NEWPORT 10,000 ROAD RACE WILL SHOWCASE JERSEY CITY’S FINEST REAL ESTATE
What do you do when you want to show off your new remodeling job? You throw a party. If the remodeling job is an area of Jersey City called Newport and you are Jamie Lefrak, the Managing Director of Newport, you throw a road race.
Lefrak’s idea took hold in 2004 with the inaugural Newport 10,000 road race. The second annual race will be this Saturday, June 11th and promises to be bigger and better. [complete results]
Lefrak wants the folks who have not visited Jersey City in the last few years or who have never come to the city to come and take a look at the changes that have taken place, in particular at Newport Town Square on the Hudson.
“One of the biggest hurdles in Newport is changing people in the region’s understanding of Jersey City,” said Lefrak. “Jersey City a long time ago came with a stigma. Now it’s really quite nice.”
“That was the primary goal of the race – to get attention,” he said. “To get people to come down who ordinarily wouldn’t have. Just to see what’s happened in the last 10 and 20 years.”
“The waterfront has undergone this incredible turnaround and now it’s, in my opinion, the nicest place you could live in the entire metropolitan area,” said Lefrak.
Yes, but why a road race? In addition to being a successful businessman in both New Jersey and New York, Lefrak is a runner and a triathlete. The road race would be an outlet of his personal interest combined with his business interests.
In 2004 Lefrak finished the 6.2 mile Newport 10,000 in 39:31 – a very respectable time considering he was also involved that morning in making sure that all was going as planned for the race.
But for a man who once was running in the 33-minute range and hitting 2:30 in marathons, it was pretty slow. Not that he expects those times now, as his glory years were when he was living in California and running with the Santa Monica Track Club.
“That was a very, very intense period while I was there,” said Lefrak, whose favorite distance is the marathon and the half-marathon. “I ran track in high school and I disliked the distance so much that I just went straight to the long, long distance.”
Frequent stress fractures caused Lefrak to switch to triathlons, which allowed for cross-training without the risk associated with running mega miles.
“It’s a way to stay in shape and only run four days per week,” he said. “Now I run about thirty miles per week and swim and bike.”
Lefrak is more interested in talking about the Newport 10,000 than about his own accomplishments. He is looking forward to a good turnout of New Jersey runners to enjoy what the race has to offer.
“The race is for the recreational runners who want to enjoy the scenery and enjoy the show that we put on and the hospitality that we present,” said Lefrak. “That means a nice DJ, and a pleasant environment and a high level of organization. We have a nice t-shirt and a good gift bag.”
“It’s just a good, well run, overall race,” he said. “At the same time we offer enough prize money to whichever of the top professional runners who are around.”
Last year’s race was won by Kenyan Julius Kibet in 28:42, and on the women’s side by Atalelech Ketema who lives in Peekskill, New York in 34:13. The first New Jersey resident was Stephen Ondieki of Hackensack who finished sixth overall in 31:12.
The top New Jersey woman was Amanda Mitchell of Franklin Lakes who finished third woman overall in 35:36.
These same athletes and other elite athletes from the metropolitan area are registered or expected to register on race day. The top placing man and woman will be rewarded with a purse of two thousand dollars. Second place will win one thousand and third will receive $750.00. Fourth and fifth also will win prize money as will the top New Jersey members of USA Track and Field. The top three finishers in each age group will also win awards.
“I’m hoping that we get a good group of both [elite and recreational runners] this year,” said Lefrak.
Money raised from the event will be donated to the Jersey City Medical Center, the area’s newest regional, referral teaching hospital.
Registration for the race will open at 6:45 a.m. at the Newport Town Square Park. The race will start at 8:30 a.m. For more information call 732-381-0318 or go to www.OYMP.net.
Originally published in the JERSEY JOURNAL on June 10, 2005
Copyright, Madeline Bost 2005