(5/28-6/3): The College Ave Mile Edition; Perrella Wins Spring Lake Five Miler

The College Ave Mile: A Tradition Begins

What?  The College Ave Mile, hosted by the Garden State Track Club, is New Jersey's first "festival of miles."  There are twelve different races in three hours.  It starts with a youth race, then elite races (high school, open, masters, seniors), then timed races (10:00 and up, 9:00 to 10:00 etc).  It has been recently designated as the RRCA One Mile State Championship!

 

Where? All twelve races start and finish on historic College Ave, in front of the College Ave Gym, with "DJ Louie Styles" spinning on the steps of Brower Commons.  It is a flat, fast, spectator-friendly, two-course loop that rolls through Senior, Sicard, and Stone Streets.  All registration, sponsor, and award tables will be on Morrell Street, adjacent to the student center.  Parking can be found at Buccleuch Park and surrounding side streets.

 

Who?  The College Ave Mile brings all worlds of the running community together: masters, open, high school, and youth.  There are currently registrants from Connecticut, New York City, Philadelphia, and Maryland.  The other "who" is the beneficiaries: Essays 4 Equipment, the GSTC charity that collects and donates gently used running gear to low-income youth runners in NJ.

 

When?  June 10, 2012, from 10:00-1:00.  Runners are encouraged to pre-register, as all day-of registrants MUST register for their race ONE HOUR prior to it.  See the times of all races here: http://www.gardenstatetc.org/college/mile.html

 

How?  On-line registration is here: http://raceforum.com/registration/EventDetail.aspx?e=5075.   Day-of registration must happen ONE HOUR before your specific race.  Oh, and just keeping making left hand turns in the race.

 

Why?  The mile has long been the magical event of running, as it requires a balance of speed and endurance that no other event can match.  Nearly every state and country has an event that celebrates the mile: NYC has the Wanamaker Mile; Norway has the Dream Mile; Vancouver has the Miracle Mile; New Hampshire has the Millenium Mile; Oregon has the Bowerman Mile; Minnesota has the Minnesota Mile; and now, New Jersey has the College Ave Mile.

 

Awards 

Elite Open Winners: Free shoes from Sneaker Factory

Top Ten In Heat: College Ave Mile Medals

Heat Winners: Free month membership to the Robert Wood Johnson Wellness Center (eight locations)

Heat Silver Medalists:  Coupon to Sneaker Factory

Heat Bronze Medalists:  Saucony prize 

 

 

After-Party

The Olive Branch Bar and Restaurant, on the race course, will be hosting the post-race party both during and after the race!  It will open at 9:00am and offer bathrooms + $2 beers all day as athletes storm past its doors throughout the afternoon.   

 

 

Sponsors

We are excited to announce that the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce is a sponsor of the College Ave Mile!  The MCRCC/Convention and Visitors Bureau is one of the premier business support groups in New Jersey and also has two upcoming events you may want to check out: the Hispanic Business Expo, to be held at The Pines Manor in Edison on July 17, 2012 at 5:00pm - 8:00pm, and the Largest Networking Party to be held at the Rutgers Athletic Center on September 19, 2012 at 5:00pm - 8:00pm .  Visit their website for more information at: http://www.mcrcc.org/

 

Perrela Wins Spring Lake Five; Dennis Finishes 5th

The GSTC men's elite captain, Jeff Perrella, was at it again this weekend, dominating one of New Jersey's biggest races, the Spring Lake Five Miler.  The Q-Storm hit the tape in 25:04, winning the race by a convincing 28 seconds by averaging 5:01/mile.  While we don't have film of this win, check him out here on November 13, winning the Garden State TC vs Central Park TC dual meet cross country race: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWB8QiBlHbQ

 

Teammate Rob Dennis, averaging 5:18/mile,  placed 5th overall in 26:31. Ken Walsh was 35th in 30:31, ensuring 1st place in the "First Guy Named Ken Walsh to Finish" category.  Thanks to Nicole Corre and Michelle Tuchol for promoting the mile at the race's after-party!

 

Denholtz, McGlynn Compete in Superhero Half

Congrats to Amy Denholtz, a GSTC College Ave Mile Leadership Team member, for finishing the Superhero Half last week in 2:18:56.17.  She averaged 10:36/mile, finishing 451 ot of 730 finishers, and was 100 out of 179 in her age group!  Also, props to Megan McGlynn, one of our awesome Rutgers members, for finishing the relay with her brother!

