This column was originally written in October 2004.
And on the sixth day I slept. and slept and slept some more. Thankfully the series ended because I couldn’t take much more. It was like running five marathons in five days but my legs weren’t sore just my eyes. Because of a rainout Friday night the Yankees and Red Sox played five straight days of riveting baseball games that ran the whole gamut of emotions. I won’t reveal which side I was rooting for but like most of the Eastern Seaboard I was entranced by what transpired in the best rivalry in sports. There is no second best. There is nothing even close that approaches the history, the different cultures of the two cities and the huge chasm between the unparalleled success on one side and the unmatched anguish and heartbreak on the other. And if New York and Boston aren’t big enough rivals just consider this; Their marathons occur approximately a week after baseball ends in the fall and a week after baseball resumes in the spring. The Yankees and Boston even fought it out last spring during the Boston Marathon in the annual Patriot’s Day game.
So why is this in a running blog?
Well for starters, there are probably no two activities different than going out for a run and following a baseball game. Running is relentless, inexorably moving forward, usually with a finite goal of either time or distance. Baseball, on the other hand, takes its sweet time delivering its story uncaring whether you need to be somewhere, or whether you should be asleep or whether things should be getting done. And for me the game isn’t enough. I have to hear the commentary and the fan reaction and see if I’m thinking the same way the experts are. And at work, everybody has an opinion and people take sides.
Some take it more seriously than others. Some don’t realize their lives won’t change no matter who wins. I’m happy to see that I finally have that awareness although it took a long time.
So why is this in a running blog?
Well for starters, the weather for most of the series was pretty awful for spectators sitting in those ancient open air stadiums-cool and clammy in the high 40’s to low 50’s . You saw them huddled in their winter clothes hoping they would eventually remember what their hands felt like.Beer and soda were disdained. Hot chocolate and coffee were hoarded just for hand warmers. By the end of a game a spectator could have spent enough money keeping warm and well fed to afford a pair of good running shoes. And all I kept thinking was could I please get weather like this for all my races especially my marathons.
Great! But why is this in a running blog?
When I figure that out, I’ll let you know but right now I’m too drained and going through withdrawal. It’s going to be five long months before the Yankees and Red Sox play again. Thankfully I’ll have running to sustain me through the baseball free winter.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Rain cools off Contact Race
At a little after two pm on Saturday afternoon, August 21, 2004,the sky opened up in torrents of rain and heavy wind gusts just like the weather forecasters had been ominously predicting all week. The wind was so vicious that it picked up the volunteer tent and split it in two. But the weather soon improved, as the rain eventually stopped and the stifling humidity broke and the ninth annual Fanwood Contact We Care 5K
proceeded according to schedule.
“The bad weather actually happened at the best time ,” said race director Mark Zenobia of On Your Mark Productions (OYMP). “We had already set up and covered everything and it was better that the thunder and lightning didn’t happen around race time as they had predicted.”
“We’re pleased with the turnout ,” said Jeff Stirrat, director of Contact We Care. “We had over three hundred applicants again and might have done even better if the weather forecast had been better.”
The overall winner was 27-year-old Tirhazovin Khalid of Parsippany,NJ in a time of 16:11 , breaking a two-year streak of Scotch Plains Fanwood High School runners. The previous two winners Bob Wallden and defending champion Zack McGuire chose not to run.
Walter Biner, a 2003 Scotch Plains Fanwood High School(SPFHS) graduate was the first Scotch Plains finished, third overall in 16:41 improving on his ninth place finish a year ago.
“I have been training hard this summer on hills in Watchung Reservation so I felt ready for this course,” said Biner who will be running cross-country at the University of Massachusetts this fall. Biner’s high school coach and current Raider Cross Country coach Jeff Koegel was proud of his former pupil.
“Walter came to me at the beginning of the summer looking for help with his training, so I shared my philosophy on college-level summer training with him. He really dedicated himself to logging the type of miles you need to succeed at the 8K distance,” said Koegel.
