1976
Year 1 |
The year was 1976 when Schenectady City Council member Joe Notar decided to stage a road race to help celebrate America's bi-centennial. Joe enlisted Mark Mindel & Chris Carroll who worked for the city Parks Department to plan a course that would run through Schenectady's Historic Stockade District. Mindel & Carroll utilized portions of the High School Invitational cross-country Grout Run to design a course. It began in Central Park and led to the Stockade before returning to the Park via a hilly route up State Street and Fehr Ave. The route measured out to nearly 15K so that was the distance chosen. The Schenectady Parks Department provided much of the logistic support, as 80 runners finished the inaugural event. Mark Mindel & Scott Ferguson tied for first place after Ferguson got held up in traffic letting out of St. Luke's Church near the 10K mark.
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1977
Year 2 |
Pat Glover and John Hale mistakenly run off course in Central Park and finish first and second respectively, but are moved back to third and fourth behind Mindel & Jay Smith who tie. All four runners break 49 minutes. Lowell Montgomery is first master in 53:12. The race grows to 176 finishers. |
1978
Year 3 |
Pat Glover out dueled Chet Bieganski over the final mile to win the third Stockade-athon race. "I had the lead at 7 miles but lost it back to Chet at the 8-mile mark" said Glover. Glover then took advantage of two remaining upgrades in the final mile to prevail by 12 seconds. Chris Bergeron, a member of Queensbury High School Section ll championship cross-country team, wins the women's division. Race director Ellie McGrath reported that a special division for women over 40 would be added next year. Lowell Montgomery defended his master's title in 53:13 in a close contest with Ted Bick. Race participation triples to 588 finishers. |
1979
Year 4 |
Mark Mindel wins his third championship (47:29), pulling away from Larry Frederick in the final 400 yards. Niskayuna junior Sue Hay (56:43) edges Elaine Radwanski to win the women's division by 15 seconds. Both winners and runner-ups break the existing course records. Lee Wilcox adds to the record day by finishing first among masters in 50:34 as 617 runners finish. |
1980
Year 5 |
Despite wintry conditions, Barry Brown of Gainesville, Florida pulls away from Carlo Cherubino and Siena College junior Rich Coughlin after leaving the historic Stockade and goes on to break the course record by 2 minutes. Mary Rybinski, a Cortland State runner from the Syracuse area lowers the women's record by over a minute as last years champion Sue Hay finishes second. Less than a year later Rybinski would win another 15K championship, the prestigious Utica Boilermaker. Brown 45:23, Rybinski 55:30. |
1981
Year 6 |
The Hudson Mohawk Road Runners Club under the leadership of Tom Miller, agrees to assume control of the race from the Schenectady Parks Department as the Stockade-athon grows to 750. Albany Medical College student, Steve Crowley edges Dale Keenan for the win as wind and snow squalls confront the runners for the second straight year. Ellen Weglarz of Ballston Lake wins the first of her 4 consecutive women's championships. |
1982
Year 7 |
Facing his mentor for the first time in a road race, Tom Dalton out duels Barry Brown and a talented field to break the course record by three seconds. Weglarz lowers the women's record by 11 seconds in 55:19. The field tops 1000 for the first time as a record 18 runners break 50 minutes. The Gazette Newspapers assumes the title sponsorship and the start of the race is moved outside the park near the Central Park Stone Gate to accommodate the growing field. |
1983
Year 8 |
A field of 1008 finishes in ideal running conditions. Tom Carter of Owego rolls to a convincing win and Weglarz becomes the first women to break 55 minutes. A decade before the age-graded championship is introduced, 61 year-old Hubert Morgan runs 57:18 and Peter Van Garderen 42, wins the master's title in 48:23. |
1984
Year 9 |
Dan Predmore weathers a stiff headwind up State Street to win the men's title over Dalton, Brown, and Coughlin as a record field of 1159 finishes. Weglarz completes her four-year sweep, breaking her own record in 54:20. Brown, who turned 40 in July, sets the master's mark of 46:21. |
1985
Year 10 |
Dalton wins his second title defeating Steve Oliver while Plattsburg runner Kathy Brandell makes short work of Weglarz women's record in 52:23. Anne Stockman 53 is first women master in 62:10. |