 

 

GSTC Announces Fall Racing Schedule

Rivalry with NYC's Central Park TC Slated for October 7th in New Brunswick

 

The NY vs NJ rivalry will continue this year on October 7, as the GSTC will once again host cross-river rival, Central Park Track Club, in a cross country dual meet for East Coast braggin' rights.  This elite race will once again fall on the GSTC's "Get the Gorilla 5k" event at Buccleuch Park.  This year, however, the elite race will go off first, with the open 5k race following it.  This year will be payback for the MIG and WIG, as the men lost a narrow race 24-33, and the women were blanked 15-45 last year.  See the start here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEdpenahCGE

 

9/8      USATF-NJ 5k XC Championships

9/28    Liberty Waterfront Half Marathon

10/7    Get the Gorilla 5k/ CPTC vs GSTC Dual

10/28  USATF-NJ 10k XC Championships (nationals qualifier)

12/8    USATF Club Nationals (Lexington, Kentucky: we will take top 7 men and women)

12/9     Grand Finale 10 Miler 

 

Athletes of the Week: Decarlo and Flores

This week, we celebrate two athletes who competed in all five USATF Grand Prix Championship Races: Megan Decarlo and Edsel Flores.  The only other runner to do so, from both the men and women's squads, was Cathy Stutzman.  This is a long, grueling race season, and we honor these two for their huge contributions and sacrifices this spring.  Thanks to their efforts, the GSTC men and women are leading the USATF-NJ open men and women categories after the conclusion of the spring season.  Attahced are pictures of them in action.

 

Meghan Decarlo

Megan has long been a valuable member of the GSTC.  Along with being a co-captain of the women's team, she is also the undisputed better half of "Team Decarlo"...her husband, Rob, coaches the GSTC marathon group at the "GSTC-North Compound" in Saddle Brook.  Most importantly, she contributed to all five team races this spring, earning her the AOTW honors.

 

Megan started off the year as the #3 runner at the 20k Championships, running 86:23.  She came back and ran 64:54 for the 15k, finishing as the #3 woman again, helping the team to the 15k team title.  She was also the #3 at the Our House 5 Miler in 34:04 and at the 10k championships in 41:48, and ran the USATF-NJ 5k championships in 20:45.  She currently holds club records in both the half and full marathon.

 

Some little known facts: she's a member of the Garfield HS Athletic Hall of Fame and Academic Hall of Fame.  When marathon training, she allows herself one fast food meal every one hundred miles!  She's the head xc, indoor, and outdoor track coach at Garfield; in those seven years of coaching, she has won the outdoor league title six straight times!  Oh, and her side job there is being a social studies teacher...ha ha.  A three-time letter winner at Rutgers, she met Rob through track, he proposed at a track meet, and her wedding pictures were taken....you got it, on a track!

 

Edsel Flores

If you've run a team race or attended a team workout, you damn well know who Edsel is.  A junior at New Brunswick High School, president Chuck Schneekloth coached "Easy E" as a freshmen and sophomore at NBHS. When he left to start the GSTC, Edsel decided to follow him, claiming, "I just want to run fast.  High school races don't really matter to me."  Run fast he has!  He opened up the season averaging 6:10 for the 20k, winning his age group handidly.  He then ran 56:33, or 6:04 pace, at the challenging Indian Trails 15k, finishing as the A team's #5 man.  Three weeks later, he PR'ed in the USATF-NJ 5k championships (16:57), and was a scoring, top five member in the Our House 5 Miler and USATF-NJ 10k championships.  Somehow, he also managed to sneak in a mile race at the Rider Invitational, where he ran 4:38--also a PR.

 

So, a little more on Edsel the Pretzel: he's a big gamer, prefering Castlevania and Legend of Zelda.  He loves Star Wars movies and The Simpsons, and he hopes to soon help out with the family business in New Brunswick: a transportation company for residents who do not have cars.

 

This Week in Training 

Distance

T-minus 2 weeks to the mile!  We're going to change up the workout schedule this week to get some quality stuff going.

 

Monday - comfortable run + 8x80m stridesTuesday - 10x400 at 3k pace with 200 jog recovery
Wednesday - comfortable run + 8x80m strides
Thursday - 6x800 at mile pace with 3 minutes recovery
Friday - super easy 40-60 minutes
Saturday - 8x200 at 800m pace, walk across infield for recovery
Sunday - long run of 75% of your usual distance.

 

400-800

Monday     NOT MEETING bc of holiday  400: 4x300 @ 800, then 3x150 (50/50/50) ; 800: 7x300 @ 1600 (100m walk), then 3x150 @ 800m

Tuesday    400: 8x100 stride, no lift; 800: 40min recovery run

Wednesday 5:30 @ HPHS   400: 5x100 @ 400 pace; 800: 4x200 @ 600m (26)

Thursday   400: 10x50 stride, no lift.  800: 30 min recovery run

Friday        OFF

Saturday   easy jogging + strides

Sunday     USATF-NJ Championships @ Monmouth University