MK5K HAS NEW FOCUS THIS YEAR

Written by Madeline Bost

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

The MK5K, short for Morris Knolls, has established itself as a fixture on the spring racing calendar in Morris County.  Held in April in Denville, using the fast former Harvest Festival 5K course, it attracted several hundred racers and in the process raised funds to support the Morris Knolls baseball program.

Last year’s race was a somber one.  A former player, and former volunteer, Ryan Steidl was in the hospital with a traumatic brain injury after being struck by a car and thrown into a telephone pole on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17^th.  It was the first year that Steidl was going to enter the race that he had previously volunteered for, and was on a training run for it when the accident happened.

Former players, classmates and fellow workers turned out for the race to “pinch run for Ryan” as their t-shirts proclaimed.  Through several months friends and family and sometimes strangers prayed for Steidl to recover from his devastating injury.  It was not to be.  He lost his battle on September 15^th, 2011.

This year the race is dedicated to Steidl and has been renamed the Ryan Steidl Memorial MK5K.  Funds raised will be donated to a scholarship in his name, but the biggest message that the race organizers hope to publicize is runner safety, according to race director Rich Luttenberger.

Luttenberger pointed out that it isn’t just runners knowing how to run safely on the roads, but drivers have a responsibility as well.

“Drivers need to be aware, too,” said Luttenberger.  “We tend to live in a society where everyone is on the go all the time and we need to remember to slow down and be aware of everybody.”

Runners must always run against traffic, facing oncoming drivers.  It is the prime safety tool for runners who may need to deal with inattentive drivers or those blinded by the sun.

Luttenberger pointed out that another safety hazard is at intersections when a driver is turning right.  The drivers often check for cars coming from the left but fail to look to their right for pedestrians – walkers or runners.

“Since the accident, as a driver, I find myself looking both right, left, right, regardless of the situation,” said Luttenberger.

“As drivers and runners we need to be aware and share the road,” he said.  “Something as simple as looking the other way, or easing off instead of stepping on it.  Yielding.  The little things like that would make a huge difference.”

Because Steidl began his high school years at Randolph High School whose colors include Navy Blue, and graduated from Morris Knolls, whose colors are Green and Gold, the logo on the race shirt will be a combination of Navy and Green.  It will also bear Steidl’s initials and his baseball number, 22.

“Little things to remember Ryan,” said Luttenberger.  “The staff shirts will have safety tips on the back.”

It is not known if Christopher Pannone of Lambertville will be back this year.  Pannone set a hard to beat course record of 14:47 in 2011, using the 5K for a final tune-up for his Boston Marathon later in the month. 

The race is this Saturday, April 7^th.   Registration will open at the Denville Community Church on Diamond Spring Road, 7:15 a.m.   Parking is at the church or at the finish area on Pocono Road at the St. Clare’s Hospital complex.  Runners who park at that site should allow for extra time to jog over to the start area.  The race starts at 9:00 a.m.

One last note.   Luttenberger pointed out that we are preaching to the choir here.  Runners who read this column are more than likely aware of the safe way to run on the roads.  It is the casual runners, and beginning runners, as well as walkers who will not see this column who need to be educated.  Think about doing your part by sharing these safety tips with others. 

You just might save a life.

FINDING A RACE AND KNOWING WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Written by Madeline Bost

Originally Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, March 11, 2012
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2012

It is surprising how many races are on the 2012 calendar for March.  Which calendar is that, you ask.  Good question.

You won’t find all of the races in the state, or to narrow it down, in Morris County in one place.  The first place to look is at www.usatfnj.org.  If a race has been sanctioned by the national governing body it means that it has filled out an application that asks questions about the safety of the runners, the plans for water and for toileting facilities.  Most significantly it means that the race and the racers are covered by insurance and that could be very important.

If a race is in the New Balance Grand Prix, it will be shown in the race listing on the USATF website.  If it is a road race then you know that it will be run on a USATF certified course.  Be forewarned that a race may not be in the grand prix series and not sanctioned but still have a certified course.

If a race has not been sanctioned by USATF it still may have another insurance coverage.  That is an unknown when looking at a race listing that is on any other site. 

The exception is the calendar maintained by www.compuscore.com.  That site endeavors to show which of the races that will be scored by CompuScore are in the grand prix.  But CompuScore doesn’t always have it right.  One year a race might be in the grand prix and the next year it is not.  The USATF website will have that change, but there are no assurances that the company scoring the race has been told of that by the race organizers. 

