NEW JERSEY WOMEN WILL VIE FOR 5K CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE AT RUN FOR RACHEL
Open women will be competing at the Run for Rachel 5K Championship next Sunday, April 30 in Livingston. For the top women finishers a tidy purse awaits, beginning with three hundred dollars for first and seventy-five dollars for the seventh USATF-NJ finishers.
More than just the race purse is at stake, as the USATF New Jersey association is hoping to let the top runners know. As you read here in March, first place in the New Balance grand prix will pay one thousand dollars, six hundred for second and three hundred for third. An email went out this past week to all members on the association emailing list reminding them of the increase, and it has been posted on the association website for several weeks.
As each championship has a high point value of 700, each championship may be a must do race for those who have a reasonable shot at the top prize. Each runner can optimize her or his place by gathering points in the six allowable championship events in the season. So far there have been two championships – the Newark Distance Classic 20K and the Cherry Blossom 10K.
On the men’s side it appears that some folks have gotten the message. Terrance Armstrong of Pompton Lakes won the Newark race as well as the Cherry Blossom. Once he fills in with some non-championship races he will have the lead in the grand prix. Second place will not be so easy to pick. Fouzi Aloui of Paterson was second at the 20K, but Carlos Martins of Kearny was third at Newark and second at the Cherry Blossom. Mike Mykytok of Ramsey placed third.
On the women’s side it is even more scattered. Not one woman repeated at the second championship. Heather Gardiner of Morristown won the 20K, with Victoria Ganushina of Brooklyn, running for Warren Street, second and Madelyn Noe-Schlentz of Freehold third. At the Cherry Blossom, KC. Meehan of Brick won the race, with Misa Tamura of Ridgewood second and Megan Phillips of Brielle third.
The lack of dominance plays out with the team standings. Warren Street, thanks to Ganushina, was first at Newark, with Running Company, thanks to Gardiner, second. Morristown based Sneaker Factory took third.
At the Cherry Blossom, which was the women’s championship 10K, Mizuno Runner’s High took first, thanks to Meehan and Phillips, but a dark horse, the North Jersey Masters, thanks to Tamura, was second, with Raritan Valley taking third.
Thus no team has repeated in the top three in the first two races of the season. Talk about a wide open contest!
ULTRA RUNNER WILL RUN NORTH TO SOUTH THROUGH NEW JERSEY NEXT WEEK
It’s been done before – running from High Point, the far northern reach of the state of New Jersey, to Cape May at its southernmost point. The Clifton Road Runners did it for a few years in the 80’s. Then in the early 90’s the Raritan Valley Road Runners ran it for at least three years.
Mind you, the clubs did it as a relay that took a day, a night and another part of a day. The distance is over 200 miles and the relays took about thirty hours, give or take a an hour or so.
How long would it take if the run was done solo? Solo! That’s right solo. Well, not exactly solo and that is why Jody Lynn Reicher, 43, of Midland Park is asking for company while she does the High Point to Cape May run.
Reicher is a lifelong runner and racer, and one who, when not plagued with an injury, has been a top New Jersey runner. In 2001 she discovered she had a knack and a love for ultra running.
According to her website, Reicher has won five out of the ten ultra runs that she entered. She was second at the US National 24 hour championship and third at the 2004 US National fifty mile championship. She’s done the Badwater 135 miler three times now and has been accepted for the 2006 edition in July.
So New Jersey north to south should be an easy trip, but Reicher would love to have some company on the run. She will be starting from the Comfort Inn in Port Jervis, just off Route 23 at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 27th.
Reicher will work her way over to Route 206 and down through Sussex County. To bypass Route 80 she will run briefly on Route 183 and then return to Route 206 as it passes through western Morris County. She should be below Route 80 sometime around 2:15 to 3:00 Thursday afternoon.
She has estimated that she will cover 7.2 miles each hour, or roughly 8:30 pace. Reicher has logged up to 130 miles per week and will go out to run after midnight in preparation for the Jersey run that will take her around the clock, ending it is estimated, at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday in Cape May.
Safety while running is verboten for Reicher and she requires that all runners who join her wear safety reflective vests. More information can be found at www.ultrasforcharity.com with an email address to volunteer to accompany Reicher through Morris County.
Published in the DAILY RECORD of Morris County New Jersey on Sunday, April 23, 2006
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2006
