02/24/2024 Indianapolis IN
A brisk morning and a new course greeted over 240 Masters athletes on Saturday morning, February 24th in Atlanta. Staged out of the Home Depot Backyard of Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Athletes set off with high enthusiasm. All times are gun time except age grading which is net time.
OVERALL With a new separate start ahead of the Men’s race, the front end of the Women’s field charged up the first incline with determination, knowing they would have two challenging hills to climb later in the race. April Lund does not like to lose! Coming off a bronze medal overall performance at the USATF Cross Country Championship, Lund was focused on the gold. First she had to get asway from strong competition. Jennifer Pesce won here last year in 17:49 and Stephanie Pezzulo was a top Open 3000M Steeplechaser a dozen years ago. Lund left nothing to chance, running a superb sub-17 5K race! Her 16:58 was the fastest at a 5 Km national championship since 4-time Olympian, Jen Rice, won in 2014! Pezzulo separated herself from Pesce, claiming 2nd in 17:27, with Pesce pulled away from Michelle Yates and Jill Braley to take third, posting a 17:52, just 5 and 6 seconds respectively ahead of the pair.
The Men’s Race was complicated by the lead motorcycle going off course after the first mile, taking the three leaders with it. David Angell was not only fast but had studied the course and jogged it in advance. He fought off the tendency to follow, kept to the racecourse, and the rest of the field followed. His smarts paid off with a win. Those three did not realize they had been led astray but wound up running a shorter distance than the rest. Their only fault was not knowing the course. The Referee had no choice but to issue a DQ. Angell had to beat everyone else. He did so, repeating his 5K Masters Championships win of 2019, in 16:03. Seven seconds later Perry Griffith claimed 2nd, just four seconds ahead of John Fernandez. Just behind in 4th and 5th were Alcides De Quesada, 16:19, and Peter Reed, 16:22.
AGE GRADING The age grading score, the Performance Level Percentage (PLP) identifies the runners, across all age divisions, who had the best performance relative to the best times in the world, based on their net time. Top honors on the Men’s side went to John Glidewell, 67. He won the M65 division with a 17:53, earning a 94.50%. Fernandez enjoyed the bronze medal overall and upped it to silver in the age grading contest; his 16:14 at age 54 scored at 92.92. Third went to Roger Sayre, 67, the 65-69 silver medalist. His 18:24 earned an 90.94 PLP, just enough to edge Mark Andrews, 53, for the bronze age grading medal. Robert Qualls, 71, was 5th. Andrews and Qualls scored 90.89 and 90.51 respectively.
Suzanne La Burt, 60, had the best score in the Women’s race, winning her division with a 19:52. Her 93.12 topped the women’s PLP’s. Stella Gibbs, 65, won her age division with a 21:12; that earned her a 92.92. Gibbs claimed the silver medal, just 0.02 percentage points ahead of Kari Chandler, 71. Chandler’s 23:00 performance gave her the 70-74 win and a 92.90 PLP. Fiona Bayly, 55, finished 4th at 92.73, with Mary Cass 5th at 91.69.
AGE DIVISION National Women’s Champions were crowned in 40-44 Lund 45-49 Braley 17:58 50-54 Rebekah Kennedy 19:59 55-59 Bayly 19:02 60-64 La Burt 65-69 Gibbs 70-74 Chandler 75-79 Barbara Sauer 32:05 80-84 Catherine Radle 36:06 85-89 Joyce Hodges-Hite 50:08. The closest race of the day was 50-54 where Kennedy edged Samantha Forde by just 7 seconds!
National Men’s Champions were crowned in 40-44 Griffith 16:10 45-49 Angell 50-54 Fernandez 55-59 Matthew Marion 17:54 60-64 Lester Dragstedt 18:19 65-69 Glidewell 17:53 70-74 Qualls 19:30 75-79 Gene Dykes 21:15 80-84 Harold Rosen 26:53 85-89 Bill Blask 39:51. The closest divisional race of0 the day was 55-59 where Marion nipped Alan Thomas for the win by a scant 3 seconds!
TEAM: The home team Atlanta Track Club cleaned up! ATC’s women won the 40+, 70+ and 80+, earning a bronze medal in 60+. Impala Racing claimed the 50+ win for Women, with Liberty AC taking top honors in 60+, and 2nd in 50+. The Shore AC won the silver medals in 60+ and the bronze in 50+. Greater Philadelphia took bronze in 50+
ATC was even more dominant on the men’s side, with wins in every division from 40+ to 80+ except 70+ where they took 2nd. The Boulder Road Runners enjoyed a handsome victory in 70+ with Atlanta edging the Ann Arbor TC for 2nd place, by just 7 seconds per runner. Athens claimed the bronze in 40+, with the Chattanooga TC enjoying bronze in 50+.
Masters National Grand Prix excitement builds as the athletes head next to Dedham MA for the USATF Masters 10 Km Championships on April 28th. They are being hosted by the James Joyce Ramble for the tenth time! Registration is here.
Submitted By
Paul Carlin
Consultant to USATF Masters LDR
www.runningprof.com
