Chilly Thanksgiving Day races but the runners came anyway

Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey

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.

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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