February 25, 2023, Atlanta, GA: Shore AC grand masters gather before the early morning start of the USATF Masters National 5K.  Front row, left to right: Leslie Nowicki, Kerry Monahan-Gaughan, Susan Stirrat, Kitty Musante and Rick Lee.  Back row, left to right: Przemek Nowicki, Kevin Dollard, Jeff Conston, Reno Stirrat, Jim Musante and Scott Linnell.  Not pictured: Mark Zamek.

Shore AC Results for the 2023 USATF National 5K Race in Atlanta, GA

Race date: February 25, 2023                                           Full Results here.
                                                                                          Race photos here courtesy Denise Dollard.  Requires a Google login to access.
                                                                                          Official race photos here.
​                                                                                          Race web site here.
SHORE AC TEAM RESULTS:

60+ Men:
3.  Shore Athletic Club -A             59:04
=============================================
  Place  Name                               Age     Time       Bib
1   19    Rick Lee                            61      17:32      7784
2  117   Kevin Dollard                     67      20:36      7753
3  127   Reno Stirrat                       68      20:56      7662
4  141   Scott Linnell                      66      21:58      7664
5  216   Przemyslaw Nowicki          78      27:11      7850

60+ Women:
​4.  Shore Athletic Club -A           1:13:30
=============================================
  Place  Name                               Age     Time       Bib
1  179   Kitty Musante                     66      23:34     7738
2  187   Kerry Monahan-Gaughan   60      24:03     7785
3  204   Susan Stirrat                      67      25:53     7663

SHORE AC INDIVIDUAL RESULTS:

Masters Men 8k:
Place  Name                           Bib     Age  Sex   Chip Time
   33     Mark Zamek               7665     59     M     17:48
   37     Jeffrey Conston          7770     55     M     18:10
 144     Jim Musante               7737     65     M     21:53
 159     Harry Pino                  7666     63     M     22:29
 230     Leslie Nowicki            7849     59     F      28:54

February 25, 2023, Atlanta, GA: Members of the Shore AC men's 60+ team stand proudly as bronze-medal winners at the awards ceremony.  Left to right, starting in the right of the picture: Reno Stirrat, Rick Lee, Kevin Dollard and Scott Linnell.  Not pictured: Przemek Nowicki.  Photograph by Denise Dollard.

Seniors Power Shore AC at Atlanta 5K

Three cheers for the Baby Boom Generation!  They stepped up for Shore Athletic Club at the USATF Masters National 5K Race in Atlanta, Georgia.  The event comes at the end of February, which is an inconvenient time for many.  Runners suffer lingering winter malaise, kids return to school after winter break and indoor meets attract the track rats.

Despite the challenges, Shore AC placed a vibrant crew of harriers on the starting line.  Yes, vibrant! -- even though every one of us thirteen could qualify for senior housing.  We ranged in age from spry 55 (Jeff Conston) to great 78 (Przemek Nowicki).  We even entered two age 60+ teams: one for men and one for women.  (Had it not been for a vexing residency rule, we would have declared a men's 50+ team as well.)  The best part?  We achieved everything that we could reasonably hope!

Let's begin our three-part cheer with the Shore AC men's 60+ team.  Given the torrid competition, we needed a ferocious leader to have any hope of making the podium.  And we had one in Rick Lee!  Having already cemented his place in national running lore with his 60-64 age group records at 50 kilometers and 50 miles, Rick crafted another memento by gutting out a tremendous victory in his 60-64 age group in this 5K matchup.  He tripped the clock in a blazing 17:32.  That was more than 30 seconds faster than his time on the same course last year.  Most runners slow down with age.  Not Rick!  He continues to buck that trend.

February 25, 2023, Atlanta, GA: Shore AC rocket Rick Lee cradles his collection of well-earned medals from the USATF Masters National 5K race.  Photograph by Kerry Monahan-Gaughan.

