There will be no Running Column this week, December 2, 2018.
I will be attending the annual USATF convention this week and weekend.
Madeline
Monday, November 26, 2018
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Chilly Thanksgiving Day races but the runners came anyway
On
Sunday, Nov 25, 2018
CHILLY THANKSGIVING DAY RACES, BUT THE RUNNERS CAME ANYWAY
Morgan Pearson of New Vernon won the state championship 8K
hosted by the Horace Ashenfelter race on the very chilly Thanksgiving morning
this week in Glen Ridge. Pearson was
followed by Aaron Leskow of Morristown who finished in 24:58, and he was
followed by Justin Scheid of Succasunna in 25:02, making the race a sweep for
the top three Morris Country residents.
The women’s race was won by Shelby Goose of Englewood in
27:26. The first Morris County woman was Roberta Groner, now living in
Ledgewood who finished as fourth woman overall and first master in 28:10.
At the start of the race at 9:00 a.m. the thermometer was
hovering at 20 degrees. Although some
runners were tempted to say home, snug in their beds, many of the races around
the state still had good turnouts, although down from 2017.
The granddaddy Flemington Turkey Trot had 3,194 finishers
down about 880 runners from 2017. The Upper
Saddle River 5K from 2,179 to 1,776. The
Morris Township 5K dropped from 2,292 in 2017 to 1,459 on Thursday. William Mitchell of Chatham won the race in
16:14 and Becky Snetson of New London, CT was the women’s winner in 18:56.
At the Ashenfelter race 2,500 finished on Thursday, down
only 545 runners, a smaller percentage than the other races, thanks no doubt to
the race being the championship for all divisions.
Notable performances were turned in by former Randolph
resident, Jonathan Frieder, 48 who now lives in Rye Brook NY, Frieder finished in
26:29, first master overall, and age graded a mark of 88.88%, topped only by
Mark Zamek, 55, of Allentown PA, who finished in 27:49 and age graded at 89.66%. Suzanne LaBurt, 55, of Greenwood Lake NY, was
the top age graded masters woman. Her
finish time of 32:12 hit 89.19% in age grading.
Local runners did well in their age divisions, including
Stuart Haynes, 42, of Chatham, who finished in 27:01 for second in his
division. Elliott Frieder of Montville
finished second to his brother in the M45 division in 27:05. Elena Rozhko of Morristown was second in the
W45 division in 30:44.
Laura DeLea of Sparta took second in the W 50 division with
her 33:30.
Gary Leaman, 59, of Hardwick was second to Zamek in the M55
division with his time of 29:33. In the W55 division Mary Christian of Flanders
finished second to LaBurt with a time of 36:17 and Susan Kinsella of Millington
was third in 36:33.
Reno Stirrat of Rockaway won the M60 division with his 32:06
and Charlie Slaughter of Parsippany was third in that division running 34:15. Debbie Goulian of Kinnelon placed first in
the W60 division with her 37:14. Peter
Auteri of Pompton Lakes was second in the M65 division in 35:53 and Bill
Bosmann of Rockaway was third in 36:39.
Shirley Pettijohn of Chatham was second in her W80 division
while teammate Diane Stone of Chatham won the W85 division. Arch Seamans of Rockaway was the sole runner
in the M85 division.
As of this writing the team scoring on the CompuScore
website is incomplete and/or maybe inaccurate.
I will refrain from reporting on
the teams until the results have been deemed final.
WATER OVER THE ROAD STOPS THE GREAT SWAMP DEVIL RACES
The Great Swamp is after all a swamp, and when a creek in a swamp
goes over its banks, the swamp goes over its roads. This past Sunday the road that is used for
the Great Swamp Devil 5K and 15K was flooded.
Not just get-your- shoes-a-little-wet-flooded, but up-over-the-road-flooded. The races could not be held.
CompuScore, the race
timing company tried to get the word out through social media, but not everyone
got the message. Several car loads of
runners made the trip only to be disappointed to learn the news that the race
was not taking place. As of this writing
I do not see that a new date has been selected.
If the race cannot be rescheduled, and if it was a last chance
Category Three race, all the more reason to check out the Super Santa 10 miler next
Sunday, December 2 at the Giralda Farms Complex in Madison.
RENEW OR NEW SIGN UP
Now is the time to renew your USATF New Jersey membership or
join for the first time. The discounts
for running in Grand Prix races more than pay for the cost of membership. Other discounts, especially discounts on travel
and lodging are an added bonus.
##
Race Results can often be found at www.compuscore.com or at www.bestrace.com
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
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Horace Ashenfelter 8K is this Thursday
On
Sunday, Nov 18, 2018
HORACE ASHENFELTER 8K IS THIS THURSDAY
As you know the Horace Ashenfelter 8 Kilometer race in Glen
Ridge falls on the fourth Thursday in November, and this year the fourth
Thursday is occurring on the earliest possible date, November 22nd. That may explain why runners are wondering
why they feel like they haven’t had enough time to get in shape. The 8K is the
last state championship of the season.
