Weekend Two

With rain the last 22 out of 24 days there has been absolutely nothing to look foward to. Unless your a runner on the Sayville Running Company team, then there is always something to look foward to. Before I can look foward I must look to the past and share with you the details.

For starters lets go back to Thursday of last week when the WeatherMen were calling for a weekend that was going to be a wash out. That was not making me happy. When it finally came to Race Day Saturday, the rain was no where to be seen. However its ugly step sister was here, Heat and Humidity. When I felt the thickness of the air that morning I was hoping for some type of drizzle to happen, unfortunately that was not going to happen.

When I arrived at the SHWACHMAN DIAMOND DASH I went over to the registration and signed up table. After signing up I headed to the SRC tent to start my stretches. While I was stretching everyone started turning up. While this wasn't a team race it was a Sayville Summer Series Race and also a LITF individual points race so the SRC gang was out in force.

My duty for the race was to pace Paul Murphy to a 518 first mile, to help him get under his 1630 goal. Kevin Beach was going to see how long he could hang on with us. Adam was going to work with Soltan to get him around the course at a good clip. Chaklos, Karnik, Connors and several other SRC Racers were out there to lay down a good time.

The race went off, and the best part was that an Old Man in cargo pants and a polo shirt sprinted to the front. He ran with the leader for a quater of a mile, all while he had his keys, cell phone and change gingling in his pocket. Once that was done with I settled at the front of a pack filled with Murph, Beach, and a ton of high school kids, I was running at a pace that I thought was hard enough to get Murphy to his goal. Unfortunately we reached the mile about 10 seconds off, at that point I surged to the 2 mile and continued from there. I was starting to feel good and looking to push it over the last kilometer of the race.

As we approached the turn around I was getting ready to dig in. We turned around and crossed onto the other side of the road onto new fresh black top. That was were my energy and many other runners energy was sapped from them. I coasted in unsatisfied with the job I did out there. Murphy was 20 seconds off his goal, however Beach hung in there long enough to have a stellar time. He recorded a personal best by 17 seconds lowering it to 17:11. So good job beach.

Overall this race was freaking awesome, it has a great vibe to it. The amount of support for the race was tremendous. It was so good that they did not have enough chips and race numbers. Check out the results to the Diamond Dash. It was a great job done by the Kolar Family, Congratulations to a Race well done.

With two races down in the Sayville Summer Series, it is heating up, two 4 milers remain. Before then you can check the SRC Racers out at the Firecracker 5k on July 5th. The SRC team will be out in full force and is looking to dominate the race. See you all there!

Sayville Racing Team Weekend One

This weekend marked the unofficial start to the Long Island road racing scene. There was so many races to choose from and so much to decided on. This weekend the Sayville Running Company was hosting the first race of the Sayville Summer Series, but more importantly it was their race, the Keith Kintzel 5k Memorial Run. Being a part of the SRC team it was my pleasure to be a part of such a great event.

With many races to choose from on this weekend it made the decision easier. However there then came a hard one. The following day in New Hyde Park there was a teams point race, we needed to get in on for much needed points in the series. So some of us took on the duties of running twice.

The weather over the weekend was beautiful, a little warm for racing but who am I to complain. Like I stated earlier the Keith Nintzel 5k started the weekend off strong. It was a great showing of people both competitively and recreationally. Many came out to show the support of the schloraship fund and the Sayville community. It was definately a nice thing to be a part of.
The race for the 6th time in a row did not dissappoint. Brian Dalpiaz, Sayville High School Class of 2003, took the win for the second straight year in a time of 15:22, a new course record. Brian is quoted as saying "I shut it down in the last mile." With that one can only wonder how low Brian can bring the course record to.

Second overall in the race was James Baracca, a graduate of the Sachem School District in 2004. This was James' first time on the course and he faired pretty well. He is the second fastest preson to run the course other than Brian Dalpiaz. James was happy with the way the race went and happy with the competitive nature of the race. He looks forward to the next race in Sayville.

Following the first two spots in the race was a slew of SRC singlets. This was the teams first time out this season in full force and they made a statement. They racked up the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 17th positions. Many other SRC singlets followed. For most of the team they are training thourgh this race and looking forward to the end of summer when the heavy hitting starts.

A special thanks must be sent out to Brendan Barrett and Ryan Soltan who are the faces behind the scenes. They get a lot of help from the community but these guys get it all together and make the show run smoothly. Without their great efforts the race would not be what it is. Even with all the duties of the race director they still had time to jump on the line and take part in the race. Great Job B and Soltan!

There are many other thanks to be sent out but all in all it was a community effort. Some other notable SRC contributions to the race was the Pace Car from Tommy "Two Tone" Nettuno for leading the way in his Mustang with the two Red Bull girls in the back seat. Also a thanks to Q for a great job on the shirts and glasses. He also did a great jump announcing the race as it came toward the finish line. I believe he is taking the spot of Terry for the rest of the Summer Series.

While this day was a great race for SRC some of us decided to volunteer to run a teams point race the following day in New Hyde Park. It is an 8k race distance and we needed the points. With the team point season in full swing we needed to get out there and get after it. We thought that Bellmore would be out in full force but that was wrong. The team that we had to worry about was We Are Athletes. While standing on the line talking to Chris Mammone he filled us in on the fact that Bellmore did not have an open team in the race. It felt like a ten ton brick was lifted off my back.

The race went well for SRC, we were led home by Adam Seipola's 2nd overall finshes. He was followed by myself in 3rd place, Kevind Beach in 11th and Karnik in 23rd. However it is not the place finishes that matter but the times. The times for the SRC guys were 26:48, 27:20, 30:11, and 32:58. All great efforts by the four guys that were out there on the 8k course.

I am almost certain that our times were fast enough to bring home the 100 points for the team.

After that long weekend of racing I am ready to take a nice easy week of training and get ready for the Diamond Dash on June 20th. I look forward to seeing you all there.