Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, November 22, 2015
TURKEY TROTS ABOUND
If you want to run in a race Thanksgiving morning you
probably won’t have far to go. The USATF
New Jersey calendar is showing nine races that morning and the Race Forum has
two Gobbler races down the shore. Among
them is the Turkey Trot 5K in Morris Township that will draw several hundred
runners, if not thousands. There are two
5K turkey races in Chatham. How did that
happen?
Some area runners will eschew the easy drive and go to Glen
Ridge for the Horace Ashenfelter 8K race.
It is the final state championship for all divisions. Some close team contests could be decided in
the race.
In the M50 division of the team grand prix, the Garmin
runners have a one point lead over the Shore Athletic Club – 78 to 77. Next is The Raritan Valley team one point
ahead of the Do Run runners – 55 to 54. Further
down in the listings ties are showing and they could change after the race is
run.
There is another group of people for whom the 8K is
important. They are the ones who need to
finish out their Category Two Mini grand prix, which includes the 8K distance. To maximize their points they need to have
seven races and three of them can be championship races that have a higher
point value.
THEY GOT IT DONE!
Four men mentioned these past weeks got the job done at the
Great Swamp Devil 15K. All needed to
have a non championship category three race and the only one available was the
15K. Atilla Sabahoglu of Somerset led
the charge and was never challenged to win the race in 51:36. Karl O'Reilly of Morristown was second in
52:21.
Gary Rosenberg of
Morristown was fourth man overall in 54:57, John Sabatino of Morris Plains was
next in 58:52 and Scott Isgett of Rockaway rounded out the foursome in
1:00:32.
Their order of finish mirrors their places in the New
Balance Grand Prix. I’ll let the
CompuScore computer figure out what points each has earned but no question that
Sabahoglu is now is in first place and Rosenberg is in second.
Rosenberg can thank his Garmin teammate Mark Williams for
pushing him out of third place at the race.
Williams, from Columbia, a world class 800 meter/miler had come to the
race planning to run in the 5K that was scheduled to go off an hour before the
15K. As can happen at races with their
many distractions, the keys to the car that he and his sister and mother
arrived in got locked in the locked car.
All of Williams racing clothes and racing flats were in the
car. What’s a fella to do? Well, he waited for Triple A to arrive in the
hour between 11:00 am when the 5K went off, and the 12 noon start of the 15K. Car unlocked - Williams was able to get
changed and at the line for his unplanned 15K race.
Finishing just one second ahead of Williams was Ingrid Wells
of Upper Montclair – yes third place overall in 54:19. They had run together for most of the
race. Was it gallantry on Williams’s
part to allow a girl to finish ahead of him, or was he just plain tuckered out
from running six more miles than he had planned?
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MEDALS CAME HOME TO NEW JERSEY
While some New Jersey runners were hammering at the Great
Swamp Devil 15K, another group was in Alexandria VA hammering at the national
12K championship. Several elite New
Jersey masters runners ran in the race.
Two of those runners were husband and wife duo Reno and
Susan Stirrat, of Rockaway. Competing in
the M60 division Reno placed third in his division in 45:03. Susan placed in the top ten in hers. The Stirrats compete for the Shore Athletic
Club and that club’s M70 team placed first in their division and the M60 team
placed third.
Other outstanding performances were recorded by Przemyslaw
Nowicki of Holmdel who won his M70 division in 52:41. Erika Campbell of Ridgewood placed second in
the W65 division in 56:50. Jonathan
Frieder of Port Chester, NY, a long time member of the New Jersey association
of USATF placed fourth overall masters and second in the M45 division with his
40:59.
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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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