2246 pizza runners

Despite large turnouts the past few years, the question always in the mind of Westfield Downtown 5K and Pizza Extravaganza Race Director Sherry Cronin was what would the turnout be if we ever got excellent weather? The answer was stunning.

Even the normally ebullient Cronin could not have predicted that when the final post entrant signed up at 6:58, two minutes before the scheduled start time,
the entries were an incredible 2226.Nearly perfect weather for the last Wednesday in July helped the runners and volunteers but the huge turnout presented its own challenges. With such a large crowd in a constricted area, safety became a major consideration.

“We want to ensure that all of the runners are safe on the course and a
larger crowd means more volunteers and staff to monitor the race. We have
also communicated with the residents along the race route as we do every
year to ensure that they know when the race will occur in front of their
home. We will also be notifying the parkers on the street along the route
so that they make alternative arrangements tomorrow and move their cars
before the race,” said Cronin.

While there were no major curveballs thrown by Mother Nature, such as excessive heat and thunderstorms, safety was only one of many concerns for the primary organizers.

“The logistical issues are enormous for a race of that size, Everything is harder including setting up water stops, getting all runners to the start and making sure the registration lines move quickly “ noted Mark Zenobia of On Your Mark Productions, who was the chief race organizer for the sixth straight years and has seen the race grow from its initial size of 950.

“It was great night for Westfield and a fantastic chance for us to show off our beautiful town,” said Mayor Andy Skibitsky, who also hosted the telecast for Cable Channel 36.

“I am really proud of the all the Westfield people who helped to pull off such a fantastic event.”

Having managed races in all types of weather over the past decade, Zenobia
was thankful for the best race weather since 2002, the race’s first year.

“Good weather will substantially increase the numbers. It wasn’t only the weather on race day, but it has been nice all winter and spring which got more runners on the road. Most race registrations have increased this year,” added Zenobia, who manages many of the state’s biggest races.

Cronin also realized that the race’s size has an upper limit, although she would not name the breaking point.

“The numbers are wonderful, but it does present some challenges logistically with the space we have on Elm and Quimby Streets for the pre and post run activities. We may also need to order more water and pizza as the event comes together, and possibly pull shirts from previous years for overflow registrations,” aid Cronin.

“We always conduct a feedback session after the event to find out how to improve it for the following year. We may need to make a decision to limit it to 1,800 just because of space constraints but we will not know that until after the race. “

Almost forgotten in the hoopla was the race, won by a familiar face, Gene Mitchell, owner of the Running Company chain of stores won his fourth straight title with a time of 15:21, nine seconds ahead of Chris Heibell of Hillsborough.

Employing the same strategy as last year, Mitchell was content to run behind the leader, Heibel through a 4:56 first mile. Mitchell made a strong move on an uphill just after the mile mark and pulled away from Heibel, hitting 2 miles in 9:52 and he enhanced his lead in the final mile with another 4:56. Mitchell, now 39, has learned to run more controlled races, aiming for an even pace.

“I can’t take it out fast and challenge the younger guys. I just have to try and stay back and grind it out,” said Mitchell.

“There are parts of the course where I know are important to push, especially the final hill just past two miles. I tried to break away from him but he held on really tough. I’m very happy to win four in a row,” added Mitchell who enters a new age group in August.

Brian Harris, who manages the Running Company’s Westfield store, repeated his fourth place finish of a year ago, running one second slower than 2006 in 15:47.

“The legs weren’t there tonight,” said Harris, who won the Cranford Firecracker Four Mile earlier in July.

Amy Van Alstine,19 of Midland Park, won her third straight women’s title in 18:02.

The first town finisher came down to a battle between former Westfield teammates Kris Kagan and Evan Friedman. Kagan, a 2006 graduate edged Friedman, a rising senior, running 16:53 to Friedman’s 16:56.

“This is a shorter distance than I am used to running,” said Kagan, who finished his freshman season at The American University in Washington DC.
“The weather was much nicer than I have been used to in Washington,” added Kagan.

“It was a good race. Kris had a little more at the finish,” said Friedman, who is pleased at his fitness level. Friedman’s teammate, fellow rising senior Alex Tarlow was third Westfield finisher in 17:23.

Former Blue Devil star Jeffrey Perrella, the top Westfield finisher in 2005 and 2006 was not able to attempt the three peat because of injuries suffered during the outdoor season at William and Mary.

“My spring season was going alright until i got a femoral stress fracture and
pretty much this whole summer i wont be able to run. i got it in early
April but ran through it until IC4As in May, the last meet of the year for me,” said Perrella had personal bests of 3:57 for 1500 meters and 14:35 for 5k.

“Since then I have been biking, but my leg isn’t doing that great. so now, i
still have probably another month until i can run unless something
miraculous happens.”

Jim Colvin, 58 of Westfield finished in an impressive 18:48 to win the age graded first place

Sheila Courter edged Debby Hall 20:12 to 20:29 for first Westfield female finisher. Hall also finished second in the master’s division.

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.

Pacing a wide and varied sponsorship list was Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield that returned to be a Gold Sponsor. Cronin was also pleased that over 75% of the sponsors are located Westfield’s Special Improvement District (the district which is managed by the Downtown Westfield Corporation). Bronze sponsors included Lucky Brand Jeans,Verizon Fios, Lord and Taylor, Citibank, and Westfield Pediatric Dental Group and Rockn' Joes Coffeehouse and Bistro .

Lance Marvin, the owner of Rockn' Joes Coffeehouse and Bistro, was pleased with the exposure his new restaurant received. Marvin and his wife Lisa kept busy handing out over 300 cups of their ice coffee in their post just past the finish line.

“We will be back next year. This is a fantastic event ,” said Marvin, whose restaurant opened last October.

Contributing sponsors include: Rita's of Westfield, Needle Point Homes,
Qdoba Mexican Grill, The Town Bank, North Fork Bank, and Center for
Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, Perla, and Stop and Shop. Supporting
sponsors include: Amper, Politniner and Mattia, Redco Engineering and
Construction, and J. Mark Albertson, DMD.

At any race the unsung heroes are the volunteers who work tirelessly at numerous tasks to assure a good race experience. 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.

Zenobia was assisted by Beth Brenner, DWC Executive Assistant and
Naomi McElynn Executive Director of the Westfield Chamber of Commerce.
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.

By 8:15 traffic was flowing smoothly again on Elm Street as the town returned to normal on what was an incredible night.