Sunday, November 2, 2014

Record numbers at Natirar 8km cross country



Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, November 2,  2014

Record numbers at Natirar 8km cross country


The killer course at Natirar did not deter cross country runners and a record number of 294 runners turned out for their first try at the 8 kilometer course.  Another beauty of a day for racing may have blunted the effects of the very challenging course.

When the leaders came streaming across the open field to the finish it was Youssef Rochdi of Rockaway who crossed the timing mat first.  Rochdi finished in 25:22 with Chris Schneider of Hackettstown only four seconds back in 25:26.  Chris Warren of Newark DE was next in 25:33 with Ken Goglas of Port Reading next in 25:54, the fourth runner to break 26 minutes.

Cheyenne Ogletree of Port Reading topped the women’s field of 102 women in 29:54.  Four women broke thirty minutes including Allyson Black of Denville who finished in 30:33 and Roberta Groner of Randolph whose time was 30:36.

The remarkable Brian Crowley, 50, of Hillsborough topped the masters category finishing in 13th place overall in 26:50.  Gary Rosenberg of Morristown finished in 28:42 for fourth masters runner.  Two local women were in the top ten masters women and they also were top two age graded women.  Janice Morra, 56 of Morristown finished in 36:30 and age graded at 80.60%.  Nora Cary, 59, also of Morristown finished in 36:49 and that performance put her at the top of the age graded women with an 83.23%.

Crowley age graded at 90.31% and Reno Stirrat, 60, of Rockaway was next with a time of 30:52 for an 85.39%.

Cross country is all about teams with the majority of the runners on New Jersey club teams.  The still growing Adidas Garden State Track Club put ten open men’s teams on the line and they took the first six spots.  The Morristown based Garmin men, using mostly their forty plus men captured seventh place.

In the M40 division their team was first and the Randolph based Do Run Runners were third.  The Do Runners M50 took first in the M50 division.  Stirrat lead his Shore Athletic Club team to first in the M60 Division.
 
The Garden State club took the top three spots in the Open women’s division with the Garmin women placing fifth in that division.  Like their counterparts the Garmin women won the W40 division.  There was a three way tie in the W40 division for third place.  It was broken by comparing each of the scoring women on the three teams if head-to-head by their place.  That comparison put the Do Run Runners in fourth.  Their team took first in the W50 division and their B team was third.  The Rose City Running Club won the W60 division.  The remarkable Morris County Striders W70/W80 team braved the challenging course and walked away with first in that division.

Runners were not too frightened by the description of the course that they read here last week.  While conceding it was a tough course most of the runners said that they liked it and the setting at Natirar Park.

Giralda Farms races next Sunday


If you have not registered for the Giralda Farms 10K or 5K you will now be paying the $28.00 registration fee on race day or this week.  The deadline was on October 31st.   It had been $20.00 for USATF members and $23.00 for non members.

Back in 1979 – the first year for the race, the fee was $4.00 if you were pre-registered and $5.00 on race day.  How far we’ve come!   The Giralda Farms organizers have actually been slow to bump their fee up.  In 2012 the race day fee was $25.00 and pre registration was $16.00 and $18.00 for non USATF members.  The Rose City Runners donate funds raised by the race for college scholarships to Madison high students, among other local charities. 

TCS New York City Marathon

Good luck to our New Jersey runners who are running the TCS New York City Marathon this morning.  Race coverage begins on ABC, Channel 7 at 9:00 a.m.  The professional women will start at 9:10 a.m. and the first wave, which includes the professional men will start at 9:40 a.m.  Three more waves will follow with the last going off at 10:55 a.m.

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