In This Edition
Pace Setter : September 2020
Froggy Five Miler: Fractured Fairy Tales Part II
by Laura Clark
For the ARE’s first COVID event we were treated to Dodge the Deer, who, upon achieving Canadian drinking age status next year, hopes to take a field trip and return as a bona fide Great White Stag of the Forest. Not sure if that will work out given current COVID status, but at any rate, his fans will be cheering him on.
Dodge was followed up in good order by the Froggy Five at the SUNY property in North Creek, again private land that was happy to welcome properly masked runners practicing social distancing measures. Our froggy is not your ordinary swamp croaker, diminutive tree climber or aristocratic home pond resident, but big and sturdy and green. One might be tempted to make comparisons to the fairy tale Frog Prince, but that is missing the point entirely. The frog prince was clearly uncomfortable in his skin; our Froggy is not. More like the frog in the popular series, The Land of Stories, where the prince, the fourth son of King Charles Charming, chooses to remain in his green form, but still wins the hand of Red, one of the four princesses of the land. Good for him. But I prefer to picture our froggy as a giant Sesame Street Kermit, full of good will tinged with a touch of sentimental reflection.
While normally the culmination of ARE’s Running Camp extended weekend, this year Froggy featured no sleepy overnighters, but instead produced a hilly hard-packed dirt road half marathon to share the spotlight. Picture the Vermont 100 or Black Cat Marathon in Dorset and you will get the idea. Not sure if it will attract next year’s campers, but the Looney Tunes Road Runner comes to mind as a truth-in-advertising mascot.
Getting back to Froggy, this event is not recommended for a first-time trail runner or first timer at a five-mile distance, with pinwheel twists, lots of boulder climbs and enough hopping over rocks and roots to challenge any green amphibian. Run these five miles and you will be as spent as if you had run ten. Nevertheless, I love this race for its challenge and the fact that it is very doable, as long as you enter with the attitude that you can endure anything for five miles. Plus, at that length you can give each obstacle its due as you don’t have to save your energy for longer hours down the road.
Usually the rock hopping stands out for me, but this year my favorite section was the Magical Mystery Tour through the swamp and the lake. It had rained briefly that morning and you could inhale the extra life-boosting oxygen emanating from the water. I marveled at all the water lilies and the amazingly thick carpet of pine needles underfoot, almost like I was running on a reverse cloud. And then it dawned on me. Since the private land had been pretty much forbidden territory during COVID isolation, there had been no swimmers to disturb the lily pads and no eager picnickers dragging kayaks over the pine needles. It was like the world was born again and we were its first inhabitants.
I eagerly awaited my customary high five with our Disney Mascot-sized Froggy, as he usually stakes a claim to one of the wooden bridges spanning the lake, but he failed to make an appearance. Josh, the race director, chalked it up to poor nutrition. I guess with so few tourists he had to move elsewhere for his summertime junk food fix. Bugs can only take a guy so far in life.
Once more, Josh produced a sustainable event, with carry-your-own-water and leftover race bibs. Once more, we were recipients of the Fort Bragg, North Carolina 10 Miler leftovers. I always wonder about that event. These guys are soldiers who have a physical fitness requirement, yet so many seem to be no shows. Maybe they just get suddenly deployed. At any rate, after the race, I drove off in search of a Stewarts and some ice cream. I neglected to remove my bib, thinking it would be pretty cool to show up with a race number since there were so few races being held. Make people wonder. I imagine it did, as only afterwards did I remember that North Carolina was one of the NYS travel-quarantined naughty states. Here I show up, dusty clothes, mussed hair, looking for all the world like I had just arrived. But I did have my mask and they still served me!
On the start line, Josh asked first-time froggers to raise their hand, and to my surprise, about a third of the participants did. I guess one of the few good things about COVID is that it is getting more people exercising. And I believe that this response is in no small measure due to the Albany Running Exchange’s sterling reputation for taking all the steps necessary to keep their runners safe. I know there are now starting to be other races out there, but if I do not know the club or the race director, I am hesitant to participate, especially as an older runner. But Josh’s events are totally safe, not quite the same, but still immensely satisfying. And best of all, he hinted at the possibility of more pop-ups to come!
