Anthony Watson is back in the news again, but not as much as a runner. A resident of Brooklyn, Watson competed in the New York Road Runners Club team championships as a member of the Prospect Park Track Club, which has more than 700 members and he coaches them as well.
In the age group race, Watson clocked in at 33:11 for tenth place in the 55-59 section, and led his team to a 13th place finish overall, and a 15th place standing in the 40 and over category.
Now a former runner in his native land of Jamaica, West Indies, where he attended Jamaica College High School, the 55-year-old Watson recently ran on a what he termed a hard course, because it is loopy and is not entirely flat in the Club Championships.
“I was surprised that I ran 33 minutes, because I didn’t race since June,” he said.
“Right now I am nursing a pyscotic. Before the start of the race I didn’t know that I was able to compete in it (last week). .
“After I came here a bit early and warmed up a little bit I did a couple of strides and decided to do (the five-mile event). My teammates also ran a good race. And the weather was good. Running it was a challenge.”
His last race that he competed in came on June 30 when he captured the 3000 meters and 1600 meters at Miami Dade College, which he had attended quite some time ago and was a member of its track team.
Starting in July, he was quite busy with coaching the Prospect Park running team, and it took up a great deal of his time.
Watson is not going into the New York City Marathon; instead, he will compete in the Fifth Avenue Mile in late September. Many members of the club are entering into this grueling race.
“My goal is to go under five minutes in the Fifth Avenue Mile,” he said.
Overall, there were 1180 men and 850 women representing their running clubs in the New York Road Runners’ Club Championships, in various age groups and in two separate races over a five-mile course in Central Park.
The first race began at 8:30 a.m. with the overall winner Ethiopian Mengistu Tabor Nebsi, of the West Side Runners. He covered the course in 23.52. The female winner was Max Masef, who clocked in at 51.51. She, too, is from the same club.
“This turnout is great for us,” said a spokesman from the New York Road Runners. “And we had great weather.”
The New York Road Runners stage events almost every week. The big ones coming up are the Bronx Half Marathon, Staten Island Half, and the Fifth Avenue Mile. Almost every week there is a race in Central Park at various distances.
