Monday, February 24, 2014

(2/24-3/2): Record Crowd at Road Relays; Riddick, Ross, Harris Big Track Performances

Riddick Finishes 12 at USAs

Albuquerque, New Mexico- While a few have qualified, no one has actually gone and done it…until this weekend.

 

Monique Riddick became the first member of the adidas Garden State Track Club to compete in the USATF National Championships, competing in the shot put this weekend for the Black and Gold.

 

Her farthest toss was 54’-4”, or 16.47m.  Just five inches away from placing ninth overall, her three attempts in Sunday’s first round were a foul, 16.41m, then 16.47m.


Look for a longer article about this historic event in next weekend's weekly email.

 


Harris Wins Long Jump

Ithica, New York- Going against a field of twenty-six athletes, GSTC long jumper Nafee Harris seemed to finally regain his form after an injury-riddled spring.

 

In his second jump, Harris popped a 7.46m/24’-5.75” leap to win the 2014 Deneault Memorial Cornell Invitational Long Jump this weekend.  His first indoor meet of the year, he broke Aaron Lucas’ indoor club record from West Point’s Crowell Invite in January of 2013. 

 

Harris’ mark falls just short of the all-time GSTC long jump record, as Lutalo Boyce leaped 7.53 last June at Club Nationals to win the national title for the Gold.

 


Ross Wins 500m

Princeton, NJ-  Tyrone Ross continued his undefeated streak in the 500m, rolling in the 500m yet again this weekend at the Princeton Invite.  Running stride for stride with Princeton’s Ray Mennin, Ross won the event by a quarter of a second, 1:05.35-1:05.58.

 

Dennie Waite competed in the mile, finishing 3rd in 4:19.77, while Kelsey Lewis finished 13th in the high jump at 4-11.

 


Angi Races in Brooklyn

This weekend, Diana Angi ran the Al Gordon 4 Miler in Prospect Park in 34:07.

 


Road Relays Action

 

Open Action: 8 Teams Break Men, Women Records

New Brunswick, NJ-  With warm weather comes fast times, and that’s certainly what happened in the fourth running of the GSTC Road Relays.  On the men’s side, the top three teams broke the old record of 31:03; on the women’s side, five teams crushed the former record from 2013. 

 

Leading the onslaught was Josh Neyhart and his boys from Shippensburg.  Rocking their “Spring Street Track Club” uniforms from yesteryear, Neyhart sat on the lead pack of Ken Goglas, Jose Escamilla, Atilla Sabahoglu, and Dillon Gracey.  Rolling through the first mile in 4:35, Neyhart took control on the gentle uphill, rolled hard on the downhill, and handed off in the lead that “Spring Street Track Club White” never relinquished.  Not only did they set a new event record of 29:54, they are also the first team to ever break 30:00 for the 10k relay.  They averaged 4:49 a mile with their counterparts, “Spring Street Track Club Black,” finishing fourth in 31:26, or 5:04 a mile.

 

On the women’s side, five very good teams dipped under the former record of 38:27.  Cheyenne Ogletree and Alyssa Douma, aka “Kittens with Mittens,” led from wire to wire, averaging an impressive 5:48 pace to finish in 36:01.  Just seven seconds behind them were the “Southern Belles” of Robyn Evangelist and Brittany McCann.  While just a few strides away from the winning team, we were, quite honestly, just happy they found the finish line and didn’t get lost running around the circle, ending up somewhere in Maryland.  Surely they may have asked us to hold up the awards ceremony as they made their way back.

 

“Beat the Meet” rounded out the top three open women teams, as Karen Auteri and Christen Rillo came in at 37:52 with a 6:06 average.  The Foam Rollers team of Erika Meling and Stephanie Donatone finished at 38:09, the final team to break the former course record.

 

Team “RU Speed Racers” of Allison Payenski, a current Rutgers miler and graduate student, and Victoria Pontecorvo, a recent RU grad and current GSTC member, averaged 5:51 a mile to run 36:19 in the Rutgers female alumni division. 

 

Other Records Fall

Several other records fell thanks to GSTC efforts.  In the college women’s division, Kelly Thow and Kristen Prazenica put on a dominating show, winning the category by exactly two minutes in 39:42 and setting a new course record.  The male costume team of Mike Fonder and Matt Eder, aka “Better Late Than Never”, established a new standard with their 30:48 effort, an impressive 4:58 average carrying a sword the entire race.  Not entirely sure why they did that…but alas, they did.

