Photos by John Nepolitan

NEW YORK, April 13, 2019 – CJ Albertson turned in a world-record performance Saturday to win the Columbia University Irving Medical Center & NewYork-Presbyterian Indoor Marathon World Record Challenge at The Armory’s New Balance Track & Field Center.

It’s the fourth consecutive year the men’s indoor marathon world record was broken at The Armory in Washington Heights. 

“I figured whoever won would break the world record,” Albertson said. “The field was strong.”

Albertson, a 25-year-old cross-country coach at Clovis Community College in Fresno, Calif., turned in a time of 2:17:59.4 to surpass two-time champion Malcolm Richards’ previous record of 2:19:02. Richards beat his previous mark with a time of 2:18:47.9 time to finish as runner-up.

Albertson, Richards and Great Britain Olympian Andrew Lemoncello (2:20:04.5) ran together for a majority of the 211 laps around The Armory’s 200m track. But Albertson made his move with 20 laps to go and maintained the lead the rest of the way. His final 200-meter lap was a sizzling 30.8 seconds.

“My strategy was to stay with everybody for as long as I could,” said Albertson, a 2020 Olympic Trials qualifier. “At some point you think about being aggressive and taking the lead. I didn’t want to take the lead until I thought I could for sure win.

“I was planning on holding off for another mile, but I hit a patch where I started to feel better. I could tell the leader Malcom was tiring a little bit and our pace was slowing up. We were within 2 ½ miles and I felt like I could go ahead and finish.

“I didn’t think about it at the time. I just went ahead, and did it and it worked out, I guess.”

Stephanie Pezzullo, a 36-year-old triathlete trainer in Ocala, Fla., was chasing Lindsey Scherf’s 2:40:55 indoor marathon world record for most of the day. But with less than 10 laps to go Pezzullo was slowed down by a cramp in her left calf en route to winning the women’s indoor marathon with a time of 2:42:11.3.

“I was on a cruise three weeks ago and my training has been a little spotty the last few weeks,” Pezzullo said. “I said I was going to go out there and give it my all, sacrifice my body and that’s what I did.

“Unfortunately, I cramped up. It was a little warmer than we thought it would be. I’m the type that needs a little cooler weather.”

Chelsey Albertson, wife of CJ Albertson, was the women’s runner-up with 2:54:26.5 time in her marathon debut.

“It definitely helped me having her in the race and I hope it helped her,” her husband said.

Both CJ Albertson and Pezzullo received the winner’s share of $3,000 and Albertson also earned $4,000 bonus for breaking the world record. Richards won $2,000 for being runner-up and a $1,000 bonus for breaking his previous mark. 

“(CJ) made a pretty decisive move and it wasn’t long before he put a pretty good gap on me,” said Richards, the 36-year-old schoolteacher from San Francisco. “At that point I kind of conceded a little bit and decided to fight for second (place) and still go under the previous record. That was the goal at that point.

“He definitely had more speed in the last two miles where I had a bit of strength but no get-up-and-go at the end.”

The team relay portion of the event is taking place all weekend and allows groups of up to eight co-workers, friends or family members to tackle the distance as a group, making this race accessible to all. There are 102 teams entered this week to compete in the relay portion. Proceeds from the event benefit the non-profit Armory Foundation and Armory College Prep, which sends nearly 100 percent of its New York City high school students to four-year colleges and universities.

Other sponsors of the Columbia & NewYork-Presbyterian Indoor Marathon include: New York Road Runners, Skadden, AB, Debevoise & Plimpton, Scopia Capital Management, Cravath, The Wright Group NY, Acadia Realty Trust and Sterling Affair.

For further information go to www.indoormarathon.org.

Follow The Armory on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @armorynyc, or go to ArmoryTrack.com or Armory.NYC.

About The Armory Foundation

The Armory is a New York City non-profit institution, with the mission of "Keeping Kids on Track." Each season The Armory— the proud home of the NYRR Millrose Games — hosts more than 100 track & field meets and welcomes more than 220,000 athlete visits. Among its many youth sports and educational programs, including the acclaimed Armory College Prep program, The Armory runs the leading collegiate indoor track meet with the Dr. Sander Invitational Columbia Challenge, and hosts the largest high school indoor track meets with the Hispanic Games, The New Balance Games and the New Balance Nationals Indoor.  The Armory also runs the Columbia & NewYork-Presbyterian Indoor Marathon presented by New York Road Runners, which is the world’s largest indoor marathon relay. The Armory is also the home to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame and dozens of very large education-focused events. For more: Please visit Armory.NYC and ArmoryTrack.com.

About NewYork-Presbyterian

NewYork-Presbyterian is one of the nation’s most comprehensive, integrated academic healthcare delivery systems, dedicated to providing the highest quality, most compassionate care and service to patients from the New York metropolitan area, across the country, and around the globe. In collaboration with two renowned Ivy League medical schools — Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons — NewYork-Presbyterian is consistently recognized as a leader in medical education, groundbreaking research, and innovative patient care U.S. News & World Report ranks NewYork-Presbyterian as the #1 hospital in New York and among the top ten hospitals in the country.

About Columbia Orthopedics

Columbia Orthopedics has a rich history of advancing specialty care for patients with musculoskeletal disorders.  The Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons is home to one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious orthopedic training programs. The rich tradition in orthopedic surgery at Columbia dates back to 1866 when the Orthopaedics Hospital -- opened its doors. Throughout its history, Columbia has played an important role in developing and refining new techniques in the diagnosis and treatment of orthopedic diseases and disorders. Today, Columbia Orthopedics’ nationally recognized team leverages the latest research and technological advances to provide comprehensive surgical and non-surgical treatment for adults and children in all of the major orthopedic specialties, ranging from non-surgical therapy, to minimally invasive surgery, sports medicine, total joint reconstruction, and comprehensive spine care.

About New York Road Runners (NYRR)

NYRR’s mission is to help and inspire people through running. Since 1958, New York Road Runners has grown from a local running club to the world’s premier community running organization. NYRR’s commitment to New York City’s five boroughs features races, community events, free youth running initiatives and school programs, the NYRR RUNCENTER featuring the New Balance Run Hub, and training resources that provide hundreds of thousands of people each year, from children to seniors, with the motivation, know-how, and opportunity to Run for Life. NYRR’s premier event, and the largest marathon in the world, is the TCS New York City Marathon. Held annually on the first Sunday in November, the race features 50,000 runners, from the world’s top professional athletes to a vast range of competitive, recreational, and charity runners.  To learn more, visit www.nyrr.org.