USATF NEW JERSEY CHAMPIONSHIPS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED

Written by Madeline Bost
Originally Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, January 1, 2012
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2012

While the rest of the folks are watching football games today, runners will be checking out the racing calendar and beginning to plan their 2012 season. The USATF New Jersey championship line-up was recently posted on the association website and the first thing that is noticed is that there will be a 20 kilometer road race this year and it is first of the season.

Sunday March 11th is the date of this brand new race in Johnson Park in Piscataway [Miles for Music]. A 20K in the park will mean more than one out and back on the park’s paths and roads, but a plus for the runners who may not be ready for that long a race in early spring is that the course will be basically as flat as a flood plain. [course map]

No one should get spoiled by the flat course as the next championship is the Indian Trails 15K on April 1st for open men and women. The Indian Trails is about as hilly as one can find in New Jersey and it is not even in the highlands of New Jersey but down in Middletown, near the Jersey shore.

The Cherry Blossom 10K in Branch Brook Park in Newark has often been a championship and this year it will be the host of the masters women’s race. It will be on tax deadline day, April 15th.

Open men will be running the next weekend at the Stomp the Monster 5K in Marlboro. April will finish up with the Clinton Country Run 15K for masters men and women on the 28th.

After a year away from the line-up the Our House 5 Miler in Summit is back on May 6th as the open men and women’s championship. Open men and women will have to be sharp and ready as the following weekend is the Newport 10,000, also for them. Not to pile on but open women will have the Run for Rachel 5K on the 20th, eight days after Newport on the 12th.

Sunday, June 24th will be the only June championship when the Fitzgerald’s 1928 Lager Run 5K goes off in Glen Ridge, hosting the masters men.

Masters women will have their 5K championship on Sunday September 2nd at the Jimmy D in New Brunswick.

Cross country will be early in 2012 with the New Jersey 5K championship for all divisions takes place on September 8th at Deer Path Park. The Liberty Waterfront half marathon for all divisions will take place on September 23rd in Jersey City.

October will be lean with only the 8k cross country race on the 28th. Giralda Farms will host the masters men 10K on November 11th in Madison and the Ashenfelter 8K on Thanksgiving Day will host the masters men and women. The Grand Finale ten mile championship will take place on December 9th to wrap up the championship season.

GO RUN THIS MORNING 

Do you remember last year’s January 1st? Snow forced the Hangover Run in Tamaques Park in Westfield to reschedule not once but twice. The Hamilton Hangover 5 miler was shortened to a 5K due to snow conditions. So if you are looking for an excuse to not run this morning, you are out of luck.

TWO TEAMS FINISH IN THE NATIONAL MASTERS GRAND PRIX

The Clifton Road Runners M70 team and the Raritan Valley Road Runners M60 team have bragging rights to the USATF national masters team grand prix. The Clifton team made it to four races out of nine to win five hundred dollars and a banner that can be displayed by the winning club.

The Raritan Valley team was locked in a true contest with a club from Ann Arbor Michigan. The team, which includes Roger Price of Randolph and Carl Weaver of Morris Plains, were in the lead up to the final race of the season in Seattle, but were foiled when the team had a poor showing due to various injuries. Ann Arbor finished with 52 points to Raritan Valley’s 51, giving them second place. It is expected that more teams will be attracted to the national series after the kick-off year in 2011.

CLUB GRAND PRIX ENDS WITH FINALE TEN MILER

Written by Madeline Bost
Originally Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, December 18, 2011
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2011

 

Mother Nature handed New Jersey runners a perfect day for the last USATF championship of the season last Sunday. The clear, sunny day was credited with an unheard of sixty or more race day signups for the ten miler in Mercer County Park. A low no show resulted in a record number of finishers. Five more runners would have made it an even three hundred in contrast to the 220 finishers in 2010.

Most runners had gone into the race with their positions in the New Balance Grand Prix already secured but some team contests were still undecided and the final overall club score was on the line. In the end the Raritan Valley Road Runners defended their title of top club in the scoring but it was a lot closer than in any other year.

The club was hurt by the loss of some of their top open men to the Garden State Track Club that won the Open division with Sneaker Factory coming in second. Raritan Valley was third, helped by some of their fast M40 members.

The surprise second place club was the rapidly growing Clifton Road Runners. The club is able to put teams on the line in just about every division and those scores paid off. Raritan Valley hit 442 with Clifton managing to break four hundred plus two. The Sneaker Factory was third, well back with 277 points and the Morris County Striders fourth with 257.

Raritan Valley’s Open women took the top title with Sneaker Factory second. The Sneaker Factory’s M40 team came close to defeating the Raritan Valley team, missing by just three points.

Other local teams did not fare well in the series. The Morris County Striders took third in the W50 division and the Rose City Runners were fourth as well as fourth in the W40 division.

The Strider men were fourth in the M60 division. The Strider W60 and W70 had a lock for first in both of their divisions, which helped the club to score as well as it did.

NEW BALANCE GRAND PRIX WINNERS ARE POSTED [here]

All the grand prix final scores are now posted with local men predominating in the top ten overall men scoring. Michael Dixon of Fanwood won the series with fellow teammate Michael Anis of Edison second.

Fourth place was taken by Rich Burke of Morristown with Gary Rosenberg also of Morristown fifth. The two placed first and second in the M40 division, separated by just three points. John Sabatino of Morris Plains was eighth and Antonio Massa of Budd Lake was ninth, for second and third in the M45 division. Beau Atwater of Bernardsville was tenth for second in the M50 division.

Local women did not score as high as their counterparts with only one, Joanna Stevens of Basking Ridge making it into the top ten overall. That also put her in second place in the W40 division.

Will DeRoberts of Boonton won the M50 division with Charlie Slaughter of Parsippany second. In the M60 division Franz Mitterer of Morristown was first with Roger Price of Randolph second and Bruch Langenkamp of Wharton third, for a sweep for local men in that division.

Local women did well in the age divisions with Karyn Layton of Rockaway placing third in the W40 division while Dede Paul of Madison placed second in the W50 division. Perennial winner Jane Parks of Morristown won the W55 division with Lorraine McPhillips of Basking Ridge second. Cande Olsen of Chatham was third in the W60 division.

Shirley Pettijohn of Chatham and Melva Murray of Bedminster placed second and third in the W75 division. Diane Stone of Bernardsville won the W80 division with Patricia Tummey of Randolph second.

Placing in the top three in ones age division is not good just for bragging rights. First place will receive a check for two hundred dollars, second for one hundred twenty five and third for one hundred dollars thanks to the sponsorship of New Balance of North Jersey.

Awards and checks will be presented at the USATF Awards Banquet on January 21st at the Pines Manor in Edison.