Montgomery grad easily tops field
By: Justin Feil
Mark Schoenfeld has only a few races on his calendar that he tries to run. The rest of the races he registers for are spur of the moment.
About a week ago, Schoenfeld decided that the 23rd Annual June Fete 10k would be one that he would definitely enter, and after winning Saturday’s race, the 1988 Montgomery High graduate walked away happy with his decision. Meghan Busse of Stockton was the first overall female winner.
“Usually I don’t do many races in the summer. I like to race more in the fall,” said Schoenfeld, who lives now in Flemington. “But my training has been going well and I felt in pretty good shape. This is the first good race I’ve had this year. My training’s been going well, but not the races.”
Schoenfeld finished in 33 minutes, 37 seconds, more than two minutes before second-place finisher Yeong-Shan Loh. Many of the times Saturday were slower than years past due to the heat, but Schoenfeld didn’t seem bothered as he bolted to a gaping lead over the rest of the pack even before the first mile mark.
“It was a nice day, but it was kind of hot,” the 30-year-old overall winner said. “There were a lot of turns which makes it tougher to just go. It was definitely a pretty nice day, and it was good that they ran it at 8 (a.m.). This time of year, you have to expect it will be like this.
“With the turns, it was tough to tell how far I was ahead. It didn’t matter. I ran as hard as I could. The heat might have affected me maybe a little in the end miles.”
Schoenfeld, who finished in the top five at the last Fete 10k he entered in 1993, doesn’t expect to race again until August when he’ll enter the George Sheehan Classic or the Spring Lake Five-Miler.
Unlike Schoenfeld, however, Busse tried to hold back in Saturday’s heat because she was scheduled to run a 5k on Monday. Still, the Princeton Running Company employee finished a minute and a half in front of the female runner up, Stephanie Karsay.
“I like hillier courses usually, but all things considered, it was all right,” said Busse, who finished in 39:51. “I stayed cool by running through the sprinklers.”
It wasn’t the only help the 23-year-old got along the way. She repeatedly surged as fellow runners passing by on the course that overlapped for significant portions offered encouragement. Princeton residents along the course also cheered Busse’s appearance as first female.
“The crowds were real friendly,” she said. “They were the most supportive I’ve encountered yet here.
“You don’t really notice that you pick (the pace) up. It’s like when you’re in a track race and when you come around the side with all your teammates, it happens.”
Busse had enough fans along the course to beat the heat even though the time wasn’t to her liking. Still she upheld the reputation of the Princeton Running Company as having some of the fastest runners around. Last year, the overall female winner was also a representative of the Nassau St. store.
“I ran about four minutes faster two weeks ago (in the Ridgewood 10k),” Busse said. “I was trying to save a little bit because the race Monday but the heat was fierce.”
For winning, Busse and Schoenfeld were given Dave Rothbloom Award trophies, named in honor of the local runner and one-time Fete 10k winner tragically killed when hit by a car while he was running three years ago. All benefits from the race went to the Cancer Program at The Medical Center at Princeton. Close to 700 people participated in this year’s run, the first organized by the New York Sports Club.
“I’m very relieved things went well,” said race director Debbie Curtis. “It was a lot of fun, and we had a lot of volunteers to help it go smoothly.”
The NYSC had a special guest, 1984 gold medallist Diane Dixon, to start the race. She later jogged in the one-mile Fun Run, which gave younger children an opportunity to run as well. And many of them intend to return, even if it isn’t firmly on their calendar.
“If I’m around and I’m in shape,” Schoenfeld said, “then I’d run it again. I had a year or so of a lull. I just needed a break. Now, I’m coming back around.”
Saturday Mark Schoenfeld came around just fine as the overall winner of the 23 June Fete 10k.