​Alas, Rick's age 65+ teammates didn't escape the clutches of Father Time during the tilt in Atlanta.  All four of us ran slower than we did in 2022.  Thankfully, it was still good enough to reach the podium by finishing third.  Duffer Kevin Dollard made par with an outstanding 20:36, despite surrendering 38 seconds compared to last year.  Former National Masters Runner of the Year Reno Stirrat marked another milestone in his recovery from injury with a terrific time of 20:56, albeit 20 seconds behind last year.  First insurance runner Scott Linnell defaulted on his policy, wasting a solid performance in the first two miles by downshifting on the long climb up Luckie Street in the third mile to avoid pain.  His final time of 21:58 represented a horrid 70-second decline from last year.  (There's always next year.)  Our second backup runner, revered graybeard Przemek Nowicki, willed his 78-year-old body across the daunting course in a splendid 27:11.  He did this despite significant leg pain incurred in a Millrose Games 4x400 meter relay race two weeks before.  Przemek is the ultimate team player!

February 25, 2023, Atlanta, GA: The Shore AC women's 60+ team celebrates an excellent race back at the host hotel.  Left to right: Susan Stirrat, Kitty Musante and Kerry Monahan-Gaughan.  Photograph courtesy Kerry Monahan-Gaughan.

Now we advance to cheer number two.  This one is for the Shore AC women's 60+ team!  Pre-race analysis of the high-powered competition showed that our ladies had essentially no chance at the podium.  The question was whether they could top Atlanta's B team for fourth place.  It was certainly not a done deal.  Kitty Musante had just healed up from a stress fracture in her foot.  Kerry Monahan-Gaughan battled pneumonia last year and required many weeks of recovery.  And Susan Stirrat had turned 67 years of age.  Could they overcome these obstacles?  You betcha!  Kitty revved her engines to nail a fine 23:34 clocking, albeit a minute slower than her 2022 performance.  Kerry surprised herself with a smooth 24:03.  Susan then polished off team scoring with a magnificent 25:53.  How sweet a sub-26 felt to her!  The teams cumulative time of 1:13:30 best the Atlanta B team by 2 minutes.  Well done, ladies!

February 25, 2023, Atlanta, GA: Shore AC's Kitty Musante shares the podium with her fellow champions of the women's 65-69 age group.  Photograph by Denise Dollard.

Finally, let's shout out cheer number three!  With this huzzah, we honor our individual athletes who could not run on a Shore AC team at Atlanta.  The administrative impediment for the four individual men was a USATF Masters National rule that limits each team to at most one out-of-region runner.  All four guys live outside of New Jersey.  Therefore, none could be rostered with any other out-of-state clubmate.  But that didn't stop our guys from running great races!  Newcomer Mark Zamek delivered a grand slam debut, posting an incredible 17:48 despite a lingering upper respiratory infection.  We can't wait for Mark to turn 60!  Veteran road warrior Jeff Conston improved on his outstanding time from last year by nailing a wicked 18:10.  Jim Musante applied his bicycle-based cross-training to good use by spinning a strong 21:53.  Not far behind, Harry Pino defied doctor expectations by pounding out a breath-taking 22:29 performance -- one that truly came straight from the heart!

As for our lone individual female runner, 59-year-old Leslie Nowicki, there were simply no other female runners to join her on a Shore AC 50+ or 40+ team.  Nevertheless, Leslie put her time to good use.  She strode heartily through the course to finish in under 29 minutes (28:54).  That's a good training step as she near age 60 in June!

Individual Accomplishments

This section will be written once USATF publishes age group and age grading results.

February 24, 2023, Atlanta, GA: Meehan's Public House in downtown Atlanta becomes the venue for Shore AC's lively team dinner.  Left to right around the table: Jeff Conston, Jim Musante, Kitty Musante, Reno Stirrat, Kevin Dollard, Denise Dollard, Sarah's friend Matt, Denise's niece Sarah, Scott Linnell and Mark Zamek.  Many thanks to Team Mom De Dollard for managing the reservation!