Tom Wendel had an exciting afternoon. He and fellowFreeholdAreaRunning Club (FARC) member Bob Hyer spent a recent Sunday counting parking spaces at Michael Tighe Park in Freehold Township.
It was all part of the meticulous preparation that goes into running a road race.
This is the fourth year thatWendel has been the race director for the Nestle Beverage Co. St. Paddy’s 10-Mile Run, which is celebrating its 19th year on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. There is also an accompanying Old Country Buffet Leprechaun 5K (10:45 a.m.).
As Wendel can tell you it’s not as easy as just picking out a date for a race and then waiting for race day.
“It’s something like a small business that’s open one day a year for four hours,” saidWendel.
The planning for the 2008 race actually began right after the completion of last year’s race.
“That night while I was driving home I’m thinking about it (2008),” Wendel pointed out. “We ran out of pins for the numbers last year and that was my fault. That’s not going to happen this year.
“It [the race] is something you’re always thinking about,” he added
Sunday, more than 100 volunteers will be at work doing things from taking registrations to manning the water stations to directing the racers along the course.
During the year, Wendel has 18 committee heads working on the race. There are such things as getting the race applications ready (the first ones go out in November for the Born to Run 5-Mile Run in Freehold Borough), taking care of the race sweatshirts, management of the 10-mile race course along the streets of Freehold Township, planning the postrace picnic, getting first aid there and coordinating the race with the Freehold Township police, who direct the traffic. Each year, Wendel noted, the FreeholdArea Running Club, which runs the event, has to go to the Freehold Township Committee and police to get permission to run the race.
Also included in the prerace activities was his visit to Tighe Park, which recently expanded its parking area. He and Hyer were in the park counting the parking spaces so that they would have an idea of how many cars they can park there on race day.
The week leading up to the race sees volunteers go door to door to the houses along the course, letting everyone know that the race is coming that Sunday and at what time.
Wendel has to do all of this with a budget, so every detail has to be accounted for. Unlike Congress, he noted, he has to answer to the Freehold Area Running Club for every dollar spent.
The races attracted a combined 1,098 participants last year. Last year, the running club gave $1,000 to the Freehold Township Recreation Department and $2,000 to the Jack Kuhnert Scholarship Fund.
Course management is very important.
“There’s a lot to do on the course logistically, it’s 10 miles,” Wendel remarked.
The races do start and end in the park, but they are more or less all along the back roads of Freehold Township, which have grown less rural each year. Runners leave the park on Georgia Road and make a left on to Stonehill Road. For the 10-mile race, it’s a right onto Jackson Mills Road. The runners end up on Nomoco Road by Turkey Swamp Park and back to Georgia Road for the return to the park.
The one thing thatWendel can’t control is the weather. Over the years the St. Paddy’s race has been held in the heat, or as in 1998, in a snowstorm. The worse-case scenario for Wendell is a snowstorm. There is no fallback date, it’s either run on the allotted date or not. The club has never had to cancel a race. It would take amajor stormthat shuts down roads to keep runners fromtheir appointed rendezvous.
Already, 610 runners and race-walkers have signed up for either the 10- miler or 5K. Weather, Wendel noted, determines day-of-the-race registration. If it’s a nice day to run, then the registration, which starts at 8 a.m., will be high.
Helping the numbers is the fact the race is again the USATF-New Jersey 10- Mile Championship, allowing runners to pick up points toward the New Balance New Jersey Grand Prix Championship.
And when all is said and done, what everything is about is the race.
“The core of the whole thing is that it is an athletic event and we want to make sure that people get on and off the course safely,” Wendel said.
At last year’s race, Tim Mulligan of Whiting, a volunteer coach at Colts Neck High School, won a duel with Hector Rivera of Clifton, winning by 10 seconds, 53:01.8-53:11.4. The women’s race was equally exciting with Diane Ross of Flanders, edging Karen Charles of Belmar by 10 seconds, 1:04.5-1:04.15.4.
Juan Martinez from Syracuse won the Leprechaun 5K in 16:59.4 with former Marlboro High School star James Coomber, second (17:25.3). Chelsea Callan of Hazlet was the women’s winner in 19:57.4. Runner-up was Julie Hadaszy of East Brunswick (21:50.6).
Nestle Beverage Co. has been the primary sponsor of the St. Paddy’s race every year.
For more information on Sunday’s St. Paddy’s race or other FARC events, call (732) 431-2627 or log onto www.farcnj.com.