MILLBURN SPRING RUN 10K NEXT SUNDAY
The headline event of the Millburn Spring Run is the 10K, but there are three other races taking place at South Mountain Reservation next Sunday.
First on the schedule is the half mile at 10:30 a.m. It is strictly for kids ten years and younger. Kids eleven to fourteen years old have the mile at 10:45 a.m.
Adults can run in the two mile race, which starts at 11:00 a.m. The top five men and top five women will win awards, but there are no age division awards. Those are saved for the 10K that goes off at 11:30 a.m.
The Spring Run has a steady history of loyal followers. In 2006 189 finished the race, with Ben Reynolds of Chatham leading them to the line in 32:41. The course is run entirely on macadam on the reservation roads on top of the mountain. No wicked hills but some grades.
One memorable year parts of the course were snow covered, as would have been the case if the race had been run today. Normally the park roads are not all cleared of snow so it would have been an interesting mess with the conditions as they were this weekend. Hopefully the Spring Run will have spring-like conditions by next weekend, not winter.
As there are no buildings at the location, the awards and refreshments are handled at the Sneaker Factory store in Millburn. While some runners may head home after the race, they will miss the cold beverages provided by race sponsor Guinness at the store. Two mile and 10K award winners will receive merchandize from Mizuno, also a sponsor.
Racers can register and pick up their race packet at the Sneaker Factory store on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. For more information call 973-376-6094 or go to www.sneakerfactory.com.
OCEAN DRIVE MARATHON AND 10 MILE
The first New Jersey marathon of 2007 is taking place next Sunday in south Jersey. Runners from "up north" may have missed this one, but this is the Ocean Drive Marathon's ninth year.
You don't have to be a marathoner to head down to Wildwood. The marathon and a ten miler that goes off at 9:00 a.m. in Cape May, are Category Three New Balance Grand Prix events. They could be sought out by runners eager to have a Category Three race on their score card early in the season. Last year the ten miler had 352 finishers while the marathon had 450 who finished. A 5K that takes place at the same time is not a grand prix race.
More information can be found at www.odmarathon.org. Note that there is no day-of-race registration for the two longer races, but you can register at the race expo the day before in Wildwood.
MORE MARATHON AND HALF MARATHON
Another race that will draw some New Jersey runners next Sunday is the More Marathon and Half Marathon in New York. More magazine bills itself as the magazine for over age forty women, and thus the race is restricted to those forty and older. But the younger women can also run. As long as they have a partner who is of the proper age, they can run in the half marathon as a two person team. So basically all women can enter. It is the men who are excluded.
The race is conducted by the New York Road Runners and takes place in Central Park. For more information go to www.more.com or to www.nyroadrunners.org .
LPRECHAUN LEAP THIS AFTERNOON
If you are reading this column this morning, there is still time to lace up your racing shoes and get to the International Trade Center in Mount Olive for the Leprechaun Leap 5K. Registration will close at 12:45 p.m. with the start at 1:00 p.m.
Originally published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey on Sunday, March 18, 2007
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2007
