We had great weather—cool and a little breezy—for hosting 421 finishers at the 2024 Ithaca 5&10, the largest field in at least the past 20 years. Pre-race setup and bib pickup went smoothly thanks to numerous volunteers, and nearly 30 kids kicked off the day’s events with a 1-mile untimed fun run on the paths between Ithaca High School and Boynton Middle School. The 5K and 10K started together 45 minutes later, taking over Cayuga Street temporarily before funneling down to run their way towards the Commons, back on Tioga Street, and around Boynton. The 5K runners finished into the IHS bus lane, and the 10K runners kept on for another loop.
The 5K proved to be a bit of a grudge match from last year. Callum Coots of Missoula, MT (below left), dropped 66 seconds from his 2023 time to win in 15:39, with last year’s winner, Luca Corea of Rockville, MD, taking second in 15:56 despite lowering his time by 10 seconds. Jack Frank of Philadelphia, PA placed third in 16:23, a 28-second improvement on his sixth-place finish in 2023. On the women’s side, Diane Makovic of Western Springs, IL (below right), ran 18:42 for the win, edging Ella Whiffen of Madison, WI, who crossed in 18:51. Third place went to 42-year-old Liz Hartman, last year’s overall winner, in 19:44.
The men’s 10K, which served as the RRCA New York State 10K Championship, also saw familiar faces. In both 2022 and 2023, our winner was Henry Williams of Ithaca, who competed in the Olympic Marathon trials earlier this year, followed by Max Jaffe, also of Ithaca. This year, Jaffe turned the tables, dropping 1:43 from his 2023 time to win the race in a course record 31:24. Williams didn’t make it easy, though, breaking his own previous course record by 19 seconds, finishing second in 31:40. Third place went to IHS alum Alexander Simpson in 32:54. The women’s RRCA New York State 10K Championship title was claimed by Sarah Woodyear of Ithaca in 39:14 (below), with Anne Dygert of Brooktondale second in 39:42 and Dorothy Wong of Pennington, NJ, third in 42:47.
Full results are available, along with a slew of fabulous race photos from Jamie Love.
Special thanks to all the volunteers who made it happen, starting with race director Gary McCheyne. Thanks to club members Bob Talda, Tristan Lambert, Columbia Warren, Kathy Putnam, and Makoto Endo for setting up and taking down the course. Tonya Engst managed bib and shirt pickup, which was ably staffed by Rebecca Lambert, Dave Kania, Joe Nolan, Ducson Nguyen, Mark Booth, and Kathleen Sullivan. Adam Engst managed clothing sales, Karen Ingall coordinated the fun run, Sarah Drumheller and Molly Doruska provided food, Tim Ingall was lead biker, and Ian Golden announced all the finishers. Runners from the Cornell cross-country team helped Makoto Endo, Steve Nathans-Kelly, Aaron Proujansky, and Truck Rossiter course marshal at the many intersections in the race. Water stops were staffed by Pete Dady, Gretchen Gilbert, Wendy Bollum, Lola Schuler, and Ryan Allen-Parrot, and Bob Walters and Columbia Warren handed out tickets for free ice cream to all finishers. We appreciate Leone Timing for recording times and places, the Ithaca Fire Police for managing traffic at the busiest intersections, Purity Ice Cream for scooping for all the runners, and Ithaca High School for providing the venue.
We hope to see you at upcoming FLRC events, such as the Parallel of Latitude 8-Hour Endurance Run on September 28, the Danby Down & Dirty trail race on October 12, and the Turkey Trot prediction run on Thanksgiving morning. We also invite you to join our Tuesday night workouts and weekend group runs and race with us on our cross-country teams in the PGXC series.