Freehold St. Paddy's 10 Mile Run 3-30-2008
While I ran my first race for Sneaker Factory on 8/18/2007 it can feel a bit odd to be the new guy on a team. At the beginning you can question if you choose the right team or if being on a team at all is right for you. After the Freehold 10 mile run I knew I choose correctly. During the race we had a nice pack of Sneaker Factory runners comprised mostly of our men’s masters and a couple of our open runners (Matt S. and Andy V.). For most of the race we ran as a pack clicking off 6 minute miles as one big coherent group of orange. This race brought back memories of college and high school XC races and how much fun it can be to be part of a team when everything clicks and you work together.
Masters Men 40's - 1st Place
13. Paul Buccino Westfield,NJ 42 M 56:47 *
22. Christopeh Blume Summit,NJ 40 M 59:17 *
24. John Sabatino Morris Plains,NJ 41 M 59:25 *
28. John Hogan Washington,NJ 42 M 59:37 *
29. Rocco Della Serra Cranford,NJ 46 M 59:40 *
36. Kevin Devine Basking Ridge,NJ 46 M 1:01:17
65. Mark Nyhan Morristown,NJ 43 M 1:04:49
89. Carl Weaver Morris Plains,NJ 58 M 1:07:29
(*=Scoring Member)
http://www.compuscore.com/cs2008/march/stpad101.htm
Newport Liberty Half Marathon 9-25-11
The great thing about this win was we were not supposed to win. Our team was made up of mostly aging over 40 men up against a number of teams with younger runners. Included was a young upstart team called GSTC which was garnering a lot of attention and most of the young and FAST guys (and girls). This was a David slew Goliath moment (or at least soon to be Goliath).
Men’s OPEN – 1st Place
3. Michael Rolek Maplewood,NJ 25 M 1:10:45.00 *
5. Rich Burke Morristown,NJ 44 M 1:15:00.00 *
11. Doug Clark Morristown,NJ 42 M 1:17:20.00 *
28. John Hogan Washington,NJ 46 M 1:22:26.00 *
29. Zachary Dietrick West Orange,NJ 26 M 1:22:28.00 *
36. Tony Kharitonov Short Hills,NJ 42 M 1:23:23.56
56. Thomas Lamanna New Providence,NJ 45 M 1:26:51.63
60. John Knepper Midland Park,NJ 44 M 1:26:58.45
(*=Scoring Member)
http://www.compuscore.com/cs2011/sept/libhm.htm
Mount Washington Road Race 6-15-2013
Since running my first Mount Washington Road Race on 6/20/2009 I have set the goal to finish in the top 3 of my age group. While this has not happen yet hopefully it will one day. With a number of good men's master runners on Sneaker Factory I knew our team could score a podium finish under the right circumstances. While we ‘only’ placed third in the men’s masters category it still got us on the podium and an award.
There are many challenges with this race. First, is getting into the race since entry is via lottery. Second, the race is a 6 hour plus drive from NJ which makes the logistics of getting a team even to the starting line a challenge. Much thanks goes to Zsuzsanna for ‘rallying the troops’ and stirring up interest in race.
Male Masters – 3rd Place
Rocco Della Serra 1:20:29
John Hogan 1:20:46
John Sabatino 1:22:53
John Knepper 1:23:51
Barry Lass 1:28:50
Norbey Gonzalez (1:31:03)
http://www.coolrunning.com/bin/res_load/res_print.cgi?r=13/nh/Jun15_53rdNo_set9.shtml
Summary: There has been many more memorial moments, including our last win (Men’s Masters 40’s) on 11/9/2014 at the Giralda Farms 10K run, however, these are the ones that hold the most significance to me. It was FUN! Best luck to all my teammates.
