Team RRR 2009 Mid-Year Review

This entry is also published in the RRR newsletter.

The Rockland Road Runners have sped off to a fast start in the 2009 racing season. We have had very large turnouts at the New York Road Runner races with many individual award winners and competitive team finishes. We also won the Interclub Challenge race in March.

A key focus for Team RRR is the New York Road Runners Team Championship Series. NYRR hosts a competition for all of the NY metro area running clubs. NYRR picks a series of eleven races from their calendar (see list below) that are designated to score points in a year-long team competition between the dozens of local running clubs.

Team RRR has had as many as 44 participants in a single race, which rivals the presence of even the largest NYC racing teams. As a team, we want to promote broad participation and encourage runners of all abilities to join us in the NYRR races.

With that large participation also comes strong team results. The “Swifty Sixty’s” 60+ Men’s team is currently in second place, and the 60+ Ladies are in fourth, hungry to move up into trophy position. We are also in the top 10 with the Men’s 40+ team, at #8 of 62 teams, and the Women’s 50+ team, who are #7 of 22 teams. Our Women’s 40+, Men’s 50+ and Open teams are also competitive and in position to do great in the standings.

Team RRR has had some stellar individual performances in the NYRR team points races. Sheila Casey won the F35-39 age group twice. Narcis Aron (M60-64) and Alexandra Finger (F70-74) have both won their age groups. Josephine Patten (F50-54) has been a consistent star on the NYC scene with two second place and two third place finishes. Marie “Grandma” Killeen (F70-74) has placed second twice. Gerald Burstein (M70-74) has placed second and third. Other award winners in the team points races include: Frank Nieves (#3, M60-64) and Alexandra Finger (#3, F70-74). Considering that close to 8,000 runners have been in the races, these results are really fantastic!

We have had many additional age group award winners in the other NYRR races on the calendar. Keep up with all the results on this Team RRR Race Results Blog.

The fun is just getting started. The meat of the racing season is still to come. We would appreciate your continued support to keep building up our presence in NYC. The first race of the second half of the year is the CPC Run for Central Park 4 miler on July 18. The big event is the NYRR Team Championship race on Saturday, August 8, in Central Park. They open up the scoring to more people in the championship race and the points count double. Team RRR will charter a bus to get you to this race in comfort and style, and we will have a team picnic in Central Park right after the race. Please join us!

In addition to the fun, camaraderie, and competition, Team RRR has other benefits. We have an incentive program where we award prizes based on the number of races you compete in during the year. We have a coveted “runner of the year” award for the ladies and men. We are also planning for a Team RRR dinner near the end of the year (details to follow).

Join the fun by simply choosing “Rockland RR – RRR” as your designated team when you register for the races with NYRR (http://www.nyrr.org).

The team captains would like to thank everyone for the fantastic level of participation so far this year. Let’s build on the momentum and fill up Central Park with Rockland racers in the second half of the year.

For more information on the racing team, go to the “Team RRR” page on the website, http://www.rocklandroadrunners.org/ , or send an email to TeamRRR@RocklandRoadRunners.org

Co-captains: Shelly Shrem, Steve Blackburn, Logan Scott
“Swifty Sixties” coordinators are Ann and John Singer

2009 NYRR Team Championship Points Races:
Sunday, March 1: Coogan's Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K
Saturday, April 11: Scotland Run 10K
Saturday, May 16: Healthy Kidney 10K
Sunday, June 7: NYRR Mini 10K (Women Only)
Sunday, June 21: WABC Father’s Day 5 Miler (Men Only)
Saturday, July 18: CPC Run for Central Park 4 Miler
Saturday, Aug. 8: NYRR Championship 5 Miler (Double Points!)
Saturday, Sept. 12: Fitness Mind, Body and Spirit Games 4 Miler
Saturday, Oct. 3: Norwegian Festival Half Marathon
Sunday, Nov. 1: ING New York City Marathon
Sunday, Dec. 6: Joe Kleinerman 10K