Published by the DAILY
RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, May 17, 2015
TIME FOR A LITTLE TRACK AND FIELD
It’s that time of year that some runners will put on their
spikes and head to the track for some fun running fast in circles. Long Distance runners for the first time can
run a 5,000 meter or 10,000 meter race on the track and earn points in the New
Balance Grand Prix.
Other opportunities are there to run the 800 meters, or the
mile. Some adventurous folks will look to run 2,000
meters or 3,000 meters while leaping over steeples.
The New Jersey USA Track and Field calendar shows all of the
youth and Junior Olympic meets so the adult athlete needs to look closely for
meets where they will feel comfortable. All
comer meets offer a range of events and but are never complete meets. If they are part of a series they will offer
a mile at one meet and the 800 meters at another, for instance...
All comer meets have
an advantage over championship meets that require that athletes compete against
their own age division. At all comer
meets the athlete needs to provide a recent time for the event or an expected time,
and then they are seeded with others of the same ability. In championships an outstanding runner will
go into the lead with no one able to be “in the race” with him in the age
division. At an all comers meet he would
be seeded with younger athletes whose times are comparable to his.
The calendar is crowded with youth meets and short on open
and masters meets and they are sometimes wedged into less desirable spots. There is good reason for this. For a well run meet to be staffed by
officials, the meets need to avoid the same spot as another meet or the meet
will be short of officials. At a road
race, the timing company comes with a skeletal crew that is assisted by
volunteers. Not so with a track
meet. You need people who are trained to
officiate.
A track meet needs a host of officials to conduct a range of
events. A meet with too few officials
will not be able to stay on schedule and may have errors in the way the meet is
conducted and timed or measured.
An ideal schedule would have several all comer meets
culminating with a championship meet. That
seldom happens and this year the USATF New Jersey championship meet comes
before any all comer meets. It is split
with a handful of events on Friday, May 29th and on Sunday, May 31st. It is taking place for the first time at
Thomas Edison Park in Edison.
Friday night is when the 5,000 meter race is being held and
is the last event on the schedule. The
exact time will not be known until the registration has closed on May 26 and
posted on May 28. Friday is also when
the steeplechase events will be run.
The 10,000 meters is the first event on the track on Sunday
thus kicking off the meet at 8:30 a.m.
June is when the all comers meets begin. The first of three twilight meets hosted by
the Princeton Athletic Club at Princeton High School will be on Thursday, June
4th. The first track event
will be at 6:00 p.m. Other meets in the
series will be on June 11 and June 25.
On Saturday June 6th, Monmouth University in West
Long Branch will be the site of the New Jersey International Track and Field
Meet. The Shore Athletic Club holds a
series of all comers meets in July in Neptune each Tuesday evening. While a bit of a drive from Morris County,
folks who are visiting the shore might be able to fit one in.
The Run with Pride 5K is this Wednesday, May 20th
at the Giralda Farms corporate campus in Madison.
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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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