All divisions are competing and getting their last shot at
improving their scores in the club grand prix and team divisions. Overall the Garden State Track Club New
Balance is unbeatable in the club division.
The Clifton Running Club is in second place and the Shore Athletic Club
is in third with the Morris based Garmin club only eleven points back in
fourth.
Garden State nails the open division races with their top
three, A, B, C teams usually scoring high in the open men division. Those three
teams have the top three spots.
Their open women A team is stellar and in the lead in that
division. No contest for first but the
next five teams are separated by a mere six points, with the Garmin women
second and the Shore third. Clifton is
trailing in fourth by only one point.
The only team that could beat Garden State in the M40
division is the Garmin Runners. If
Garden State’s top guys, like the Frieder twins don’t show Garmin might have a
chance to overcome their four point difference.
The third place Shore team can’t move out of third and it can’t be
caught by the Garden State B team. But
the Clifton runners could pass Garden State and move into fourth. there’s two points between them.
In the M50 division it’s the Garmin team ahead and with a 16
point lead they will take the division. The Shore team is trailing Clifton by
five points.
The Shore club has it
sewed up in the M60 division with the real contest between Clifton and Fleet
Feet Essex for second. Clifton’s M70
team will win their division and don’t need to show up at the Ashenfelter. But they will.
The Clifton W40 team has victory sewed up also, while the
Garmin women need to maintain their leave of Garden State for second. Again, the tight contests are further down,
with the Raritan Valley Road Runners having a one point lead over the North
Jersey Masters.
The Clifton women have it again in the W50 and can’t be
caught. Raritan Valley has only a four
point lead over the North Jersey Masters and they have only a two point lead
over the Garmin runners.
Morristown’s Nora Cary is the deciding factor in the North
Jersey Masters ten point lead in the W60 divisions race. Raritan Valley is in a tie for second with
the Clifton women.
And then there is the W70 and W80 divisions with only the
Morris County Striders in position to win both.
Team grand prix rules require a team to compete in at least three races
to count and thus the Striders have to put a B team in the W70 division. Their W80 team has already won three races
and are solid, but word is that the women will be running.
In fact, even those teams that have an insurmountable lead
are sure to be racing. The Ashenfelter
race, falling on, oh yes, on Thanksgiving morning, is a well-managed event,
with a great course with only one short hill.
All the rest are just grades and some are downhill grades.
CONGRATUALATIONS TO LOCAL YOUTHS IN JO MEET
Local young athletes did well at the USATF New Jersey Junior
Olympic meet on November 4th at Deer Path Park in Readington,
Hunterdon County. William Van Etten of
Chester won the Boys 9 and 10 division with Cameron Sontz of Montville taking
second place.
The following youths placed third in their divisions: Gabriella Pelov of Montville, 8 and under
girls; Noah Pizzirusso of Mount Olive, 8 and under boys; Katherine Shaw of
Chester, 9 and 10 girls; Albin Mullan of Parsippany, 13 and 14 boys.
In all, over four hundred young athletes competed on the
still muddy cross country course.
Congratulations to all. Remember that
running is for life. Stay with it.
##
Race Results can often be found at www.compuscore.com or at www.bestrace.com
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
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Giralda Farms 5K at noon today in Madison
On Sunday, Nov 11, 2018
GIRALDA FARMS 5K AT NOON TODAY IN MADISON
If you haven’t yet registered for the Giralda Farms 5K
today, it’s not too late as long as you haven’t slept in. The race starts at 12 noon. The gates to the Giralda Farms complex on
Madison Avenue in Madison will close at 11:45 am. Talk about making it easy for the
procrastinators.
What’s interesting about the Giralda Farms 5K is that the
race was once a 10K with no 5K. The 5K
was added in 2000 and drew only 178 finishers while the 10K finished 396. Ten years ago, the races had grown to 571 in
the 5K and 617 finishers in the 10K.
The 10K was the masters men’s championship in 2016 and drew
501 finishers and 371 ran in the 5K.
Last year the 5K was the masters men’s championship and it drew 530 finishers. In the respective top ten were five masters
men and five masters women.
That makes you understand why the prize money is going to be
going eight places deep in the masters age grading and only three deep for the
open runners. It looks like the target
market for the 5K is the masters runners.
This year the race is not a championship for either gender,
but instead is a part of the co-ed series for the USATF New Jersey teams. The concept is much like the corporate team
structure, but these teams are composed of the top three scoring men and the
top three scoring women. That’s six
runners on the team, which is larger than corporate teams that usually score
only the top three while including at least one person of the opposite
gender. That’s usually two men and one
woman, but not always and sometimes the fastest corporate runner is a woman.
The scoring is pretty straightforward for the open teams as
they are scored by fastest combined times, but here’s where it gets interesting
for the masters teams. The top three men
and top three women are scored, but not by their time. They use their masters age grading
score. The club with the highest
combined Performance Level Percentage is the winner.
For example, at the Sunset Classic five mile race this past
June that was a Coed event, the Fleet Feet Essex club placed first masters team
with their 444.13%. The Clifton running
club was second with 437.14% and the North Jersey Masters were third with
435.01%.
