Published by
the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday,
March 26, 2017
INDIAN TRAILS KICKS OFF THE REAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES NEXT
WEEK
Although three pseudo championships are taking place this
weekend, two ten milers and one half marathon that you read about here last
week, the first true championship is taking place this coming weekend, on Sunday
April 2nd in Middletown/Leonardo.
The
Indian Trails race has been around for many years. But this time around the 15K has morphed into
a 20K and the 5K into 10K. The newly
measured and certified course maps show that the 10K follows the opening miles
of the 20K and returns to the finish on the same roads as the 20K. The 20K runners will do an out and back that
begins at about 3 and ¾ miles into the race.
Both races start together at 9:00 a.m. with the 10K runners heading back
at the 3.75 mile point.
Although the name, Indian Trails, seems to imply an off
road trail race, that is not the case.
One section is on a dirt road, but that will be the least of the runners’
worries. The race is run in the Navesink
hills, as in HILLS. It features long,
long climbs with exhilarating downhills if a runner is willing to let gravity
take over.
This
is the first of the true championships and team contests are on the line. As happens every year there has been a
shuffle of athletes on the teams this winter.
Most runners remain on their current teams during the season and wait for
the off season to switch allegiance. The
changes this year seem to be minor.
Still losing one good scoring member of a club who then joins a rival
club can have an impact – for both teams.
BAKER’S DOZEN HALF MARATHON
Two
races of the 700 point trio are being held this morning, but one, the Baker’s
Dozen Half Marathon in Montclair was run early Saturday morning. Rob
Albano of Mahwah won the race in 1:11:50 while Alexandra Niles of Montclair won
the women’s race in 1:20:28.
Morris area runners were well represented in the top ten
men. Karl O’Reilly of Morristown, who
won the Pre-Game Four Miler on February 5th, was second in
1:14:53. Terry Davidson, 45, of Randolph
was the first masters runner to finish.
His time of 1:16:31 put him in fourth place overall.
Stuart Haynes, 41, of Chatham finished in 1:19:56 and
Gary Rosenberg, 46, of Morristown was eighth in 1:21:18. Finishers numbered 1,210. A remarkable number for a 7:00 a.m.
race.
MASTERS 8K IN VIRGINIA BEACH DREW NEW JERSEY
RUNNERS
New
Jersey individual runners and teams made their way to Virginia Beach last
weekend for the March 18, Shamrock 8K, the national masters championship. Weather predictions were not good, with rain
forecast for most of the weekend. But
the 8K runners dodged the bullet and while the sky was overcast the rain held
off until after most runners had finished.
The
post race festivities were dampened by the rain however, but a surprising number
of parents and kids ran their mile heats in the rain. The half marathon and marathon on Sunday
started and ended with a cold rain. It
brought back memories of the Lost Dutchman’s Mine Marathon in February in
Arizona in cold rain.
The
turnout was light for the masters race but some of the teams came home with
medals. The Shore Athletic Club W40 team
with Susan Stirrat of Rockaway on the team placed first in their division.
The Shore M60 team and M70 team both placed
third in their division. Susan’s husband
Reno, who is coming back after a short lay-off, ran for the Shore M60 team. Roger Price of Randolph, who is still
recovering from Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis, another tick borne disease also
ran in the M65 division.
The
Clifton Road Runners M70 team placed fourth in their division. Next up for the masters runners is a 10K in
Dedham, Massachusetts on April 30th.
GRONER TOOK TWO MINUTES OFF
HER HALF MARATHON TIME
Roberta Groner of Randolph,
who was featured here two weeks ago took two minutes off her half marathon time
at the United Airlines half marathon in NYC on March 19th. Groner finished in
1:14:26, actually two minutes and ten seconds off her Newport Liberty race last
September.
##
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.
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