Central Park Track Club (CPTC) has been a fixture on the New York road running scene since its founding in 1972. The club consistently ranks as one of the top clubs across the city and on any given day you can spot many runners cruising through Central Park sporting the team's maple leaf logo and orange colors. You can read more about the team and its history on there webpage. I joined the team in early 2016 after moving to the Upper East Side and have enjoyed every moment of my time running with CPTC (well not so much the final mile during some of the hot summer races, but almost every moment).

If you are not familiar with the New York running club racing scene, it's as deep and diverse as any city's club setup in the country if not the world. There are 91 competitive and social running clubs registered with the New York Road Runners, who put on a fabulous series of scored club races. Clubs compete in three different tiers (along with 4 different Master's age categories) with promotion and demotion among the tiers based on team results. This setup creates an engaging year round team environment unlike any I have experienced anywhere else. I will be digging in to the results (specifically the times from CPTC) for some of the more high profile scoring races and offering a high level review of the results to go along with some visualizations. I'll start with the most prominent club race of the year which takes place towards the end of July/beginning of August each year. The Club Team Championships (5 miles).

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NYRR Team Championships

Added May 2020

Often referenced as just the Club Champs, this race is the pinnacle of club racing in New York. The race itself consists of a familiar 5 mile loop through Central Park and has separate races for the Men and Women with each open team scoring 10 runners deep. This race forces teams to really show their depth and while it usually does not take place during most runner's training peak, you can bet each runner is pushing hard for each position and maxing out their fitness level. I'm very fond of the normal race course because it suits my running style, with a runners having to ascend the large cat hill at about 3.5 miles into the race. It's a late enough test of strength to drop any pretenders, but those that can conquer the hill get a fast, slightly downhill final mile and with a very competitive field, you can get some fast times (as long as the weather agrees).

The race has grown in size quite a bit since its first running in 1987 with 309 runners (60 of which were from CPTC) and had over 2,000 participants last year. CPTC consistently sends about 100 runners to the race each year and the team has finished at least in the top 4 clubs in the open division every year since 2010 with the Women's team winning the race in 2017 and 2018. In the Masters categories, CPTC has also had lots of recent success with the Men winning the 40+ and 60+ divisions last year. The race in general has always been one of the more competitive races. Since the race's inception the top Men have run many sub 25 minute races with the average time of the top 10 Men usually in the mid to high 24 minute range. The Women's race historically has been fast as well. Over the last 15 races, 11 times the Women's average time for the top ten places has been in the 28's (and once even under 28 minutes). The chart below shows the average times for the top ten runners from every year.

Blue line is the average time for the top 200 runners (gender agnostic)

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CPTC's times have mirrored the general race (albeit a little bit slower) and with most of the team's top runners toeing the start line, the team has seen consistently fast results since the race's inception. The Men's times fluctuate from year to year but consistently averaged in the 26 minute range with a few years in the 27's. The women's times have shown a downward trend as CPTC has closed the gap between its top racers and the field. While the women never averaged below 31:45 as a team prior to 2005, in 6 of the last 7 years the team has averaged 31 minutes or under. While the team's top runners are showcased in the chart above, you can check out the visualization below to see every CPTC Club Championship result since 1987. Search last names to highlight specific results from team members.

Queens 10k (previously Half Marathon)

Added July 27, 2020

While the previous race discussed, the Club Champs, has remained very similar for 30+ years in distance and times, the Queens 10k has changed quite a lot, adjusting its date and distance frequently. The race that has become the Queens 10k, began in 1994 as a Half Marathon in April (Brooklyn was in March at the time) on a course in College Pointe. If anyone knows the exact route from back then, let me know, but I did find a description of the Half course from the 2011 event here. The race moved to May for the 2003-2005 editions before switching to September in 2007 and to July (that must've been fun in the heat) in 2010. After 18 years as a Half Marathon, the race switched to a 10k event in 2012. In 2014, the race moved to it's current timing in June and although a 5k event was added for one year in 2016, the event remains a 10k that loops around Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

