The 2022 USATF Masters Ten Mile Championships-Recap # 2-Men's Age Division National Champions and Teams

April 27 2022. The 2022 USATF Masters 10 Mile Championships were hosted by the Sacramento Running Association SRA on Sunday April 3rd. Recap #1 noted the initial worry that a tragic shooting in the area the night before had threatened to delay or cancel the race. Those worries dissipated, thoughts turned to the competition, as camaraderie, rivalry and high spirits emerged. The weather was perfect; the SRA treated the Masters runners as Elites with a separate roped off, limited-entry staging area with lots of folding chairs in a large area to change gear and leave odds and ends like track bags, warmup pants and tops, etc.. It was great for connecting with team members and athletes on other teams.; the level of chatter was high. There was also a secure gear check underneath the Masters Tent where folks were in attendance throughout. The first recap reported on the Overall Results, Records, Age-Grading, and Women's Age Division scoring. This one covers Men's Age Division and Team Results for both Women and Men. The course was out and back with a few loops; at 7.2 miles runners ran around a traffic circle and headed back. I refer to this in the recaps below as the 'U-turn.'

AGE DIVISION  Men  

They Are Off and Running-Masters red & white bibs From Left: Todd Rose, Thomas Tayeri, Jacques Sallberg, Trevor Cox, and  Christian Cushing-Murray Photo courtesy of SRA

 

40-44 Riley Cook, Sergio Reyes, and Roosevelt Cook went 1-2-3 Overall and in this division. 

Riley Cook striding ahead of the field in the last few miles on his way to victory Photo courtesy of Cal Coast TC

 

Riley Cook 50:00     Sergio Reyes 50:36     Roosevelt Cook 51:27

45-49 Jason Troxler Flagstaff AZ was the only one who could keep up with Gregory Mitchell Wilsonville OR for the first half of the race; Mitchell was on fire!  Troxler had to let him go after that. By the U-turn, Mitchell had opened a 50-meter gap which he grew to 200 meters by the time he claimed the division win in 52:57. Troxler took second at 53:49 and Jacques Sallberg Pasadena CA outpaced Todd Rose San Francisco CA by a half minute, to claim 3^rd in 54:49.  

Gregory Mitchell 52:57     Jason Troxler 53:49     Jacques Sallberg 54:49   

50-54 Jaime Heilpern San Francisco CA, took 2^nd M50 at the highly competitive Club Cross championships. He showed in this race that he has serious road credentials as well. Talk about a stacked field! Mark Callon Monte Sereno CA was fresh off a win at the Masters Half Marathon Championships two weeks earlier. Ivan Lieben took 3rd in the division at Club Cross in Tallahassee and 2nd at Mission Bay. Christian Cushing-Murray Orange, CA showed he still has wheels. He took the division win on the challenging 5 km course at Atlanta in 16:45. Heilpern pulled away to a hundred-meter lead over Mark Callon Monte Sereno CA by the U-turn. 

 

From Left: Jaime Heilpern high socks, Jacques Sallberg lime green singlet,Todd Rose red shorts, Andrew Touchstone in the middle of the 2022 USATF Masters 10 Mile Championships at the Sactown Ten Photo courtesy of Cal Coast TC

Heilpern crossed the finish line in first at 55:11, followed by Callon in 56:03. 

 

Ivan Lieben Lafayette CA claimed third in 56:38, with Christian Cushing-Murray 20 seconds back in 4^th. 

Jaime Heilpern 55:11     Mark Callon 56:03     Ivan Lieben 56:38

55-59 There are few superlatives that cannot be applied to Nat Larson Amherst MA. He is a three-time USATF Harrier of the Year, regularly takes age division championships on the turf and on the roads. He is almost always on the Age Grading podium and sometimes on the top. He has been an Masters LDR Division Runner of the Year from 2016 through 2019 an took both the 50-54 and 55-59 age division runner of the year in 2017!  Larson had niggling injuries in 2019 that he batted through, then had surgery during the pandemic lull in championships, and was not fully recovered when they started appearing again last fall. By March he was starting to look like the Larson of old, claiming first at the national Half Marathon championships at Syracuse and winding up atop the Age Grading podium. It was a tribute to the strength of the field that they were not blown away. Larson hit the U-turn in 40:59 with Thomas Tayeri Palo Alto CA and Anthony McGrath San Francisco CA just 25 and 35  meters back, respectively. No one said it would be easy to win another national championship in one's last couple of months in an age division. Larson kept the hammer down though and gradually Tieri and McGrath fell back and focused on their own battle for 2nd place. Larson not only took the win by nearly a minute, he finished 2nd in age grading 

