Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris
County, New Jersey
On Sunday, July 27, 2014
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2014
Summer races are at risk when the weather turns bad
On July 15th the Party with Purpose in Hoboken
was cancelled due to lightning. In 2013
just over 1,400 people finished the race so we know there were a lot of
disappointed people that night.
On that same day further west, the Morris County Strider
summer series race at Johanson Field in Boonton Township delayed the start while
the same storm was waited out. Only a
light rain was falling at 7:15 pm when the starter’s horn went off. All seemed well until around 7:25 when a
lightning bolt was seen off in the distance.
Operating by the book the race would have been stopped. But what would have been the point? The racers were scattered all along the
course. Stopping the runners would not
have made them any safer. As it turned
out, no other lightning was seen and the racers finished without incident.
Mark Zenobia of On Your Mark Productions has, by his count, produced
over eight hundred events, ranging from races to walks, etc. and he says that
of those he has had only four cancelled due to weather.
The Downtown Westfield 5K, also known as the pizza run, came
close this past Wednesday. It was hot,
and it was miserably humid with a forecast of lightning and thunder storms on
the way.
“We were blessed beyond belief,” said Zenobia. “My first goal is to get the set up done, for
any race. Westfield is huge. It takes us four hours. The second
step is to get the race started on time.”
The next goal is to have all the runners safely back. By 8:05 p.m. the last runner crossed the
finish line. No rain had fallen.
Pizza had been distributed so that went well. The only thing left was the awards. The sky was darkening and it was clear that they
were running out of luck. A staff member
went through the crowds of runners urging parents with baby carriages to begin
to move toward their cars. With such a
huge throng it was no easy task to move at all.
Looking at the sky, Zenobia said that he tried to zip
through the awards ceremony and get it done before the skies opened up.
“I said, ‘Guys, I’m going to do this with a name and a town and
your place. Come up and get yours.”
Zenobia made it through the 25 to 29 age division when the
lightning and thunder struck.
“We’re done. We’ll
get your awards to you,” Zenobia told them, as everyone fled the scene.
At the Lawyers for Kids race two weeks ago in Morris
Township there was no lightning, although there was plenty of rain that swamped
the site. The race went on. Later someone opined that the race should
have been rescheduled. Zenobia explains
why that is impossible.
“Are you nuts? Reschedule
it?” he asks rhetorically. “Are you
going to give me the money to repay all the expense I pre-pay? Get a new date and make sure it’s convenient
for everybody?”
In the case of Lawyers for Kids they had a lot of people who
didn’t show because of the rain. They didn’t
have a huge post, but more than you would have thought, according to Zenobia.
For Downtown Westfield he estimates that there were 250
no-shows. It is a pre-entry only race so
there is no post entry. In 2013 2,433
finished the race and last week 2,255, so the numbers were down but not by even
two hundred.
In 2008 the Westfield race was cancelled due to lightning,
with a twist. Lightning had taken out
the power in another part of town. Intersections
had no traffic lights. Police officers that
were at the race had to get to the intersections to direct traffic.
“That was a disaster,” said Zenobia. “They had to peel off eight of their guys to
go somewhere else, for the general population.”
The race would have been cancelled anyway. Once lighting is in an area, an event is
required to wait 30 minutes. If lightning
strikes again the clock begins a new 30 minute countdown. With sunset occurring a little sooner each
day, the wait pushes a race beyond what is reasonable to have everyone finish
before dark. Such are the hazards of
summer races. Mother Nature has the last
say.
##
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment