> Printer-friendly page
Saugerties Fall Classic Half Marathon
Saugerties, NY
October 11, 1998
Sunday, while others were running in Chicago, or recovering from Hartford,
I ran the Saugerties Half Marathon. I knew this would probably be my
personal worst for the course, but since my alternative was to stay home
and do some touch-up painting, the choice seemed clear. This didn't
prevent me from tormenting myself by looking up splits from my previous
slowest time in 1996, and writing them on my hand.
As the name suggest, Saugerties is an old mill town. It's located on the
west bank of the Hudson River, at the mouth of the much traveled Esopus
Creek. During the Industrial Revolution the sawmills were superseded by
paper mills. The run starts and finishes at Cantine Field which was
donated by paper magnate Martin Cantine.
The race started at a most clement time of 11:00. Temperature was in the
60's with a partly clear sky. The air was humid from three days of much
needed rain. I'm glad I wasn't running a marathon in these conditions, but
for a half it should be quite acceptable.
The Columbus Day weekend is a big tourist weekend for the Hudson Valley.
This race attracts participants from downstate New York, and neighboring
states. In spite of this, the field is surprisingly small. The field is
also docile. No one wants to line up in the first row. As I first toe the
line, I am accompanied only by a young boy in sweat pants. After a brief
course description from race director Gary Bischoff, the mayor bangs on a
pot signaling the start. I go out at a comfortable pace, but wouldn't you
know it, a photographer from the "Kingston Freeman" manages to get a
picture of me in first place. Sure enough. In Monday's "Freeman," there I
am on the first page of the sports section leading the field right below a
big picture of David Wells.
Before long, Larry Waite, and a few of the usual suspects dutifully pass me
and lead the pack. I'm probably out a little fast, but after some 10
months away from racing, the pace feels wonderful. The course starts out
doing a nice little loop of downtown Saugerties. We run past the Orpheum
theater, the Saugerties Diner, then large Main Street houses. Some now
feature a funeral parlor, and other businesses, but many are still
residential. We pass the attractive Cahill elementary school, then head
north past Seamon Park and its outrageous seasonal display of mums, and
head out of town.
We turn right off of route 9W, and do a detour through the hamlet of
Malden. Malden seems to consist of houses, a post office, a spiffy old
Methodist Church, and little else. In this section there are some sporadic
views of the river. After Malden we're back on the state road. I go
through the first 5K in 21:21, close to my split from previous years. This
is either a good sign or a bad sign, and the next hour or so should
demonstrate which.
We turn off the state road, and do a loop of rural roads. As Joe
approaches me, I can hear him complain to whomever is near about the lack
of mile markers. It strikes me as an odd complaint. Since its inception
this race has always been measured only in kilometers. When he catches me,
he complains to me about it. On such a rolling course, I don't know how
significant mile markers are. I find 5K to be a good degree of
granularity. Speaking of which here we are. 22:35 for the next 5K. This
is my slowest split ever on this course. This should be a relief. Now I
can just run, and stop chasing ghosts. Because of the humidity, I'm
starting to chafe in unusual and unpleasant areas. More unexpectedly, I'm
having stomach problems. My raisin bran breakfast would have been fine for
some slow trail run, but at race pace it is rebelling.
Most of this section is oil and gravel paved roads. Though somewhat slower
than roads that have been tarred or asphalted, it is a fairly comfortable
surface. When we head south on the Old Kings Highway, it doesn't seem to
have been oiled or graveled this year. Here it's a matter of finding a rut
to run with. I am glad when we are finally off this road and heading east
again. This gives us a good view across the river of the foliage of
northwestern Dutchess County. I pass a runner who had passed me shortly
before the 10K mark. He suggests I'm having a second wind. I didn't have
the heart to tell him I was having nothing of the kind. Shortly after we
cross back over the Thruway, Chris catches up to me. Like Joe, he is
running the Mohawk-Hudson Marathon next week, and is running Saugerties as
a tempo run. It's still too much tempo for me. Soon we are back on the
state road, heading south towards Saugerties. The third 5K is 22:37.
That's not so bad. If I can hold this, I will be pleased. If I can pick
it up, I may even avoid a personal worst.
As a certain television character might say, that's kooky talk. One thing
I hadn't considered was melt down. Given my fitness level, I don't know
why not. We head back through Malden. The largest climb of the course is
in this section. A good measure of my performance is how I run here. On this
day, I am barely crawling up the hill. The two runners near me, are no
vision of spryness, but I'm not half so spry. Once back on 9W, heading
into the village, it's a steeper grade than I remember from previous years,
and who left those insurmountable pebbles in the road? The sign welcoming
me to "Friendly Historic Saugerties" brings great relief. We turn into the
neighborhood that leads back into Cantine Field. Just as we enter the
park, John Grant, better known as Taco Juan for his Woodstock restaurant
bearing this name, catches me and makes a move. Man, I can't be out-kicked
here. I have to be pretty far gone before I can't summon some fast twitch
activity. I leave Taco Juan in the dust, unfortunately misjudging the
distance to the finish. Given the fragile state of my stomach, this is
horrible. The whole point of a finishing kick is to look cool. There is
nothing cool about heaving across the finish line. It brings me back to
cross country days, where the whole point seemed to be to run too fast, and
have to "gut out" the last mile or so. When a runner crosses the finish
line without collapsing, the coach doesn't see this as the sign of a
smartly run race, but an insufficiently run race.
My final time is 1:35:25, the expected and well deserved personal worst.
The fourth 5K was 24:03. Next year the watch stays home. It's fun having
the split times to play with, but trying to run a time that isn't there is
pointless. I'm actually quite satisfied with the time, if not the strategy
that got me there.
