Clinton Country Run, Woods and Lakes, and national race in Dedham MA this weekend
The second New Jersey Long Distance Running championship is taking place this Saturday (April 27th) in Clinton. The Clinton Country Run 15K is the championship for all divisions and features a mile race and a 5K. The mile starts at 8:30 a.m. and the 15K headline event starts at 9:00 a.m. with the 5K starting ten minutes after the 15K.
In 2018 the race was won by Stephen Mennitt of Brooklyn NY in 50:26, followed by Aaron Leskow of Morristown in 51:01. The women’s race was won by Ingrid Wells of Montclair in 57:58 with Karen Auteri of Belvidere next in 59:00.
The 15K course is a combination of off-road running, meaning that there is no traffic on a section that goes onto a once paved road that is now closed to traffic, and plenty of road running. In particular is a section about midway in the race where the runners are sharing the road with a considerable amount of traffic, and which is also probably one of the most difficult parts of the course with a long uphill. But for a really annoying uphill, you will find it in the last mile getting back to Bundt Park for the finish. Aside from those hills this is a well run event – registration begins at 7:00 a.m.
This is also the second championship of the season as the women, both open and masters competed earlier this month at the Cherry Blossom 10K. To no one’s surprise the Garden State Track Club New Balance put three open women’s teams in the top spots at Cherry Blossom. The Shore Athletic Club took fourth and the Raritan Valley Road Runners captured fifth Twelve open teams competed.
The stunner was in the masters W40 division with nineteen teams in contention. Garden State took first and second, with the Clifton Road Runners third, and Garmin women fourth.
Masters W50 had fourteen teams with the Clifton women in first, and the North Jersey Masters in second and the Raritan Valley team third. The North Jersey Masters women took first in the W60 division, with Clifton in second and the Raritan Valley women taking third.
MASTERS TEAMS GOING TO DEDHAM MA FOR SUNDAY 10K CHAMPIONSHIP
This has been a tough weekend in recent years for masters teams. The Clinton race is on Saturday and the 10K masters championship is on Sunday of the same weekend in Dedham MA. The Garden State Track Club New Balance will have Jonathan Frieder, Sam Teigen and Jason Timochko competing in the M40 team division. In 2018 the team placed third and are sure to be setting a goal to move up.
The Shore Athletic Club has entered an M50 team of Brian Bragg, Jeff Conston and Ken Ginsburg. In 2018 the team put all of their M70 on their M50 team in order to register points for the race, but this year Conston will have two M50 guys to help move their team up.
Shore has entered Kevin Dollard, Harold Leddy, Scott Linnell, Przemyslaw Nowicki and Reno Stirrat on their M60 team. They are returning to a very competitive division that doesn’t get any easier. In 2018 the team missed fourth place by just thirteen seconds.
Running unattached will be Nathaniel Finestone in the M90 division and Susan Stirrat and Nora Cary in the W60 division.
Cary finished the Cherry Blossom 10K earlier this month in 43:06, which at age 64 put her at 95.4% in the age grading PLP chart. In 2018 the highest age graded woman scored only 93.37% in the Dedham race. Those who have run both races will likely agree that the Dedham course is the faster of the two. I can’t wait to see how Cary does on Sunday.
WOODS AND LAKES IN MOUNTAIN LAKES
You have to be age thirty or older to run in the Woods and Lakes 5K or 10K that is taking place this Saturday in Mountain Lakes. This fun race has been around for so long it was innovative at the time to restrict the age division to “older” runners. That was forty-two years ago. How far we have come.
Those older athletes are now in their 70’s and still running and racing. Runners like Bogdan Bienko who was the first over age 70 runner in the 10K, and George McIntyre who was the first in the M75 division in the 5K.
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