 

The Gruchacz brothers, Keith and Adam, shaved more than 2:00 off the Brother-Brother record, rolling to a 33:07 team time.  We were particularly happy here as they handed the lone Central Park Track Club entry, “CPTC Twins,” a loss by almost 90 seconds.  Ahh, peace has been restored in the universe.  Thank you, gentlemen. 

 

The “Wonder Twins”, Michelle Brangan and Maureen Ruckelshaus, set a 40s masters record of 41:13.  In the masters 50s, Brian Harris and Matt Baker also made history under their “Groovy Guys” name, finishing in a record time of 37:21.  Much like the Gruchasz boys, this was a sweet one as it tops the 2012 record set by a Shore AC duo.

 

PRC Squeaks Past RRC in “Route 1 Rivalry”

It was close, as expected, but the Princeton Running Club (PRC) won the first annual “Karnes Cup” over the Rutgers Running Club (RRC), 13-17.  Each of the three divisions, male/female/coed, were scored like a cross country meet, with two teams per club allowed to score.  The finishing places, 1-4, were tallied for all three divisions, then combined for a final team score.

 

It was a dead heat after scoring the men’s and women’s races.  The PRC won the men’s races, 4-6, thanks to a 1-3 finish.  However, the RRC won the women’s side with the same score, 4-6, thanks to a 1st and 3rd place finishes (Erin LaCosta and Monika Juzwiak were the third place team).  So, that brought the team score to 10-10.

 

However, the PRC swept the top two places in the coed division, clinching the win.  This resulted in a 3-7 score, bringing the final team score to 13-17, PRC.  In all, ten PRC and nine RRC teams competed, setting the table for an interesting rematch in 2015.

 


Team Runs

Monday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 @ RSC

Tuesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ Rutgers Student Center (RSC)

Tuesday: (South Enclave) 9:30pm at Stockton

Wednesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ RSC

Wednesday: (South Enclave) 7:00pm run

Wednesday: (Morristown Enclave) 6:15 group run @ Morristown Running Company

Thursday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ RSC

Thursday: (South Enclave) 7:00pm run at Rowan

Friday: (Central Enclave): 4:15 at RSC

Friday: (South Enclave) 4:30 track workout at Delsea

Saturday: (Morristown) 9:00 group run @ Morristown Running Company

Saturday: (Central Enclave) 10:00am track workout at HPHS

Sunday:  Manasquan Reservoir @ 9am


Quotes of the Week

“Is Mike Anis really a doctor?”  -Angela Dunn, at Leadership Team meeting

“Beat the Meet?  Hood and Wood?  I can’t say some of these team names out loud.  There are women and children all around us.”  -Josh Neyhart, while emceeing the awards ceremony, to meet management.

“So could you delay the start by ten minutes?  Robyn and I accidentally ended up in PA and will be late.  We know we’re getting the TMA for this one.”  -Brittany McCann, via text

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a good TMA.”  -Peter Bolgert, upon hearing of the infamous drive to Pennsylvania

 

TMA

Somehow, despite driving to New Brunswick successfully numerous times, Brittany McCann and Robyn Evangelist ended up somewhere in Pennsylvania while trekking up for the Road Relays.  Don’t get us wrong, we appreciate the efforts they make to attend GSTC events, but this one has left everyone scratching their heads. 

With all due respect, we haven’t a clue how the ended up in Pennsylvania while en route to New Brunswick.  No clue.  But somehow they did, we held up the race ten minutes, and low and behold, they made it, and raced very well without a warm up.

The caveat here is that we do understand that the South Enclave, hidden in the dark shadows of southern New Jersey, lives within an underdeveloped, to some degree third world country down in the Pine Barrens.  We are empathetic to the fact that they don’t have many roads, not every house has running water, and the luxury homes “dial into” the Internet.  However, we are saddened by their inability to cope with the real world and its complex system of highways, road signs, and general transportation infrastructure that has been supporting human travel now for several generations.  Indeed, you can take a lady out of the south, but you can’t take the south out of the lady.

Keeping it classy, these ladies rolled out of their Pontiac Trans Am hoopty in ripped Wa Wa shirts, showing their true colors…both literally and metaphorically.  Here’s to the Ladies of the South Enclave.  Hashtag, keepitclassy!  


