Local runners have had a terrific summer racing season. Kinnelon runners won a championship in the last mile of a 92-mile race and a Pompton Lakes runner had a top ten finish in a prestigious 5K.
The Kinnelon Smoke Rise Striders won the 92 mile River to Sea Veteran Mixed Team Championship at the beginning of August.
The River to Sea Relay is a run across New Jersey. It begins in Milford at the Delaware River and goes to the beach in Manasquan. There were 110 teams consisting of seven runners who each run two legs of the 92 mile relay through Hunderton, Mercer, Somerset, Middlesex and Monmouth Counties.
The Kinnelon team consisted of Kevin Burke, Adrian Dunner, Pete Singer, Dana Jacko, Dave Donus, Evelyn Donofrio and Ann Margaret Kane.
"Each runner goes about eight miles so the strategy is to have enough rest between runs," Burke said. "The weather was better than any of the past times we ran this, but the courses are the same and they are tough, with one stretch called the bastard."
Kinnelon competed in the Veteran Division which means everybody on the team has to be over 35 years old. "We were exhausted by the time we got to the last leg, and we had to catch two teams in the final five miles to win," said Burke. "I was running and with my team cheering. I passed the other two runners with less than a mile to go. I was so tired I didn’t even realize that we had won."
In a much shorter race Thomas Fitzgibbons of Pompton Lakes placed eighth in the 60-69 year old age category in the Hoboken Run Against Crime 5K. This 5K race is run right along the Hudson River and is highly attended by Cross Country runners, so Fitzgibbons finish in the top 2/3’s of the field is particularly impressive.
The summer season will soon end with a blast.
On August 31 there is the Human Race. Sponsored by Nike in 25 cities over one million runners will be running with the proceeds going to Livestrong Cancer Research, UN Refugee Agency and the World Wildlife Foundation.
The local race is at Randal’s Island in New York, but local road runner groups will be holding 10K’s in the area.
Also on August 31 the Pompton Day 5K will be held in Pompton Lakes. The Pompton Lakes web site has information on this race.
Then on September 1 the Verona 5K is held at Verona Park.
Both the Pompton Day and the Verona Road Races are the traditional unofficial beginning of cross country season.