Because of my stomach, I can't enjoy much of the post race snacks, but they
look excellent. In addition to seasonal produce, and bagels, there is an
endless variety of pasta salad. I always enjoy this run, and personally find
it the most satisfying road race in the region.
Steven Cangemi
Red Hook, New York
1 1:18:11 Larry Waite Kerhonkson M 35
2 1:19:14 Mark Coleman Poughkeepsie M 38
3 1:21:51 Robert Muller Phoenicia M 33
4 1:23:43 Jim Lofthouse Balston Spa M 43
5 1:28:09 Kevin Locket Barrytown M 34
6 1:28:30 Joseph Haas Kingston M 33
7 1:30:09 Steve O'Connor Bronx M 34
8 1:30:28 James Hager Saugerties M 55
9 1:31:28 Lori Wood Saugerties F 34
10 1:33:11 William Gastes Bronx M 40
11 1:33:51 Chris Myers Saugerties M 51
12 1:34:32 Roger Brandt Port Ewen M 38
13 1:35:23 Tony Thoman Bronx M 36
14 1:35:25 Steven Cangemi Red Hook M 37
15 1:35:37 John Grant Woodstock M 59
16 1:35:39 Tom Bell Saugerties M 49
17 1:36:01 Nancy Celuch Kingston F 34
18 1:36:04 Larry Phillips Gallatin M 37
19 1:37:27 Michael Schabot Bloomington M 30
20 1:38:34 Giameco Ingenio Poughkeepsie M 35
21 1:39:47 Eileen Pine Hurley F 39
22 1:40:04 Charles Hembree Glenham M 42
23 1:40:35 Leo Smith Kingston M 44
24 1:40:49 Renee Cote Kingston F 28
25 1:40:55 Mike Roccio Catskill M 47
26 1:41:29 Rachel Schabot Bloomington F 30
27 1:41:53 David Seche Kingston M 38
28 1:42:37 Terry Burgher Malden-on-Hudson M 42
29 1:43:09 Al Grigull Rhinebeck M 61
30 1:43:26 Steve LeFevre West Hurley M 50
31 1:44:28 Anthony Patsky Athens M 55
32 1:46:34 Jim Sweeney Monmouth Jct.,NJ M 48
33 1:46:45 Steve Botsford Shokan M 40
34 1:47:03 Richard Albert Granite Springs M 43
35 1:47:13 Peter Masullo New Kingston M 44
36 1:48:57 Jorge Paez Saugerties M 43
37 1:49:13 Woody Ferrier Port Ewen M 60
38 1:49:14 Harry Chafetz Hyde Park M 68
39 1:49:30 Kate Motsiff Queensbury F 25
40 1:50:30 Eileen Spada Kingston F 39
41 1:50:44 Kristina Kaisik Saugerties F 32
42 1:51:03 Don Resnik High Falls M 39
43 1:51:43 Howard Hochheiser Philadelphia, PA M 49
44 1:51:43 Melissa Chmelar New York F 31
45 1:52:57 Cathie Bischoff Stamford, CT F 29
46 1:53:10 Steve Ritter Earlton M 45
47 1:53:28 Kathleen Schneider Kingston F 36
48 1:54:02 Linda Ziwich Kingston F 39
49 1:54:35 Eileen D'Alton Poughkeepsie F 40
50 1:55:21 Mikhael Benson Saugerties M 18
51 1:56:01 Mary Convertino Delmar F 25
52 1:56:05 Joanne Dalbo Staatsburg F 46
53 1:56:41 Bonnie Marony Earlton F 47
54 1:57:09 Donna Siegel Kingston F 35
55 1:57:17 Malcolm Harris Kingston M 52
56 1:58:43 Mary Phillips Highland F 58
57 1:58:50 Charlene Fraske Saugerties F 37
58 1:58:51 Cathie Hochheiser Philadelphia, PA F 44
59 1:59:19 Gordy Smith Glens Falls M 26
60 2:00:17 Susan Regan Kingston F 34
61 2:00:19 Scott Rector Saugerties M 36
62 2:00:39 Chris Rogers Amsterdam M 27
63 2:02:19 Rick Gunn Buffalo M 38
64 2:02:53 Anna Trela Loudonville F 51
65 2:03:27 Karen Lucas Kingston F 50
66 2:03:51 Philip Orsley Kingston M 47
67 2:04:43 Phil Canion Kingston M 47
68 2:04:58 Sheldon Quimby Port Ewen M 61
69 2:08:40 Holly Sullivan Troy F 50
70 2:08:41 John Wimbush Troy M 48
71 2:09:04 Rich Rogers Palenville M 41
72 2:11:04 Michael Staicer Brooklyn M 55
73 2:12:41 Richard Ruby Palenville M 39
74 2:12:43 Richard Donofrio Saugerties M 30
75 2:13:25 Inka Rector Saugerties F 30
76 2:13:25 Nora Jassak Slingerlands F 27
77 2:13:57 Beharry Medanhe Lake Katrine F 40
78 2:15:43 Stephen Smith Athens F 49
79 2:17:22 Linda Spyker-Oles Accord F 43
80 2:17:23 Jack Spyker-Oles Accord M 54
81 2:18:51 Janet McBride Kingston F 36
82 2:20:25 Ron Biscoe Sagerties M 38
83 2:20:42 Donna Zajkowski Poughkeepsie F 43
84 2:32:03 Anne Warman Kingston F 63
85 2:37:03 Brandon Talmadge Saugerties M 12
86 2:37:32 Vasant Beharry Lake Katrine M 18
87 2:41:10 William Payne Saugerties M 51
88 3:00:00 Melissa Signor Saugerties F 44
