Stephanie Herbst-Lucke sets Masters record
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Despite the most challenging weather conditions in the 19-year history of the Syracuse Festival of Races (SFoR) on Sunday, runners from throughout the U.S. continued the tradition of 5K national records and world class performances for which Syracuse’s premier annual road race is known.
Temperatures in the mid-forties with rain that varied from showers to downpours were the backdrop for the Men’s 5K and Women’s 5K, which hosted the USA Masters 5K Championships for the fourth consecutive year. Included in the field were entrants from thirty states, DC, Puerto Rico and Canada, thirteen of whom came into the race with their sights set on a variety of national 5K records.
The overall race winners and USA Masters champions were Mark Andrews, 40, Rochester, NY and Stephanie Herbst-Lucke, 45, Atlanta, GA in 15 minutes, 26 seconds and 16:37 respectively.
Despite the weather conditions, the men’s and women’s fields produced six pending U.S. 5K records and twenty-four world class times (age-graded performances of 90% or higher). Once ratified, this year’s six U.S. 5K records will bring the total number of U.S. records surpassed or tied on the SFoR to 41. This marks the third consecutive year in which the SFoR 5K fields have also produced at least two dozen world class performances on a single race morning.
The first record of the morning fell at the end of the Men’s 5K when Henry Sypniewski, 93, of Cheektowaga, NY crossed the line in a net time of 47:38, crushing Max Popper’s listed U.S. M93 single-age mark of 1:01:07. This is the fourth consecutive year that Sypniewski, a World War II veteran, has improved upon a listed U.S. 5K record on the SFoR course.
The Women’s 5K benefited from a let-up in the rain, and produced five more pending U.S. 5K records, starting with Stephanie Herbst-Lucke’s aforementioned winning time of 16:37. Herbst-Lucke, 45, came into the race eyeing the U.S. W45-49 5K mark of 16:39 held by four-time Olympian Colleen De Reuck. Along with the five-year age-group record, of course, Herbst-Lucke’s 16:37 also improves upon the U.S. W45 single-age 5K mark also currently held by De Reuck.
The next athlete to cross the line in this year’s SFoR national record parade was Kathryn Martin, 60, of Northport, NY, who was two days into the W60-64 age group and attempting to improve upon Sabra Harvey’s listed U.S. W60-64 age-group and W60 single-age mark of 19:12. Martin was successful in doing so by a comfortable 8-second margin, splashing her way to two more U.S. records in 19:04.
Martin’s marvelous 19:04 was also the top age-graded performance overall, scoring just over 100%.
The final U.S. record of the morning was also achieved by a comfortable margin as Jan Holmquist, 67, of Burlington, MA, ran a net time of 22:10, fourteen seconds faster than June Machala’s listed U.S. W67 single-age mark of 22:24 that has stood since 1998.
19th Syracuse Festival of Races: USA Masters 5K Championships
Syracuse, NY, Sunday, October 2, 2011
MASTERS MEN
1) Mark Andrews, 40, Rochester, NY, 15:26, $300
2) Kristian Blaich, 45, Decatur, GA, 15:34, $250
3) Andrew Duncan, 44, Las Vegas, NV, 15:34, $200
4) Charlie Kern, 42, Elmhurst, IL, 15:43, $150
5) Chad Newton, 41, Pisgah Forest, NC, 15:48, $100
MASTERS WOMEN
1) Stephanie Herbst-Lucke, 45, Atlanta, GA, 16:37, $300
2) Sonja Friend-Uhl, 40, Brentwood, TN, 17:16, $250
3) Emily Bryans, 44, Schenectady, NY, 17:38, $200
4) Doreen McCoubrie, 49, Malvern, PA, 17:48, $150
5) Cassandra Henkiel, 41, Austin, TX, 17:57, $100
AGE-GRADED (>90% = world class)
1) Kathryn Martin, 60, Northport, NY, 19:04, 100.35%, $600
2) Sabra Harvey, 62, Houston, TX, 20:10, 97.68%, $500
3) Jan Holmquist, 67, Burlington, MA, 22:11, 95.70%, $400
4) Stephanie Herbst-Lucke, 45, Atlanta, GA, 16:37, 95.66%, $300
5) Christine Kennedy, 56, Los Gatos, CA, 18:56, 95.60%, $200
6) David Cannon, 55, Seattle, WA, 16:14, 94.70%, $200
7) Carmen Ayala-Troncoso, 52, Austin, TX, 18:20, 93.76%, $200
8) Doreen McCoubrie, 49, Malvern, PA, 17:48, 93.09%, $200
9) William Dixon, 64, Brattleboro, VT, 17:55, 92.80%, $200
10) Brian Pilcher, 55, Ross, CA, 16:34, 92.79%, $200
