Published by the DAILY
RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, April 15,
2018
MORRISTOWN’S LESKOW WINS 20K
It hasn’t taken Aaron Leskow long to establish his
credentials as one fast young runner.
Leskow moved to Morristown in 2016 after graduating from Saint Josephs
University in Philadelphia. Leskow has
always been in the top three to five in New Jersey races since his arrival.
This past Sunday he won the challenging Indian Trails 20K
championship in Middletown after running down early leader Michael Dixon of
Highland Park. In an email Leskow
affirmed that it was the first time to run the race.
“It was quite an experience,” he said. “Very hilly, but nice terrain and views.”
An understatement of course.
In the final miles of the race the runners climb to what seems to be the
top of the world and are rewarded with a wide, unbelievable view of the
Manhattan skyline.
Leskow said that he passed Dixon right after hitting mile
ten. “He was up there for quite awhile,
so it was fun to go chase for a little bit.”
Leskow finished in 1:09:57 while Dixon followed soon after
in 1:10:19. Ericka Meling of High Bridge
was the top woman finisher. She finished
in 1:23:59.
Meling and Leskow share the honor of leading in their
respective Garden State Track Club teams to first place in their open
divisions. The Garmin women’s team
placed second in the open division and their open men placed third after the
GSTC A and B teams.
The Morris area Garmin club won the M40 and M50 divisions
while their women’s 40 and 50 teams placed second to the Clifton Road Runners
club.
Local runners had a good showing, with Stacey Slaughter,25, of Parsippany the seventh
woman to finish. Her time was 1:30:39. Stuart Haynes,42, of Chatham scored as the
first masters man and second in age grading with Reno Stirrat, 63, of Rockaway
leading in the age grading with an 80% PLP.
Nora Cary, 63, of Morristown finished in 1:38:05 with an 84.6% PLP. Mary Christian, 54, of Flanders finished in
1:35:38 and fifth in age grading at 77.0%.
It is interesting to note that all of the age grading percentages were a
bit on the low side thanks to the difficult course.
CHERRY BLOSSOM 10K
Stephen Mennitt, now living in Brooklyn but previously a New
Jersey resident was unable to wrap up a transfer to the Freedom Running Club
and not able to run the 20K for his new team, instead went to Newark’s Branch
Brook Park and won the Cherry Blossom 10K this past Sunday. His time was 33:01, well over a minute ahead
of second place. Carly Graham of Hoboken
was the women’s winner in 39:32. Heather
McDermott of Morristown placed third in 42:23.
Close to a thousand runners finished the race. Only young cherry trees had begun to bloom in
the park, thanks to the brutal New Jersey winter, making the title of the race quite
a misnomer.
BOSTON WILL HAVE NEW JERSEY’S SIKORA RUNNING HIS
33RD
Joe Sikora of Succasunna has to be New Jersey’s ultimate
Marathon Man. On Monday he will be
running in his 33rd Boston Marathon and it will be his 25th
consecutive marathon. His wife Anna Lisa
has created a 3 foot by 3 foot banner to mark the occasion. It reads “BOSTON STRONG, JOE’S 33RD BOSTON MARATHON, 25 IN
A ROW. Thirty three marathons are quite
enough, but it will actually be Sikora’s 189th.
The sixty-six year old Sikora said that he will be doing
only two or three marathons per year for now on the “preserve whatever
longevity that I may have left”.
Marathoner David Epstein has posted his weather view for
Monday and it will not make the runner’s happy.
He says that a storm system approaching from the west will drag a series
of frontal systems through the region.
Quoting Epstein, “For the runners, it will be
quite chilly in the morning as they arrive in Hopkinton. With showers around,
the wet will only add to the chill. The good news is that temperatures will get
into the 50s, and perhaps even 60s, late in the morning or in the early part of
the afternoon.”
It seems that the runners can’t win anymore in Boston. Either it gets too hot or too cold. I’m not sure when they had perfect running
weather for the race. After all the
training and the work to qualify for a Boston opportunity they have no choice
but to go for it, weather or not. Best
wishes for all runners to have a good race.
RYAN STEIDL 5K HAS MOVED TO SUNDAY
The MK5K, now known as the Ryan Steidl Memorial 5K, has
moved from its customary Saturday to Sunday, April 22nd. The race starts and finishes on Pocono Road
at the campus of St. Claire’s Hospital in Denville. It is a fast course that the race website
says has been newly repaved.
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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.
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