GSTC TRIVIA…IS BACK

In 2011, during the inaugural Road Relays I, several future GSTC’ers competed without having any idea what the GSTC was.  Well, most people didn’t, as it was just a few months old at the time.  Which member did NOT compete three years ago?

1-    Sergio Ocontrillo

2-    Wismith Francois

3-    Matt Eder

4-    Chelsea Callan

5-    Nicole Salge

 

This Week in Club History

Three years ago, the GSTC held the first annual Road Relays.  But there was a very small problem: the snow was melting, and the drains weren’t working.  A huge puddle, over 100 meters long, formed on the backstretch.  After renting a gas-powered water pump from Home Depot, it was apparent after an hour this wasn’t helping.  The water was pumped off the road onto the grass, but the grass was frozen, so it just rolled back onto the road.  For about 150m, the race was run on the gravel path, above the water puddle, as luckily the snow had melted enough there.  It was really fun.

 

Gold Star

By Ashwin Anantharaman

Lori-Ann Woodard

Lori started working out with GSTC February 10th because she spent years looking for a running club that included sprinters workouts (instead of long distance runs which she is not interested in at all). She did another search a few months ago and was pleased to find GSTC on line. She is tired of the boring gym workouts and short distance running for fitness. In the last 2 years, she lost a considerable amount of weight and her health has significantly improved. Now she has a sprinters itch again and wants to get back to being in great shape by doing what she always loved to do - run hard and run fast! It's never too late to do what you love! Her goal is by next year to compete as a masters sprinter. When she was in college her 200meter PR was 26.2 and 400m PR was 62.5! She loved every step as a sprinter and is looking forward to continuing what she loves. Her routines are to complete sprinter workouts every week. She also started working out one on one with GSTC Personal Trainer Pro Mark Parisen who created a fitness plan for her. She is a full time Director of Quality at Medtronic a pacemaker company located in Monmouth Junction. She also started her own business last year by making organic body butters and facial creams. She encourages everyone to visit www.umaglow.com. She also likes to sing and write songs as her goal is to record them in a studio some time in the near future. 

 

Allison Herdje 

Allison  recently joined GSTC and is a sophomore at the  Hun School in Princeton . She joined because she knew it was a very good club and she wanted good training so she

 could reduce my times! Her PR for the 1600 is 6:16 and her goal in the spring is to break 6 minutes in the mile. Before runs she usually stretches and goes for a warm up run. She hoping to add some effective rituals for her race routine this spring. Her hobbies outside of running include baking, crafts, and doing community service, playing soccer recreationally and for Hun in the fall.

Steady Striders

By Amy Denholtz

Congrats to everyone who ran in the team's annual Road Relays race!  Our next steady striders run is set for this coming Saturday, March 1st, at 9am, beginning from Grove 5 of Johnson Park in Highland Park/Piscataway.  Grove 5 is across from the Rutgers football stadium and off of Landing Lane.  The Grove 5 parking lot is the first parking lot on the left and has a picnic area with bathrooms (for directions and park map, see: www.co.middlesex.nj.us/parksrecreation/johnson.asp).  Please email Amy, at adenholtz@gmail.com, with any questions or to RSVP for the group run on Saturday.

TEAM STUFF

Sunday Morning, 2/23: Road Relays  www.roadrelays.org

Yearly dues----à https://runsignup.com/Club/NJ/NewBrunswick/GardenStateTrackClub

 

Team website--------------->  www.gardenstatetc.org

Team Facebook Fan Page---->   https://www.facebook.com/groups/159501487397707/

Team Blog---------------> http://gardenstatetc.blogspot.com/

Team YouTube Channel---> http://www.youtube.com/user/GardenStateTC 

 

This Week in Training

By Chris Tafelski (cjtafelski@yahoo.com)

If you raced this week, we should make some adjustments to the usual routine to give you some recovery time.  Since this is a fairly nonspecific block of training and the paces are fairly flexible, the best way to recover is to modify your volume and intensity based on the feel of your runs.  Some people may be able to do normal training starting Monday.  For others, it may be Wednesday or Thursday until they feel normal again.  This is a classic time where being a slave to the numbers can backfire on you - Are you hitting a goal volume or pace because it will make you a better runner, or are you hitting it for the sake of hitting it?  Less (or slower) running in the few days following a race may allow you to return to full training sooner, resulting in an overall greater benefit down the line.

 

Monday - comfortable run + 8x8-10sec hillsprints.  Skip the sprints if you're feeling sore from the race.