As an aside to that statement, some runners registered for a recent race that was a New Balance race last year but was not this year.  Runners had registered for the race and assumed that it was in the grand prix.  They were not happy.

What this tells you is that you must find a race application and look for the facts that you want see; sanctioned, certified, grand prix and then for some, what are the awards and the age divisions for the awards.

In addition to CompuScore, many local races are scored by Bill Boyajian whose company name is BEST racing.  Boyajian makes no attempt to note a grand prix race on his online race calendar.  Another long time scoring company is Elite Racing and Elite does a handful of Morris area races that will be listed in the Elite calendar.

A big player in race calendars is the Race Forum.  Located in Monmouth County the Race Forum has an online calendar and a print magazine that carries road racing, bike races, swimming and triathlons from even beyond New Jersey.   It is a great resource as races pay to have their race application printed right in the magazine in addition to being listed in the calendar. 

Lately I have found local race listings on only Race Forum.  That tells me that the race is not sanctioned and not in the grand prix, and is being scored by one of the start-up companies that have popped up in the past few years.

There is also Active.com.  For a time it was the only online calendar.  I used to check it out but have found it to not be very user friendly, at least for this user.

With that somewhat lengthy introduction here are the races that I have found that will take place this month in the Morris County area.

Next Saturday on March 17^th is the first time Morris Catholic Saint Patrick’s Day 5K that will start and finish at the school that is located on Morris Avenue in Denville.  The start time is 9:00 a.m.  

The next day, Sunday March 18 the KEA Pot of Gold Scholarship 5K will take place in Kinnelon at 9:00 a.m.  The race is a New Balance grand prix event.

An interesting race is taking place at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 24^th in Mt. Olive.  The Loschiavo 4 mile run has been around for many years and in the last few years it has become a New Balance grand prix event.  Registration and start and finish of the race is at the Mount Olive high school. 

Another new race is also on that Saturday, in Bernardsville.  The Cross & Crown 5K will take place at the School of St. Elizabeth at 9:00 a.m. 

On Sunday, March 25 is the Are You Faster than a Ridge Runner 5K, in Basking Ridge with a 12 noon start time.

Also on that Sunday is the Apple Chase 5K and 10K in Pompton Plains, both start at 10:00 a.m., with a fun run at 10:45 a.m.

FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE SEASON NEXT SUNDAY

Written by Madeline Bost

Originally Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, March 4, 2012
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2012

March has not come in like a lion here in New Jersey but what has come in is the first of the USATF New Jersey championship races. In years past the Newark Distance Classic 20K was the first race but it seems to have dropped out of the line-up and in its place, quite literally is the Miles for Music 20K. While some may question a 20K so early in the season when people may not have been able to get in the mileage needed for a 12.4 mile race, it seems to have become almost a tradition for the 20K. Point of interest to that is the E. Murray Todd half marathon is being run today in Lincroft.

Miles for Music is a new race but there is some tradition to the course. Johnson Park in Piscataway is the location and the park roads have been used before. A marathon hosted by the Raritan Valley Road Runners was held for two or three years in the 90’s and then more recently for the Equinox 20K. In fact the Equinox was a championship in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Johnson Park lies along the Raritan River and is as flat as a flood plain will be. The course for the Miles for Music will be much the same as the Equinox course but allowing for changes in the intervening years and to make the start and finish closer to the parking areas that will be used by the runners.

The course will use the park road and the bike path that roughly parallels the road. As the crow flies the distance from one end of the park to the other is about four miles so the runners will run more than just one out and back. A doubling back like that makes for an interesting race for the runners who will get to see who is ahead of them and behind them. If they are in the middle of the pack they will see the leaders going past more than once.

Being a championship, the Miles for Music is the first 700 point race in the New Balance Grand Prix, and is also the first team competition for all divisions. Over the course of the year each division, open men, open women, masters men and masters women will compete in nine championship races. Out of those nine races, each team will count their best eight scores, much like the individual runners count only their best nine scores in the NBGP. Getting the season off to a good start then is the goal for all of the teams.

Online registration closes this Thursday, March 8th and mail registrations must be received by tomorrow. Registration and packet-pickup on race day opens at 7:30 a.m. in the park. The race will start at 9:00 a.m. with the 20K awards ceremony scheduled for 11:00 a.m. A one mile race will start at 12 noon.


