16th annual Born to Run
5-miler Friday in Freehold
Dave DeMonico has made Freehold Borough his home on the day after Thanksgiving. The South River, Middlesex County, runner, who has won three of the last five Freehold Nissan Born to Run 5-mile races, will return to the streets of Freehold to defend his championship and seek a fourth overall title in the 16th running of the event.
"I like Freehold, I like Hank (Bailey, the race director) and I like the race," DeMonico said last year, after picking off the field once again.
As usual, DeMonico will not lack for competition in this race, which begins at 11 a.m. Friday. The Born to Run event has become one of the most popular on the local road-racing calendar, attracting many of the area’s best racers.
In addition to those runners residing in the area, many college runners returning home for the Thanksgiving weekend enter the race. With the 2000 high school cross country season over, many of the top local scholastic runners may compete in one final race before their thoughts turn to indoor track.
No matter who lines up next to him, DeMonico will run his race, which is to go out fast and push the pace hard to discourage anyone from sitting on him and trying to win with a late kick.
Last year, DeMonico broke the field early with a 4:51 opening mile and cruised to his third win in 26:19.
DeMonico enters this year’s race on a roll, having won several Shore-area races since the summer.
Expected in the field is Barnegat’s Chris Peters, who deserves his own niche in race history. He has competed in every one of the Born to Run races and has been Mr. Consistent. He hasn’t won the race, but he has been in the top 10 every time. He would certainly like to add this one to a long list of road-racing victories he has accumulated over the years.
Point Pleasant’s Barbara Moldoch was the runaway women’s winner last year in 30:38. It was her second Born to Run victory.
Former Manalapan High School star Christine Corey, who has been a familiar presence in the Born to Run event, will be looking for her first win in the race, as will Kristin Opdyke, the one-time coach of the Freehold Borough High School girls’ cross country team who is now coaching girls’ track at Toms River East. Opdyke has come close to winning this race in the past and will be looking to finally get over the hump this year.
The Born to Run course for 2000 is unchanged. Runners will start the race on Court Street near the Monmouth County Hall of Records and finish there. The race will take the runners through Topanemus Park, where the runners will get a taste of cross country running. When they leave the park, the runners will have two good climbs on Pond Road before returning to Court Street for the conclusion.
This year’s race is being dedicated to the late Jeff Jones, a Freehold Borough community booster and part owner of the Court Jester who passed away on July 6. Jones’ partner, Mike Page, will be the starter for the race.
There will be race-day registration for the event beginning on Friday at 9 a.m. at the Freehold firehouse, Main Street. Post-registration fee is $20, or $10 without a T-shirt.
In addition to the overall male and female winners, there will be awards for the first three finishers in age groups from 19-and-under to 70-and-over. The top male and female racewalkers will also be awarded, as will the first three in the Clydesdale Division (200 pounds plus).
For more information on the race, which is run in cooperation with the Freehold Area Running Club, call 1-800-300-8184 or (732) 780-5959.
The Born to Run race is a fund-raising event. Proceeds from the event will support the Monmouth County Child Abuse Task Force.