Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris
County, New Jersey
On Sunday, December 1, 2013
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2013
BRODEUR WINS THE ASHENFELTER 8KM, DRAWS RECORD NUMBER OF
RUNNERS
Brrr. The chilled Thanksgiving
races on Thursday drew only slightly fewer runners than in past warmer years
and one race that drew more was the Horace Ashenfelter 8 kilometer race in Glen
Ridge. The race was a USATF New Jersey
championship for all divisions and it was set up to be a deciding race for
first in the overall men’s New Balance Grand Prix. They added 151 extra finishers for a final
count of 2,703 hardy souls.
When the dust had settled, well make that when the frost had
settled, Randolph’s Ken Goglas held onto his lead in the individual grand prix with
Stephen Mennitt of Edison only able to add one point to his grand prix total. Mennitt needed 700 points to go ahead of
Goglas but wasn’t able to make that happen.
Sometimes they come out of the woodwork, as the saying goes,
and on Thursday, Andrew Brodeur who is listed as from Bethesda MD came out of
the woodwork to win the race in 24:29.
Brodeur though is no stranger in New Jersey. He placed second at the NJSIAA Meet of
Champions at Holmdel Park in 2007 in 15:51, and won several races over the
summer down at the Shore where his hometown is listed as Brick.
Mennitt’s fifth place finish in 24:48 bumped his score up to
5,691 while Goglas stayed at 5,693. He finished
in 25:20 for eighth place.
The individual grand prix was not the only series that was
decided at the 8 kilometer race. It was
also the last chance for the teams to add points to their totals. While most positions stayed the same one
division had a reversal of fortunes for two teams in the M40 division.
Going into the race the Morristown based Garmin team had a
four point lead over the Sneaker Factory; 73 to 69. At the Thursday morning race the Sneaker
Factory, also Morris County based, came in with a strong squad and hit the
jackpot with a win adding twelve points to finish the series with 81
points. The Garmin team, using several
of their older M50 and M60 runners, could only manage a ninth place finish for
a mere one point. With that they dropped
to second place.
The Garmin club managed to hold their positions in the open men
and open women’s contest staying in fourth on the men’s side and third on the
women’s. Their W40 team had no trouble
staying in the lead in their division.
The Do Run Runners W50 team did not win the 8K race; that
was won by the Sneaker Factory women, but their additional four points for
fourth place kept them one point ahead in the series with a final tally of 52
points. The Sneaker Factory team was never
really in the series after a poor start in the spring season.
On the men’s side of the ledger, the Do Run Runners M50 team
took first place in the 8K and with that win they moved into second place in their
team division, moving ahead of the Raritan Valley team. There was no catching the Shore Athletic
Club.
In the W60 division the Rose City Runners won the 8K and
clinched the series. The Central Jersey
Road Runners will take second and the Morris County Striders will be in
third. That club’s W70 team is in first
in the series.
Don’t you just love a quick P.S? Well, how about this post script to the New
Balance Grand Prix. Stephen Mennit could
still improve on his grand prix score. He
is sitting with 498 for his non championship Category One race. If he goes to and wins one of the last chance
5K’s that are still available he could add two more points. That would tie him with Goglas.
Where can he go? Well,
in Little Falls this morning is a Rotary 5K that is a 500 point race. Then on Saturday, December 7th in
Caldwell is the Trinity Academy 5K Reindeer Run. Further north is the AMBS Reindeer Run 5K in
Franklin Lakes also on the 7th, and then the last, last chance race,
the American Red Cross 5K in Millburn on the 8th.
Five hundred dollars goes to the first place person in the
grand prix, four hundred for second and three hundred for third. When there is a tie it is assumed that the “tiers”
split the difference. So you could say
that it is worth fifty dollars to pursue that 500 point win.
##
A calendar of USATF sanctioned events can be found at www.usatfnj.org or at www.raceforum.com for running and tri and
biathlon events.
Contact Madeline Bost at madelinebost@verizon.net.
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