Bayly and Rawal win Masters Half Marathon Titles in Syracuse

New York Results Scoreboard

On Sunday (16-April) four USATF New York members competed in the USATF Masters Half Marathon Championships in Syracuse, NY with all four capturing top-three finishes in their age-divisions.

The championship, hosted by the Syracuse Half Marathon for the second straight year, was the sixth race in the 2023 USATF National Masters Grand Prix. A total of 100 athletes competed in the championships.

Fiona Bayly, 55, of New York and Sanjay Rawal, 48, of Jamaica each captured national titles. Bayly won her 12th career national masters title during her historic career that dates back to 2017 while Rawal's win was his first national title.
Bayly's win came in the women's 55-59 division as she stopped the clock at 1:25:03. She won the division by over six minutes. Her age-graded score of 93.83% was the best among all 100 competitiors in the championships. Those with the top age-graded scores are considered the athletes with the best performance across all runners of all ages in the championships. Scores of 90% and over are considered world class performances while scores between 80-89% are considered national class performances.
 

Rawal won the men's 45-49 division stopping the clock at 1:14:47. He defeated Harley Johnson of Illinios by nearly six minutes.

"My coach, famed distance queen Patti (Catalano) Dillon encouraged me to sign up for the race after I was forced to drop out of the Houston Half last January with a seasonal bug. Although I totally underestimated the terrain and temperatures, I did have an absolutely wonderful experience mostly due to the other Masters runners I met and the incredibly collegial atmosphere set by USATF Masters volunteers"

 
In the women's 45-49 division Susan Moore, 46, of Bronx and Rebekah Kennedy, 49, of Forest Hills finished second and third, respectively. Moore crossed the line running 1:32:43 with Kennedy just 13 seconds behind. The division was won by Jennifer Weston of Tennessee in 1:24:55.