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”.