A victory in the Bronx!! On Sunday December 11, Laurel won the Pete McArdle 15k Cross Country Classic. The race consisted of THREE LOOPS of the infamous Van Cortland Park cross country course. One time around that course is hard, but THREE?? Brutal! Laurel was not going to let the hills -- she says the downs were worse than the ups -- stop her from winning her first ever New York Road Runners Club race. Here's what she had to say about the race:
"While most of my competitors are enjoying the off season and resting up for next year, I have been running my butt off and entering as many local races as I can. Some of you may be wondering why? Well, as I was riding the subway up to the Bronx on a freezing Sunday morning I thought the same thing. But then realized, I'm doing this because I love to compete and I love to challenge myself and most of all I love to WIN! Unfortunately, during the middle to end of my season I wasn't able to perform at top level and even have a chance to win due to some issues with my iron levels. Remember my DNF in Dallas (I won't forget that), or my 24th at Hy-Vee, nope not gonna forget that either. I knew the fatigue I was experiencing was not normal and when we finally got things under control, it was a relief to know I wasn't faking and that there wasn't anything worse wrong with me. The good thing is, that I bounced back and was able to resume my racing. Problem was, the tri season was over, so my coach and I decided to try to go for some running PR's. Hence, 2 5k's, an 8k, and a 15k -- all the fastest I have ever run!! So, while I was disappointed with some of my races this year (unfortunate crashes, etc), it has been both encouraging and extremely satisfying to raise my running to a new level. I know that in order to compete against the best triathletes in the world (Bec, Rinny, etc) I will need to run as fast or faster if I want to win!! Now it's time to put up my feet and get in the pool and on my bike!"
She's not kidding about those PR's. Check out her NYRR race history.
 Race Name, Date |
Finisher Name |
Gender/ Age |
City, State |
Team | Distance (miles) |
Gun Time |
Net Time |
Pace/ Mile |
Overall Place |
Gender Place |
Age Place |
Age- Graded % |
| NYRR Pete McArdle Cross Country... December 11, 2011 |
Wassner, Laurel | F36 | New York, NY |
NYAC | 09.3 | 1:02:44 | 06:45 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 74.62 | |
| NYRR Fred Lebow XC Champs 5K November 20, 2011 |
Wassner, Laurel | F36 | New York, NY |
NYAC | 3.1 | 18:29 | 5:57 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 81.2 % | |
| Kurt Steiner Cross Country 5K October 17, 2010 |
Wassner, Laurel | F35 | New York, NY |
3.1 | 19:31 | 6:17 | 45 | 6 | 1 | 76.6 % | ||
| Joe Kleinerman 10K December 10, 2006 |
Wassner, Laurel | F31 | New York, NY |
6.2 | 42:46 | 42:44 | 6:53 | 414 | 34 | 14 | 71.0 % | |
| Nike Run Hit Wonder July 20, 2005 |
Wassner, Laurel | F29 | New York, NY |
5.0 | 38:40 | 38:35 | 7:43 | 636 | 121 | 32 | 62.7 % | |
| NYRR Anniversary Run June 6, 2004 |
Wassner, Laurel | F28 | Brooklyn, NY |
2.9 | 20:20 | 20:11 | 6:57 | 244 | 33 | 7 | ||
| NYRR Downtown Dash May 18, 2004 |
Wassner, Laurel | F28 | New York, NY |
2.5 | 17:52 | 17:49 | 7:07 | 237 | 25 | 12 | ||
| Child Magazine Co-Ed 5K May 9, 2004 |
Wassner, Laurel | F28 | Brooklyn, NY |
3.1 | 23:18 | 23:16 | 7:30 | 250 | 39 | 14 | 61.8 % | |
| Allure Mother's Day 5k May 12, 2002 |
Wassner, Laurel | F26 | New York, NY |
3.1 | 22:18 | 22:15 | 7:10 | 208 | 23 | 7 | 64.6 % | |
| United We Run 4M December 2, 2001 |
Wassner, Laurel | F26 | New York, NY |
4.0 | 29:21 | 29:19 | 7:19 | 564 | 65 | 25 | 64.2 % |