My training schedule didn't suggest I run cross country races on consecutive weekends, but that's what life presented me.
Sunday, the Adirondack region of USATF held their cross country championships at Bard College. Because the Adirondack district does not include the entire Mid-Hudson Valley, a Hudson Valley club and open championship was superimposed on top of the USATF championship.
Turnout was light. Normally we don't care. We don't get ourselves into positions where we need a huge turnout for a race to be successful. Being a championship meet however, it would have been nice if more than half a dozen runners came in from north of the Mid-Hudson Valley. Among the northerners that did make the trip to Annandale-on-Hudson was our old friend Phil Carducci.
Although men ran 8 km, and women 5 km, we all started together. We lined up, and local meet coordinator, Steve Schallenkamp gave a course description as only he can. As we started, I was surprisingly close to a lead pack of about six runners. I settled back, and let another couple of runners pass me. Because of the modest pace. there was a lot of jockeying for position. As we did a brief loop through the Enchanted Forest, Beth, and Nancy, the women leaders , along with a few other runners, passed me.
We head back through the starting area in the other direction, and follow a dirt trail to the northern edge of campus. From here, we run down the gravel Cruger Island Road. During the height of summer, this border between the Bard Campus and Tivoli Bays Wetlands Area is full of deer flies, but today it is quite benign. I am enjoying this downhill run. On one of the steeper sections, I fly past Beth, Nancy and a few other runners. At a junction we head south into the woods. Had we missed this turn, we would have ended up on the always flooded route to Cruger Island. The turn was marked with arrows, ribbons and a marshall, so one would have to be mighty stubborn to miss the turn.
Once in the woods, we climb the second largest hill of the course. Nancy and a couple of other runners pass me. This is too bad. I know I will need to get around them on the subsequent descent. Unlike most of the competitors, I know these trails very well, though I almost always run them in the opposite direction.
The next downhill always has some slippery mud. I pass Nancy before we get there, but unfortunately, Brian is still ahead of me. When I see him negotiating the first part of this hill, I know I want to be nowhere near him. When I see an opening, I fly past. I don't expect to be ahead of Brian at the finish, but I need to be ahead of him through this difficult section.
After skirting a field, we head to another steep, slippery downhill, with a hairpin turn. From the turn, there is a good view of the Hudson River and Tivoli South Bay. I don't suppose many runners enjoyed it today. Certainly no one in my pack noticed it.
At the bottom of this ravine, we begin the largest climb of the course. I can see the runners ahead of me struggling, and one even starts to walk. When I see this, I know I have a race ahead of me.
From here we run across a series of lawns, with enough dirt, gravel and pavement thrown in to break it up nicely. First we run past the Blythewood mansion, which now houses the Levy Economics Institute. Had I looked over my right shoulder, I could have seen a good view of the River, and the Catskill Mountains beyond. Didn't think to look. After we run past the Center for Curatorial Studies, and a huge site sculpture, we skirt some construction by the admissions office. We head back into the Enchanted Forest. The trail has a most pleasant dirt surface. I see an opening, and pass the runners I had seen struggling on the hill nearly a mile ago. Nancy comes with me. We hit the dirt service road, and can see the women's finish line.
Nancy takes the inside and charges past me into the chute. As winner of this race, she wins an all expense paid trip to a regional championship at Franklin Field in Boston.
Meanwhile I've got nearly two miles left to run, and have lost a bit of spiffiness. We head back down Cruger Road, and back into the woods. As we climb the lesser of the two hills, I gain on, and eventually catch Chris. When we emerge from the woods, the course diverges from the first loop. Rather than heading right back into the woods, we run on a long, bumpy grass section. My legs feel like mush, and Chris passes me back. I try to hold on, but it's a struggle.
As we turn onto the service road, I notice that Chris doesn't look back at me. I on the other hand look back to see where Mike is. Confident I won't lose the place, I try to pick up my pace to challenge Chris. There is nothing left. I finish acceptably, but never mount a challenge. I finish in 7th place in the Hudson Valley division. I'm also the all important 3rd scorer on Shawangunk's open men's team, combining with Wes and Gary for first place.
I head for a drink of water before Wes and I head out for a jog. When I come back, I see he is talking to "the press". That's right. Enjoying my performance, I didn't think to ask him how he did. He's also bound for Boston.
A bunch of us head off in search of flat trails and a pleasant cool down. Though the field was small, the race had much of the passion and camaraderie that I felt was lacking last week at my alumni meet. The course is as good and fair a cross country course as I know. It feature challenging and varied terrain. For those able to appreciate it, the views are excellent.
Well I called this the "Cross Country Weekend", so what did I do on Saturday? As I was out running on Saturday, I remembered today was the annual Bard Collegiate Cross Country Invitational. I saw several teams surveying the course. To make up for last week's Mike Dukakis query, a New Paltz runner asked me if I would be running today. I ran into Steve, as he was setting up for the race. I asked if he needed some help. Stupid question. What race director would ever say no to competent, experienced help?
In addition to local schools, Bard and SUNY New Paltz, this meet featured schools from New York City, Lehman, Hunter and Maritime, enjoying a day in the country. There were also schools like Bay Path and Teikyo Post, that I have never heard of. University of Bridgeport was represented by their baseball team.
I gave mile and 5 km splits, and worked the finish line for both the men's and women's races. Both races were fun. The Hunter coach had the looks of a man that has coached cross country since before the flood. Then I realized he didn't just look like a familiar type, he looked familiar. It was Coach Z, Ed Zarowin! In the late seventies, when I ran for Susan Wager in the New York Public School Athletic League, Coach Z coached Brooklyn Tech. Twenty years later, Coach Z looks remarkably as I remember him.
Susan Wagner had won several city championships in the seventies. In the 1978 season, we had considerable turnover. Though we were all seniors and juniors, most of us were running in the varsity seven for the first time. Meanwhile Brooklyn Tech, led by senior Vernon Dye, and junior Jeffrey Bradshaw had a team that could have given some of our earlier teams a run for the championship.
In the week before the city championship, fresh off of a local championship and a win in a scrub division of the Eastern States Championship, we talked about taking the city meet. Our coach was more realistic. He gave us reasonable goals as to where in this competitive field we should be running. If we all ran well, we expected second place was ours.
As expected Brooklyn Tech won easily. Surprisingly Evander Childs was second, with us in third two places behind. We had never even heard of Evander Childs High School, and they are indeed located nearly as far from Susan Wagner as a city school could be. 20 points separated places 2 through 7. It was an exciting meet, with Brooklyn Tech's dominance, and seeing an unknown team like Evander Childs beat traditionally powerful teams including Susan Wagner and JFK.
On this soft autumn day twenty years later, Coach Z's teams looked good once again. The women from Hunter won impressively. In the men's race, New Paltz has a new coach, and won, looking better than I have ever seen them.
Steven Cangemi
Annandale-on-Hudson, where the country is still cross