Sunday, September 25, 2016

Randolph's Groner wins women's division of Newport Liberty Waterfront Half Marathon



Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, September 25, 2016

 

ROBERTA GRONER IN TOP TEN FINISHERS AT LIBERTY WATERFRONT HALF MARATHON

Roberta Groner of Randolph started off her fall racing season with a spectacular win at the Newport Liberty Waterfront Half Marathon last Sunday in Jersey City.  Groner finished the race in 1:16:36 in ninth place overall, just two minutes and change behind overall winner Will Appman of Hoboken who finished in 1:14:21.

Groner’s time was fast enough to lead her newly formed team, New Jersey Racing Project to first place in the Open women’s division ahead of ten other teams.

Morris area men dominated the masters division with Elliott Frieder of Montville crossing the finish line first in 1:17.35.88 with twin Jonathan, of Rye Brook NY in a near tie in 1:17:35.92.  In third place was Terry Davidson of Randolph in 1:18:30 followed by Gary Rosenberg of Morristown in 1:19:35.  All four men are 45 years old – a tough age division this year.  Davidson and Rosenberg lead in their M40 team to finish in second place.

Bernardsville’s Beau Atwater, 58, finished in 1:21:38 to top the masters men’s Age Graded division with his 85.77% PLP.   Nora Cary, 61, of Morristown finished in 1:41:29 to age grade at 84.11% for third in that division.

Cary’s Do Run Runners team placed fourth in the W50 team division.  The Garmin women took second in W50 and third in W40.  Forty-seven men’s teams competed in the race and 34 women’s teams.   Although registration for the race was well over 3,000 entrants, only 2,549 runners finished the race.



LITTLE SILVER 5K NEXT UP FOR STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

The USATF New Jersey open women’s 5K championship is next Sunday, October 2nd in Little Silver.  The race was cancelled in 2015 due to road conditions brought on by an extreme storm that hit the shore area that week.   Another race was found to take its place later in the season.

Runners should be looking forward to this race.  There are few turns as the course makes a perfect square until a sweeping curve to the finish.  It should be fast as there is a 0.2% drop from start to finish.  The race was won in 2014 by Dennie Waite in 17:06 and Catherine Wimmer in 19:22, both of Little Silver.  There were close to 600 finishers in 2014 and most from the surrounding area.  This year will see a big change when the open women’s teams come to compete along with their male teammates in support.

TEAM STANDINGS

After last week’s half marathon the Open women’s team standings remain much the same for the top teams.  The adidas Garden State Track Club’s A team has the lead with 54 points according to my unofficial calculations.  In second is the Clifton Road Runners A team with 51 points, and in third in the Garmin team with 43 points.  First place earns 12 points in Open women and that went to the NJ Racing Project at the half marathon, a team that has not been able to field full teams this year.  They cannot really move up but can certainly play the role of spoiler.



HIGGINSON WINS MOUNTAIN LAKES OUTRIGHT
Ashley Higginson won the Mountain Lakes 5K on Saturday morning in a leisurely 18:04 a good two minutes ahead of the rest of the field of 126 finishers.  Higginson has a road PR of 16:24 for 5K.

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Race Results can often be found at www.compuscore.com or at  www.bestrace.com 
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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