This concept requires a strong club effort to have at least
six masters runners who age grade in the 70’s and 80’s PLP.
SEARCHING FOR THE LAST CHANCE RACES
Runners who lack races in their grand prix scores have only
a few chances to fill in those zeros with numbers. Most everybody has managed to get to at least
three 5K races, but for those who lack a Category Two there is not much to
chose from. Of course, there is the
Ashenfelter 8K that will take place on Thanksgiving morning. It is a 700 point race.
The only 500 point Category Two race that I see is the
Westfield Five miler that is the following Saturday, November 24th. That’s pretty quick after running 8K two days
previous but it looks like the only one left.
Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
Category Three races are usually hard to find by the end of
the year too. The Great Swamp Devil 15K
on Sunday, November 18th is an old standby. It is flat and features double back turns so
is fun to see who is racing ahead of you and who is chasing you. The race starts at eleven am, along with a 5K
that starts at the same time.
Thanks to the Super Hero folks there is a new Category Three
race on Sunday, December 2nd, starting from Giralda Farms. The Super Santa Ten miler will be a scenic
course passing pastoral scenes as well as running through part of the Loantaka preserve.
GRONER WAS GREAT
Roberta Groner, who was featured here last Sunday, finished the
New York City Marathon in 2:31:00, in twelfth place and first masters
woman. Awesome running Roberta!
##
Race Results can often be found at www.compuscore.com or at www.bestrace.com
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
Sunday, November 4, 2018
Groner will run with the elite women today
On
Sunday, Nov 4, 2018
GRONER WILL RUN WITH THE ELITE WOMEN TODAY
Roberta Groner moved from Pittsburg to
Randolph in 2014 and began racing here in 2015.
She stood out immediately and when she inquired about the Randolph based
Do Run Runners she was welcomed into the club.
Club member Beau Atwater of Bedminster became
her solid training partner as they prepared for Boston following the Hanson
Training Plan created by the Michigan running store group that has turned out
elite runners.
In October of 2016 Groner was introduced to
Hector Matos of Rutherford who had begun to coach some very good New Jersey
runners. Under his coaching Groner was
dropping her times at each race.
Life does not move in a straight line, and after
winning the Ashenfelter 8K in November 2016 in 27:16, a minute and a half ahead
of any other women, Groner realized that she needed to break with her New
Jersey friends. She joined the New York Athletic
Club, where she would be around other women of her ability. That has proved to be a good move and Groner
continued to get faster.
With Matos coaching, Groner had hoped to make
the US marathon qualifying time of 2:37 at the California International
Marathon in December 2017. Not only did
she qualify, she finished in 2:30:38 in second place overall behind
professional runner Sara Hall.
After the marathon she switched to shorter
distances on the advice of her coach and PR’d the 5K and 10K and the half
marathon. When she wasn’t running and
taking care of her three boys, and working a full-time nurse’s job, she
finished her Bachelor’s degree. Can we
say Achiever?
Groner was invited to start with the elite
women in the New York City marathon after her 2:30.38 California International
Marathon last year.
She has been training up to the mid 90’s and then
in the mid 80’s for three weeks. The week
leading up to the marathon she was at 65 miles, and this last week - her taper
week has put in about 25 miles, including a 30 minute run on Saturday.
In September Groner opened a few more eyes
with her third place at the Rock N Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon where she shared
the podium with Desi Linden. Linden
finished in 1:11:48, just 32 second ahead of Groner whose time was 1:12:20.
In a recent interview, Linden was asked who
she thought might be around her in the marathon, and she named Groner as one of
those women.
“I guess my name is out there a little bit,”
said Groner who is enjoying the new notoriety.
But her feet are clearly on the ground and she
sees it as just a bunch of competitors who just happen to be very fast.
“Us competitors, we know who we are running
against,” said Groner. “They get to know
who I am and I get to know who they are.”
“Even though I don’t see myself anywhere near
Desi Linden that day, it’s nice to know the feel.”
Her “tribe” of supporters in New Jersey as
they have come to call themselves, have a different view and do see their
athlete as capable of being in the lead pack with Linden and others.
Lest anyone forget, Groner, who is now 40, may
be the fastest masters woman marathoner now competing.
In a recent
post Facebook Groner concluded,
“No matter the
outcome on Sunday I have held onto the vision and have trusted the process!
It’s game time!
LOCAL STREAKERS
While Groner is running her second New York City Marathon,
other local runners can claim a different fame.
Catherine Shott of Hopatcong will be running in her 31st
consecutive New York City marathon.
Kevin Higgins of Randolph will be running his 28th and Joe
Sikora of Succasunna will be running his 26th. Shott’s best time was in 1988 at age 28 when
she finished in 3:51:30. Higgins did a 2:52:59
in 2001 when he was 42 years old and Sikora’s best time was done at age 26 when
he finished in 2:47:46.
We wish all of the runners a fast time and good running.
##
Race Results can often be found at www.compuscore.com or at www.bestrace.com
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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