Nat Larson far right powers to a first in his division and 2nd place in Age Grading Overall Photo cpurtesy of SRA

 

to the new 65-69 American Record holder, Jacob Nur. Despite his best efforts, McGrath could not find a way to close down that 2-second advantage. When they crossed the finish line, Tayeri was still up by 2 seconds! Mark Murray Davis CA took 4th in 1:01:02.

Nat Larson 57:11     Thomas Tayeri 58:05     Anthony McGrath 58:07

60-64 Tim DeGrado Arvada CO, who finished 2^nd in the division at Club Cross and at the 5 Km Championships in Atlanta, came in hungry for a win. He would have to earn it. Iain Mickle Sacramento CA clocked 2:53:42 at the CIM in December and ran 59:53 at the Norcal John Frank Memorial 10 Mile Run in March. DeGrado took no chances as he sped away from the starting line and kept the pressure on. 

Roger Dix, with Maggie Shearer partially obscured, leads Paul Hughes and Carre Joyce Heineck in the early going Photo courtesy of SRA

 

By the U-turn, he had a lead of over a hundred meters on Mickle. That was the high point. Mickle chipped away at the lead over the final miles and cut it down to 50 meters. But Mickle ran out of room and DeGrado enjoyed a fine win in 59:47. Paul Hughes Pagosa Springs CO beat back challenges from Ray Rodriguez Los Banos CA and Adam Feerst Denver CO to take third with a cushion of half a minute.

Tim DeGrado 59:47     Iain Mickle 59:57     Paul Hughes 1:03:00

65-69 This division belonged to Jacob Nur Elk Grove CA and his record-breaking 58:34 [58:36 gun time] effort. Focused on breaking the record, Nur was never threatened and won by over 5 minutes. 

Jcob Nur hurtles to the finish liine and a new Ten-Mile American Record for Men 65-69 Photo courtesy of SRA

As noted, he was also atop the age grading podium. Terry Baucom El Dorado Hills CA captured 2^nd in 1:04:05, three minutes ahead of Doug Steedman San Francisco CA. Tomas Rodriguez claimed 4th, 2:38 behind Steedman.

Jacob Nur 58:36     Terry Baucom 1:04:05     Doug Steedman 1:07:09

70-74 In 2018, Gene Dykes Bala Cynwyd PA came within a whisker of claiming the legendary Ed Whitlock’s M70 Marathon record of 2:54:48. Injuries slowed him in 2020 and 2021 but he is now much of the way back to his usual fitness. If his high side now is to match up with what Whitlock achieved at 75, he needs to get his Marathon time down to around 3:05. He still has a ways to go for that fitness, but he was far ahead of the field at this national championship. As noted, Dykes finished 3^rd in age grading; he rolled to a 1:07:51 time and a winning gap of over 4 minutes.  

Gene Dykes strides to the finish and his win in M70-74 while Tania Fischer drives to the finish to secure a win for her W50+ Janes Elite team Photo courtesy of SRA

 

David Dunbar La Jolla CA, John Hirschberger San Francisco CA, and Jerry Learned Gainesville GA were in a dogfight for the other podium spots. At the U-turn, Hirschberger had a 4 second lead over Dunbar and Learned who were matching stride for stride. Learned made his move shortly thereafter and pulled away to take 2^nd in 1:12:28 with 20 seconds to spare. Hirschberger held on to win the NorCal-SoCal battle, taking third in 1:12:48, just two seconds ahead of Dunbar.

