Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey

On Sunday, September 14, 2014

Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2014

Half Marathon championship next Sunday in Jersey City

Whew!  It’s a long name but perhaps appropriate for a half marathon - BATS Global Markets Newport Liberty Half Marathon has gone through some name changes.  What hasn’t changed is the location at Newport Town Center in Jersey City and in a first for the race the course is the same as in the previous year.

Construction in Jersey City and along the way to Liberty State Park has always caused a change to the 13.1 mile course.  This year no changes were needed.  The race course makes its way to the park like a snake with a couple of switchbacks that allows runners to see who is ahead and who is behind them in the race.

In 2013 Chris Croff of Summit won the race in 1:08:58 and on the women’s side Cheyenne Ogletree then of Garfield and now of Port Reading won the race by nearly two minutes in 1:20:45.  Both runners compete for the Garden State Track Club that swept the top five men’s team spots in 2013and the top three on the women’s side.

Registration opens and packet pickup at 6:45 a.m. on race day.  The pre-registration fee goes up in two days so procrastinators still have time to beat the deadline. 

Runners can race locally next Sunday at the Cheshire Home 5K in Madison.  Funds raised go to the home in Madison that cares for young adults with spinal cord injuries.  Registration begins at the Madison high school at 8:00 a.m. with the start at 9:00 a.m.

The New Balance New Jersey individual grand prix results have recently been posted.  They can be found on the USATF New Jersey website.  As is usual the leaders are masters runners with the fast open runners still trailing with fewer races in their scorecard.

The overall and team grand prix will soon be up after checking for corrections from the Jimmy D 5K that was the masters women’s championship.  This morning’s 5km cross country race scores will need to be added after those results have been checked.

##

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.  Grand prix scores are listed at www.usatfnj.org .

Contact Madeline Bost at madelinebost@verizon.net.