MORRISTOWN’S ST. PADDY’S 5K ON SATURDAY

The one downside to the Miles for Music for Morris area runners is that the race comes the day after the St. Paddy’s 5K on Saturday in Morristown. The race, which has become the kick-off to the county’s race season, will start at 10:00 a.m. at Ginty Field. In past years the race has drawn over a thousand runners and there no reason to think that the same runners won’t be back for more. The popular St. Patrick’s Day Parade is a good follow-up to the run.

LDR MEETING GOT DOWN TO BUSINESS, MADE ONE CHANGE OUT OF THREE PROPOSED

Written by Madeline Bost

Originally Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, February 26, 2012
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2012

The USATF New Jersey Long Distance Running committee February meeting always draws the largest crowd of the three meetings held each year. Thursday night’s meeting had over fifty attendees, mostly members of running clubs who wanted to have a say in the proposed rule changes.

Of the three changes, only one made it through. Another was given some consideration and some support. The third was dead on arrival.

That was the proposal to allow only one club team per division, with an unlimited number of members while scoring only the traditional five, or three as the divisions dictate. It seemed that no one liked the idea and once the discussion ended the vote was a resounding no vote.

With that proposal eliminated the way was opened for the other two proposals to be reviewed. Finding widespread support was the proposed rule submitted by John Sabatino of Morris Plains who is team captain for the Sneaker Factory club. Sabatino sought to have all of a club’s members included in team races. That was achieved by doubling the number of team members by the number of those who actually score.

Now, if a division scores five members, the team is allowed to declare ten. If a division scores three the teams may declare six. Open women’s teams will declare eight and score four. Once the maximum number is reached the squad can be broken into an A and a B team. The vote was nearly unanimous in favor.

The third proposal would have established how teams would be scored when a club’s B team managed to finish ahead of its A team. The proposed procedure would make the first team that finished the A team regardless how it was declared prior to the race. Many of the team captains in the room said that they liked strategizing on who they put on their A, B, or even C teams. One captain said it would be “shame on me” if one of his B teams beat his A team. That viewpoint held and the proposal was rejected.

In an association in California a successful grand prix includes a one mile road race. The Garden State Track Club would like to host a mile road championship in June that would be in the New Balance Grand Prix, mimicking the California series. Currently the grand prix restricts the minimum length of the Category One races to 3K up to but not including four miles. A mile race would obviously not meet that criteria.

While many of the runners in the room were in support of a serious mile road race or even several , the group was not receptive to adding the club’s race in 2012. It could be considered for 2013 if the club brings a comprehensive proposal to the committee meeting in September. However a look at the California series reveals that it is profoundly different from the one in New Jersey. The difference calls into question whether a mile race would fit in to the established New Jersey series. The club members were encouraged to hold the mile race and it was suggested that they work to create a road mile series in the summer months that could be a stand alone grand prix series.

Several New Jersey runners traveled to national championships in 2011 and division chair Ed Neighbour reminded the meeting attendees that travel stipends are available for those runners who meet the criteria that is posted on the association website. A club team can qualify for a travel stipend as well.

Neighbour announced that the association will be issuing e-newsletters through the internet service Constant Contact in lieu of paper newsletters sent via USPS snail mail. One part of the travel stipend criteria is a submission of a report by the runner or team on the experience at the national championship that could be published in the e-newsletter.

In a sure sign that the team competition is growing was the hand-out from David Siconolfi of New Providence whose scoring company CompuScore times and scores the grand prix and many of the championship races where teams compete. Siconolfi had to completely redesign the number system for the clubs and teams as the one that had been in use did not allow for the increased number of teams.

The first USATF New Jersey championship is the Miles for Music 20K on Sunday, March 11 in Johnson Park, Piscataway.

LONG DISTANCE RUNNING COMMITTEE MEETING THIS THURSDAY

Written by Madeline Bost

Originally Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, February 19, 2012
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2012

Sparta’s Ed Neighbour, the USATF New Jersey’s Long Distance Running committee chair has a full agenda for the annual rules meeting this Thursday, February 23rd . Proposed changes or new rules governing the conduct of the championships and the various grand prix are submitted in September to be decided at the February meeting. This method is used to give the committee and the general membership time to research the feasibility or desirability of a rule.