Gene Dykes 1:07:51     Jerry Learned 1:12:28     John Hirschberger 1:12:48

75-79  Dave Glass Glenville NY has no peer in the division currently at distances above10 Km. He took the division win at the 12 km championships last September and the Half Marathon Championship in Syracuse. With the ten mile championship in between those two distances, Glass was clearly the athlete to beat. He faced a strong field. But his fittest rivals, Len Goldman Oakland CA and Gary Ostwald Denver CO, were attempting a distance outside their normal range. When Glass sprinted off at 7:30 pace, it soon became clear that Goldman and Ostwald would be fighting it out for 2nd place. Seasoned veterans, Gene French San Bruno CA, Jan Frisby Grand Junction CO and yours truly, Paul Carlin Three Oaks MI fell away rapidly. Glass rolled to a three-minute lead by the U-turn and cruised in with a fine 1:16:38 to win the division by over 3 minutes!  Goldman had carved out a 30-meter gap back to Ostwald by the U-turn, but Ostwald threw in a surge and passed Goldman toward the end of Mile 7. Goldman almost caught Ostwald at the Tower Bridge. Goldman thought he might be able to reel him in, but Ostwald toughed it out and edged Goldman for 2^nd place by two seconds, in 1:19:50! Three and a half minutes later, Frisby took 4th, followed 1:47 later by Carlin and then by French.

Dave Glass 1:16:38     Gary Ostwald 1:19:50     Len Goldman 1:19:52

80-84 Andrew Sherwood Atlanta GA claimed the Division Bronze Medal at the Club Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee this past December. This time he was unopposed; his 2:06:42 earned him the Gold! 

Andrew Sherwood 2:06:42

85-89 Richard Williams Coronado CA took 2^nd at the USATF Masters Cross Country championships at Mission Bay in San Diego. Like Sherwood, however, he was unopposed at this championship. His 1:58:13 took the division first place!

Richard Williams 1:58:13

TEAMS

 MEN 40+ The West Valley Track Club from down the road in the San Francisco Bay area locked horns with the Cal Coast Track Club from the Los Angeles Metro area. Longtime rivals, Cal Coast was 20 seconds ahead after the first two runners for each team were in, but the third runner was the charm, giving West Valley’s Peter Gilmore, Benjamin Koss, and Todd Rose the win. 

West Valley's Ben Kosss checks back to see where Cal Coast's Jacques Sallberg is. They say not to look back but it worked for Koss who finished 7th, a whisker ahead of Sallberg, but with scoring on time not position, Sallberg did negate that by scoring the same 54:49 time!

 

Their cumulative time of 2:42:55 represents an average of 54:18.3 per runner. Cal Coast Roosevelt Cook, Jacques Sallberg, Trevor Cox took 2^nd in 2:45:01, with the hometown SRA Elite Jesse Barragan, Galen Farris, Michael Aguilar edging the Excelsior Running Club Cesar Lira, Jason Lee, Jason Reed for 3^rd by a single second in 2:57:59! 

West Valley Track Club 2:42:55 54:18 average     Cal Coast Track Club 2:45:01 55:00     SRA Elite 2:57:59 59:20

50+ West Valley repeated the feat in this division, dominating a field of 9 clubs. Mark Callon and Ivan Lieben let only one other runner finish ahead of them; 

From Left: Mark Callon and Christian Cushing-Murray pacing a group of Open Runners as they compete for M50+ team honors for West Valley and Cal Coast respectively Photo courtesy of Cal Coast TC

 

one more of their rivals came in and then Anthony McGrath capped their scoring at 2:50:46 for a runner average of 56:55.3. SRA Elite Darren Morgan, Joe Van der\ Water, David Mastro claimed 2^nd in 2:58:54, with Cal Coast Christian Cushing-Murray, Matthew Underwood, Gregory Keyes third in 3:00:12. The Atlanta Track Club Steve Bell, Brad Slavens, Michael Strickland was just a minute of cumulative time off the podium.

West Valley Track Club 2:50:46 56:56     SRA Elite 2:58:54 59:38     Cal Coast 3:00:12 1:00:04

60+  The SRA Elite’s Jacob Nur beat everyone in the team race, and his teammate, Iain Mickle, beat everyone else except Boulder’s Tim DeGrado. Adam Feerst kept it going by coming in before SRA's 3rd runner. But ten seconds later, Terry Baucom closed off the scoring for SRA, they had the win with 13 minutes to spare; their total time was 3:02:37, averaging 1:00:52.3. The Boulder Road Runners Tim DeGrado, Adam Feerst, Jeffery Barros took 2^nd in 3:15:56 while Athletics Boulder Jay Littlepage, Martin Lascelles, Rick Bruess came third in 3:29:21. River City Rebels finished 4th.

SRA Elite 3:02:37 1:00:52.3     Boulder Road Runners 3:15:56 1:03:18.7     Athletics Boulder 3:29.21 1:09:27

70+ Jerry Learned led the way for the Atlanta Track Club Jerry Learned, Dave Glass, Sam Benedict and John Hirschberger finished 2nd for the Tamalpa Runners John Hirschberger, Len Goldman, Gene French. had the first two runners to finish, But the Boulder Road Runners had a tighter pack of runners with Doug Bell, Mike Wien, and Gary Ostwald combining for a 3:50:42 total, an average of 1:16:54. They took the win with a cushion of over 7 minutes! Tamalpa took 2^nd in 3:58:09, with Atlanta third in 4:15:28.

 WOMEN 40+ Maggie Shearer led the Cal Coast team to victory over spirited efforts by SRA Elite Jenny Hitchings, Midori Sperandeo, Anne Cushman and Impala Racing Jacqueline Cooke, Elizabeth Goya, Celeste Prothro. 

Maggie Shearer wins the Women's Race Overall and Leads her Cal Coast Team to 40+ Victory Photo courtesy of SRA

 

Hitchings came in a minute and change behind Shearer but then Laura Osman and Elizabeth Guerrini came in close together ahead of SRA's 2nd runner. 

Jenny Hitchings finishes off her new American Record while leading her SRA team to 2nd place in the Women's 40+ team competition Photo courtesy of SRA

 

That gave Cal Coast the win at 3:05:17, averaging 1:01:44.3. SRA Elite nailed second with a total about 6 minutes higher.

Carre Joyce Heineck  closes with determination to take 2nd Overall and give her Red Lizard team their best chance at a team podium finish Photo courtesy of SRA

Impala Racing took 3rd 1:52 ahead of Team Red Lizard Carre Joyce Heineck, Mercy Sells, Wendy Terris.

Cal Coast Track Club 3:05:17 1:01:44.3     SRA Elite 3:11:05 1:03:41.7     Impala Racing 3:15:54 1:05:18

50+ Ingrid Walters led the way for the Janes Elite racing. Megan Kossar came in next for Impala Megan Kossar, Kristi Rossi, Jennifer Bayliss. Sixteen seconds later Tania Fischer, the Janes #2 crossed the line.  Rossi came next for Impala but Kathleen Cushing-Murray finished things off for the Janes, raising them to the top of the podium in 3:25:24, an average of 1:08:28. Impala Megan Kossar, Kristi Rossi, Jennifer Bayliss took 2^nd in this division at 3:28:20, with Buffalo Chips Running Club Genevieve Clavier, Jackie Sword-Olson, Lisa Balestrini third at 3:52:54. The Impala 'B' team Dana Blum, Patti Shore, Cheryl Shwe finished fourth with  total time 2 and a half minutes higher.

Janes Elite 3:25:24 1:08:28     Impala Racing 3:28:20 1:09:26.7     Buffalo Chips Running Club 3:52:54 1:17:38

60+ Stella Gibbs gave Impala Racing Gibbs, Shirley Shean, Ifeoma Adams the early lead, 

Stella Gibbs far right leads a group of Open and Masters Runners through Sacramento's Old Town District

 

but the Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders had a tighter pack of striders, with Debra Cramer, Suzette Smith and Diane Bomberg finishing ahead of the Impala # 2 runner. They took first in 4:37:10, an average of 1:32:23.3. Impala’s total for 2^nd place was 4:54:45.

Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders 4:37:10 1:32:23.3     Impala Racing 4:54:45 1:38:15

The Sacramento Running Association SRA put on a terrific event, well attended, and with stirring performances in every division. Next up in the 2022 Masters National Grand Prix circuit is the 10 Km Masters Championships hosted by the James Joyce Ramble in Dedham, MA on April 24, 2022, just outside of Boston.