TEN MILE RACE WILL DECIDE CLOSE AGE DIVISION CONTESTS
At the USATF-New Jersey Ten Mile Championship next Sunday at Mercer County Park more than gold medals are on the line. The ten mile race will give runners their last chance to add points in the Category Three division of the New Balance Grand Prix, and surprisingly the tightest contests are not in the overall line-up but in some age divisions.
To understand how important the race is, one must understand how the points are meted out for this race, which is the only race in which a runner can choose to be scored in one of three points systems. He or she can choose to be scored as though the race were a standard, 500 point non championship race, or a 700 point championship, or as an 800 point race. To clarify, only the first place runner, male and female get the highest points in a race. The rest of the points are distributed exponentially down through the field. Runners can find their points for each race this year at www.usatfnj.org/ldr.
The rules are that for Category Three a runner must have at least one non-championship race and may have only one 800 point race, which then leaves a 700 point race. Since the only 800 point race on the calendar is the Liberty Waterfront Half Marathon, if a runner missed that race then he or she will choose the ten miler as an 800 point race. If he or she already has two championship races, then he or she must choose the 500 point option. The lucky runner who has all three spots filled, can then choose to better his or her score by choosing the weakest race in his tally.
Although Carlos Martins of Kearny is trailing in the Overall Men division, he will move up to first with the ten mile race, so there is not much suspense in that division. Inexplicably, last year’s grand prix winner, Stephen Ondieki of Hackensack skipped the Great Swamp Devil 15K to run in another race that day, and now needs two Category Three races to finish his tally. Only the ten mile race remains, and he will finish well out of the money.
So there is no suspense in that division. The suspense is being provided by two area runners in the M50 division. Charlie Slaughter of Parsippany has only a five point lead over Bill Bosmann of Sparta. This is where head-to-head competition will decide the winner. At the Liberty Waterfront Half Marathon Bosmann beat Slaughter, but just two weeks ago Slaughter beat Bosmann at the Great Swamp Devil. Each man will have to decide what point category will help him to maximize his score.
Another close contest is going on in the M60 division with Bill Hagman of Morris Plains in second place. Feliciano Pereira of Union has 4,589 points with all nine races completed and is unreachable. Hagman has 3,726 points and is missing a non-championship Category Three race. He needs to stay ahead of Doug Brown of East Brunswick, who has 3,608 for third place. Hagman must choose 500 points for the ten miler while Brown needs to choose 700 points. With that he is very likely to go ahead of Hagman, who does not have any Category One Championship races on his card.
In the Overall Women’s Division Doris Fego of Clifton will retain her top spot. Locally, Karyn Layton of Rockaway looks to be solid for third overall and first in her age group.
For the women, the W40 division is where the action is and two area women are in the middle of the action. Pam Fales of Boonton is currently leading that division. Stalking her, in second place is Kathy Rocker of Metuchen. Rocker need only finish the ten miler as a 700 point race and she will move ahead of Fales. But the come-from-behind woman is Julie Corbin of Mendham who just added her third Category Two race with the Westfield Five Mile and now all she needs is to select the ten mile race as an 800 point race and she will move ahead of both Fales and Rocker.
Chasing last minute points is not the only reason that runners will be going to the ten mile championship. The course at Mercer County Park is an interesting blend of park road and paved bicycle path and for runners who are coming to the end of the season with road weary legs, the flat course will be a welcome relief from recent hilly courses. Runners who will finish the race in two hours or longer will be able to start early at 10:15 a.m., with the rest of the field starting at 11:00 a.m.
Membership in USATF-NJ is a requirement to run in the race, but since this is the enrollment period for 2006, the $20.00 membership fee will carry runners through all of 2006. Look for more information at www.usatfnj.org/ldr.
Originally Published on Sunday, December 4, 2005 in the DAILY RECORD of Morris County
Copyright MADELINE BOST, 2005