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Portugal Day 2012: Race Report. Men’S Club Points Race by northbrooklynrunners

Portugal Day 2012. 58 of the strongest, meanest NBRiors accepted the challenge. Shoutout to Javier Fernandez, who would have made it 59 if not for confusing AM and PM when he set his alarm. We’ve all been there, Javier. In its second year, this race is really growing on me. It may be the delicious tuna fish in the goody bags, the very decent tech tees, the espresso station after the race, the fast clockwise loop course, or the windtunnel of fly, body-painted NBR GIRLS (and Dmitri, HOLLAAAA) urging us on to greatness and PRs in the 4th mile. I suppose that it is some combination of all of the above.

Wait, who am I kidding. It’s BRUNCH that I really love about Portugal Day. But I will get to that. First, a race report.

We gathered at the traditional spot, cop-in-a-box, to travel en masse to the race. The crew was a little bit small, but it grew as we boarded the train, as we arrived to Central Park. In bag check, in the corrals, NBR legions swelled to an unstoppable force. We form like Voltron, let’s get it on.

It is a tricky distance, this 5 mile business. Theoretically, one should be a few ticks slower than 5K, 4M pace, but really, it seems like such a long distance to run that fast, doesn’t it? Case in point, the gun sounds (after the dual Portuguese and US National Anthems, sung by a Penelope Cruz lookalike, yet another reason to love Portugal Day) and all of the sudden one goes from standing still to screaming up the West side, dodging bodies and sucking wind.

But then it gets better. I settle in, breathe, and “focus on turnover” (Mike E., I still have no idea what that means). I feel relief as I make the second right, off the 102nd street transverse and “down” Cat Hill. Isn’t Cat Hill supposed to be downhill? It must have been a long time since I’ve raced in Central Park, because there’s some real challenging uphill over there in addition to the downhills. It might be less challenging if I had any race strategy other than OMG Go as fast as you can and try not to die.

I focus on making it to the NBR cheering section, needing that energy boost. Of course, there are two Maguffins, a group dressed as SNL cheerleaders and then the Whippets cheering section. Pretenders to the throne, both. No one throws a cheer party like NBR throws a cheer party, amirite? Ladies, you were called out frequently in my inbox as the best part of the race. We Boys Love You Girls. Don’t change a thing.

I can’t be alone here, but weren’t the girls supposed to propel me all the way to the finish line, floating above the ground and sipping air sweet as cake? Yeah, that never happened, 400 meters later I’m back to cursing the park, the Gods, everything. Won’t this race ever end? I should have taken a page from Miguel’s book. He drafted off a 12 year old and made his move late, crushing the young man’s spirit and earning a 2 ½ minute PR in the process.

I finally cross the finish line with that happy screw-my-time apathy, only glad to stop running. I can’t talk, or think, or smile. In the moment, I remember. This is why I run.

Portugal Day Swag. I sip espresso, enjoy a flight of aged Manchego cheeses, drink some “red fruit” juice. All the NBRiors are pumped! Mad PRs. We chest bump, mug for photos, bellow and carry on like MEN.

But seriously folks, Brunch. The ladies absolutely crushed it. In fact, Meg Duffy crushed her Monkey Bread on the way to brunch, so it’s a good thing food aesthetics are of so little concern to us MEN. Where do you girls find those sexy aprons? Wait, don’t tell me, keep the mystery intact. There was so much time and care put into the food. I mean, I would have gotten a day old birthday cake from FoodTown and called it Brunch. Bam. Our gracious social coordinator Kate Maxwell hosted us with a near 360 degree rooftop view. She also popped a champagne cork that as of this writing I believe to still be traveling.

And then, just when we thought it was safe, out came the nail polish and brackets for our thumb wrestling tourney. Dmitri was the clear number 1 seed, with a thumb to rival Sissy Hankshaw. However, it was our own Max Frumes who prevailed. His upset of Dmitri in the first round was the NBR equivalent of the Miracle on Ice, and he rode the momentum all the way to the final round, where best friends turned violent, and Ben Starr was vanquished. Great job, everyone.

