The official results have yet to be posted, but here are
some preliminary thoughts on this morning’s inaugural Walkway Marathon –
marathon, half marathon and 5K. The marathon and half marathon started and
finished at the Marist riverfront – a la the Red Fox Trot. The Treetops to
Rooftops 5K started on the Highland side of the Walkway Over the Hudson and
finished at the riverfront. The race had a Red Fox Trot feel to it – in some
ways smaller and in most ways larger. Smaller: Marist Running (former, current,
etc.) was well represented here, but not in the voluminous numbers we get for
the Fox Trot. Larger: Well. Geez! This was the largest road race in Dutchess
County history, with close to 2,500 runners in the three races; that's about 10 times the size of the biggest Fox Trot.
The general consensus for this first-time event was a
rousing thumb’s up. The logistics of this race are complicated, but the Walkway
staff and their army of volunteers (I saw a pre-race memo from the race
director that detailed volunteer assignments … the document was close to 30
pages!) worked with professional precision. I did not race (obviously) and I
did not stay for the whole event (Little League, etc.), but from my narrow
perspective it was well run. Any first-time race glitches will probably be
ferreted out in the coming days and weeks, and I am certain they will be improved
upon by the Walkway folks; they are extremely professional, as I said. Right
now, my early thought is to promote this event heavily among our alumni base
and make this the new go-to (or come-back-to) road race on the calendar for Marist
Running. There is another reason for that, which I will detail at a later date.
Suffice it to say: The Walkway race is here to stay, and I think we in the
Marist Running world should embrace it with all of our collective feet.
As I said already: Our small band of Marist Running repped
us tremendously this morning. Marist Running Royalty Will Griffin came home to
win the half marathon in 1:11:40; it was so great to see Will and see him running strong as usual. Current rising sophomore Steven Rizzo won the
5K in 15:38ish. Mr. Bucket (“David Swift”) was third in the marathon, running
audaciously without a shirt, in 3:00:41.
It was a great day for the First Family of Marist Running, the Goulds; Chris Gould
celebrated his 54th birthday with a half marathon. Dude’s my hero;
he just keeps on keepin’ on and does not visibly age despite the numbers
increasing on his calendar. His daughters Annie and Kelley ran great – Annie, an
XC captain this fall, is in the early stages of her XC season prep; Kell ran
surprisingly strong considering how busy her life is. Kathy (mom) ran her own
5K in the morning (not on the Walkway) and was the rock solid support system
for us all, as usual.
Former and current men tore it up in the half marathon:
Billy Posch was third in 1:15 and change (sorry, I will update with official
times at some point). Recent grad Ken Walshak was fifth, current senior/team
captain Omar Perez punched in with a strong 1:18ish. Luke Shane will forever
wear Marist Alumni Racing Team singlets from now on (right, Luke?); he did
great, as did Hild, Chomps and Lurch – great to have them all back on campus
and running and racing strong.
Marist Running Alum Dayna McLaughlin was among the top women
in the half marathon, and current team member/captain Lizzy Peper had a strong
long run (her dad came and ran as well). Colleen Ryan (she’s getting married, at Marist, in
four weeks!) and Lindsay Moreau came back home to run the half marathon. Rising
senior Catherine Ferreri had a strong run in the 5K; her dad, Fast Tony, ran a
strong half marathon as well.
And lest we leave out rising senior Ricky Willi, who decided
(against this old man’s wishes!) to run the marathon. He finished in 3:10:40ish,
said he had a great experience, and hopes to round up alums for next year. Good
idea, Ricky; let’s hope you recover sufficiently from this!
I sincerely hope I did not forget anyone; it’s entirely
possible that I did. If so! I will make up for it coming posts, along with
official results. Once more, as I said: I want this to be the de facto Alumni
Weekend for Marist Running in the future. It’s a great time of year, a great
event and there are several choices of distances. More later ...
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