Heckscher State Park USATF 50K Road Championships Recap

Written with photos by USATF MUT Council vice-chair Meghan Canfield. Above: Male Champion Kallin Carolus Khan.

Heckscher State Park in East Islip/Long Island, New York, was the sight for the 2023 Heckscher State Park USATF 50k Road Championships. This would be the 17th time that the Greater Long Island Running Club and race director Carl Grossbard has hosted this Championship event. Not only were national Open and Masters titles at stake today, but the winners would earn automatic spots on Team USA, heading to Hyderabad, India in November 2023, for the IAU World 50k Championships, provided they run under three hours for the men and under three hours-thirty-three minutes for the women.

At 8:30 AM under clear, calm, crisp conditions, the field of 38 athletes burst out from the start line, with Charles Smogoleski, Kallin Carolus Khan, and Mike Katsefaras leading the charge for the men. Andrea Pomaranski, Peyton Thomas, and Brittany Charbonneau led out for the women.

Female Champion Andrea Pomaranski.

Ten laps of a 5k loop were on tap for the runners, making it exceptionally easy to crew and spectate. In 17 short minutes, Smogoleski, who has a 1:06 half marathon to his name, came blazing through the first 5k, with Khan and Katsefaras on his tail, while in just 19 minutes, leading the female field was Pomeranski, 41, fresh off a marathon PR of 2:31. Charbonneau and Thomas followed moments later.

At 10k and 34 minutes, Smogoleski remained in the lead for the men, while Pomaranski flew by in 37 minutes, gapping the women’s field by a minute. These positions were unvaried for the next few 5k laps – the top three men staying relatively close, and Pomaranski continuing to extend her lead. By 25k, Smogoleski and Khan were within seconds of each other in one hour twenty-five minutes – well on pace for a National Team qualifier, while Katsefaras dropped back by a margin. Pomranski came through in one hour thirty-two minutes, well under course record (3:15:00) pace, and had extended her lead to 4 minutes over Charbonneau (a 2:33 marathoner) and Thomas (a 2:42 marathoner).

Lap 7 was a turning point in the men’s race when Khan overtook a slightly faltering Smogoleski. Now with 15k to go, Khan, the champion of this race in 2020, had a fire in his eyes and went through the marathon with a 2:24:56 split. Pomaranski, continuing on with her sub-19-minute laps, went through the marathon in a time of 2:37:59, Charbonneau in 2:43:10, and last year’s 2nd place finisher Melissa Tanner in 2:49:50. The women definitely came to play.

From left to right, Kallin Carolus Khan (1st), Charles Smogoleski (2nd), Mike Katsefaras (3rd), Arturs Bareikis (4th), Aaron Heath (6th), Jean Pommier (7th), Keith Massi (8th).

Besides the women’s course record being within reach for these ladies, the master’s world record of 3:07:20 was enticingly close. Pomaranski went through 40k in 2:29:30 meaning she would need to run 37:49 for the last 10k to break it.

With one lap to go in the men’s race, it was Khan’s to lose – he had not faltered and extended his lead by 2 minutes. Smogoleski and Katsefara were both digging deep, motivated by being on pace to qualify for consideration for Team USA. Spectators and fans waited excitedly as Khan rounded the final lap to grab the national title in 2:52:47, giving him his Team USA spot. This was an emotional and special win for Khan, whose 2020 dream of running at the World 50k Championships was crushed by the cancelation of the race due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Smogoleski (2:55:08), Katsefara (2:55:46), and Arturs Bareikis (2:59:02) were 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, respectively, all earning times for consideration for Team USA.

Meanwhile, Pomaranski was thundering around her final 5k, full of determination. Everyone waited on pins and needles as she rounded the final turn, eyes on her and eyes on the clock reading 3:07, but the seconds were too many to match. She crossed the line in an incredible debut 50k time of 3:07:48, a mere 28 seconds short of the master’s world record. It was, however, a new US masters record, a course record, and the 2nd fastest overall US 50K time. There are only 4 female runners in the world who have run faster!

From left to right, RD Carl Grossbard, Brittany Charboneau (2nd), Melissa Tanner (3rd), Annmarie Kirkpatrick (4th), Emily Viehl (5th), Neringa Kaulinaite (6th), Lauren Dorsky (9th).

Coming in second, also in an impressive course record-breaking time was Charbonneau in 3:13:27. Third place Melissa Tanner set a PR of 3:21:43. Fourth place Annmarie Kirkpatrick (3:28:51) and 5th place Emily Viehl (3:29:33) also qualified for consideration to Team USA.

Other champions of the day in the men’s age group category included Boyd Carrington (50-54) who ran a blistering 3:24 (6:34/mile), Aaron Heath (45-49) in 3:25:41 (6:37/mile), and Jean Pommier (55-59) 3:36 (6:59/mile), Thomas Dever (65-69) in 4:16:09 (8:15/mile), Jeff Dorrill (60-64) in 4:27:04 (8:36/mile), Trent Hampton (40-44) in 4:28:01 (8:37/mile) and James Miner (70-74) in 6:43:53 (13:00/mile). In the women’s age group categories, the champions were Brooke Bray (45-49) in 3:52:14 (7:28/mile), Leah Jantzen (50-54) in 4:05:56, and Ann Heaslett (55-59) in 4:48:24 (9:17/mile).

Full race results can be found here.

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