Run To Home Plate

Attention Hellgate Road Runners!

According to the website of the New York Road Runners the Mets Run to Home Plate has been postponed until further notice.

What follows is the message from the message from the NYRR website:

NYRR/NY Mets Run to Home Plate Postponed; Updates to Follow. NYRR regrets to announce that due to unforeseen conflicts with other city events, the NYRR/NY Mets Run to Home Plate will not take place on Sunday, July 22. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by this unexpected change. The race will be moved to a later date (TBD). Entries may be automatically transferred to the new date; or, NYRR will be happy to transfer any entry to the Run for Central Park 4M on Saturday, July 21, or to issue a coupon good for any future (weekly) race upon request. Please contact Janet Cupo at jcupo@nyrr.org.

The status of Club Points races is being resolved; watch this page for updates soon. When the race date and Club Points race determinations are made, an e-mail will be sent to all registered NYRR/NY Mets Run to Home Plate entrants. Team runners should wait until a determination is made tomorrow, July 18, before contacting us as to their decision.

Hellgate Takes the Tin: 70.3 Miles Later

Five Hellgaters crossed the finish line of the 2007 Tupper Lake Tinman Triathlon which consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, & 13.1 mile run.

Eamonn and Josh made the 6 hour drive up through the Adirondacks to compete in their first Tinman, while Janine, Joel, and Raul (and his friend Nicholas, honorary Hellgater) returned to remind Tupper Lake just what these Queens residents could do! Standing on the side lines for moral support were Salena, Nazly, and Jessica.

Eamonn is known for his determination and dig deep strength as well for his enjoyment of beer, but did his stamina and grit get him through the 70.3 miles of his first Tinman Tri?

"Having arrived the day before the event to pick up our numbers, Josh and I stared at the swim course and noticed that we couldn't see the turnaround point. This made me a little bit nervous, and I was wondering what the hell I had signed up for.

The morning of the race, the strategy was simply not to drown, and then take the race from there. So after 50 minutes of splashing and a lot of drinking of lake water, the first event was complete. The bike course was described as “rolling hills”; this was a bit of an understatement since we were in the Adirondack Mountains!!! Over 3 hours later, at a reasonable pace of 18 mph, the bike course was complete. The run was a challenging course and having spent 4 hours already at the swim and bike, a PR was not going to be in the cards! But I was able to maintain an even pace of 9 minutes per mile (with frequent breaks at each water station). At 1 hour and 57 minutes and some seconds, the Tinman was complete.

Overall the experience, although very challenging, was a good one. Special thanks have to go out to our teammates and our supporters for the cheering through a very tough day." – Eamonn

Now, just why would someone take on a Tinman having NEVER competed triathlon before?

"With 4 marathons under my belt I really wanted a big athletic challenge before our first baby is born this autumn -- and Tinman was just that!

All through my training I was pretty intimidated by the prospect of racing 70.3 miles. When I first saw the swim course my fears were absolutely confirmed.

Having the support, training companionship and advise of the other Hellgater's was invaluable. Tinman was one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences of my life." – Josh

Please check out Josh’s blog for his more in depth race report! So, the first timers came in at 6:04 and 5:45; not too shabby! Could the course get the better of the Tupper Lake veterans? Could they get to the course? Janine’s race report sums it up nicely!

"The ride up Tupper Lake was a crawl, and 8 hours later it was a total nightmare. Joel was doing 80mph in a 40mph zone. We barely made it to the carboload dinner and picking up our race packets. After I got my blood circulating in my legs after the drive, we relaxed to eat dinner. After chilling for a bit at the expo, it was about 9pm. We decided it's time to check into the motel. Back in the car for a 20 minute drive!

We arrived at Long Lake Motel. I went to the front desk to get the key. Joel said you go check out the room and I'll start unloading the car. Well, I came back to Joel and found Jessica, Eamonn, Josh, and Salena along side him. I was fit to be tide with the room accommodations and made it known in front of everyone. I stormed to the front desk; there were no other rooms, so we had no choice but to stay in this shack. My night's sleep was a horror, but thank God for Jared's philopshy (get a good night’s sleep 2 nights before a race because the night before you will not sleep). He was right, and the night was LONG!!

At the sound of the alarm, we got ready, and we were on our way to Tupper Lake. The morning had a nice chill which felt great. My thought was "Yes! I won't be running in 90 degrees this year!" We arrived and went to get body marked and our chips put on. We went back to the car to get our bikes, and then we headed to the transition area. I had a great spot, and poor Joel was in the old man's land. I met my neighbors, Coleen and Tish. They were very chatty which was fine since it relaxed me. They asked me "what is my time today?" I told them "I'm going to enjoy the race, and I want to feel good." (My inner soul had one set time and that was a 6:30, but no pressure.)