Results
Name Age Sex City State Time
Josh Merlis37MAlbanyNY0:38:38291
Mike Slinskey50MHopewell Jct.NY0:43:04336
Jonathan Guthan42MScotiaNY0:44:55458
Josh Myers28M0:45:50531
Joshua Farrell44MAlbanyNY0:45:57648
Kyle McCormack24MAlbanyNY0:46:44710
Courtney Breiner22FTroyNY0:47:20889
Anthony Pasqualina29MAlbanyNY0:50:17959
David Newman39MAlbanyNY0:50:261042
John Kinnicutt56MMenandsNY0:51:371121
Denis Cote48MEast BerneNY0:51:481278
Emily Taft28FAlbanyNY0:51:551396
Paul Houlian46MSaraliagoNY0:52:561493
Nicholas Lobosco37MBallston SpaNY0:53:311592
Justine Lobosco35FBallston SpaNY0:53:341656
Alanna Moss42FKinderhookNY0:53:581749
Kara McKnight26FAlbanyNY0:54:061853
Brittany Meyer36FWashingtonDC0:54:47198
Jeremy Barnes40MValley FallsNY0:56:222097
Joseph Murphy40MTroyNY0:57:162127
Jim Devine59MEast BerneNY0:57:312286
Frank Woods58MRensselaerNY0:58:032377
Steven Sweeney64MDelansonNY0:58:342494
Brian Kearns47MNY1:00:082517
Jeff Clark61MGlenmontNY1:01:002635
Laura Glasper40FManotickON1:01:262760
Tammy O'Grady47FManotickON1:01:262866
John Seigle52MCold BrookNY1:02:352970
David SherwoodM1:03:283045
Jane Labombard46FGlens FallsNY1:04:003154
Matthew Miczek47MSaratoga SpringsNY1:04:053226
Theresa Delorenzo41FWaterfordNY1:04:323390
Patricia Gundlach47FScotiaNY1:05:043441
Brian Kelly50MAlbanyNY1:05:413525
Amy Dellio43FValley FallsNY1:06:11366
Colin Baril45MOttawaON1:06:173795
Dave Wilber60MEast GreenbushNY1:06:40387
Mathew Baril45MOttawaON1:06:503923
Karen CutlerF1:06:564055
Erika Morris40FWinchesterON1:07:094111
Lee Briggs41FBallston SpaNY1:08:354281
Neil Tyrrell44MSaratoga SpringsNY1:08:364339
M Claire Henderson70FSaratoga SpringsNY1:08:544471
Kaoru Shodai48FMiddletownNY1:11:454538
Gina Heid48FBallston SpaNY1:12:034614
Natalie Burns25FGainesvilleFL1:12:324722
Aoife Cullen41FWashingtonDC1:13:044864
Deb Robertson48FLake KatrineNY1:14:264920
Lara Comithier52FGreenvilleNY1:15:07501
Valerie Abel55FBrooklynNY1:15:205130
Amy Dunnavant43FGuilderlandNY1:15:255219
Glenda Cohen57FFloral ParkNY1:16:005367
Lisa Seigle52FCold BrookNY1:16:135483
Lisa Wasmund36FRussellON1:16:535587
Brenda Woodside42FWorcesterMA1:17:025672
William Speidel56MNorfolkVA1:17:315746
Vic Laport79MClarksburgMA1:18:155869
Kevin Shatley60MSchenectadyNY1:19:335963
Robin Riley55FArmonkNY1:20:316034
Michael Garone59MCommackNY1:21:176173
Jeremy Steuer38MAlbanyNY1:21:276216
Marie Cater42FMiddleburghNY1:21:356340
Keri Jones39FRichmondvilleNY1:21:356482
Deb Valois48FSchenectadyNY1:21:356515
Lindsay Cartmill32FPoughquagNY1:21:376650
Maria McLaughlin51FRockawayNJ1:21:456743
Marcin Kosz39MDiamond PointNY1:23:226847
Bethany Mazura42FAlbanyNY1:24:226918
Laura Clark72FSaratoga SpringsNY1:25:16709
Paula Boughtwood58FRensselaerNY1:25:227188
Joe Yavonditte70MSchenectadyNY1:27:457265
Nadine Schwartz56FCortlandt ManorNY1:28:547337
Amberlynne Hadigan45FHyde ParkNY1:30:467432
Amy Forgea30FRensselaerNY1:31:007568
Carol Shatley59FSchenectadyNY1:32:567633
Andrea Forman56FHuntingtonNY1:49:257744
Amy Kramer56FBrooklynNY1:49:257862
Jenn Pritchard42FMetcalfeON1:51:007913
Cynthia Burns60FFalconerNY1:52:508085
Susan Wong72F1:52:51
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