Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, October 2, 2016
SHADES OF DEATH HALF MARATHON NEXT SUNDAY
One weirdly named road in Allamuchy is the Shades of Death
Road. Now that ought to spook you a bit,
and the event organizers have planned that you will be intrigued by the name and decide to run a half
marathon on the Shades of Death Road, next Sunday, October 9th.
To that end the quirky name and the tranquil farm roads that
make up the Shades of Death Road half marathon has attracted runners since 2011
when 309 not at all spooked folks ran in the first race. Michael Anis of Highland Park won the race
that year in 1:18:40. Laura Swift of
Woodbridge won the women’s side in 1:28:11.
In 2012 Atilla Sabahoglu of Somerset set the course record
that still stands at 1:13:19. He came
back in 2014 and won the race again but fell short of his record with a
1:13:53. That year Cheyenne Ogletree of
Port Reading established the women’s course record of 1:27:24, two seconds
faster than Kavitha Manly of Piscataway who won the race in 2012.
Gary Leaman of Hardwich, at age 54 in 2013 won the race
outright in 1:20:53 and topped the age graded charts that year at 85.64%
PLP. But the highest PLP goes to then 47
year old Richard Burke of Morristown who placed second overall to Sabahoglu in
1:14:19 for an 87.78% PLP. That was also
the year that Jeanne Pare, 53, of Chester placed second overall with her time
of 1:29:04 to set the women’s PLP record of 86.87%.
A quick scan of the pre-registration list shows that Leaman,
Sabahoglu, and Mary Christian of Flanders who won the women’s race in 2015 in
1:34:03 and was the top PLP woman are registered to run.
The half marathon offers a chance to be scored in the race
as though it is a USATF championship with a top score of 700 grand prix points
instead of 500 – it is up to the runner to choose the value. In addition to the half marathon, which
executes a double loop on the beautiful rural course is the Devil’s Run, a 6.6
mile race that starts at the same time as the half marathon.
NEW BALANCE GRAND PRIX
Things
are heating up in the New Balance individual grand prix battle. John Hogan of Washington Township and Gary
Rosenberg of Morristown are separated by a mere ten points. Hogan has 5,616 points while Rosenberg has
5,606. When going head to head the 45
year old Rosenberg has always finished ahead of the 52 year old Hogan.
At
the recent Newport Liberty Waterfront half marathon Rosenberg scored 695 points
to Hogan’s 691. At the Cherry Blossom
10K it couldn’t get any closer with Rosenberg at 695 and Hogan at 694. The differences come from other races where
the men did not compete against each other.
That’s where the vagaries of the grand prix series come in. Hit it right and you come away with top notch
points.
Of
course this is a battle for second once Atilla Sabahoglu of Somerset runs in a
500 point Category three race. Let’s
just say that he wins the Shades of Death Half Marathon next Sunday and earns
500 points and rises to the top of the grand prix with 5,683 points.
On
the women’s side Roberta Groner now has all nine required races but needs to
replace a 500 point Category Two race with a championship win and she will have
it done. Groner is running the Mohawk
Hudson Marathon next Sunday where she has a good chance to finish first
woman. In 2015 Groner finished the NYC
Marathon in 2:45:30. The Mohawk Hudson
is listed as flat and fast - no bridges to climb.
HOUNDS
AND HARRIERS HAS REACHED THE END OF ITS RUN
This
is the last year for the Hounds and Harriers run that began twenty years ago as
one of only a few races in the country that features a race for a dog and human
team. Many have since copied the race
that has been directed these many years by Barbara Rushman of Florham Park,
aided by the Rose City Runners running club.
The race will take place this Saturday, October 8th at the
South Mountain Reservation at Crest Drive in South Orange. There is still time to register you and your
dog but do not wait for race day as no registrations will be taken on day
of.
An interesting factoid about the race is that
the race has been won in the past by Eric Morse, 52, of Berlin VT. Morse can boast a sub four minute mile. His running partner? A West Highland Terrier. Obviously the dogs, even small ones,
can keep up the pace – it’s the human part of the team that is the limiting
factor. Morse is expected to come down for the race to defend his and his
partner's title.
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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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