“A lot of the miles that he ran were not easy miles, either. It's very easy, living in Scotch Plains or Fanwood, to stick to the flatlands, but he has spent a lot of time running on the other side of Route 22 on the hills.”
Although she did not repeat as women’s champion, Raider senior Mary Shashaty improved her 2003 time by 33 seconds, running 19:47, 13 seconds behind the overall women’s winner Kim Keenan-Kirkpatrick of Pittstown, NJ . Shashaty needed medical assistance after the race because of breathing difficulties but was pleased with her race.
“I think I’m ready for a good season. I ran very well today,” said Shashaty.
“Although we didn't discuss any expectations before the race, my goal was for Mary to run under 20:00, which is a big barrier for high school girls. She had only done so once before, at last year's Watchung Conference meet ,” said Koegel.
“I think she could have run faster had she not been suffering from an exercise-induced asthma attack during the race. I truly believe that she could have run about 20 seconds faster if her respiration had remained normal throughout the race .”
The top Fanwood finisher was junior Josh Zinman who lopped 56 seconds off his 2003 time with an 18:06, good for sixth overall and propelling Zinman to the top of the SPFHS
team.
“I’m sure this was a big confidence boost for him going into the fall having run nearly a minute faster than last year. I think he still can improve on that quite a bit. You have to remember that this was his first race since May 22, “ said Koegel.
.”His training has picked up over the past few weeks and it is starting to show now. He still needs to work on his form a good bit.”
Raider sophomore Allie Hoynes-O’Connor was top Fanwood finisher with a time of 21:09 “ I know she was disappointed that she didn't break 21:00, but I think she will just use that as motivation. I am hoping that Allie will get herself down to the low-20:00's this fall, “ said Koegel.
The most improved Raider runner was sophomore Adam Biner,Walter’s younger brother, who improved from 21:04 last year to 18:54 this year, 13th overall. “He seems to be picking up his effort in training, and he's obviously way ahead of where he was at this point last year. The key now is to get him used to being a varsity runner and dealing with the psychological pressures that accompany that ,” said Koegel.
The top family performance was by the Bencivengo family of Fanwood, where the father 49 year old David was able to outrun his twin thirteen year olds, Greg and Lana in times of 19:46, 20:28 and 22:00 respectively.
In addition to the main event over one hundred children between the ages of two and eleven participated in races from 25 to 200 yards and six wheelchair racers competed in a one-mile race.
“It was a great day ,” said Stirrat.
“We can hardly wait for the tenth annual race next year”.
proceeded according to schedule.
“The bad weather actually happened at the best time ,” said race director Mark Zenobia of On Your Mark Productions (OYMP). “We had already set up and covered everything and it was better that the thunder and lightning didn’t happen around race time as they had predicted.”
“We’re pleased with the turnout ,” said Jeff Stirrat, director of Contact We Care. “We had over three hundred applicants again and might have done even better if the weather forecast had been better.”
The overall winner was 27-year-old Tirhazovin Khalid of Parsippany,NJ in a time of 16:11 , breaking a two-year streak of Scotch Plains Fanwood High School runners. The previous two winners Bob Wallden and defending champion Zack McGuire chose not to run.
Walter Biner, a 2003 Scotch Plains Fanwood High School(SPFHS) graduate was the first Scotch Plains finished, third overall in 16:41 improving on his ninth place finish a year ago.
“I have been training hard this summer on hills in Watchung Reservation so I felt ready for this course,” said Biner who will be running cross-country at the University of Massachusetts this fall. Biner’s high school coach and current Raider Cross Country coach Jeff Koegel was proud of his former pupil.
“Walter came to me at the beginning of the summer looking for help with his training, so I shared my philosophy on college-level summer training with him. He really dedicated himself to logging the type of miles you need to succeed at the 8K distance,” said Koegel.
“A lot of the miles that he ran were not easy miles, either. It's very easy, living in Scotch Plains or Fanwood, to stick to the flatlands, but he has spent a lot of time running on the other side of Route 22 on the hills.”
