Jimmy D opens the championship season next Sunday

Published in the Daily Record of Morris County New Jersey

August 24, 2014

The Jimmy D 5K next Sunday opens New Jersey’s fall USATF championship season.  The 5K in New Brunswick is host to the masters women and masters women’s teams.

Several local clubs have teams that are in contention in the team grand prix.  In the W40 division the Garmin runners are standing at 46 points with the Do Run Runners in second place but 16 points back from the Garmin women.  The Clifton Road Runners and the North Jersey Masters are tied for third with 24 points.

In the W50 division the Do Run Runners are in the top spot with 39 points but the North Jersey Masters are only two points back.  The Rose City Runners team is in fourth place behind Clifton.

In the W60 division the Rose City team is first with 18 points but they are being stalked by the Central Jersey Road Runners with 16 points.  Clifton is well back in third with nine points.

The team grand prix standings have not been posted on the USATF website much to the distress of all involved.  Much of the delay has to do with the verification of eligibility of the runners who have been put on the teams.  Reliable sources have told me that at least six runners were put on teams at the Fitzgerald Lager Run 5K in June who appear to not be eligible.  This will change the scoring in at least one division; a team that placed well in the M40 division will not have five scoring members once the runner is removed from the results for that race.

The rules are clear about eligibility and are posted on the association website, but the team captains have not been vigilant about confirming eligibility of their team members.  What is frustrating to many is that the teams have fourteen days after a race to prove eligibility and once that time has passed the runners should be removed.

The sticking point is usually not membership in the New Jersey association which is fairly easy to obtain,  but having to do with citizenship or a valid green card and proof thereof.  With nine championships conducted and seven to go this bottleneck needs to be cleared.

Next up after the Jimmy D race is the 5km cross country race at Deer Path Park on September 14^th.  All divisions will be competing in the race, and the same is true for the Newport half marathon on September 21^st and the 8km cross country on October 26^th.

FUND RAISER FOR A FELLOW ATHLETE

 A scheduling conflict has risen with the Jimmy D race. Glenn Hartrick is well known in triathlete circles, even beyond New Jersey.  Among other exposures he has been featured on a Runner’s World cover.  This past spring Hartrick was seriously injured in a cycling accident while on a training ride.  Friends have created a race, also on Sunday, August 31^st in Millburn as a fund raiser to help with the mounting medical bills.  The race will start at noon so friends of Hartrick who also would like to run in the Jimmy D race could do so, since the Jimmy D has a nine o’clock start.

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