By The TimesLedger
Ian Gray and Susan Menz were the men’s and women’s winners in the third annual Quantum Feet Road Runners Club 5K in Fresh Meadows last Sunday.
Carlos Castro took the early lead and held for a mile and three quarters with Gray running second. Gray, however, caught him at the two mile mark.
“Gray was pushing the issue for a mile and a half to two miles,” Castro said. “We ran a good two miles.”
Gray went out at a 5:00 pace for the first mile, was clocked at 10:15 at the two-mile mark and led from this point on to win in 15:58, thus setting a new course record and breaking the old one of 16:11 set by Julio Chuqui in 2001.
Castro was timed in 5:00 for the first mile and 10.10 for two miles, but struggled down the stretch.
“We had a good community race,” said the 36-year-old Gray “A race like this builds the sport in this part of Queens where it’s not so big.”
“We had a lot of good people showing their community spirit,” said Michael Brady, runner-up with a 17;07. in his age group (l4 through 19) and ninth overall. “I like the competition. Everyone encourages everyone.”
Castro finished third in 16:27, behind Jacobo Perez’s 16:19 for second place and ahead of Yorki Munoz, who ran a 16:31 for fourth place, and Jaime Palacios, who was clocked in 16:57 for fifth place
Rounding out the top 10 were Marco Bravo, Aaron Ishmael, Sam Grotewold, Michael Brady and Antoina Medina.
Menz, all the way from Briarcliffe Manor in Westchester County, crossed the finish line in 20:28, thus taking the woman’s title.
“I ran a good challenging race,” said Menz, 40. “It wasn’t too tough.”
Susan Yang’s 20:48 earned her second place among the females. Trisha LaForce was clocked in 21:17 for third place. There were 80 finishers,
“We are very satisfied with the turnout on a sunny delightful morning for a 3.1 mile race,” said race director Dominiz Ortriz. “Everything went well. And it was a complete success.”
“Competition was good, as the first as runners were all under 17 minutes,” said Leo Nicholas, who timed the race. “But 50 percent of the entries ran 35 minutes or worse.”
Proceeds of the race went to benefit the Steppingstone Day School of Flushing.
