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.