I’m not sure if we can do it any better next month for the Central Park 4M, but let’s give it a shot, people. A complete list of PR’s is below.

-Charlie R.

PR's:

Charles Atherton
Luke Kavenagh
Miguel Rivera (2.5 minutes!)
Reggie Staco (6th straight PR, what a heater!)
Rob Fritz
Emmy Tiderington
Raymund Riparip
Paul Miles
Mike Griffiths
Christophe Tedjasukmana
Charlie Radin
Evan Schnittman

Team Results:

5th Men                         02:15:57
    Eric Piazza                    25:04
    Timothy Cote                   27:02
    Robert Fritz                   27:42
    Alexander Walsh                27:52
    James Ford                     28:17

6th 40+ Men                     01:31:19
    Derrie Davis                   29:45
    Michael Essig                  29:55
    Alun Williams                  31:39

Age Group Awards:

30 - 34  3 Eric Piazza             25:04
35 - 39  4 Timothy Cote            27:02
35 - 39  5 Alexander Walsh         27:52
35 - 39 10 Daniel Mazzuchin        28:30

Full Individual Results:

Last Name	First Name	Bib	Overall Place	Gender Place	Age Place	Net Time	Pace/ Mile	AG Time	AG Gender Place	AG %
Piazza	Eric	669	12	12	4	0:25:04	05:01	0:25:00	19	85.34 %
Cote	Timothy	244	48	48	4	0:27:02	05:25	0:26:18	62	81.15 %
Fritz	Robert	30	61	61	18	0:27:42	05:33	0:27:38	133	77.24 %
Walsh	Alexander	853	63	63	5	0:27:52	05:35	0:26:55	92	79.26 %
Ford	James	28	78	78	32	0:28:17	05:40	0:28:17	176	75.45 %
Mazzuchin	Daniel	581	89	89	10	0:28:30	05:42	0:27:44	137	76.95 %
Mueller	Mark	611	95	95	29	0:28:41	05:45	0:28:13	170	75.61 %
Davis	Derrie	266	134	133	12	0:29:45	05:57	0:27:30	123	77.61 %
Essig	Michael	305	140	138	11	0:29:55	05:59	0:27:01	100	79.01 %
Watkins	Anthony	857	152	149	20	0:30:08	06:02	0:29:30	259	72.34 %
Radin	Charlie	687	155	152	41	0:30:11	06:03	0:30:11	305	70.72 %
Griffiths	Michael	393	180	177	40	0:30:45	06:09	0:30:15	313	70.53 %
Bittleston	Misha	172	191	187	43	0:30:51	06:11	0:30:46	370	69.34 %
Yu	Logan	887	239	235	54	0:31:33	06:19	0:31:33	451	67.64 %
Williams	Alun	865	243	239	15	0:31:39	06:20	0:27:28	122	77.70 %
Marks	Russell	568	251	247	38	0:31:47	06:22	0:31:07	400	68.57 %
Miles	Paul E	1563	300	295	64	0:32:15	06:27	0:32:14	536	66.22 %
Brockman	Shawn	194	309	304	71	0:32:20	06:28	0:31:49	494	67.06 %
Rose	Eric	711	314	309	65	0:32:23	06:29	0:32:21	553	65.97 %
Tedjasukmana	Christophe	809	318	313	73	0:32:26	06:30	0:32:21	552	65.97 %
Mura	Steve	614	322	317	67	0:32:30	06:30	0:32:30	573	65.66 %
Riparip	Raymund	1690	368	361	84	0:32:58	06:36	0:32:43	608	65.22 %
