ED NEIGHBOUR GETS INVOLVEDEd Neighbour can be excused if he is still asking himself "what happened?" Neighbour, 44, has been running for years but in the space of six months he found himself volunteering to be the USATF-NJ's Open Men Long Distance Running Vice Chair, and in March accepting the nomination to be a trustee on the organization's board to fill out a term of office left vacant by that person's election as president. It all started innocently enough when Neighbour, who lives in Sparta, agreed to take notes at his club's meeting a couple of years back. His note taking skill was exemplary and when he attended a long distance running committee meeting, he was pressed into service there as a de facto secretary. |
"I sort of migrated into taking LDR note taking," explained Neighbour.
His interest in the organization was noted and when a vacancy developed on the LDR committee he agreed to the appointment.
Some who are reading this feature may be asking if this Ed Neighbour is related to the Ed Neighbour who was burning up the roads in the 80's. Indeed he is. His father has retired from racing but he passed on his love of the sport and his competitiveness to his son.
"I would run some races with him when I was younger," said Neighbour. "In high school I would go off with my father [to the races]."
Most races were 10K's back then, like the Ridgewood Run, New Providence and Giralda Farms. Neighbour still has an affinity for the Giralda Farms race in Madison and it is high on his list of favorite races.
Neighbour went from 10K's in high school to marathons in college and had racked up about ten prior to his evolution into a serious road racer. In the early 90's he had started doing the local races and that brought about a change from a solo runner to a team racer.
"At President's Cup, Dennis [Rears - then president of the Morris County Striders] approached me about joining the Striders," said Neighbour.
Membership in the club opened the door to the USATF grand prix series, which lead to more distance races.
"Before the grand prix I was doing the shorter races," said Neighbour. "The grand prix just sort spilled into me - running everything that I could find."
In 2006 Neighbour placed second in the Participation Grand Prix where all points earned during the year are counted. He was credited with the most grand prix races but was edged out by Sergio Cano of Union City on points.
He will not be going for that title in 2007. He tore his hamstring at the President's Cup Night Race in June and he knows it came about from running too much and not taking the proper time off after running the Madrid Marathon.
"I went right into the race season," said Neighbour. "The week I got back I did the Our House [five mile in Summit]. I did alright there, but my body wasn't totally recovered. I needed to take more time."
He says that it taught him to take more days off and allow himself to recover. When he is not running with his club Neighbour likes to run after work in Morris County while letting the commuter traffic going up Route 15 thin out.
"I'll run in Mountain Lakes," said Neighbour whose office is in Rockaway. "Even when I worked in Summit I used to run in Loantaka Park as a way to get in my exercise and avoid the afternoon rush hour."
Now that his hamstring has recovered Neighbour is running 30 to 35 miles per week. He trains for one marathon a year and during the buildup his mileage goes up to sixty and seventy miles per week. Quebec, Rome, Montreal and Madrid are just some of the international marathons Neighbour has done. Nationally he has five or six in New York, one in Philadelphia and the Marine Corps in Washington DC and several others along the way.
Tomorrow night Neighbour will curtail his run to attend the USATF-NJ LDR meeting in Bedminster. Last week he attended his first board of trustees meeting and feels he is still learning the ropes.
I'm a little quiet at meetings because I am still trying to get a little more knowledge about the other programs," he said. "My focus had been basically in LDR. I'm learning about the Youth and Track."
"I'm looking toward improving the grand prix, especially the mini grand prix portion of it," he said. "I want to help build the participation level in the mini series."
USATF-NJ LDR MEETING AT 7:30 MONDAY NIGHT
Runners interested in being involved with changes to the rules and regulations of the grand prix, and criteria used in awarding championship status to races should attend the LDR meeting on Monday night. Directions to the Verizon Wireless headquarters in Bedminster are on the USATF-NJ website.
Originally published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey on Sunday, September 9, 2007
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2007