 

Tuesday - another comfortable run OR 4-5 sets of 4x400 at 5k pace on a 2:00 cycle.  If your 400s take 80-90 seconds, go on a 2:30 cycle.  If they take 2:00, go on a 3:00 cycle.  Take 3:00 between sets.  

 

Wednesday - medium run of 15-20% of week's mileage

 

Thursday - super easy 40-60 mins or OFF.

 

Friday - 25-45 minutes of T-pace running, followed by 4x300 at mile pace cutting down to 800 pace with 100m recovery

 

Saturday - same as Monday

 

Sunday - long run.

 

What is this email?

The GSTC Weekly Email is a collaborative effort to bring club membership an accurate and entertaining update on all team events, runs, results, workouts, quotes, and even mishaps every Sunday night.  It is also often referred to as “The Email” or, by more prominent members of the running community, “error-fraught spam.”  If you’d like to submit anything that would contribute to any of these sections, please email us! 

 

TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer- Chelsea Callan did not.  We couldn’t believe, when looking at results from 2011 last week, how many current GSTC members randomly competed in it. 




Tuesday, February 18, 2014

(2/18-2/23): ROAD RELAYS THIS SUNDAY!

Top 10 Reasons Why Road Relays

Will Rock in 2014

 

Sign up here.  Last day to do so, online, is Thursday.  Hurry up!!!!  

 

10.  You get a sweet RR ear warmer, or as the website calls them, “ear band poly fleece with ant-pilling.”  Either way, it looks like we’ll be getting snow through Labor Day, so this will come in handy for a while.  

 

9.  Kyle Price requested to wear the gorilla outfit, or as he calls it, the monkey costume.  Who knows what this means.

 

8.  DUDE.  It’s gonna be 50 degrees and partly sunny on race day.  WHOA. 

 

7.  You can meet the GSTC sprinters, who volunteer the race.  Goodness only knows anything that lasts longer than 60 seconds…they aren’t gonna run in it!

 

6.  Tons of GSTC’ers attend, so it’s just a nice opportunity to say, “Hello, good day.”

 

5.  POST-RACE FUN AT MIKE’S COURTSIDE BAR AND GRILL. 

 

4.  When was the last time you ran with a baton?  High school?  It’s fun.  Trust us on this.

 

3.  Have you ever attempted to eat a green banana?  We offered tons of them last year.  Yummy.

 

2.  The Princeton Running Club (PRC) and Rutgers Running Club (RRC) are both bringing about ten relay teams to compete for the “Karnes Cup” in the “Route 1 Rivalry.”  This thing looks a good bit like the Stanley Cup, and it’ll be interesting to see if Rutgers can beat Princeton in anything.  Luckily this isn’t an SAT contest.

 

1.  YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO ON SUNDAY.  So get your butt out here.

 


You may pickup your bib number at North Brunswick's Road Runner Sports on Saturday from 12-5.  And if you do...we get a few bucks for every bib picked up!


****There is also a Leadership Team Meeting after the race at Mike's to discuss the adidas partnership.  As always...all are welcome to attend.****

 

RRC Lineups

Co-Ed Teams

Rob Marczydlo & Bri Florovito

Kyle Flyer & Molly Pretznel

Kevin Gruber & Lindsey Williams

 

Women's Teams

Kelly Thow & Kristen Prazenica

Erin LaCosta & Monika Juzwiak

Christina Parry & Katherine Kneisel

 

Men's Teams

David Fett & Dan Teichmann

Jay Wunnava & Mike Soskind

Mohamed El Hedi & Ezra Chefitz

Joe Pellegrino & Zach Bennett

Jonathan Ropke & Mike Mudrak

Ryan DeGregorio & Rob Klink

Joey Lupo & Dan Siegel

 

 

Millrose Games Results

 

Women Finish 3rd in DMR

The GSTC women Distance Medley Relay highlighted the club’s performances at the Millrose Games, finishing 3rd overall in 12:08.37. 

 

After a hard opening 800m, Robin Evangelist held on in the final 400m and passed the baton in 3:43.30, putting the Gold in 5th place.  Eva Gay McKenzie split 60.25 on the 400 leg, handing off to Chelsea Callan who then ran 2:21.49 on the 800m leg, pushing the team into 4th place. 

 

Anchor Cheyenne Ogletree then went to work, grinding out a 5:03.24 anchor to bring the team into third place.  It was really all she could have done, as the 2nd place Syracuse Chargers were 17 seconds ahead.

