2009 Nittany Valley Running Club Indoor Mile #1
Saturday, January 10, 2009
by Marty Mazur

Turnout was a little light for the first Indoor Mile Series races, due largely to the snow that hit the area. There were several no-shows. But one of the no-shows, Marty Mazur, couldn't blame the weather. He made it there, but only to report, and plot his return next week. The first heat featured Andy Cunningham, attempting to start the season sub-5, and the return of Boyd Brumbaugh, a past Series Masters winner. Both had great first races. Andy ran 4:55 and looks forward to running in the 4:40s. Boyd was second overall and the fastest Master, finishing in 5:21. Series newcomer Alan Effreig was third in 5:24. All first heat runners went under 6 minutes including Marty Klanchar, at age 51 running his first season-opening sub-6 run. Tom Cali isn't the only local runner who gets better with age.

The second heat belonged to the ladies. Five of the seven runners in that heat were female. Ann Skulas-Ray, with a string of 5K PRs in recent months, would have been happy to start the season where she left off last year, about 5:50. But  she ran a very steady race, overtaking Alonzo Whitehead at the half-way point and finishing in 5:35, a PR better than any of her high school times.  If the Predicted Time Contest had been held today rather than at the last meet of the Series, Tara Murray would likely have won. She came in second in 6:05.14, just 0.14 seconds off her anticipated time of 6:05. She's well on her way to a sub-6 mile. Alonzo Whitehead started fast, but faded, taking third in 6:13. With a bit more experience pacing in the Indoor Mile, he'll improve greatly. All the other runners ran faster than they'd thought they could and are ready to return and peel off more time. The next Indoor Mile is on Saturday, January 17, in conjuction with the Penn State Open.

Results

Heat 1
------

Place  Name                      Time
-----  ----                      ----
 1.    Andy Cunningham          4:55.46
 2.    Boyd Brumbaugh           5:21.00 (M)
 3.    Alan Effrig              5:24.55
 4.    Shawn Kelly              5:34.53
 5.    James Volkert            5:49.95
 6.    Dave DeGroote            5:58.12 (M)
 7.    Marty Klanchar           5:58.55 (M)
 8.    Michael Goldfine         5:59.84 (M)

Heat 2
------

Place  Name                      Time
-----  ----                      ----
 1.    Ann Skulas-Ray           5:35.80
 2.    Tara Murray              6:05.14
 3.    Alonzo Whitehead         6:13.63
 4.    Andy Arndt               6:15.41
 5.    Stephanie Serriere       6:27.46
 6.    Christine Rodgers        6:39.61
 7.    Kate Ryan                6:58.06
 
   (M) - Designates Masters (over 40) runners.
Photos: Upper center by Kelson Goldfine. All others by Marty Mazur.

Ann Skulas-Ray brought her magic shoes.
Heat 1 toes the line.
The second heat was all smiles except a very focused Ann.

Andy Cunningham cracked 5 minutes in the first heat.
The back of the first heat pack was very close much of the race. Everyone in the first heat went under 6 minutes.
Ann used her iPod and magic shoes to get a PR in Heat 2.

Back to Indoor Mile Results Page.
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