Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, April 30, 2017
CLINTON COUNTRY RUN MIMICS MIDLAND
Runners whose racing history goes back a few years remember
the Midland Run 15K that was held about mid-May in Far Hills. One factoid of that race was the change from
cool spring weather leading up to the race, then, in a burst of summer fun, the
heat on race day.
It comes to mind when viewing the race results of the
Clinton Country Run 15K, held on Saturday.
The Midland race was the 15K USATF New Jersey championship back in the
day, and the Clinton race is now the championship. The Clinton course is far less challenging
than the old Midland course, but it does feature one long grade late in the
race. One has to imagine that Saturday’s
heat was taking its toll as the racers climbed that Clinton hill.
Joshua Izewski of Doylestown PA managed the hill and the
heat best and crossed the finish line first in 52:21. Jonathan Sewnig of Metuchen was second in
53:26 and Sean Donohue of Keyport was third in 54:15.
Amanda Marino of Bradley Beach was the first woman to
finish. Her time was 56:54. Aimee Chegwidden of Hamburg was second in
60:36.
Nora Cary, 62, of Morristown topped the age grading with her
1:09:36 time that hit the charts at 87.56%.
On the masters men side, the rivalry continues between Beau Atwater, 59,
of Bernardsville and Gary Leaman, 57, of Hardwick. Leaman ran the faster time on Saturday-
58:11 but Atwater out age graded him. His
58:29 was ranked at 83.75% to Atwater’s 84.87% - for the top two spots on the
chart.
The race was a championship for all age divisions so drew a
full roster of teams. A computer error
or perhaps a human error lead to a mix-up for two of the teams that was not
resolved as this goes to press. It
appears that some of the Garden State Track Club members were placed on the
Clifton team rosters.
The errors prove the point as to why the Long Distance
Running committee does not announce the team division results at the
races. All results are checked for
errors before being made official.
NEWPORT 10,000 NEXT SATURDAY
All of the open men and women teams will be in Jersey City
next Saturday, May 6, for the Newport 10K.
The race is the NJ championship for the open division. A week to recover is obviously not the most
ideal planning, but sometimes the committee has to work with the races that
bid, and must weigh factors other than just the calendar. As the open men and women are younger by
definition than the masters it can be assumed that their recovery is less
difficult than for the older athletes.
The Newport course is viewed as both beautiful and
challenging. A look at the course map
with 30 turns explains why it is challenging, while running along the Hudson
River Waterfront walkway with spectacular views of the New York skyline can
only be beat by the half marathon run from the same location in September.
The race is unique in that elite athletes from around the
country; both citizens and non citizens are invited to race with prize money
being awarded to that category of runners.
At the same time the New Jersey athletes have dedicated prize money exclusive
to just them.
The fastest time was recorded in 2004 when Julius Kibet won
the race in 28:42. In 2016 Donn Cabral
of Annandale won in 29:39. Brianne
Nelson of Golden CO was the first woman to finish with a time of 33:08.
##
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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