By Warren Rappleyea
Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY FARRAH MAFFAI Kenya’s Simon Wangui breaks the ribbon in 23:20, winning Saturday’s George Sheehan Classic in Red Bank.
The weather was warm. The food was plentiful. The field was large. Bruce Springsteen’s "Born to Run" served as the starting song. And, yes, the Kenyans won again. Most importantly was that a good time was had by just about all at Saturday’s George Sheehan Classic in Red Bank.
Throughout the five-mile route, which also runs through Little Silver and Fair Haven, local residents lined the streets to cheer the more than 3,200 runners on. Much of this area was hit hard by the Aug. 2 thunderstorms and although cleaned up, debris and branches were still evident.
"This area suffered a lot of damage from the storm," Race Director Bob Rosa said. "The unsung heroes of the 2002 race are the administrators and public works people of these three towns. They did a remarkable job of getting the course in shape. We couldn’t have the race without their support."
Residents were rewarded with a course-record performance by women’s winner Edna Kiplagat, who easily outdistanced the pack and crossed the finish line on Broad Street in 26:24. Catherine N’dereba, the 2000 winner, had previously held the women’s course record.
Edna Kiplagat of Kenya is congratulated by Tom Resch after winning the women’s portion of Saturday’s George Sheehan Classic in a course record time of 26:24.
Simon Wangui was the men’s winner with a time of 23:22, three seconds ahead of fellow Kenyan David Njuguna.
Of the local runners, twins Katy and Amanda Trotter of Red Bank Regional High School both finished with times of 31:11 to finish 11th and 12th, respectively, as Katy crossed the line just slightly ahead of her sister, and Kathleen Clifton, the track coach at Middletown High School South ran the course in 32:49, good for 16th place.
In all, 2,221 competitors finished the race, including me with an official time of 36:43, my best showing in years. That was (let me brag a bit) good for 317th place overall and 269th among the men, and 44th in my age group, which I won’t mention.
The key to this showing was my getting three hours of sleep on a red-eye flight from San Diego to Newark the morning of the race.
Red Bank’s Nat Glackin, a former standout at Christian Brothers Academy in Middletown, clocks his 19th-place finish.
One of the best parts of the race for us recreational runners comes at the 2.25-mile mark, on the section of the course that takes competitors out and back along Harding Road. It’s also the 4-mile mark on the way back, allowing us to get a glimpse of the leaders as they head toward the dreaded Tower Hill and on to the finish line.
The other best parts are, of course, crossing the finish line, and then heading for the mounds of food in Marine Park. It’s also great to see the army of smiling volunteers handling everything from registration, to working the course, to handing out T-shirts (and everything in between). Obviously, the race could not be held without them.
Of the runners who started the race, more than 400 were walk-up registrations on Saturday morning. Another 350 signed up Friday evening.
"We rely on post-registration, and we’ve done as much as 17 percent of the field that way," Rosa said. "That’s one of the great things about the race: runners can decide to run the morning of the event."
Bob McCarren and his daughter Diane prepare for the start of Saturday’s Sheehan Classic, alongside David Lowell.
This year, race organizers encouraged runners to register online, and from my own experience that seemed to go smoothly. All runners were issued chips to record their times from the moment they crossed the starting line to the finish line. In addition, race results are available online at sheehanclassic.org.
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