Cool Morning, Hot Times in Brooklyn

John Henwood and Sara Vergote triumph in popular half-marathon

Brooklyn, Saturday, May 3—More than 5,800 runners today completed the NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix Presented by Continental Airlines: Brooklyn, a picturesque 13.1-mile journey that started on the famous Coney Island Boardwalk, included a six-mile straightaway along Ocean Parkway, and finished in Prospect Park. This was the third NYRR team-points race of 2008, and despite cloudy skies, there was no rain on Brooklyn’s parade.

John Henwood, running only his second race since undergoing knee surgery last October, proved on Saturday that he’s well on the road to recovery. The 6-foot-5 New Zealander, who runs for the New York Athletic Club (NYAC), pulled away from Jorge Eliecer Real of West Side Runners (WSX) in the final mile and broke the tape in 1:08:37.

Henwood, 35, and Eliecer Real, 37 and a native of Colombia, battled each other for the entire race. “I did expect to win, to be honest, but Jorge ran really well,” said Henwood. “He sat on me for nine miles and then put in a little surge to try to get rid of me. I surged back and caught him. Basically, I poured it on in the last mile and pulled away.” Henwood won by 19 seconds.

A 2004 Olympian at 10,000 meters and a 2:15 marathoner, Henwood was pleased with his comeback effort. “This was really a good training race just to see where I’m at,” he said. “I’m only running 60 miles a week right now, so I have to keep building up.”

The women’s overall winner was Sara Vergote of the Nike Central Park Track Club (CPTC), who ran without high expectations just one week after competing in a 10K. “I wasn’t planning on running hard today,” said Vergote, “but I was doing pretty well, so I decided to push it.”

Vergote, 27, finished more than a minute ahead of Arianne Field of NYAC, who was second in 1:21:34. “The course was relatively flat until the end, but then those hills were pretty tough,” said Field.

In a reversal of the individual overall women’s standings, NYAC beat out CPTC in the women’s open team competition; their five scoring runners finished second, fourth, fifth, eighth, and 10th overall. CPTC placed second and Moving Comfort New York (MCNY) was third. WSX won the men’s open team competition, followed by CPTC in second and Urban Athletics (UATH) in third; Henwood’s NYAC team was fourth.

The Brooklyn Half is always popular, particularly among members of running clubs based in that borough. “It’s wonderful to have a New York Road Runners event in Brooklyn,” said Emily Sanderson of the Prospect Park Track Club, who runs in her home park five times each week. “There’s a lot of Brooklyn pride here, and this is a beautiful park. It was actually a perfect day for running—not too much wind, no rain, and no sun.”

Sanderson’s team finished second in the women’s 40+ division behind the Greater New York Racing Team; MCNY took third. UATH won the men’s 40+ division ahead of CPTC and the Polish Runners Club (PRC).

In the men’s 50+ division, the top three teams were CPTC, Witold’s Runners, and TRR; the 50+ women were led by TRR, the New York Flyers, and the Richmond Rockets (RKTS). The men’s 60+ division’s podium teams were the Korean Runners Club, TRR, and Front Runners New York; the Mercury Masters won the women’s 60+ division.

Women’s age-group winners included Anna Miller (12-19) in 1:51:17, Deborah Gaebler of GNY (40-44) in 1:26:28, Cindy Pomeroy of WTC (45-49) in 1:28:03, Meredith Marciano (50-54) in 1:49:37, Barbara Byrne of RKTS (55-59) in 1:40:26, Lee McLaughlin of TRR (60-64) in 1:50:01, Susanna Beltrandi (65-69) in 1:55:30, and Billie Moten of the Warren Street Social & Athletic Club (WS; 70-74) in 2:41:24.

Among the male age-group winners were Karol Kielbasa of PRC (12-19) in 1:22:29, Eduard Gapak of WS (20-29) in 1:09:58, Stephane Bois of WS (40-44) in 1:15:51, Piotr Karasiewicz of PRC (45-49) in 1:13:09, Stuart Calderwood of CPTC (50-54) in 1:17:46, Yasuhiro Makoshi of CPTC (55-59) in 1:24:07, Inkul Yoo of KRC (60-64) in 1:28:54, Thomas Maile of TRR (65-69) in 1:33:48, Roland Ratmeyer of the South Hudson Spiked Shoe Running Club (70-74) in 1:46:41, and Carlo Digiorgio of Amazing Feet (75-79) in 1:58:16.

John Henwood, 35, of New Zealand and the New York Athletic Club pulled away in the final mile to win Saturday’s NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix Presented by Continental Airlines: Brooklyn in 1:08:37.