In 2017, the race team had runners at 11/14 races, and we fielded teams at 6/14 races.  Newport 10K and Clinton 15K had the most runners from Rose City.  Dick Helmer, Lou Grunfelder and Michael Lin were our most frequent runners for 2017. Thank you to each and every one of you, whether you ran one race or 14, or cheered us on from the sidelines or from afar.

There are 14 USATF-NJ team championship races on the schedule for 2018. The only “new” race that has not been on the schedule before is a potential 12K at Mercer County Park (note that this race will not take place in March as originally scheduled). Long-time favorites such as the Clinton 15K, Newport 10K, Lager Run 5K and Ashenfelter 8K returned to the schedule.

In January, the race team met to talk about 2018 and the future. We have had a tough time getting full rosters for all of the races.  Team members indicated their interest and potential availability for 2018 races (resulting in some answers such as “No!” and “Too far” and “My favorite race” and “Wouldn’t miss it”). I anticipate there will be a few races where we are challenged to fill out the roster, but others we should have an enthusiastic group of runners.

Dick Helmer and I are each talking to some other groups about the possibility of forming a multi-club team to help us fill out the roster. Stay tuned for more information.

Some team members are also interested in attending non-championship races as a group, which would be a great recruiting tool for the team and the club. Some races that were suggested include Fishawack, Madison 5K, St. Pat’s 5K and the Berkeley Heights 5K. Do you have any suggestions for this list?

We still have a few weeks until the team championship season kicks off.  In the meantime, mark your calendars, renew your USATF membership and pay your RC2 dues!