I was waiting in my corral with Raul to start the swim. I did feel butterflies but felt pretty relaxed for the most part. We were next to enter the lake, and as I turned the corner, there's Nazly. It was so amazing to see her, then I saw Jessica and Salena further down. I felt great and no sign of anxiety. The horn went off and there I went... I started nice and slow and then hammered away. My poor shoulders did NOT like it very much, but I told them I have a race to do. The navigation going out was great, and I hit every buoy, but when we turned around the sun was glaring. It was very hard to navigate, but I said all I have to do is follow the people in front (hoping they were going the right way). I saw the end and said "Yeah! Finally." I exited out of the lake and made my way to my bike.

I zipped out of my wetsuit and made my way to start my bike. The thought entered "Oh boy, I'll be out here for 3:30 hours or so. I better make the best of it! Visualize that I am on a nice long bike ride with my friends!" I made sure I fueled every hour by eating a cliff bar (thanks, Bex!). Some of these hills were never-ending, but I thought positive all the way through. I approached the end of my bike ride and saw Jessica on her bike cheering and then saw Nazly at the transitiion area. As I got off the saddle I couldn't believe the pain; it's indescribable, but she said "Hey! You are a runner; this is where you got it, girl!" Thanks, Nazly; I'm glad you had faith in me, but the thought of running 13.1 miles did not register well yet.

So I start the run and to my surprise I felt decent but did experience a nagging numbness in my foot. At the first mile I had to stop because the pain in my foot was unbearable. I stopped several other times to loosen my laces and massage my foot to get circulation flowing. I finally decided that I have to put the numbness on a back burner and run this race, so that is what I did. I was passing everyone a long the way. It's like they were running in place! There was not one person that passed me. The mile markers were few and far between. I hit mile 2, then 5, and at one point I had to ask what mile mark I was at. Then I saw mile 6; the next mile marker was 8 then mile marker 9, but after 9 I never saw another mile marker! Then to see Jess directing us, I was very surprised to see her. I asked one volunteer what mile again, and she said I'm finishing mile 11. That mile 11 felt long then at the next water station I asked what mile only to hear that I have one more mile left! Not that I would have been able to gauge my pace after biking 56 miles, but the unknown helped me mentally.

I looked at my watch to see the time and that I had one more mile left, I cranked it up a bit. Realization was beginning to set in. I was so excited to see by my watch that I was going to finish around 6:20! And that I did (exactly 6:20:34)!

As I approached the finish line, I hear the cheers from Joel and my teammates. It was such a great feeling and what a sigh of relief. I made my way to Joel & my teammates, and we all were hugging each other. I kept on screaming “I shaved off 40 minutes from last year!” YES! YES! YES! I still can't believe it!" – Janine

Joel finished up with an amazing time of 5:35:53 and Raul rounded out the Hellgate finishers with a solid time of 7:07:13! (By the way Raul looked so refreshed after the race! It goes to show what great shape he’s in!) for more see the Tinman results:

Now, will the fabulous 5 return next year and with more recruits?

July 4th

Have a safe and happy Independence Day!

Hellgate Dominates at Need For Speed

El Mustafa plus Bishop plus Bishop plus Moeller plus Volik plus Hughes plus Wizeman plus Paulis plus Starkes equals…victory.

“A great team effort”—that’s how team captain, Maritza Bishop puts it. She was of course describing the Hellgate victory at the competitive and rapidly growing Need for Speed Relay—a 50+ mile, 9 person relay, run from the Northern most section of Westchester all the way to the Long Island Sound in New Rochelle. The annual event is sponsored by Avon and endorsed by Joe Torre, the manager of the New York Yankees. The event raises thousands of dollars to help prevent domestic violence, but once the gun goes off, it is a race that is all about winning.

Commenting on the team’s dramatic come from behind win, the confident captain noted that, “in order to win an event like this you need a solid team 1 through 9. This year I wanted to win the whole event and not just co-ed. I knew it would be tough with so many all-male teams but I felt we could go the distance with the 9 talented runners on Team Hellgate. Naturally, there are stand-outs and to win you need the superstars, but to make it work you need solid runners who can give a solid performance. Going into it I knew we would be the team to beat but we just had to prove it. And we did.”