Although she did not repeat as women’s champion, Raider senior Mary Shashaty improved her 2003 time by 33 seconds, running 19:47, 13 seconds behind the overall women’s winner Kim Keenan-Kirkpatrick of Pittstown, NJ . Shashaty needed medical assistance after the race because of breathing difficulties but was pleased with her race.
“I think I’m ready for a good season. I ran very well today,” said Shashaty.
“Although we didn't discuss any expectations before the race, my goal was for Mary to run under 20:00, which is a big barrier for high school girls. She had only done so once before, at last year's Watchung Conference meet ,” said Koegel.
“I think she could have run faster had she not been suffering from an exercise-induced asthma attack during the race. I truly believe that she could have run about 20 seconds faster if her respiration had remained normal throughout the race .”
The top Fanwood finisher was junior Josh Zinman who lopped 56 seconds off his 2003 time with an 18:06, good for sixth overall and propelling Zinman to the top of the SPFHS
team.
“I’m sure this was a big confidence boost for him going into the fall having run nearly a minute faster than last year. I think he still can improve on that quite a bit. You have to remember that this was his first race since May 22, “ said Koegel.
.”His training has picked up over the past few weeks and it is starting to show now. He still needs to work on his form a good bit.”
Raider sophomore Allie Hoynes-O’Connor was top Fanwood finisher with a time of 21:09 “ I know she was disappointed that she didn't break 21:00, but I think she will just use that as motivation. I am hoping that Allie will get herself down to the low-20:00's this fall, “ said Koegel.
The most improved Raider runner was sophomore Adam Biner,Walter’s younger brother, who improved from 21:04 last year to 18:54 this year, 13th overall. “He seems to be picking up his effort in training, and he's obviously way ahead of where he was at this point last year. The key now is to get him used to being a varsity runner and dealing with the psychological pressures that accompany that ,” said Koegel.
The top family performance was by the Bencivengo family of Fanwood, where the father 49 year old David was able to outrun his twin thirteen year olds, Greg and Lana in times of 19:46, 20:28 and 22:00 respectively.
In addition to the main event over one hundred children between the ages of two and eleven participated in races from 25 to 200 yards and six wheelchair racers competed in a one-mile race.
“It was a great day ,” said Stirrat.
“We can hardly wait for the tenth annual race next year”.
Thursday, August 19, 2004
2004 Contact We Care Preview
The naysayers said that a Saturday evening race at the height of the summer vacation
would never work but the Fanwood Contact We Care 5K have been proving its doubters wrong for eight successful years.
and by late Saturday night there will be a ninth piece of evidence that a well run summer race that pleases its entrants will always draw a loyal following.
If past races are any indication, the race should draw over 300 runners to the 5K events
Saturday night. Under the direction of Mark Zenobia of On Your Mark Productions
(OYMP) and with the help of Frank Gousman and the dedicated volunteers from
Contact We Care the race has become a staple of the late summer running
schedule Debuting in 1996 with 288 runners, the race has drawn between 300 and
400 the past eight years.
“ It’s a solid, local family event...with a tough but fair course. It has good amenities and an eight year history ,”
said Zenobia.
Scotch Plains Raider distance runners both past and present have dominated the 5K the past two years.
Last year 2004 graduate Zack McGuire won the men’s race in 15:56 and senior Mary Shashaty captured the women’s
race in her first road race. The previous year 2002 graduate Bob Wallden out ran McGuire to win by
ten seconds. According to coach Jeff Koegel, who finished third here in 1997, the Raiders will be hard pressed to make this a three-peat.
“The only way it would be three in a row is if one of my alumni wins it, but I don't know if you're planning on counting
on that. No one currently on the team is going to win it- I'm more than a bit disappointed in most of their fitness levels right now, “ said Koegel.
Leading contenders among recent Scotch Plains alumni are Walter Biner and Michael Dixon who have had some strong performances in summer races. McGuire is not expected to enter this year and last years’ top runner Brian Kopnicki
will be preparing for an important time trial at his new school, the College of New Jersey.
