| 27th Gazette Stockade-athon 15K |
| Schenectady, New York - November 10, 2002 |
| by Walter Cicha |
| On an unseasonably warm Indian summer day in November, forty-seven exceptionally fit and talented people ran 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) in less than one hour through the streets of one of America’s historic gems. Not unlike the sub-3 hour marathon, the sub-38 minute 10 K, the sub-18 minute 5 K, the sub-5 minute mile or the sub 1-minute 400 meters, this is a feat strived for by most dedicated recreational runners yet accomplished by only a few over a lifetime of running. Nearly 5 % of the 979 hard-working runners who finished the 27th Stockade-athon 15 K a week ago Sunday earned this impressive distinction. Two highly admirable ladies were amongst them. An elite group of five stormed the Central Park finish line in less than 50 minutes, an unimaginable achievement for all but a multi-sigma (perhaps not quite 6) outlier of runners. The caliber of talent that turned out to run the race this year, as in most previous years, says a lot about the magnetism and consequent success of Schenectady’s stellar running event. |
| Owing to a multitude of reasons too involved to list here, I did not run in the great race of one week ago. In all honesty, I have never run this race. I moved to Schenectady in July of 2000, but a series of hurdles – real and imaginary – sadly kept me out of the 25th and 26th running of the race as well. Last Sunday I grabbed my 60-300 mm zoom lens and instead took race photos from deep within the 340 year-old Stockade district. Along with numerous other proud Stockade residents, curious observers and supporters, I positioned myself in the little square at the confluence of Front, Green and Ferry Streets to await the arrival of the speed demons who would be leading the pack from the northeast down Front Street. I was also joined there by Lawrence “the Indian,” who has silently cheered on many thousands of runners from his perfect perch halfway into the racecourse for the past twenty-seven years of his 115-year long stoic existence, and no doubt will continue to do so as long as the race passes through one of America’s most endearing and oldest neighborhoods. |
| At 10:52 a.m. by my watch, the flashing lights of the lead vehicle appeared. Its advance seemed unreasonably fast as I struggled to optimize my camera settings in time to capture the lead runners just behind it. I barely had enough time to snap a couple quick photos, determine that the lead pack had five runners comprising it, and recognize two of them as Chris Hartshorn and Peter Flynn, the former of course being GE’s current top running star and the latter one from the recent past (as many of you know, Peter the Great left GE last year for an opportunity in Colorado). The speed demons’ pace was furious, while the effortless smoothness of their gait was a real joy to watch. By the time I could say, “Way to go Chris, keep it going Pete!” they were too far down Front Street to hear me! “Sub 5-minute miles,” I almost involuntarily yelled out to some of the other observers, taking a premeditated guess (definitely not one from personal experience…). |
| What seemed like many minutes later (but was actually only a couple), two unusually bright orange and oscillating objects appeared in my zoom lens viewfinder. The observers around me who did not have the luxury of my magnifying lens were greatly confused by this, not quite knowing what it was that approached us along Front Street. I soon recognized the enigmatic items as the eccentrically decorated shoes of an unexpectedly lone runner. Not long after, the abandoned Stockade-athoner turned out to be none other than GE’s other Chris the running star, Chris Molaison. He seemed very appreciative of my loud cheer – I really felt for him as he braced to run four plus more miles (with a large portion uphill) at 5 – 6 minute mile pace, by himself. Not at all a pleasant thought. Chris and his magical shoes prevailed, and went on to finish in highly respectable 6th place with a time of 50:57. It was nearly two more minutes before the next runner appeared, after a somewhat eerie silence of anticipation. |
| Perhaps the most memorable sight from my “Indian” perch was that of Lori Hewig, perhaps in 25th place overall, showing obvious signs of discomfort but moving with speed and power that I could only dream to match. At age 42, Ms. Hewig, the holder of the almost decade old Stockade-athon course record of 51:34 for women, held on to again win the women’s race this year, finishing in a phenomenal 57:27, good for 29th place overall. This year’s women’s competition was quite unusual and remarkable, in that the top three finishers -- Lori Hewig, Diane Legare (58:47) and GE’s own Beth Stalker (62:24) – were all Master runners! In fact, Ms. Legare is considered one of the world’s best in the > 50-year age group and based on age-graded results, she would have been the overall winner of the race (in a graded time of 46:20!). Furthermore, if age-graded, Ms. Hewig would have finished 10th overall while our own Ms. Stalker would have finished 20th. The average age for these top three women finishers was a truly astounding 45.3 years, while the top ten women averaged 38.2 years! Something is amiss here. What happened to the 20-something women runners? Without question, the Stockade-athon women leaders are exceptional in their seemingly timeless ability, but the paucity of competitive young female runners nevertheless is puzzling and somewhat troubling. |
| An analysis of the men’s results leads to a less dramatic but nevertheless similar puzzle. The average age of the top 50 male finishers was 36.4 years. The top 25 men averaged 33.2 years of age while the top 10 averaged a more understandable 28.9 years. Thus, on first approximation, the fastest 5 % male and female runners in the 27th Stockade-athon averaged 37 years of age. This is quite incredible, especially when one stops to think that current life expectancy in Ethiopia, a country known for its production of some of the world’s fastest young runners, is only 39 years of age for men and 42 years for women! I bring up this fact for one reason: we as Americans should be eternally grateful for how lucky we are, not only to remain alive beyond forty as an expectation but, in many cases, to retain the dynamic health and vitality of youth well beyond that age. The “advanced age” of the race’s top performers is further indicated by the age-graded results, which reveal that the average age of the top ten age-graded finishers was 40.7 years of age – the top 50 averaged 44.1 years! |
| As the race progressed, the runner density grew exponentially. It became very difficult to identify individuals, as the runners were often five deep when they passed by “the Indian” and me. I did manage to spot (and photograph) fellow GE runners and chemists Robert Colborn (30th place, 22nd age-graded – you almost beat her, Rob!) and Larry Lewis (441st), as well as a number of acquaintances not lucky enough to work at GE. The field thickened and then thinned out again at the end, and everyone appeared to be having a great time. The runners beamed their sweaty smiles while the observers cheered their continuous support. Whether they ran 5-minute miles or 5 miles an hour, everyone in the race looked like a winner and was a winner. It was a perfect day for a great race in a beautifully haunting American neighborhood. Next year, I thought… |
| I did not make it to the finish line but news of the exciting events there reached me quickly. GE’s speedy maverick Chris Hartshorn had done it again, in an awe-inspiring race to the tape. Seemingly toying with the competition, as he appears to have done in most of his races this year, Chris topped the #2 finisher Kevin Collins by a mere 11 seconds, finishing in a time of 47:15. This is the fastest time in this race since 1997, and the winner left at least one other national caliber runner behind in the process… Chris is becoming known for his tight victories, appearing to expend only as much effort as he needs to win. The 2003 Utica Boilermaker awaits! And then? |