CHERRY BLOSSOM 10K THIS SUNDAY OPEN MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
One wonders how often the Cherry Blossom 10K in Branch Brook Park actually occurs during the blooming of the magnificent cherry trees. Last year, and for the past few years the 10K race that is the Open Men’s championship fell very late in the month of April when the blossoms were quite faded.
On the other extreme, with this winter’s extreme nastiness and spring’s coyness, the trees will have barely begun to plump out their buds for blooming.
No one can predict what the weather will be like when scheduling a road race several months in advance. How many would have guessed that a race would have to be cancelled due to flooding as was the PV Hornet 5K in Little Falls this past Saturday or that runners would be gasping for oxygen through the downpour in the Building Tomorrow’s 5K race that was run in Bloomfield.
And bad luck didn’t end when the rains ended either. Last weekend was the one where we all set our clocks ahead as we sprang into spring. Well, not all. Kevin Higgins of Randolph was on the Garden State Parkway heading for the Indian Trails 15K and, well, let’s eavesdrop on his recent email.
“As I approached exit 117 for the race site in Middletown I was flipping the talk radio stations and got to my friend Ralph Snodsmith on the Garden Hotline. Always a wealth of information about gardening, Ralph was also the first to inform me that it was the first day of Daylight Savings time and that he hoped we had all remembered to set our clocks ahead one hour.”
“I felt that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as my car clock (which unfortunately does not adjust automatically) read 8:09. My quick thinking, analytical mind told me that the leaders were approaching the 2 kilometer mark and I still had 10 miles to drive and sign up and jump in.”
“Hoping it was all a bad April Fools joke by ol' Ralph I asked the toll collector what the time was. He confirmed the bad news - "It's ten after nine... so, your forgot to set your clock ahead, eh?" “
Not everyone forgot to set their clocks and Jeremy Stratton, 44, of Parlin was there for the start and to cross the finish line first in 54:29. Also from this area, Rufino Mendez, 24, of Elizabeth who finished second in 55:08. Doug Fitzhenry, 44, of Edison, who was featured here last week finished in fifth place in 55:50.
Kenneth Vercammen, 45, of North Brunswick, was the first to finish in the three mile race with a time of 18:27.
WEATHER AND TIME CHANGES SHOULD BE ALL WORKED OUT BY THE WEEKEND
While the cherry blossoms may not be in full bloom on Sunday, one can expect that the time change will no longer be a factor and that the tropical rains will leave New Jersey alone until summer thunder showers.
What is predictable is that there will be some good competition between the state’s elite men and their teams. In 2004 the race was won by Aidan Walsh of Fort Lee in 32:07. Also in the top ten was Naz Merchant of New Brunswick who finished in 34:26 and who was a scoring member of third place team, the Running Company. The Fleet Feet team was first and Sneaker Factory second. The Raritan Valley Road Runners relying on four of their masters runners to score for the team placed fourth. A lot of things have changed in the twelve months and it will be interesting to see which teams are hot this year.
The Cherry Blossom course has an uphill start in the park that is not descended for the finish. That is it’s only negative as the rest of the course is rolling with enough bend in the roads to provide the savvy runner with tangent “short cuts”. Many new runners and even experienced ones do not take advantage of the tangents while racing. All courses are measured using the shortest distance down a roadway. Runners who run with all the curves of the road are running long. The Cherry Blossom is one where smart runners will move up on other competitors who are hugging the curves.
Pre-registration at the Visitors Center in the park begins at 8:00 a.m. The race starts at 10:00 a.m.
First published in the HOME NEWS TRIBUNE on Thursday, April 7, 2005.
Copyright 2005 Madeline Bost