 

For the first time in club history, then GSTC women had a B Team in the DMR.  Nicole Salge opened up with a 3:50.84 1200m leg, followed by Erin LaCosta’s 61.8 400m carry.  Erika Meling then ran a season best in the 800m (2:29.40), followed by a 5:39.37 anchor by women’s co-captain Angela Dunn.  The team finished 6th overall in 13:01.64.  Only the Central Park Track Club fielded a women’s B Team in the Distance Medley.

 

Combined, Men Run Faster in 2014

In 2013, the GSTC men fielded two DMRs that finished in 10:02 and 10:30.  Added up, that’s 20:32 for the two team times.

 

In 2014, despite harsher training conditions thanks to ten snowstorms, the two teams ran 10:11 and 10:13, thus making a combined time of 20:24 –a sizeable eight seconds faster than last year. 

 

Both teams had legitimate chances at breaking 10:00, but the race was mired by a very pedestrian opening leg.  B Team lead-off Kyle Price stormed to the lead from the gun, but then hit the brakes.   A Team lead-off Andrew Golato sat far back in the pack—often times in last place.  Neither made a hard push to make the race an honest, hard one…and both paid the price.  With 400m to go, both weren’t in good position, resulting in both handing off alongside the last place team, Pacers New Balance. 

 

From there, the next three relay members fought desperately to get back into the race.  Unfortunately, it was an endeavor of futility.  Kevin Persson split 49.93, the third fastest 400m leg in the race, but it just wasn’t enough.  Ricky Garcia ran an indoor best of 1:53.84 on the 800m leg, but they still trailed the pack by three seconds.  Dennie Waite finished the relay in 4:19.66, running the majority of the race alone.  For a few moments, the Pacers anchor was nearby, but he ended up splitting 4:11.

 

The B Team had Josh Chavanne, making his first Millrose appearance, run 51.52 for the 400m leg, followed by an impressive—and alone—Mike Saparito 1:54.63 carry.  Eric DuBois had the fastest GSTC anchor of the evening, running 4:18.40.  Out of six teams, the club finished 5th and 6th overall.

 

4x200 Finishes 6 of 12

Despite a few setbacks, the GSTC men finished 6th in the 4x200 relay at Millrose Games with a 1:31.17 finish.  Darnell Mickle, the club record holder in the 200m, put the Gold in the lead with a 22.2 leg.  Ryan Gonzelez struggled in the second leg, splitting 23.4 as the club faded to 2nd.  Garcia, making an unusual appearance in the short relay, rolled a 22.5, followed by Persson’s 22.7 carry to finish 2nd in their heat. 

 

 

Team Runs

Monday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 track workout at Highland Park HS

Tuesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ Rutgers Student Center (RSC)

Wednesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ RSC

Wednesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 track workout at HPHS

Wednesday: (Morristown Enclave) 6:15 group run @ Morristown Running Company

Thursday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ RSC

Friday: (Central Enclave) UNIFORM RUN.  4:15 AT RUNNER’S HIGH IN METUCHEN.  QUICK FOOD, THEN WE DECIDE ON 2014-2015 ADIDAS UNIFORMS.  ALL ARE WELCOME.

Saturday: (Morristown) 9:00 group run @ Morristown Running Company

Saturday: (Central Enclave) 10:00am track workout at HPHS

Sunday:  ROAD RELAYS, 11AM AT BUCCLEUCH PARK @ NEW BRUNSWICK!  Post Race Party, and Leadership Team Meeting, afterward!

 

Quotes of the Week

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”  -Nicole Salge, FB

“Sooo anybody want to run with me late tonight whenever the hell I get back from Toms River (NJ State Meet)?”  -Kyle Price, via FB

“I just wanna run for a living and call it a day.”  -Robyn Evangelist, via FB

“Happy birthday Frab.  One more year til a new age group.”  -Peter Auteri, writing on Fran Beideman’s wall.  If you aren’t a runner, you just wouldn’t understand.

“Today was amazing!  Great job to all you girls and guys, as well!”  -Erika Meling, via FB, celebrating after Millrose

“So race walking is hellla interesting to witness…kinda embarrassing to say that some of the girls walked faster than I raced so far this season.”  -Aysha Mirza, FB.  Hmmm….time to run faster!

“Can’t let go of the dream.  Millrose Games.”  -Mike Saparito, via FB

“Managed to get flipped off while running…it has been a while.”  -Tim Murphy, via FB.

