The father of East Brunswick 10K

After twenty years of participating in the East Brunswick 10K as both a runner and volunteer (usually both) I finally got to meet the person whose name has been on so many of those long sleeve shirts. This year the legendary New Brunswick track coach John Ragone was an honorary starter of both the 5k and 10k to lend a historic footnote to the races he helped start.

I was hoping Mr. Ragone wasn’t too disappointed at the small turnouts for the two races and that he realizes the challenges of attracting runners to fall races that aren’t marathons or marathon tune-ups. More and more the running choices tend to be either very long or very short. The 10k’s, which used to be so easy to find, are slowly being blanched from the race calendar, replaced by the easier to manage and run 5k.

I still have vivid memories of my first EB 10K from 1986 and one of the best was when the full race results came in the mail about two weeks later. It was sent courtesy of the race director, George Kelly, who was also a software developer. This was a decade before Compuscore and its ilk and was certainly ground breaking at the time. Up to then the only races that ever sent results were the very large ones like Asbury Park. I still have this priceless record of the ninth annual race and it speaks volumes about the quality of racing in that time period. I barely made the front page, 95th out of 463 in 39:39! The ageless one, Roger Price, then 37 was a mere 21st in 34:29, a time exceeded by only two runners this year. Over 1/3 of the finishers were under seven minutes a mile on a course that was very similar to this year’s.

Our own Dave Hoch finished sixth in 32:57 and John Kane was 44th in 36:36 but many of those top finishers have long since left the running scene, making Roger all the more remarkable for twenty plus years of consistency.

Did it mean that runners were better than they are today? The answer seems obvious and the reason could be that there were more good runners who were in their early period of racing, while today many of the runners like myself have long ago run their best race and out there for fitness. Running a pedestrian 49:14 left me sore for several days, a depressing thought but still better than most 49 year olds. I ran as well as I could and had an enjoyable and competitive finish with three other runners, two of whom I beat. The clock time left me accomplishing my modest goal of breaking 50 and it wasn’t my worst time at this race.

East Brunswick was also ahead of its time as one of the few races giving out long sleeve shirts. I’m pretty certain they’ve given out long sleeve shirts every year since, many of which are in my regular rotation of shirts.

East Brunswick 2005 was as well organized a race as I’ve run this year, with a goody bag that was the envy of all other races, chock full of usable items. The course continues to be a perfect combination of rustic roads with some challenging hills and inviting straight-aways that lend themselves to fast times for those fit enough.

While the race in many ways is not what it once was, it had a nice increase in 10k finishers this year and I am certain there was nary a person unhappy with the fabulous amenities. With the new energetic leadership of Catherine Glamkowski, I think this race is in good hands for many years to come, something that should leave Mr. Ragone with a
nice feeling as we near our fourth decade. Long live the 10K!