Koegel’s women runners led by Shashaty have a better chance of winning the race for a second straight
year. “That's a possibility, but that all depends on who shows up, which you can never
determine in a road race the way you can in a conference or county XC race.
You never know if some area college girl will show up and use this race as a
tune-up before she goes back to school for training camp, or if one of the top
state-level runners will jump in,” said Koegel.
“I have no concern over her winning the race or not, just as I didn't last year
with her or with Zack. It was nice that she won the race, but neither of us
even spoke or thought of it before the race. The sole purpose of us coming and
running this race is to see what kind of fitness level we have at that point and
to see where we need to go with our training from there,” added Koegel.
Another rising Raider women’s star, sophomore Allie Hoynes-O’Connor should finish among the top women.
O’Connor missed last year’s race but was the top freshman distance runner last year and looks forward to running
the race.
“I live right along the course and have been watching this race from in front of my house for several years ,”
said Hoynes-O’Connor.
Fanwood resident Don Hessemer will be running the race for the ninth straight years. “I try to never miss this race,” said Hessemer. “It’s really great that a town like Fanwood can have such a good race.”
The festivities start at 5 pm with a kids sprint for ages 2-11. The races
increase in distance for each age group The main event goes off at 5:45 pm. The
men’s record was 15:25 by Amilcar Duarte in 1998 and the women’s by Jodie
Dariano , a 17:53 in 1998.
The course starts on Martine Ave and crosses LaGrande and South Avenues before
turning right on North Avenue. The one-mile mark is passed as the runners make
a hairpin left onto Midway. The runners go left on Martine and right on south
before crossing the railroad tracks over Sheelen’s Crossing. After going left
on South they run a short distances on 2nd before going right on
LaGrande,passing the finish line and the two-mile mark. They then head left on
Helen Street before making another left onto Coriell and another left on
Martine before turning left one more time back onto La Grande where the finish
line sits in front of the park.
“It is a fair,challenging course with four good upgrades”, said Koegel. After
the race will an invitational wheelchair race at 6:30.
The proceeds from the race benefit Contact We Care a 24 by 7 telephone
hotline serving residents of Union, Essex, Middlesex and Somerset Counties. It
trains and supervises volunteers who listen, understand and assist callers to
work through their problems. The hotline number, 908-232-2880, receives over
1,000 calls per month.
would never work but the Fanwood Contact We Care 5K have been proving its doubters wrong for eight successful years.
and by late Saturday night there will be a ninth piece of evidence that a well run summer race that pleases its entrants will always draw a loyal following.
If past races are any indication, the race should draw over 300 runners to the 5K events
Saturday night. Under the direction of Mark Zenobia of On Your Mark Productions
(OYMP) and with the help of Frank Gousman and the dedicated volunteers from
Contact We Care the race has become a staple of the late summer running
schedule Debuting in 1996 with 288 runners, the race has drawn between 300 and
400 the past eight years.
“ It’s a solid, local family event...with a tough but fair course. It has good amenities and an eight year history ,”
said Zenobia.
Scotch Plains Raider distance runners both past and present have dominated the 5K the past two years.
Last year 2004 graduate Zack McGuire won the men’s race in 15:56 and senior Mary Shashaty captured the women’s
race in her first road race. The previous year 2002 graduate Bob Wallden out ran McGuire to win by
ten seconds. According to coach Jeff Koegel, who finished third here in 1997, the Raiders will be hard pressed to make this a three-peat.
“The only way it would be three in a row is if one of my alumni wins it, but I don't know if you're planning on counting
on that. No one currently on the team is going to win it- I'm more than a bit disappointed in most of their fitness levels right now, “ said Koegel.
Leading contenders among recent Scotch Plains alumni are Walter Biner and Michael Dixon who have had some strong performances in summer races. McGuire is not expected to enter this year and last years’ top runner Brian Kopnicki
will be preparing for an important time trial at his new school, the College of New Jersey.
