Hot Summer Pizza

When Westfield Mayor Andy Skibitsky started the 2006 Westfield Downtown 5K and Pizza Extravaganza by blowing an air horn at the corner of Broad Street and Elm at just after 7 pm on the final Wednesday of July, he unleashed a cacophony of 1525 sets of pounding feet which must have seemed like the culmination of a five year dream for Race Director Sherry Cronin.
After four years of steady growth the race exploded in its fifth rendition and could turn out to be the largest 5K in the state and by the rousing enthusiasm of its participants the numbers should continue to grow.
“We are very pleased with the amount of enthusiasm and number of runners this
year. The race gets better and better each year,” said Cronin.
“It was great night for Westfield and a fantastic chance for us to show off our beautiful town,” said Skibitsky, who also hosted the telecast for Cable Channel 36.
As expected Cronin was gushing with enthusiasm and relieved that the race avoided weather problems for the first time since 2003. While the race time temperature was in the high 80’s with stifling humidity it still was a marked improvement over the previous two years, when severe thunderstorm warnings and heat warnings complicated pre race preparations.
“The weather was great and the non-threat of rain that evening was a big
relief. “ said Cronin.
What greatly enhanced the numbers was an incredible post registration of
574 runners, many who traveled significant distances.
“Many of them had their pre-mailed registrations completed and brought them to the event,” noted Cronin.
“.Many others downloaded the form off the website and brought that with them.
We also had a lot of marketing in the last week of the race which probably
helped to bring in a lot of post-registrants.”
With the overwhelming success in year five comes new challenges for 2007.
The huge turnout on narrow Broad Street made for a congested start and a tenuous first turn into Mindowaskin Park.
“We have recognized that there is a limit to how large the event can become.
We will be evaluating feedback and making adjustments for next year,” said Cronin.
“There was emergency roadwork in front of the first turn which made the roadway even tighter before the turn. We also may have to require baby joggers fall to the back of the race.” said Cronin.
Almost forgotten in the hoopla was a well contested race won by a familiar face, Gene Mitchell, owner of the Running Company chain of stores won his third straight title with a time of 15:08, twenty seconds ahead of Ben Reynolds of Chatham. The Running Company was also the race’s lead sponsor and contributed a state of the art running shirt for the first 1500 registered runners.
Unlike last year when Mitchell led nearly wire to wire, he was pushed through the first mile by Reynolds who held a slight lead as Mitchell clocked 4:55. Mitchell made a strong move on an uphill just after the mile mark and pulled away from Reynolds, hitting 2 miles in 9:50 and he enhanced his lead in the final mile with his fastest mile(4:48).
“It was very tough night to run so I just tried to run an even pace,” said Mitchell.
“Ben is a very strong runner and he made me earn it. Overall I would have to say this was the most difficult of my three victories. Maybe I’m just getting old,” said Mitchell who turns 39 in August.
Reynolds, 42, was an easy winner in the masters division over Paul Buccino of Westfield. Buccino, the head track and cross country coach at Morristown High School and husband of Westfield Girls Indoor Track coach Jen Buccino defeated his twin brother Peter by nine seconds but was the second Westfield finisher to recent WHS graduate Jeffrey Perrella, who was sixth in 15:56.
“I’m in the middle of base building for the fall season, so overall I’m pleased with my performance,” said Perrella, who will run for William and Mary this fall.
Perrella pointed to Blue Devil junior Alex Tarlow as the team leader this fall after Tarlow ran an impressive 17:12.
Second a year ago, Brian Harris, who manages the Running Company’s Westfield store, ran two seconds faster than 2005 but fell to fourth, losing a close battle with Chris Heibell of Hillsborough.
“I just couldn’t get it to the next gear,” said Harris who finished in 15:46.
“I’m a little disappointed because my legs just didn’t respond,” added Harris, who won the Cranford Firecracker Four Mile earlier in July.
Fellow Running Company member, Heather Gardiner of Franklin Lakes, the women’s winner at Cranford, was second to Amy Van Alstine of Midland Park, who defended her title in 18:08.
Debby Hall ran 19:59 to finish first in the women’s master’s division and was also the first Westfield female finisher. Other Westfield residents that won their age group included Caroline Williams (14 and under), Cynthia Benn (45 to 49) and Madeline Salom (55 to 59),
A race so large could not succeed without dedicated sponsors and volunteers.
“Our race sponsors enable the event to take place since registrations alone
do not cover the cost for running the event,” noted Cronin.
In addition to The Westfield Running Company other Gold sponsors were Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield and Overlook Hospital. Stop & Shop was a Silver Sponsor and TSS and Washington Mutual were Bronze Sponsors.
Contributing sponsors included The Town Bank, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Lord & Taylor, Commerce Bank, Center for Orthopedic Surgery & Sports Medicine, North Fork Foundation, and Sneaker Factory.
Supporting Sponsors included Redco Engineering, Mountainside Wellness, Amper, Politzner & Mattia, Century Carpet, and Dr. J. Mark Albertson.
At any race the unsung heroes are the volunteers who work tirelessly at numerous tasks to assure a good race experience. Former DWC Executive Assistant Meg Mehorter directed over 100 volunteers who flawlessly handled such diverse tasks as stuffing race bags, manning water stops and doling out over 4000 slices of pizza.
The Westfield Jaycees handed out the pizza and cookies. Girl Scouts handled the water stops. The Westfield Y brought a crew of volunteers to assist with many jobs. The Westfield Area Chamber of Commerce helped with course marshals. Many volunteers who already serve on the Downtown Westfield Corporation Board of Directors and Committees also assisted. Manny of Westfield Coastal brought his 1957 three-wheeled BMW and
Vespa motorcycle for the race beginning and dressed as the Cosimo's chef.
David Martone, DWC Chairman and proprietor of Classic Thyme, dressed as the
Ferraro's chef.
For the fifth straight year Mark Zenobia of On Your Mark
Productions was the chief race organizer assisted by Courtney Nemec, DWC Executive Assistant, and Laura Pietruszki, DWC Intern.
Cosimo's Restaurant & Pizzeria and Ferraro's made 550 pizzas for the night. Shop-Rite of Garwood, Xocolatz, and Stop & Shop provided the cookies. The Flower Zone provided the flowers for the female winners. TSS Maintenance provided the clean-up crew during the event. Michael Craig Band and Night Moves DJ provided entertainment. Trader Joe's provided water for the water stops. Brooks Crandall, Tiger Paw Images, and DWC Design Committee Chairperson Karrie Hanson took photographs. The Town of Westfield
provided the stage, garbage removal, chairs and barricades. The Westfield
Police Dept. handled traffic control and road closures during the event.
The Westfield Fire Dept. provided hose-down areas for the runners on the
course. Many Westfield businesses provided goodies for runners in
promotional products and offers.
And last but not least was the pizza which was again eaten in record numbers and the volunteers who never stopped smiling as they quickly shuffled slices from boxes to plates.
Running for the fifth straight year, Don Hessemer of Fanwood succinctly summarized the reasons for the race’s overwhelming success.
“This is a great race to run. For me it's close to home, there are a
lot of familiar faces to socialize with and you can't beat the free
pizza".