The USATF cross country masters championship races were yesterday at Saratoga Springs in New York.
Dirigo won handily in the men’s 40-49 race, beating the Genesee Valley Harriers 48 to 76. Brian Pope of Oxford, MS won the race in 15:25, followed by Mike Payson (15:28) and Todd Coffin (15:34).
Tom Ryan won the 50+ race in 16:25; this placed him fourth with an age-graded time of 14:15.
Shore Athletics Club of NJ beat out the Finger Lakes Runners Club by 1 point in the women’s race. Carmen Ayala-Tronco won the race in 17:19 by almost 40 seconds.
From the Dirigo press release:
Saratoga Springs, NY –
Masters 40-49: Team Dirigo, representing the State of Maine, won the USATF 5K Masters Championships in convincing fashion on a perfect autumn day over a fast and exciting Saratoga Springs State Park course. Mike Payson and Todd Coffin battled perennial champion Brian Pope (Biloxi, MS) with the lead changing feet several times before the final 500 meter stretch to the finish. In the penultimate moments, Pope galloped to the tape in 15:25 with Payson and Coffin closing within the next several seconds. The rest of the team finished strong with Pete Bottomley, Dan Franek, Dan Dearing and Peter Hall contributing to a 30 point victory over the second place Genesee Valley Harriers. In addition, Coffin earned the 45+ gold medal and Bottomley the 45 + bronze. The team won $400 for first place.
Seniors 50-59: Tom Ryan, 2005 10K XC 50+ National Champion, shut down West Coast phenoms Dave Clingan and Rich Burns with a gutsy one mile surge to the finish. His time of 16:22 was 7 seconds faster than last year’s winning performance. His age graded time works out to about a 14:15 5K.
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