Race Director’s Recap and Director’s Prize - 2025
The 48 hours before the race were a bit hairy, right? People kept telling me the TV meteorologists were issuing all kinds of lousy forecasts about a nor’easter. And on Friday, NYRR canceled the Staten Island Half set for Sunday.
But I wasn’t watching the newscasts, as I was somewhat busy with logistics and chatting with people at Westchester Road Runner. I was just using a few weather apps giving data. And I only checked those about 15x per hour. For a while it looked kinda bad, but not horrible. Were the TV meteorologists engaging in infotainment? If it bleeds, it ledes, right? Beats me.
But I thought, do I want to be the kind of school principal that calls a snow day only to see an inch of snow the next day?
Weather can be fickle. I can wait. And wait.
By Saturday night the forecast was for a breezy but not crazy forecast of 15-20 mph winds. Rain was a non-issue because it’s a trail race and mud is part of the game.
So I said, let’s do this, knowing you had all read our plain English waiver, and that we reserved the right to cancel up until musket shot if I really, really, really had to.
And as I stood on the back of the pick-up at the start line, with fifes and drums playing, I licked my finger and held it to up to the wind. Barely a breeze. As Bob Dylan famously sang, “you don’t need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind blows.”
The weather for the race turned out to be a cool, cloudy 60 degrees. Not a drop fell…until moments after the last runner crossed.
Toeing that start line for the first musket was a newcomer and trail racing virgin with a 2:19(!) personal best in the marathon, Ethan Koreff of Manhattan. He came roaring out of the woods to circle the track and break the tape in 1:17:02, a crazy 5:53/m pace. Following closely on his heals, just 12 seconds back, was our defending champion, Mark Feigen of Pelham. And filling out the podium – if we actually had a podium – was our 2019 champ, Patrick Dooley of Darien, CT in 1:18:03. What a group!
On the women’s side, another newcomer gets crowned! Caitlin Standifer of Boulder, CO broke the tape at 1:34:12. She was followed to the finish by Cassandra Ring (South Salem, NY) in 1:41:59 and Delphine Golebiowski (Harrison) in 1:42:48
As with all champions, Ethan and Caitlin can come back as my guest for as long as I remain race director.
Before telling you a couple stories from the day, I must stress that one of the reasons this race comes off as it does is not just our volunteers, but also our sponsors. Without them going the extra yard, this race would be far more expensive. This includes Montefiore New Rochelle Medical Center at the finish, EMTs from Empress Ambulance at the aid stations, and Westchester Road Runner with logistics (for the 17th year in a row!)
We had 664 runners start despite the potential storm. We were anticipating 675-700 if the forecast was good, based on prior no-show rates. So is it abundantly clear that trail runners are not exactly an average group of anything.
Those who made the podium were obviously not the only stories. I watched four runners in their 20s, that I knew as small children, claim their medals. Numerous parents ran with their kids. Whole clans showed up to run together. I’m looking at you Escobars (eight registered) and you Bastidas (five registered) and at you Longs (four registered).
Some crossed the line sprinting and smiling. Some joined the P2P 10-year club. Others were grimacing in exhaustion and dare I say (Say it! Say it!) in pain. Some were better trained than others.
Some were training for marathons and ultras. While others had never run trails before or had never run 13 before. Or both. And some had overcome significant obstacles to get there. A few were in tears.
One athlete started to dissolve as she crossed the finish line, and told me sobbing, “I can’t believe I did this. And that I beat cancer.” I could only hug her. She said, as she was walking away, “This is the best day of my life.”
Sometimes I think I must be nuts to do this. And then someone reminds me why it’s all worth it.
There were some glitches, which I think most people didn’t notice. Some food didn’t show up, and one significant intersection didn’t have a cop there despite my confirming in writing just two days before (and being told “an officer will be there”).
On that note, I take this opportunity to remind runners that not only are there risks to this race, but also that I have the best damn volunteers. Because two of those volunteers — who have run many dozens of marathons and are also part of my Reach the Beach Relay team — were stationed there. And they took the bull by the horns, stopping traffic by themselves as folks zoomed down an exit ramp off the Hutchinston River Parkway, potentially into your path.
I created a Race Director’s Prize for situations like this, handed out totally on my whim and for reasons that I may wish to create on the spot. For their efforts, Matt Parnell and Lynn Schuster are invited to race Paine to Pain as my guests. And I will find some other brave souls to handle that intersection in 2026.
Same time next year?