With the distance and time of year moving about so much (along with it not being a points race until recently), CPTC did not have large numbers at the race until the last three years which had over 60 CPTC'er racing each year. I ran the race for the first (and so far only time) in 2018. I really enjoyed the course which offers a much flatter (and a bit more winding) alternative to the common Central Park loop. The largest "hills" are really just over passes that loop over some of the roads and there are nice long stretches where you can really open up your stride (or fall asleep if you're are not careful). Living in Manhattan in 2018, non-Central Park or Manhattan races provided a great opportunity for me to explore some areas of the city that I did not get to as frequently. Corona Park is really a lovely place to run with crisscrossing paths and flat open terrain. The one caveat keeping Queens 10k from being a blazing fast race, is that it is often run in blazing heat or humidity towards the end of June. Additionally, the timing of the race often comes when runners are not at peak fitness. Many year round runners have had a spring season with a peak race in April or May and haven't necessarily ramped back up to 100%. The upside of the timing is if you had a rough spring or are looking to extend your fitness into the summer, Queens offers an opportunity to finisher higher place-wise than you might in other races (as long as you can handle the heat). Although that is becoming less of the case as the race rises in popularity.

Even with the less than ideal timing, the race has grown dramatically since becoming a 10k in 2012. That year 5,460 runners completed the race and by 2019 that had more than doubled to 11,853. And while this year there were zero participants due to COVID, I would not be surprised to see the event grow larger since the open space and roadways of Flushing Meadows and Corona Park should be able to hold more participants. The race itself has gotten faster as it has expanded. In 2017, the race replaced two other June races (Retro 4M and LGBT Pride 5M) in the NYRR Club Series and times at the front of the race have dropped quickly since that shift. The 100th place finisher in 2012 ran 41:38 and in 2019 that had dropped to 36:11. That 36:11 would have placed you in the top 20 each year from 2012-2015, so the Club points is definitely creating a much more competitive race at the front.

While the race has only counted for points recently, CPTC has had solid showings at the race this decade. NYRR only scored three teams (and no age-based teams) pre 2016 (since it wasn't a Club race). The Women's Open team did not crack the top three until 2018 when they took 2nd, but followed that up with a 3rd place finish in 2019. The Men's Open team has finished either 2nd or 3rd in 2012-2015 & 2017-2018, but neither team has broken through with a win. The Master's teams have been more successful with the Women's 40+ and 70+ winning in 2019 and the Men's 50+ team winning in both 2018 & 2019.

Top 5 Open teams during three years when race has counted for Club points

During its early years as a Half, the Queens race had some reasonably quick times often requiring sub 70 minute mens and sub 80 minute womens times to be competing for a win. The fastest winning time was in 2001 when Paul Mwangi went 66:32. But the times slowly crept upwards and once the race moved into the heat of the summer, the paces really slowed with only 7 runners under the 80 minute threshold in each year. To be fair the weather for the 2011 race was 77 degrees with 60% humidity and in 2010 was 85(!) degrees with 63% humidity. Congrats to brave 3,688 runners finishing that year and Michael Dixon (73:59) from Fanwood, NJ (my wife's hometown!) and Reilly Kiernan (83:24) for powering through to victories. In my opinion the NYRR made the right call moving to a 10k. I love a good half marathon, but save the longer distances for the fall and spring. One other interesting tidbit from the winning times over the years is that for three straight years (2005, 2006, and 2007) the race was won with the exact same time 69:29.

After steady attendance in the 30 participant range for Central Park during the race's early 2000's editions, the numbers trailed off as the times slowed and the race moved into the the heart of summer. CPTC racers always looking for opportunities to run fast only sent 4 racers in 2009, 10 in 2010, and 15 2011. But racers returned once the race became a more palatable 10k and especially after it became a points race. Since the 10k is less than a decade old and has only drawn the fastest runners in the last couple of years, the CPTC leaderboard is not as deep as some other NYRR races, but I suspect that fast times will continue to be added in the near future. For now Veronica Jackson's 35:56 (2018) and Ben Toomer's 30:59 from last year are the top CPTC 10k times at the race. Check out the Top 10 all time leaderboard in the charts below and dig into more of the individual CPTC team results at this event in the Dashboard.

