CHAMPIONSHIP RACES HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED FOR 2006

Races that have been selected as Championships for 2006 have been announced by the USATF-NJ Long Distance Running Committee. The championship season will start with the Newark Distance Classic 20K on March 5th. Last year the Classic hosted only the Open Men and Women’s division, while the Equinox 20K, held later in March hosted the Masters divisions. That will not be the case for 2006, after the Equinox organizers decided to drop the race. That puts all of the divisions back into the Newark Distance Classic.

April 9th will be the date of the second race in the lineup, another returning selection, the Cherry Blossom 10K, which is coincidentally, also in Newark. It will play host to the Open Women’s championship.

The Run for Rachel 5K in Livingston on April 30th will host the Open Women’s 5K championship. Back again as the Masters Men and Women’s five mile championship, the Our House 5 Mile in Summit is on the 7th of May.

While it has been around for several years, the Portugal Day 5K in the Ironbound section of Newark on June 11th will be the rookie championship in 2006, having been selected for the first time. It will play host to Masters Women.

It would be a surprise to not see the President's Cup Night Race 5K in Millburn in the lineup. It will be host to Open Men on June 19th. The President’s Cup will end the spring/summer racing season.

The fall opener will be the Joel P. Spector Memorial 10K in Washington Township in Bergen County on September 17th. For the first time it will host Open Men.

October 1st is the date of the Liberty Waterfront Half Marathon in Jersey City, which will host all divisions. Liberty is also the title sponsor of the club and team grand prix.

The New Jersey association now encompasses the entire state, having added the southern counties in 2005. One of the goals of the Long Distance Running committee is to encourage bidding by races in those southern counties. Thus south Jersey is represented by the Heroes to Hero 5K in Glocester City on October 14th. It was selected to again host the Masters Men division

Two November races, Giralda Farms 10K on November 12th in Madison and the Ashenfelter 8K in Glen Ridge on Thanksgiving morning were awarded the same divisions as in 2005; Masters for Giralda and Open Men and Women for Ashenfelter.

The USATF Ten Mile Championship on December 10th will again be held at Mercer County Park in West Windsor.

The date and location of the USATF 8K cross country race is still to be determined and will be announced at a later date. Holmdel Park will be the site of the 5K Cross Country race on October 29th.

MIDLAND RUN WILL BE MISSING FROM THE LINE-UP

Astute readers will have noticed that the Midland Run 15K in May was not included in the Championship line-up. Just this week the Midland School announced that the race will not take place next year, nor will the Car-a-Mile Marathon that had had the running community buzzing these past few months. All of the Midland School organized races have been cancelled.

My first race was the Midland Run three mile run, way back in 1982, before it had become an official 5K. It introduced me to the fun of racing and the excitement of a big time event. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of runners began with the Midland Run. It will always be a sentimental favorite for me and for many others. It will be sorely missed.

RUNNING TEN MILES IN SNOW WOULD NOT BE FUN

Weather forecasts for Sunday morning were not very encouraging going into last weekend. Even without more snow, the damage had been done at Mercer County Park where the USATF ten mile championship was to take place. Snow during the week had been removed from the park’s roads, but the bike path, which served as part of the ten mile course were under snow and under the snow was ice.

Last minute decisions had to be made and the course was quickly rerouted to use just the park roads. The course is considered accurate but there was not sufficient time to do the necessary paperwork and measurements to have it certified. Races are given a waiver on the certified course requirement when the impossible is impossible.

Still, while the snow and ice were on the road at dawn, by the time the race was started at 11:00 a.m. the sun had melted much of the ice and warmed the runners to the point that many were shedding extra clothing as they ran.

The winner of the race was Scott DeFilippis of Normandy Beach, who finished in 52:07. DeFilippis ran alone for much of the race while his older brother Rob DeFilippis of Tinton Falls, dueled with Jesus Resendiz of Perth Amboy for second. Resendiz prevailed in 53:21 to Rob DeFilippis’ 53:41.

Suzanne Huelster of Riverton was the women’s winner in 1:02:40. Well back was Janice Morra, formerly of Boonton and now of Piermont New York, who finished second in 1:07:22. Third was taken by Julie Corbin of Mendham in 1:08:27. Over 200 runners competed in the race.

 

Originally Published on Sunday, December 12, 2005 in the DAILY RECORD of Morris County

Copyright MADELINE BOST, 2005