The race had a staggered start with six heats, so the more competitive teams started later than the lower seeded squads. Since Team Hellgate was in the fastest heat, they started as much as an hour and 15 minutes behind other teams. So in order to cross the line first, they had an enormous amount of ground to make up. But the combination of superstar and steady performances necessary to pull it off were plentiful and ultimately the team was able to make up the entire stagger.

The team proved to be steady because no Hellgate runner finished less than 24th in their segment out of the 130+ competitors in each stage and almost every Hellgater placed in the top ten percent of their respective heats. But perhaps more impressive were those standout moments. 1st leg winner El Mustafa, beat the next best runner in his segment by over 2 and ½ minutes—an astounding feat considering the depth of talent in that heat. 2nd stage standout, Mike Bishop, tackled one of the most challenging and competitive legs in the relay, a course lined with rocky trails and unmarked paths, and helped push the team closer to the front of the pack. The Hellgate ladies stayed competitive and kept the team in a secure position before Andrei Volik took the fifth leg, winning that leg overall and getting the team within real striking distance. It was at that point when Captain Maritza felt that victory was in sight. “We began the race 1 hour and 15 minutes behind the first wave, but by the time Matt (Wizeman) finished his leg we were in 1st place overall!” But perhaps the most exciting leg of the relay was the final stage, where Kevin Starkes, who began the leg over three minutes off the pace, managed to take both his heat and bring home the gold for team Hellgate.

Hellgate’s 12 second margin of victory was particularly sweet, since they were the only co-ed squad on the podium. Sweeter still was the fact that they were able to avenge the team that was the overall winner last year when Hellgate took first in the co-ed division but was third overall.

-by Maritza Bishop and Matthew Wizeman

20 Questions with Alan Wagman

Q: What is your name?
A: Alan Wagman

Q: What do you do for a living?
A: Retail software training and support for Bed, Bath, and Beyond

Q: When did you start running?
A: 1993

Q: Why did you start running?
A: A co-worker who was a seasoned runner was putting together a team for a corporate challenge race and said I should do it. I did and have been running pretty much ever since.

Q: When did you join the Hellgate Road Runners?
A: October 2004

Q: Do you like to run in the morning or evening?
A: Evening but will do mornings to accommodate other evening activities.

Q: In a typical week how many miles do you run?
A: Currently about 30-35

Q: Do you crosstrain?
A: Generally not although I am attempting a biathlon.

Q: What is your favorite running shoe? How many pairs do you have?
A: I run in the Asics 2100 series (currently 2120) and Mizuno Wave Precision. I have more pairs lying around than I care to count!

Q: Have you ever had any running injuries?
A: Again more than I care to count. IT Band many times, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures (both shins at the same time), and the list goes on and on...

Q: How did you overcome the injury?
A: Cortisone is a beautiful thing!

Q: Do you subscribe to Runners World Magazine? If so, do you like it?
A: Yes I subscribe and I hate it. I bought the subscription from my nephew.

Q: Do you have any habits or rituals you do before working out?
A: None to speak of. At best I am an inconsistent stretcher!

Q: After a workout, what do you do with your sweaty running gear?
A: Hang it on a door knob in my apartment to dry and then wash it with my weekly laundry.

Q: What race or races are you looking forward to this year?
A: NYC Marathon and Fairfield, Queens, and Staten Island 1/2s.

Q: Do you have a sports hero or idol? Who is it?
A: The Spaceman, Bill Lee. For those who are not baseball fans, Bill Lee was a Red Sox pitcher in the 70's. He was a lefty (like me) who threw an amazing arcing curveball (the eephus) at a very slow rate of speed. He was a little off-kilter as well, hence the nickname. Warren Zevon also wrote a song about him.He was a favorite of mine growing up.

Q: What dream race or races would you like to do in your lifetime?
A: I would like to run a marathon somewhere in Europe, perhaps Ireland, Greece, or Germany.

Q: You recently ran the Boston Marathon. Please tell us about your experience.
A: I truly felt humbled by the distance for the first time in my career (8 marathons). I last ran Boston in 1998 and those 10 years really showed themselves this time around. I started strong and crashed early! I had a lot of fun but my time was far from what I hoped to run. Given the tough weather conditions and the difficult course, I shook off my disappointment quickly and I am glad I ran this race again. I grew up in the Boston area and love running that course.

Q: Describe your favorite, or most memorable, running experience.
A: Qualifying for Boston in 1997 is a favorite memory as are the many times I have run a race in Westchester called the Leatherman's Loop, a challenging 10K cross country run through the mud and rivers of Pound Ridge Reservation in Katonah.

Q: In 10 words or less, please tell us why you run.
A: I find great joy and energy in running.