By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Paul Teti was at a picnic in his Princeton neighborhood when the conversation turned to the upcoming Princeton Half Marathon.
“There are five or six just from our neighborhood that are going to be running,” Teti said. “It got us talking about HiTOPS, and so it raises awareness.”
The combination of a chance to compete and to do so for a good cause has drawn Teti, who finished sixth last year, back for the Princeton Half Marathon that begins 7 a.m. Sunday rain or shine. The course winds close to Teti’s house, where he hopes to see his wife Carrie and their children Ava and Nina cheering for him.
“One thing we consider a priority is being involved with the community,” Teti said. “HiTOPS is a local organization. They chose to include all parts of the community for this local cause. I’m more focused on that than on whether I finish first or 101st. It’s kind of a neat way to do something I enjoy doing — which is running — and also do something that also involves the local community.”
Teti likes the idea of competing for a cause. It’s something that brings him back.
“A couple years ago I got involved in the MS Society,” Teti said. “They have a Climb to the Top with office buildings in Boston and New York where you race to the top of the building. It’s a fundraiser.
“It’s trying to find things like that,” he added. “You compete and have fun. It’s beyond the run. It’s about what’s the cause. It’s a fun way to get involved and raise some awareness.”
Teti has competed at the highest level in rowing. He went to three Olympics, and running gives him a little taste of a different sort of competition.
“My sport was rowing, but I try to do different things to stay in shape, now more for fun and fitness than for serious competition,” Teti said. “When you don’t have a lot of time between work and children and family, running is the most efficient way to get a workout in.
“Running is something that every sport that I’ve played from football, which was my first real organized sport and baseball up through cross training for rowing, running is an integral part of every sport. I phased out of game sports and into endurance sports as I got older. It was part of our training as rowers. It was more of a supplement.”
Teti, a Princeton University graduate, still rows, mostly indoors these days as well as some alumni events, while balancing his time as a principal at Normandy Real Estate Partners in Morristown.
“We have some other Normandy folks entered and running in the race,” Teti said. “Some of them are coming down and we’ll host them. It’s fun. I wish the weather would be better.”
The Princeton Half Marathon’s first running was cancelled by the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Now as Hurricane Joaquin threatens the area, organizers are keeping a close eye.
“We are working closely with the Princeton Police in monitoring the current weekend weather forecast,” organizers emailed their registrants. “As updates become available regarding conditions, we will notify runners via email and social media.
“Princeton Half Marathon is a rain or shine event. Please plan accordingly for the conditions – including the two sections (approximately 1.1 miles – or 8.4%) of the course that are on trails and unmaintained roads.
“If there is extreme weather or concerns for public safety due to lightning, flooding or fallen trees, the Princeton Police or Town of Princeton may require the cancellation of the event in the interest of safety.”
Race director Catharine Vaucher is hopeful that cancelling again won’t be necessary. Last year’s conditions were cold and windy, but the half marathon still had a sellout. It’s sold out again with a mix of participants from 30 states. The race is one month earlier this year, and Vaucher believes it’s starting to be a regular event that everyone looks forward to.
“The downtown businesses are taking this on,” Vaucher said. “To me, when this event works for HiTOPS, for the runners, for the community, that’s when it works. We created an event that we think runners will like. It’s a challenging course, a beautiful course that I think runners will like. Then we have the sponsors and we have the volunteers, and we try to make them satisfying experiences for everyone involved.”
Last year’s biggest snafu was a missed turn that had some runners — including Teti — running almost an extra mile. Their times were corrected and this year, the course will be marked better and organizers will have volunteers in place earlier.
“It was a scheduling problem,” Vaucher said. “We improved that. We’re also marking the roads. We’re putting chalk curves into the roads so people will see those. There are officers in every intersection and volunteers in every intersection. We also ask the runners to know the course too.”
Teti is looking forward to running it for the second time. He missed the first year it was run.
“I didn’t know about it,” he said. “I think a couple people asked me about it, and I didn’t realize there was a half marathon in Princeton until last year. I signed up as soon as I heard about it.
“It was great,” he added. “I really enjoyed it as far as the course. It’s challenging. It’s interesting. It’s an opportunity to hit every part that is interesting and special about Princeton, from the Battlefield, to the Institute to the University.”
The race concludes in the downtown with an awards ceremony a breakfast for the race participants.
“The downtown businesses are taking this on,” Vaucher said. “To me, when this event works for HiTOPS, for the runners, for the community, that’s when it works. We create an event that we think runners will like. It’s a challenging course, a beautiful course that I think runners will like. Then we have the sponsors and we have the volunteers, and we try to make them satisfying experiences for everyone involved.”
Vaucher got a sense of how the race is becoming a hit with the community when she went before the township to talk about hosting the race on a Sunday.
“I felt from them they saw how valuable this is to Princeton,” Vaucher said. “How many people it’s bringing here and how much pride there is, from the police, to residents who run on their own street and run past their neighbors. There’s a beautiful sense of community that is so nice.”
Teti is looking forward to running the course again. He figures to be similar in his finish to last year after running three or four days per week.
“I’m reasonably competitive at anything that requires muscular endurance,” Teti said. “The difference now from when I was competing as an athlete is preparation. I don’t have the appropriate time to prepare for races. It’s not a priority for me. My priority is my family.”
Over the last several weekends, Teti has gotten out to run parts of the course.
“This length of race, whether you’re recreational or elite, it’s about hitting your pace,” he said. “In rowing, you’re lining up next to somebody and a lot of it is about momentum and gamesmanship. Here, at least for me, I don’t know if I’m going to finish first in my age group or 20th, it’s about knowing your pace and staying in your bandwidth. I think I should be fairly similar. I’m managing my athletic decline slowly. I’ll be similar in my place.”
It’s about more than the competition for Teti. He’s looking forward to another chance to run the Princeton Half Marathon and support HiTOPS in his neighborhood.
“It’s fun event,” Teti said. “It’s fun to do it in my hometown. The charity and community element is nice too, so I want to do it.”
