Run for Central Park - Local Gallery

July 18, 2009 [Results]

The annual Run for Central Park pays tribute to the 156-year-old oasis that serves as the site to many NYRR races and as the training ground for countless runners. This year the 4-mile race took on an added dimension as it became one of the 11 events in the NYRR team-points series. Outstanding individual performances and team results abounded on a gloriously sunny July morning.

Eventual winner Bado Worku Merdessa (#737) bided his time in the lead pack.	Halefom Abebe Tsegaye finished sixth overall; WSX men claimed eight of the top 10 places to win the open team title.	Mohammed Awol was seventh in 19:23; an astounding 13 men broke 20 minutes.	Teklu Tefera Deneke (right) edged Jon-Paul Mandelburg, 19:42 to 19:43.
Tyson Rupert, 45, placed second in his age division (21:40) and helped Warren Street to a #2 masters placing.	Zander Ross of Front Runners New York finished in 27:37.	Thomas Maile won the 65-69 age group with his 27:53 clocking.	At age 82, Jack Haar ran 44:46 to win his division.
Michael Rodgers of Brooklyn finished in 23:35.	Another Brooklynite, 51-year-old Budd Heyman, ran 27:50.	Gerardo Hernandez, 54, broke the half-hour barrier with his 29:55 finish.	Jack Berger ran 35:33; he was one of eight Forest Park Runners teammates to finish.
Abbi Antablin won in 21:59 and led the NYAC women’s open team to victory.	Muliye Gurmu was fourth overall in 22:32; her WSX women’s open team placed fourth.	Jane Maxwell placed fifth in 22:40…	…and her teammate Catherine Robbie was seventh in 22:56.
Gordon Bakoulis won the 45-49 division in 26:15.	Fifty-year-old Carrie Barratt ran 27:08 and placed fourth in her age group.	Jenny Rodriguez, 60, of WSX finished in 49:49.	The unstoppable Joan Rowland, 83, won her age group in 1:04:33.
Nina Parks-Taylor, 50, ran 29:19 and placed seventh in her division.	Yvonne Chu of Brooklyn finished in 33:26.	Kristen Crookes’s finishing time was 43:51.	Forty-year-old Rachel Laiserin stopped the clock at 32:57.