The following article contains results and a race recap from the 2024 USATF 50k Road National Championships held on March 10, 2024. Full race results can be found here. Featured photo by: Jordan/Greater Long Island Running Company.
The day was all about the weather. All week, the Long Island area had been drenched with rain, and the grounds were saturated. The original route, used by the Heckscher 50K for the past several years, had ducks swimming in it and was overwhelmed with water. As a result, at the proverbial 11th hour, race organizers pooled their resources and created a new course, certified it, and declared it ready to go for Sunday’s championship run. On any normal day, this course would be record-worthy as it was flat, fast, and involved only two well-rounded and comfortable U-turns.
Sunday’s weather finally brought sunny skies, sparing the region from more flooding, but the winds were close to gale force. The only redeeming quality was that for half of the course, the winds provided a Wizard of Oz Dorothy in Kansas affect with the lighter runners seemingly tripping over their own feet. However, the other half offered such stiff winds that it seemed to stop runners from advancing forward. As the day progressed, the winds picked up, temperatures dropped, and we lost the sun. But runners persevered. Women’s winner Helen Huang described the wind, “The brutal wind definitely impacted my performance quite a lot. At some points, I had to turn my body sideways in order not to be blown away. In a tough situation like this, I always like to play mental games and think positive. I thought to myself, ‘It is only strong wind, no pouring rain like the day before; the temperature is reasonably high, not chilly. It is only this one mile against wind; next mile will be better.'”
There were 36 runners registered for the championship race. However, only 20 actually made it to the start line. Some had injuries, and some chose to save themselves for another day. Of the 20 who showed up for the race, 16 crossed the finish line. And so it was.
Rich Power (Photo: L. Gentling)
Men’s Results
Although there were no big names entered in this year’s contest, the race really provided excitement as it unfolded among the masters runners who stole the show. Under the environmental circumstances that prevailed, the wisdom and experience of the older runners may have paid off. Undoubtedly, the most competitive category on the male side was the 60-64 age group, where 2 of the 3 podium winners stood. Rich Powers (60, Rochester, MI) and Rick Lee (63, Bayfield, NJ) have extensive and impressive running resumes, and this race provided plenty of excitement as they “duked” it out over 50K. Added ingredients to the mix were a couple of younger masters runners, Aaron Heath (49, Chappaqua, NY) and Boyd Carrington (51, Amityville, NY). While Powers and Heath played in conservative fashion for 35K, oscillating between 5th and 7th positions, Lee and Carrington took it our hard playing around the 1st to 3rd position. All this began to change as Carrington was forced to retire with a hamstring issue at 35K, leaving Lee to run on his own. Going into the 10th and final lap, it appeared that Lee had the race in the bag with a substantial lead over both Heath and Power. But anything can and did happen in that last 5K. Both Power and Heath realized it was now or never and used that conservative start to their advantage, moving past Lee in the final 2 miles. Rich Power took the 50K national championship as a 60-year-old in a very respectable 3:36:28. Given the horrendous winds on the course, this time certainly stands worthy among all historic marks for a masters runner.
Post-race, Power stated his #1 goal was to chase Lee and to finish among the top 3 in his age group. These 2 have a great respect for one another. He mentioned that it was a thought from Dick Beardsley that propelled him. Beardsley said that he competed in such a way as to take advantage of running the downhills as hard as possible. Power turned the downhill word into headwinds, trying to run against the wind as hard as he could and, in so doing, mentally breaking Lee in the final lap.
Helen Huang (Photo: L. Gentling)
Women’s Result
The women’s race was small in numbers, with only four women starting and all finishing the race. But there still was some back and forth movement among Helen Huang (54, Cold Spring Harbor, NY) and Indira Schwarting (41, Southold, NY). For the first 15K, Southold led the race, but she and Huang kept it interesting through 40K when Huang pulled ahead and built on her lead. Huang’s strategy was to start the race at a conservative pace, hoping for a strong finish. However, as the winds got even stronger, the fight grew more intense, and it was more difficult for the runners to pick up the pace. It became a matter of survival and intestinal fortitude to cross the finish line.
In the end, the runners won out over the wind, but it wasn’t pretty. Sixteen runners won against the elements, crossing the finish line and personifying Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.
A very special thank you to the Greater Long Island Running Club for hosting their 18th USATF 50K National Championship. It also marked the retirement of long-time race director Carl Grossbard, who was at the helm for all these championships.
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