LIBERTY WATERFRONT CLUB AND TEAM GRAND PRIX GOES INTO THE FALL WITH RARITAN VALLEY HOLDING A 22 POINT LEAD

We may be in the Dog Days of Summer, and some of those days have been real dogs, but runners are looking forward to the fall racing season and the individual and club grand prix competitions.

After their defeat at the hands of the Morris County Striders in 2005, the Raritan Valley Road Runners have come back strong and are leading the Liberty Waterfront Club Grand Prix by twenty-two points. Their nemesis is trailing at 110 points to RVRR’s 132. The Striders are far from throwing in the towel with eight races in the fall championship line-up.

The Morristown based Sneaker Factory is far behind with 65 points with the Running Company ready to step on their heels with 55 points.

OPEN MEN

Running Company and Fleet Feet are in a tie in the Open Men’s division. Fleet Feet has one win and one third while the Running Company came about their 16 points with two second place finishes. Mizuno’s Runner’s High, by virtue of their win at the President’s Cup Night Race are in third. That place may be fleeting, as the team must race in at least two more races to be counted in the year-end tally.

Waiting to see if Runner’s High will come back in the fall are the Sneaker Factory, Morris County and Raritan Valley, clubs that are in a three-way tie for fourth.

OPEN WOMEN

Mizuno Runner’s High have their Open Women’s team in first place with two wins out of three races. Sneaker Factory is in second place with the Running Company just one point back in third. Morris County and Warren Street are tied for fourth.

MEN 40

Running Company looks like it could dominate the Men 40 division as it goes into the fall with two wins but with only two masters men races in the spring, it is hard to know if the club will continue their streak. If so, the contest is for the next three spots; Raritan Valley has 13 points, Sneaker Factory with 11 and Morris County with 10.

WOMEN 40

Even though the club missed one of the three spring races, Warren Street is leading the Women 40 division having won both of the two they did run. Coming out of the woodwork is the venerable North Jersey Masters from Bergen County, that has fielded a strong team. NJM is tied with Raritan Valley for second with 14 points.

MEN 50

Raritan Valley is locked in the same battle with the Morris County Strider club as in previous years in the Men 50 division. Raritan Valley has one win and one second, while the Striders have one win and one third place. Tied for third is the Clifton Road Runners and the Essex Running Club.

WOMEN 50

The names are the same but the places are reversed in the Women 50 division. Morris County is leading by a mere one point over Raritan Valley. The Central Jersey Road Runners are in third. Trailing in fourth, after dominating in 2005, is the Sneaker Factory team.

MEN 60

The Clifton Road Runners are proving a worthy adversary for Raritan Valley in the M60 division. Both teams have one win and one second from the spring races with the Morris County Striders trailing in third with Essex Running Club in fourth.

WOMEN 60 and 70

There is no question that the Raritan Valley club has the strongest W60 team in the state and perhaps in the country. They are leading the Striders by 15 points to nine. Where the Striders lack for speed they make up with numbers. They were able to field a B team at the Our House 5 mile championship by using their W70 team, the sole contenders in that division.

MEN 70

Central Jersey Road Runners have had the only Men 70 team competing in that division each year. On paper the Morris County Striders have an M70 team, but they were not able to get one on the line this spring. That could change this fall to shake up the reigning champs.

Complete Liberty Waterfront team standings can be found at www.usatfnj.org on the LDR page.

The first championship race of the fall season is the Joel P. Spector Memorial 10K on September 17th in Bergen County.

Originally published in the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey, on August 13, 2006.

Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2006.