Koegel’s women runners led by Shashaty have a better chance of winning the race for a second straight
year. “That's a possibility, but that all depends on who shows up, which you can never
determine in a road race the way you can in a conference or county XC race.
You never know if some area college girl will show up and use this race as a
tune-up before she goes back to school for training camp, or if one of the top
state-level runners will jump in,” said Koegel.
“I have no concern over her winning the race or not, just as I didn't last year
with her or with Zack. It was nice that she won the race, but neither of us
even spoke or thought of it before the race. The sole purpose of us coming and
running this race is to see what kind of fitness level we have at that point and
to see where we need to go with our training from there,” added Koegel.
Another rising Raider women’s star, sophomore Allie Hoynes-O’Connor should finish among the top women.
O’Connor missed last year’s race but was the top freshman distance runner last year and looks forward to running
the race.
“I live right along the course and have been watching this race from in front of my house for several years ,”
said Hoynes-O’Connor.
Fanwood resident Don Hessemer will be running the race for the ninth straight years. “I try to never miss this race,” said Hessemer. “It’s really great that a town like Fanwood can have such a good race.”
The festivities start at 5 pm with a kids sprint for ages 2-11. The races
increase in distance for each age group The main event goes off at 5:45 pm. The
men’s record was 15:25 by Amilcar Duarte in 1998 and the women’s by Jodie
Dariano , a 17:53 in 1998.
The course starts on Martine Ave and crosses LaGrande and South Avenues before
turning right on North Avenue. The one-mile mark is passed as the runners make
a hairpin left onto Midway. The runners go left on Martine and right on south
before crossing the railroad tracks over Sheelen’s Crossing. After going left
on South they run a short distances on 2nd before going right on
LaGrande,passing the finish line and the two-mile mark. They then head left on
Helen Street before making another left onto Coriell and another left on
Martine before turning left one more time back onto La Grande where the finish
line sits in front of the park.
“It is a fair,challenging course with four good upgrades”, said Koegel. After
the race will an invitational wheelchair race at 6:30.
The proceeds from the race benefit Contact We Care a 24 by 7 telephone
hotline serving residents of Union, Essex, Middlesex and Somerset Counties. It
trains and supervises volunteers who listen, understand and assist callers to
work through their problems. The hotline number, 908-232-2880, receives over
1,000 calls per month.
Tuesday, March 2, 2004
E Murray Todd
This race report was originally written in March 2004
Winter was broken with a vengeance this year. Unless we get one of those March
surprises it will appear that the worst winter storms actually happened in Autumn, the early December blizzard playing havoc with a number of late season races. January was brutally cold but not too stormy and February was snow free which is all that you can ask for. The rare 29th day superceded what would normally be March 1, which for runners is the true end of winter when the spring races start up in earnest.
It took me 20 years of racing but I finally experienced the E Murray Todd half marathon
which took advantage of the beautiful weather to double their entries with 250 post registrants almost unheard of for a half marathon. One would hope that these last minute sign ups were not sedentary the whole winter and decided to take advantage of the conditions for some needed exercise. If they did they are most certainly in a lot of pain for the next week.
This was not just any half marathon. My best description would be Midland terrain with four extra miles which doesn’t mean it’s a slow course but it will challenge the strength of your quadriceps. Although the race has been around over two decades and definitely has a hard corps of annual returnees(I saw many people wearing previous years’ shirts) it does not draw the USATF crowd because it doesn’t offer points and has frequently conflicted with the Newark 20K. It is run by the Monmouth County Parks commission and has some nice amenities like the use of the Brookdale Community College facilities which includes a large parking lot and gym and locker room facilities.
Seeing the amount of runners who seemed in near mid season form makes you realize that there really is no down time for running. Although I have run all winter and had no problem with the distance, I was not ready to run any kind of fast pace and my slow time showed it.
But there’s a lot racing time left this year and I can only hope that other races this year can have the weather that we had on the last day of February.