“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” could be the motto of the committee. As a doctor is advised to “first do no harm”, so too is the admonition to the committee.

This year’s proposals may not be quite as volatile as in some years, but will still cause some discussion. My prediction is that two will be approved and one will be voted down.

One proposal is more a clarification as to how the teams are scored when a clubs B team actually scores higher than the A team.

How’s that again? Here’s how. The team designated before the race as the A team has a member drop out and not finish. Their back up runner finishes the race but is well back, or there is no back-up runner. Meanwhile all of the B team’s runners finish and that team has a better score than the A team. That would not be a problem in most circumstances, but in New Jersey we have a grand prix where the A team needs to be the primary team.

For that reason a proposed new rule is to clarify that in any division, the first team for a club that finishes is the A team and the next team is the B team and so on. This same issue has come before the national committee that instituted a very similar masters team grand prix in 2011. They had just such an event in which an A team did not finish but the club’s B team did.

A team captain proposed a rule that if passed will make life a lot easier for team captains. Presently in the divisions that score five members, the team is allowed to declare eight members on the team. For the divisions that score three, five are allowed on the team. Open women declare seven and score four.

But what happens if a captain has nine runners, or ten available? What do you do with the extra runners? Well, you leave them off the team, and that makes no one happy. The new rule will allow for up to ten to be declared. In that way the team will be full and no one is left out. After that, if there are eleven or more runners, the captain can split the squad into two teams.

The same would be true for teams that score three. They would be allowed to have six on the team. Open women’s teams would declare eight and score four.

The proposed rule that is sure to be defeated was proposed in order to solve the dilemmas outlined in the previous discussion. In this scenario it is proposed that each club may declare only one team and that it contain an unlimited number of members with the current number for each age division scoring.

If this change were made the participation of the clubs would surely go down. I refer back to “First, do no harm”. The man or woman who is usually on a B team will almost never be a scoring member under the multiple member plan. They would soon lose interest in running for their clubs and look elsewhere for competition. Under the current rules some B teams do place in the team scoring and their points are added into the overall club scoring.

Other items on the agenda are a review of the fall 2011 championship races. Also a review of the 2012 championship line-up, important this year because of the races that were selected as championships for the first time. The full agenda is available on the USATFNJ website as are directions to the meeting location at the Alcatel-Lucent headquarters in Murray Hill. The meeting will start at 7:00 p.m.

DeROBERTS BROUGHT TOGETHER BY RUNNING AND A ROMANCE BLOOMED

Written by Madeline Bost

Originally Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, February 12, 2012
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2012

She was a newbie runner. He was an old hand at the sport. In fact, he was the team captain of the Roche Running Club. So it was not unexpected that she was introduced to him by a mutual friend.

She was somewhat in awe of him. He was just annoyed. No, not at the pretty woman in front of him. He was in the middle of a speed workout and as any runner can attest, he didn’t want any interruptions.

Susan had been running only three or four weeks when she was introduced to Will DeRoberts of Boonton at the Roche health center.

“This is Will and he’s been running a long time and if you ever have any questions he’s the one you should ask,” she was told.

A week after that introduction they met again as volunteers at a Roche health fair.

“I spent an hour and a half with him and I asked him a million questions about running,” said Susan.

A little over a year later, in November 2007, they were married. True to the theme of their life they ran in a 5K race in Mountain Lakes the day before the wedding. Will ran on the day of the nuptials also.

“Susan insisted that I go out and run four miles,” said Will. “I ran up and down the Boulevard.”

Will was in training for a marathon when they met, but Susan wasn’t into marathons yet. In fact, she said she hated them at first.

“I didn’t like it, but you know how it is, a couple of days later you say maybe I can do better at it, train a little harder,” she said. “So first it was a life list thing and I crossed it off my list, and then it turned into a lifestyle.”

Lifestyle indeed. Susan has now run in 34 marathons, 18 of them just last year. She plans to do 20 in 2012.

“I’m not very fast so I had to find my own thing,” explained Susan. “So I can run a lot and that’s what really got me into it.”
The impetus of the marathon madness is an organization called Marathon Maniacs. In order to belong to the group you must qualify as a maniac. The minimum requirement is to run three marathons in ninety days. Susan and Will first met members of the group at the North Olympics Discovery marathon that takes place on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. At each marathon members get together.