Atherton	Charles	140	381	374	65	0:33:08	06:38	0:31:47	487	67.14 %
Cavanaugh	Kurt	214	401	393	92	0:33:16	06:40	0:33:11	672	64.32 %
Allen	Kenneth	117	417	409	34	0:33:24	06:41	0:30:24	331	70.21 %
Rivera	Miguel	2679	420	412	73	0:33:25	06:41	0:32:42	605	65.25 %
Schnittman	Evan	738	471	461	89	0:33:58	06:48	0:33:58	792	62.83 %
O’Leary	Robert	1615	484	474	68	0:34:03	06:49	0:31:42	473	67.32 %
Mandel	Joel	562	487	477	105	0:34:04	06:49	0:33:59	797	62.79 %
Feria	Fernando	322	490	480	91	0:34:06	06:50	0:32:57	637	64.76 %
Stermer	Michael	1780	498	486	107	0:34:10	06:50	0:33:37	740	63.47 %
Hill	Michael	439	510	497	73	0:34:18	06:52	0:31:27	435	67.85 %
Nachlin	James	1589	614	593	83	0:35:08	07:02	0:33:12	679	64.26 %
Slaski	John	1760	640	617	87	0:35:22	07:05	0:33:10	669	64.33 %
Fox	Lou	1277	667	643	92	0:35:31	07:07	0:33:04	653	64.53 %
Le-Quoc	Alexis	1474	709	680	141	0:35:45	07:09	0:34:33	888	61.76 %
Sycalik	William	1792	733	703	99	0:35:53	07:11	0:33:55	783	62.91 %
De Kler	Glenn	271	830	789	130	0:36:41	07:21	0:36:39	1234	58.23 %
Jurasits	Michael	1421	838	795	170	0:36:43	07:21	0:36:26	1201	58.58 %
Ellinghaus	Roberto	1241	1002	938	142	0:37:30	07:30	0:34:39	901	61.58 %
Ko	Daeha	2418	1025	956	203	0:37:39	07:32	0:37:02	1291	57.61 %
Darmetko	Mike	1198	1059	986	146	0:37:48	07:34	0:37:48	1428	56.45 %
Staco	Reginald	2795	1147	1057	229	0:38:13	07:39	0:37:46	1422	56.49 %
Guerrero	Juan	2285	1198	1096	156	0:38:35	07:43	0:38:33	1552	55.36 %
Marmon	Karen	2511	1230	109	33	0:38:47	07:46	0:38:44	201	62.49 %
Menderson	Peter	1556	1305	1177	30	0:39:08	07:50	0:31:12	407	68.40 %
Kavenagh	Luke	2391	1340	1205	167	0:39:16	07:52	0:39:16	1669	54.35 %
Deleon	Kevin	5191	1552	1354	178	0:40:20	08:04	0:40:20	1804	52.91 %
Tiderington	Emmy	4804	1707	243	57	0:41:06	08:14	0:41:03	379	58.96 %
Farkas	Pinchas	4238	2087	1706	217	0:42:48	08:34	0:42:48	2105	49.86 %
Ellinghaus	Diana	4224	2229	437	65	0:43:27	08:42	0:42:03	480	57.57 %
Mendez	Candace	4551	2261	450	97	0:43:34	08:43	0:43:31	625	55.62 %
Ford	Mabel	338	2641	612	32	0:45:31	09:07	0:45:31	799	53.17 %
Sender	Julie A	5741	3064	831	24	0:47:48	09:34	0:41:09	390	58.81 %
Williams	Donald	6860	3098	2248	70	0:47:59	09:36	0:38:15	1507	55.78 %
Berardi	Michele	6071	3505	2407	457	0:50:58	10:12	0:49:35	2531	43.03 %
Lu	James	5488	3821	2548	12	0:53:57	10:48	0:37:21	1350	57.13 %
Levy	Erin	4479	4302	1597	342	1:04:42	12:57	1:04:41	1635	37.42 %

58 Total.

The next club points race is the already sold out Central Park Conservancy 4 Miler on July 14th. Don’t forget to add your name to The Upcoming Race Log.

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