Winter was broken with a vengeance this year. Unless we get one of those March
surprises it will appear that the worst winter storms actually happened in Autumn, the early December blizzard playing havoc with a number of late season races. January was brutally cold but not too stormy and February was snow free which is all that you can ask for. The rare 29th day superceded what would normally be March 1, which for runners is the true end of winter when the spring races start up in earnest.
It took me 20 years of racing but I finally experienced the E Murray Todd half marathon
which took advantage of the beautiful weather to double their entries with 250 post registrants almost unheard of for a half marathon. One would hope that these last minute sign ups were not sedentary the whole winter and decided to take advantage of the conditions for some needed exercise. If they did they are most certainly in a lot of pain for the next week.
This was not just any half marathon. My best description would be Midland terrain with four extra miles which doesn’t mean it’s a slow course but it will challenge the strength of your quadriceps. Although the race has been around over two decades and definitely has a hard corps of annual returnees(I saw many people wearing previous years’ shirts) it does not draw the USATF crowd because it doesn’t offer points and has frequently conflicted with the Newark 20K. It is run by the Monmouth County Parks commission and has some nice amenities like the use of the Brookdale Community College facilities which includes a large parking lot and gym and locker room facilities.
Seeing the amount of runners who seemed in near mid season form makes you realize that there really is no down time for running. Although I have run all winter and had no problem with the distance, I was not ready to run any kind of fast pace and my slow time showed it.
But there’s a lot racing time left this year and I can only hope that other races this year can have the weather that we had on the last day of February.
Sunday, February 15, 2004
The weight is over
As most of you know I was pretty exhilarated with my performance at the 2003
Philadelphia Marathon. I just can’t believe how far off my prediction was.
I am usually pretty accurate at predicting my race times, sometimes being so
close that if the prognostication was overly pessimistic I have been accused of
sandbagging or lowering expectations too much. I attribute my accuracy to a
three category approach I have always used to try and gauge my fitness before
an event.
I have always believed that to run your best a runner must have three things
going for them and each scales from 1 to 100 points:
The first is weight, which becomes more important as the distance lengthens. If
you think of a marathon as 50,000 steps then every extra pound you are carrying
is 50,000 pounds of stress on your legs. Weight is a personal thing based on
many factors including your bone density. What is a fit weight for one person
may not be so for another but I have gotten to know what my correct weight
ranges should be. Going into Philadelphia my weight was very worrisome. It had
been on an inexorable climb since September. I gave myself about a 30 or 35 (of
100) .
The second is leg strength which again is far more important as the distance
lengthens. The amount of hills whether up and down accentuates the need for leg
strength . While I was never sure exactly how long my long runs had been, they
were taking well over three hours and I felt better after each long run. I was
also doing significant weight training to strengthen my quads and hamstrings so
I give my leg strength about 85.
The final is aerobic capacity which is more important in the shorter races.
Aerobic capacity can be very helpful in predicting times because it enables you
to know what pace you are comfortable with. I had a good idea of what my
training run paces were and combined with mediocre race times gave me no more
than 40 or 50 rating.
There is a fourth variable that can be added and this is miscellaneous factors
that combine intangibles like attitude and race strategy with uncontrollables
like weather and health.
I think the miscellaneous factors again matter more when the race is longer.
One of my friends absolutely lives for colder running conditions which has
always been my preference.
So based on everything I knew, I had no reason to think I could go any faster
than 4:10 at best and I was starting to scale that back. My attitude was pretty
good and the weather was great which took some time off the predictor.
The secret of course, is to get everything working together at the same time
and find the perfect day and the perfect distance and you can then have your
perfect race. While Philly was far from a perfect race for me, the final time
was in comparison to my predicting indicators.
If I was 20 pounds lighter, with better aerobic capacity and similar leg
strength the miscellaneous factors would have to be pretty strongly negative
for me to not significantly beat this time. I hope I can test that one in my
next marathon.
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