Bronx 10 Miler

(previously a half marathon)

Added October 13, 2020

Just like the last race redux I wrote (Queens 10k), the Bronx 10 Miler started out as half marathon. At some point I am going to have to dedicate a full post to all the different half marathons that NYRR used to put on. It seems like every race I look into was originally a half marathon! The first Bronx half was held in 1995 and had a fairly competitive field with Alem Kahsay winning in 68:15 and Jean Chodnicki crossing in 83:43 as top women. Fourteen CPTC'ers participated in the inaugural event. Monica Bonamego led the CPTC women with a 15th place finish (93:12) and Alan Rueben along with Roane Carey were the top men for the team finishing 8th (73:31) and 9th (73:52), respectively. Check out all of CPTC's results at Bronx races in the Dashboard above. The old half course weaved a little bit more through the Bronx neighborhoods with the race circling the Jerome Park Reservoir, and going past St. James park in addition to segments on Grand Concourse and Mosholu Parkway which feature heavily in today's 10 mile route. Long-time CPTC runner (and Bronx Science alum) Audrey Kingsley ran the half course several time and noted, "it was always a cool thing for me to run past my high school" around the reservoir.

The race remained a half marathon until 2011 when the race was cancelled only a few days before it was planned to take place due to Hurricane Irene bearing down on New York City. When the event returned in 2012, NYRR changed the distance to 10 miles and participation in the event (like many NYRR races in the past decade), shot up quickly, tripling to almost 15,000 runners in 2017. The race has proven popular with CPTC as well. Eighty or more racers from the team have raced in each of the last four years ('16-'19), making it one of the most popular NYRR events with CPTC. In the 8 years since the race became a 10 Miler, one team member has competed every year, Oscar Garcia. Oscar has continued to return to the race year after year because with his office located in the Bronx "most of [his] clients and friends live nearby and they love to come and cheer." The out and back course makes the crowds feel larger than some other races because racers cheer for each other as the course doubles back.

The Bronx 10 Miler is probably my favorite of NYRR's races, so I'm including a little more of personal race perspective in this post. The course, the distance, the time of year, the competition all suit my running style (and often schedule) well. My first Bronx 10 Mile race in 2016, my first year with CPTC. I still did not even have my own club singlet yet and had to borrow Phil Falk's (thanks Phil!) for the weekend. At the time, I was gearing up for the New York Marathon 6 weeks away and was still trying to guarantee a spot in the Sub-elite section. I had run in the Sub-elite section of the Marathon in 2015 back when I was still living in St. Louis and before I had joined CPTC, but had a rough outing, fading over the second half of the course to a 2:46. NYRR said they would put me on the tentative Sub-elite list, but would have to wait and see how many others would apply. I hadn't done much racing in the spring of 2016 when I moved to NYC and while my 2:26 marathon time from Boston 2015 was still in the valid window for the Sub-elite section, I needed to show NYRR that I was not headed for another 2:46 in November.

NYRR said they normally only consider marathon or half-marathon times in their selection process, but I did not have a half on my schedule before the Marathon, just the Bronx 10 Miler. So, I needed a solid run that showed I'd be ready to tackle NYC in November. I had some solid training leading up to the race and hit some Tony's Thursday workouts in the park and the Tuesday sessions down at East River track over the summer. My long runs had been solid, but I hadn't really tested my fitness in a race during the fall. Going into the race, my pace was going to be somewhere between 5:10 and 5:30, but I was not very confident as I headed North up Grand Concourse Ave. with a group of runners at the beginning of the race. I figured anything under 53 minutes would be useful to help my case for the Marathon and hoped I could hold that pace.

Falling in mid to late September each year, the Bronx race often is one of (and sometimes the first) "cooler weather" race of the year. After training throughout hot and humid August and September, the cooler weather always seems to give a boost. In 2016 it was low 50's with mild humidity for the race which felt amazing after doing workout and long runs throughout the summer. Being able to warm up in a long sleeve (and even pants if you want!) helps with the mental edge as you gear up to the race. For myself in 2016, I can recall gaining confidence as my group of 4 passed the two mile mark at 10:40 and I was not drenched in sweat! Five runners had already pulled away, but 2 runners along with myself and Matt Rand had settled into a nice group. In addition to the cooler weather, the race timing also aligns with the beginning of the fall marathon season. Many runners are aiming towards a peak performance between mid October to November which leads to a lot of fit athletes in the field able to group up and work together.