1986
Year 11 |
Jerry Lawson, an unknown 20 year old from the Utica area, shows up with an orange Mohawk haircut and runs away from the field by almost a minute. Denise Herman of Saratoga Springs wins her first Stockade-athon title over Marisa Sutera. Brown runs the race for the 4th and final time, checking in at 47:35 at age 42. |
1987
Year 12 |
For the second year in a row, Lawson wins easily, as Dalton & Coughlin share second place. Herman successfully defends her women's championship. Rich Brown takes over as Race Director from Tom Miller and introduces a sports expo and dinner to kick-off the Stockade-athon weekend. |
1988
Year 13 |
Lawson with the word "Awesome" printed on his T-shirt sets a torrid pace at the start, but Terry Perreault picks up the pieces at the end and wins in a record matching 45:20. Lisa Vaill of Pines Plains defeats a deep women's field in 54:02 as a record 11 women break 1 hour including a debut run by Lori Hewig. New Hartford resident Howard Rubin sets a new senior mark in 56:43, missing the national record by 5 seconds. The legendary Jim Ryan 41 participates in the race after speaking at the candlelight dinner the night before at Union College. |
1989
Year 14 |
A strong headwind between Central Park and the Stockade, the fast part of the course, prevents Tom Dalton from challenging the course record, but he goes on to win his third men's title. Lori Hewig, who didn't start running until well after graduating from college, wins the first of three straight women's crowns in a close race with 1988 champion Lisa Vaill. |
1990
Year 15 |
Dalton and Coughlin, former Siena teammates and close friends, battle over most of the course before deciding to share the championship by holding hands at the finish line for a tie. Hewig recovers from a fall in the first mile to easily defeats runner up Karen Vanderwood of Utica. |
1991
Year 16 |
John Trowse of Watertown wins the men's division by over a minute and Hewig completes an Adirondack TAC season sweep of the championship series at distances from 3K to 15K. Dale Keenan dominates the Masters division for the second straight year and Syracuse legend Nate White sets the standard for 70 plus athletes for the third consecutive year. |
1992
Year 17 |
Lawson up north from his training headquarters in Gainesville, Florida runs 44:39, shattering the course record. Michelle Simone makes a big comeback to overtake Amy Herold-Russom in the women's race. Nancy Frisillo finishes 7th women overall at age 50 to establish a new record for the age division. Chris Rush takes over as Race Director and begins planning to bring the Master's National Championship to the Stockade-athon for the next two years. |
1993
Year 18 |
Hewig comes back from a stress fracture to win the women's race in 51:34, breaking Brandell's 8-year old course record. Dalton wins his fifth men's title in 12 years. Norm Green 61, of Penn. shatters Rubin's age record to win the 15K National Master's Championship in 54:57. The top master runs sub 50 minutes for the 4th consecutive year when Vince Reda runs 49:38. Tom Carter and Dale Keenan (twice) accomplished this feat in the prior 3 years. |
1994
Year 19 |
The race features a group of elite Kenyan runners who have temporarily made Schenectady County their training headquarters. They take the top 5 spots, led by Zakaria Kunyiha in 45:14. Linda Kimmey, set a personal best to take the women's title. Norm Green repeats as the 15K National Master's Champion and sets a single year National Record of 55:46 at age 62. |
1995
Year 20 |
Margret Betz of Conklin NY sets a National 15K single year record at age 59 in 63:28 to win her first of multiple age-graded championships. Hewig wins her 5th women's title by five minutes over Debbie Springer, 13 years Hewig's junior. Kevin Collins of Cicero, a U.S. marathon trials qualifier, runs away from Dalton, 13 years Collins senior. |
1996
Year 21 |
Trowse wins his second men's title by a mere 4 seconds over Todd Resser, the closest race without an intentional tie. Springer comes back to win the women's title by 9 seconds over Linda Higgins. Betz repeats as the age-graded champion and sets a National 5-year age record (60-64) in the process. |
1997
Year 22 |
Identical twins Lisa and Theresa Vaill hold hands at the finish line to tie for the women's championship. For Lisa it was her second women's title. Jason Dejoy, a College of Saint Rose graduate student wins the men's title as Dalton settles for the runner up spot for the 6th time.
