2021 5th Avenue Mile
September 12, 2021 marked the return of the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile, the fastest points race of the year. Thirty-three Harriers raced the completely straight, mostly flat 20-block stretch in several different age group heats.
Scott Bartucca was the first Harrier across the finish in 4:51, with Erik Shewan (5:04), Hanon Jhung (5:07), Myles Fennon (5:08), and Ryan Langdale (5:09) rounding out the top 5 men. The Harriers placed 4th in the men’s 40+ and 50+ divisions.
Amrita Ramamurthy was the tean’s first woman in 5:40. Cynthia Van (5:43), Maddie Bairey (5:59), Hannah Graffeo (6:01), and Sunny Huang (6:13) placed 2nd through 5th. In addition, the women’s team placed 7th in the open class division.
The Harriers had some impressive age group placements: Scott Bartucca 8th in M40-44, Gerard Hoban 8th in 55-59, Cynthia Van 9th in F35-39, Susan Bayat 11th in F55-59, and Eduardo Brandao 13th in M50-54.
Andy Schwehm credits the “beautiful group of cheering Harriers” for pushing him as he came off the hill into the race’s second half. As a result, Andy snagged a brand new mile PR of 5:52. Briana Guiney is similarly inspired by the team: “So fun to watch all our teammates. I’m truly in awe of all the H’s who rock every distance!”
Gavin Goldstein had a great race, feeling “good and happy with the results.” Gavin loved cheering for the other heats, the highlight of his day being the “look and wave Amrita gave us as we cheered for her. That was incredible.”
The highlight of Ari Scott’s race also involved Amrita – as Ari approached the tough halfway point, the sounds of Amrita’s enthusiastic yells caused Ari to burst into laughter (evidence of this is in Ari’s photo on this page). After a rough summer, Ari had not expected to run much faster than a 7:30, so she was pleasantly surprised to run 7:00, her fastest single mile in two years.
Head Coach Scott Bartucca didn’t have big expectations, as he thought he had “(semi) retired from the mile distance.” Scott found it “thrilling” to test his legs and “zip down 5th Avenue once again,” adding the even bigger thrill was “seeing my teammates—both cheering on the side of the road and then crushing PRs when it was their turn!”
Sandro Belvedere was aiming for a sub-6. According to NYRR, he ran 6:00 on the nose, although Sandro says “my Garmin says 5:59:47. I’ll go with Garmin, thank you very much.” We agree, Sandro. Congrats on your sub-6!
This was not only Kimi Chapelle’s first race outside of her home of South Africa, it was her first mile race ever. “The atmosphere was great and the run went better than planned,” she says, adding “THANK YOU to everyone who cheered. It made my day.”
After the Harriers were done with their heats, a group of mostly Harrier women headed into the park for some extra miles. It was a fantastic return to the mile race, and a great day of camaraderie for the team.