The course for the Bronx 10 Mile is one of the simpler courses for an NYRR race. It's a basic out and back, going up wide rolling hills on Grand Concourse, looping around Mosholu Parkway and heading back down Grand Concourse to a downhill finish in front of Yankee stadium (See map in dashboard above). The slight uphill on the way out always keeps my pace in check and it's nice knowing that if you can make it through 6 miles of the course on pace, you have mostly (rolling) downhills the rest of the way. Mentally, the course breaks into three sections: 1) The first 4 miles up Grand Concourse where runners are mostly relaxed forming groups and still all feeling good 2) The 2 miles on Mosholu with a large downhill and uphill where groups break apart and runners separate and 3) The 4 mile net downhill return where you can open up your stride and roll. In 2016, my group, like many others started to stretch after turning onto Mosholu Parkway. I'm not sure if mile 4 is a little slow, but runners often seem to get antsy after turning off Grand Concourse. The big downhill towards the Botanical Garden frequently pulls apart anything that is left of a group as runners lean into the hill and clock in a fast mile 5. The key to the race for me is alway hitting the uphill back to Grand Concourse (between mile 5 and 6) on pace and rolling off the top into the last 4 mile section. If you can come through mile 6 with momentum, you have a chance to do some serious negative splitting. In 2016, Matt Rand (aka the King of Negative Splits) was already pulling away through mile 6 on his way to a 78 second negative split 6th place finish (51:28-26:23/25:05!!!). While the other two runners had gapped me on the downhill as I headed through the 5 mile marker at 26:30, by the top of the hill at the 6 mile mark I had made up the gap and was on my way to a negative split myself.

I shouldn't undersell the last 4 miles of the course. It's not all flat or downhill like the end of the Brooklyn half. There are some serious rollers with a big incline after dipping through an underpass at mile 7 and a net uphill mile 9. But Coach Tony is usually out there at mile nine and if his cheering doesn't get you moving through the tough sections nothing will. And even if you struggle to get through mile 9, the final mile actually is all downhill with about 75 ft of total drop. As long as you can keep your stride long, you can get a good chunk of time back just in the final mile. As 8-time Bronx 10 finisher Oscar Garcia put it, "when you make the turn onto 161th St, you feel like you have been shot out of sling shot, then Yankee Stadium, the crowd, the finish line, the music, the Boogie Down Bronx comes alive!" In 2016, even as I watched Rand continue to pull away (spoiler alert: He's really good, see top times chart below), I picked up the pace and was able to run miles 7 and 8 under 5:10 pace and closed in a sub 5 to run 52:03. Several weeks later I was accepted in the sub-elite section for the marathon, so I like to think the race paid off (And I got some redemption in the Marathon that fall running 2:30).

I had to skip the race the following year because I was running the Berlin Marathon, but returned in 2018 and 2019 employing similar tactics on the course (albeit with slower results) both years. Each year I've raced there have solid groups through about the halfway point of the race along Mosholu. And while the race has always had some decent fields, once the event became part of the Club point series in 2015 the competition really ramped up. In 2014, there were 27 total runners under 60 minutes and 27 women under 70 minutes. In 2015, that immediately jumped to 69 runners under 60 minutes and 51 women under 70 minutes.

Central Park Track Club's Average Times from the top 5 finishers in each category (Note, Master's Women did not have 5 finishers in 2012-2014)

Central Park saw a similar decrease in average times for its top runners once the race became a Club Points race. But after both the Men and Women's team had their fastest combined results (top 5 runners) in 2016, times have slowed slightly (see graph above). Times over the last four years have still been fast though. Looking at the top 10 Men's and Women's times on the Bronx 10 Mile course (see full list below), only 1 happened before 2016. Shout out to Mr. President, Greg Cass, who has the fastest pre-2016 with his 54:45 in 2015.

It's always great to have such a good showing by the CPTC team at the race in the years that I've attended. Seeing so much orange near the front of the pack can keep you inspired even when the course gets tough. Looking at the results dashboard at the top of this post you can see the all of the orange diamonds clustered to the fast end of the results. Central Park Track Club has always prided itself on being a competitive team and that competitive nature shows in the team depth towards the front of the race. Since 2016 CPTC has captured between 39 and 57 of the top 500 spots at the Bronx 10 Mile. Roughly 1 out of ever 10 runners at the upper echelon of the Bronx finishers in a CPTC'er! In the race recap emails from Tony or Devon, we always see so many great performances throughout the team, but when looking at the results in aggregate, our team depth stands out as second to none!

The fast times are just one of many reasons both CPTC runners (and everyone else) keeps returning to Yankee Stadium each September to open the heart of the fall racing season in New York. I expect the race to stay popular and CPTC to continue to add to the top times list below for years to come!