winner. He won convincingly by 10 minutes. Ellen McCurtin won the Kurt for the 3^rd time. Ellen owns the Central Park course records for 50K, 60K and 50 miles. Only the 100K mark has escaped her grasp.

 

The next BUS event will be the Queens Ultra Endurance Street Tour (QUEST) 50K on June 23, and the next NYRR ultra event will be the Knickerbocker 60K on November 30. There is no confirmation that the entry blanks to those races might say, Breakfast is your most important meal, but it is a thought.