“At every marathon it is kind of like a reunion,” said Susan. “They have a race calendar on their website and they show who is going to be there. They have a dinner the night before and things after it.”

While Susan has gotten deep into marathoning Will passes on most of them. He competes in the USATF grand prix and won his M55 age division in 2011. Just this past week he ran in the Super Hero four mile race in Morristown where his 26:05 age graded at 76.93 % for sixth in that category.

Will is supportive of Susan and her marathoning. She said that she knows that not all of the locations are vacation spots but he’s been a good sport about supporting her. Although she would be happy if Will only meets her at the finish line he always finds her at various spots along the course as well as at the finish.

On a recent weekend Susan ran a marathon in Jackson Mississippi on Saturday and another marathon the next day in Mobile Alabama. Susan says that she is not fast, but she is certainly consistent. At the marathon in Jackson her finishing time was 4:11:25. The next day, her time was barely five minutes slower at 4:16:53. Her best time has been 3:50:53 that she ran at the Soldier Marathon in Columbus Georgia, wearing the name of a soldier who lost his life in Afghanistan.

One thing is for sure, Susan DeRoberts has far surpassed her first running goal. When Will is doing a slower paced recovery run and Susan is looking for more speed they can run together.

“I just wanted to be able to run with him,” she said. “That was my goal when we started dating.”

Now six years later Susan and Will DeRoberts will be celebrating Valentine’s Day with a trip to Myrtle Beach for Susan’s 35th marathon. They are surely a running couple that keeps their love and the love of running alive.

SUPER HERO GETS KICKED BACK ONE HOUR

Written by Madeline Bost

Originally Published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey
On Sunday, February 5, 2012
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2012

Sorry about that headline. I couldn’t resist using a football game term to let readers know that the Super Hero Four mile race being held today has, well, kicked back the start time to 12:30 p.m. today. Originally scheduled for 11:30 a.m., a conflict with another Morristown event dictated that a later starting time would work better.

“We’re close to a thousand,” said race director Heather Gardiner of the number of runners who have pre-registered as of Friday.

Asked if the runners were beer drinkers, or runners, Gardiner replied with a smile, “A little of both.”

Runners will be invited to check out the Super Hero, Super Bowl specials at Tashmoo and Sona 13, as well as other bars in the area of the race activity on DeHart Street once they’ve finished the race.

In keeping with the party atmosphere, winners in the ten year age divisions will win pint glasses to carry their after-race beer in. Some lucky folks could win gift certificates for an Italian dinner at Pazzo Pazzo or steak at Arthur’s Steakhouse.

With the weather being an un-Februarish balmy 40 degrees at noon, there may be several contenders in another division according to Gardiner.

“We’re having a polar bear prize too. That’s another kind of fun thing that we’re doing,” she said. “Whoever is wearing the least will win a prize for that too.”

Nudity is not advised, however.

NEW JERSEY MASTERS RANKED BY RUNNING TIMES

New Jersey masters runners were recognized with Honorable Mentions in the annual masters rankings in Running Times magazine. Roger Price, M60 of Randolph and Jim Leitz, M70, of Jersey City on the men’s side and Imme Dyson, W70 of Princeton on the women’s.

Here in New Jersey, Price, who runs for the Raritan Valley Road Runners, had his best 5K in 2011 at the President’s Cup Night Race 5K in June in Millburn where he finished in 18:29 to score at 88.32%PLP. He placed third in three national championships; the 8K in 31:12, the 15K in 1:01:36 at 15K and 20:27 at the cross country 5K.

Leitz, who runs for the Clifton Road Runners, placed fourth in the 5K national championship in 23:11 and second at the 15K in 1:12:38. Leitz routinely finished in under 24 minutes at 5K.

Dyson, who will be 75 in 2012, does well at both long and short distances. She scored an 87.63% PLP at the Great Swamp Devil 15K in Basking Ridge with her time of 1:26.23. Her 5K times range from 27 and a half to under 29 minutes.

RENEW, RENEW


If you haven’t already done so, it is time to renew membership in USATF. In addition to getting a discount in grand prix races when you pre-enter, there are several other perks for members. One that often gets overlooked is a fifteen percent discount at national chain hotels.

Of course for road racers, being able to participate in the various USATF New Jersey grand prix could be reward enough. Membership is required to run for a club team. For more information go to usatfnj.org to see how to sign up. Adult membership is only thirty dollars per year.