| 1998
Year 23 |
After years of top-10 finishes, Vinny O'Brien finally wins, beating his cousin Dalton (their grandmothers were sisters). O'Brien pulls away on the final hill at Fehr Ave as Dalton 40, settles for second, the highest finish by a Master's runner. Emily Bryans passes Ellen Predmore (nee Weglarz) in the third mile and goes on to win the women's championship. William Dixon 51, of Vermont edges Dalton & Betz to win the age-graded championship in 52:45. Vince Juliano succeeds Chris Rush as Race Director and introduces a new 1-mile Children's Run course prior to the 15K championship race. |
1999
Year 24 |
Hewig 39, wins a record 6th title and Jason DeJoy, now a High School cross country coach at Jamestown NY, makes a pit stop in Schenectady to win the men's title on his return home from the XCTRY state meet. Strong wins keep the times down; Hewig's time is the slowest of her six winning times, and DeJoy's time (49:01) is the slowest men's winning time ever. Betz 63, rebounds to win her 3rd Age-graded title and another single-year National mark. |
2000
Year 25 |
The Stockade-athon, one of the oldest 15K races in America, turns 25, and celebrates by inviting past champions and race officials to a pre-race dinner at the Ramada Inn. The next day, Dana Ostrander, a former star at Shenendehowa HS and Providence College, runs shoulder to shoulder with 1998 champ Emily Bryans in the Stockade before pulling away on State Street Hill to win the women's division in 55:59. Chris Getman of Ilion wins a chess match with Nick Conway and Peter Flynn in the men's race. Dixon edges Keenan to win his second age-graded championship as both veteran runners go under 54 minutes. |
2001
Year 26 |
Kevin Collins, a week after running a 2:20 marathon at the USA championship in NYC, enters the Stockade-athon at the coaxing of his mother and surges from Conway and Flynn at the 5K mark before pulling away to an easy victory in 47:35. Bryan's draws clear of Beth Stalker, (the master's course record holder), early in the race to comfortably win her second women's title in 56:51. Betz wins her 4th age-graded championship edging Bob Giambalvo 52, of Delhi NY. |
2002
Year 27 |
Chris Hartshorne, a native New Zealander who took a job at Schenectady GE, emerged from a lead pack of 5, including two established names in US distance running, Kevin Collins and Jerry Lawson, to win the championship in his initial attempt. One of the closest races in Stockade-athon history was decided when Hartshorne made a final surge around Iroquois Lake to hold off Collins by a mere 11 seconds. Lori Hewig took a record 7th title but first as a master runner. Diane Legare, 51 who owns 24 Canadian records in the 40 and 50 year age groups, took the Age-graded championship while finishing second women overall to Hewig. 980 participants running in near perfect 60-degree temperatures completed a slightly different course that was altered due to road construction on Upper State Street. |
2003
Year 28 |
Kevin Collins preparing for the US Olympic marathon trials wins his third championship in 47:29. Debra Springer wins her second women's crown after pulling away from Bryans on the State Street Hill. Senior Bill Borla from Torrington CT runs 56:10 but has to settle for the runner up spot in the Age-graded division as Milton Ontario's Ed Whitlock wins the title 6 weeks after becoming the first 70 year old to run under 3 hours in a marathon at the Toronto Waterfront. The course changes from the prior year are made permanent after positive consultation with the runners in an on-line survey. |
2004
Year 29 |
Dalton does it again, for the 6th time, becoming at age 46, the first masters runner to win the men's title. He runs 48:59 and beats Mike Slinskey, whose race is compromised by the fact that he missed his Thruway exit driving from Wappinger Falls and was sprinting toward the starting line when the horn sounds. Kara-Lynne Kerr, a 26 year old Albany Medical student debuts in 56:24 for the women's title. Whitlock repeats as age-graded champion and runs 58:57 at age 73 for a 99% age-graded score, highest in race history. |
2005
Year 30 |
On the verge of retiring from competitive running after years of 100 mile training weeks, Kevin Collins squeezes out one last men's championship, his fourth, by running away from Jamie Rodriguez and Fouly Salem in 47:22. Jessica Manzer, a recent graduate from Middlebury Vermont where she earned division 3 All-American status all 4 years, wins the women's race in 56:19. The field tops 1100 for the first time since 1984, enticed by perfect weather and a gift performance shirt to commemorate the 30th anniversary. New England Runner covers the race for its prestigious Race of the Year Award as the Stockade-athon makes the front cover. |
2006
Year 31 |
The eternally young Ed Whitlock wins his 4th consecutive Age-graded title over Diane Legare as both Canadians set 5-year age group world records on the Stockade-thon course. Fred Joslyn, who will graduate the following month from Cortland State, draws a bead on former collegiate teammate Chuck Terry near the 7-mile mark and pulls away to win his first championship in 47:40. Eight men run sub 50:15 as Andrew Allstadt passes Terry in the final 100 yards to secure the runner-up spot. Kerr takes her second championship in 56:48 despite reducing her training to meet the demands of her medical studies. 1100 plus finish for the second straight year in a light mist that begins halfway through the race. |
2007
Year 32 |
Race organizers decided to shift the last half of the race into Vale
Cemetery to give runners another taste of Schenectady's history and also to
increase runners' safety. Former University at Albany star Andy Allstadt
powered home to beat 2006 champion Fred Joslyn of Binghamton by just five
seconds as the two recorded the first sub-47 minute times in 12 years. On
the women's side, Eileen Combs and Emily Bryans ran side-by-side around the
Central Park pond during the final mile, but Combs, a 29-year-old
Schenectady resident originally from Syracuse, crossed the line first in
57:30, with Bryans, a 40-year-old two-time champion also from Schenectady,
just five seconds behind. |
