ROSS IS SURPRISE WINNER, TAKES TEN MILER IN FREEHOLD
You could have predicted it, if you had studied the stats. Beginning in the first part of November through New Years Day: she ran the Giralda Farms 10K in 43:03 at 6:56 pace; Great Swamp Devil 15K in 1:04:21 at 6:54 pace; Ashenfelter 8K in 33:10 at 6:40 pace; Westfield 5 Mile in 32:30 at 6:30 pace; Red Cross 5K in Millburn in 20:10 at 6:29 pace; Jingle Bell 5K in 19:50 at 6:23 pace; Ramona's Run four mile in 25:27 at 6:22 pace; Hangover 5K in 19:27 at 6:16 pace.
When Diane Ross, 38, of Flanders lined up at the St. Paddy's Ten Mile race this past Sunday in Freehold, her secret goal pace was 6:45. Given that it was ten miles and not 5K, it could be considered a reasonable expectation. What she got was completely unexpected. Ross averaged 6:24 pace to finish in 1:04:05, three minutes and thirty seconds faster than her goal.
But the biggest surprise is that she was the first woman to finish. After all, it was the USATF-New Jersey Championship with two hundred and ten other women in the race. In fact, she didn't believe that she had won until the results were posted.
"No one was more shocked than I was," said Ross who runs for the Morris County Striders. "Usually someone along the course will tell you that you're the second woman, third woman. The course is so winding that you cannot see who is in front of you."
"I passed one woman at the seventh mile. At eight miles I saw another one up ahead. I honed in on her," said Ross. "I had no idea what place I was in."
"I knew the finish line was somewhere close although I couldn't see it," said Ross. "She was up ahead so I thought to pass one more, to give me a few more points [in the USATF grand prix]."
"I thought maybe I was in third and was overtaking second," said Ross. "I just didn't know."
"She was in second place at the time," said Al Hafeman of Clifton who is the Morris County Striders women's team captain. "She took her right at the end. She is so strong you can't believe it!"
"My husband was screaming, 'first female, you're first female,'" said Ross. "I didn't believe him."
"There had to have been somebody up ahead," Ross was thinking. "He doesn't pay that much attention. Maybe he just missed somebody."
She didn't believe it until she saw the results posted after the race.
"Now do you believe me?' teased her husband, Kenneth.
Ross has been running for nine years and had one good year where her times dipped just under 20 minutes for 5K. In 2004 she was running just under 21, but in 2005 her times had drifted up to closer to 22 which is where she seemed stuck.
"I hadn't been running well in the past year, and I just decided to concentrate on training more, getting fit, seeing what I could do" she said.
Ross upped her mileage to seven or eight miles per day, averaging about fifty miles per week with a long run on weekends, when she wasn't racing. As she got fit she also trimmed down, which was also part of her fitness plan.
People began to notice. As the weeks went by from November into December and each week she dropped her pace a little more at each race, there was a buzz in her club that there was something going on with Diane. Then there was Sunday with Ross as surprised as anyone at her performance.
"My last mile was faster than my 5K pr pace," said Ross. "I did the ninth in 6:19 and tenth was 6:13."
"I go to these little races in the middle of nowhere and come in second," said Ross of her racing last fall. "Then I go to a championship race and secretly I was thinking maybe I could finish in the top ten."
"When I plugged that time into one of those performance predictors, it tells me I can run an 18:30 5K and a 38 minute 10K," said Ross. "Those are times I never dreamed that I could run. So I want to see what I can do."
To that end Ross will be racing into the spring. She plans to be at the Millburn Spring Run 10K today. She loves the Indian Trails 15K so will be there the first Sunday in April. She will race in a 5K like the MK5K coming up in April in Denville and the Miles for Matheny in Peapack the same weekend. All will be leading up to the next race in the championship schedule, the Run for Rachel 5K in Livingston. With her newly discovered speed Ross wants to concentrate on the New Balance Grand Prix this year.
"This year I'm planning my vacations around the championship races instead of during them like I did last year," said Ross, who missed several key races in 2006.
For Ross fans, it will be fun to watch her go for her goals.
Originally published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey on Sunday, March 25, 2007
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2007
