CLUB AND TEAM GRAND PRIX IS FINAL FOR 2012

Written by Madeline Bost

Originally Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, December 30, 2012

Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2012

The Club and Team Grand Prix is over for 2012 and the final tally has been published.  Things are looking a lot different this year.  Until now the front runners were always predictable.

The Raritan Valley Road Runners were always first.  Next you could expect the Sneaker Factory in second place and the Morris County Striders in third.  Some years the second and third place clubs traded places.

Well look at what has happened!   Yes, the Raritan Valley club is still in first, but the rest of the line-up has changed.  Now the Clifton Road Runners Club has taken second and not that far behind first either.  Raritan Valley finished with 424 points but the Clifton runners are only 31 points back with 393 points.

The Shore Athletic Club that hardly competed in the first years of the series finished in third place just 29 points back with 364.  The Garden State Track Club, with mostly open runners, but plenty of them, finished fourth with 293 points. 

The Sneaker Factory Running Club finished in fifth place with 278 points.  Sixth place was taken by the Do Run Running Club, the North Jersey Masters finished in seventh place.  The Morris area Garmin Runners finished in 8^th place and the Morris County Striders placed ninth.  The rest of the line-up was; Central Jersey Road Runners Club 10^th, Rose City Runners Club 11^th, Fleet Feet Essex 12^th and the Randolph based Original Geezers thirteenth, and last.

TEAMS

The Garden State Track Club created their own contest in the open men division, finishing their A team in first, their B in third, their C in sixth and their D in 8^th.  Raritan Valley’s team took second and the Sneaker Factory was fourth.

The Sneaker Factory took first in the M40 division but it was their women’s team that pushed the numbers up.  They placed first in the W50, second in W40, and fourth in the open women’s division.

The Do Run Running Club that runs from Randolph’s Freedom Park each week placed third in the W40 division, fourth in the M50, and fifth in M40 and M60, and fifth in the open women’s division.  The Garmin runners dominated the W40 division and placed third in the open women’s division. 

The Morris County Striders had a rough year but they placed fourth in the M60 division and fifth in the W50.  In the W60 division they were third and they had it all to themselves in the W70 and W80 divisions.  The Rose City Runners Club placed third in the W60 division.

Many things account for the shift in the clubs.  Runners have moved from one club to another and new clubs have been formed.  Those changes have weakened some clubs and strengthened others.  A member of one club must delay switching from one club to another for ninety days after competing for a club.  So this winter period from the last championship, the ten miler that was held on December 9^th, to the first of the 2013 season, the 20K Miles for Music on March 10^th easily satisfies the ninety day rule. 

NEW YEARS DAY RACES START THE NEW SEASON

For runners who just can’t get enough racing, New Year’s Day offers the opportunity to start 2013 with a 5K or even a five miler.  Fair Lawn, Westfield, Hamilton and Hillsborough are four races that are sanctioned and on the USATF New Jersey calendar.

Membership in USATF begins anew in 2013 so runners who want all of their races in the new year to count in the New Balance Grand Prix need to make sure that they have renewed.  It is easily done on-line, or the old fashioned way via mail.  Information is available at usatfnj.org.