“So excited for today!  Been wanting to go here for so long and now I get to compete with my awesome team here-MILLROSE GAMES.”  -Robin Evangelist, via FB

“Good luck to all the GSTC’ers at the Millrose Games today!!!!!  I’ll be watching and cheering from Ohio!”  -Zak Martins, via FB

“Fellas, still don’t have anything for your lady?  Get her a rose and take her for a nice run on your favorite loop.  No better date.”  -Josh Neyhart, via GSTC Twitter account

“My valentine: the gym.  My gift to my valentine: sweat.  My valentine’s gift to me:  pain.”  -Lenny Joseph, GSTC record holder in the hammer throw, via FB.  (EN: we loved this guy, even though he almost made the car tip over when we picked him up from the train station.  He ain’t small.)

“Getting my ears lowered today.”  -Timmy Terrific, via FB.  A very important update, indeed.

“’I am so excited for this snow day’ said no track coach ever.”  -Chris Tafelski, via FB

“Out there grinding before the storm hits; GSTC does not rest on its laurels.”  -Josh Neyhart, via GSTC Twitter

“Nooooo!  Keep fighting!  The end is in sight!  You will be so thankful for training in the elements once it actually is nice out.”  -Diana Stavrou, to Jonathan Campanaro, urging him to not locate and run in an indoor track where there’s like five thousand laps to a mile.

“secret: I get inspired by reading the weekly email.”  -4:10 miler Iuri Pinto, a man working on his long-awaited comeback after missing a few years due to injury and work

“Glad to see the team doing so well.  Keep working hard.  Miss you guys.”  -Allyson Guieb, via FB

 

TMA

While the GSTC loves competing at the Millrose Games, we hope the club registration process evolves for 2015.  This year, we were told our C Team DMR couldn’t race because it was a full field of nine teams.  Race day, three teams scratched, leaving only six teams on the starting line.  Womp womp.

In the 4x200, the GSTC ran 1:30 and 1:31 last year with their A and B teams, but this year—the B Team was denied a lane.  However, with a little research, several participating clubs weren’t USATF clubs (it was mandatory to be so, along with USATF members)—and one team ran 1:42.08….a time so slow it would have barely gotten third in the women’s race. 

We hope some changes are made to ensure good teams, with good athletes, are allowed the opportunity they deserve to compete.

Sidenote, when researching Pennsylvania USATF clubs, there is a registered team called Ghetto Fabulous Track Club.


This Week in Club History

This week in club history, absolutely nothing interesting happened.

 

 

Gold Star

By Ashwin Anantharaman

Micah Leonard

Micah has been looking for a club team to join for most of the fall after her graduation from Moravian college. She loves running track and was looking for the right organization that could help take her skills to the next level. She heard about GSTC through one of our members and decided to check out the website and liked what she saw. She is a long and triple jumper with PRs of 18'7 for the LJ and 40'11 for the TJ. Her goal is to continue on in the triple jump and take her jumping to the next level of competitive competition. She has 3 things she must do before she jumps. First she always buys a back of temporary butterfly tattoos and wears one during competition because butterflies have a special meaning to her. The second thing is she listens to her favorite instrumental music to calm her down and let her focus. The third thing she does it so remind herself that she is only there to jump and not impress people with her talents or beat a rival; just jump because she loves it. Her hobbies outside of running include spoken word poetry, spending a day watching her favorite movies or rereading her favorite books. She also loves to sing and hangs out with her family.

 

 

Nick Olson

Nick worked with the GSTC in the past through a support role with his restaurant, Jimmy John's, in New Brunswick.  He has  been a lifelong runner, but this will be his first time running with the GSTC.He is racing in a 7 mile trail race in PA (The Humdinger) on March 1st.  After that he

 would like to complete his first  marathon sometime this year.  He would also like to crack the 5 minute mark during the College Avenue Mile this Summer.He has no real pre race routines yet as he is working on converting to full-time Vibram running especially when most of the running he has done the past 6 months have been on trails. He loves 6 mile run and the Sourland Mountains to do his training runs. Outside of running he owns Jimmy John's in New Brunswick and it takes up most of his life. He loves to plan/organize/help new businesses, garden, homebrew (he grows hops), organize social events, meet new people and play sports any chance he gets


Steady Striders

By Amy Denholtz

Thanks to the steady striders who came out on Saturday to brave the cold (and ice) for a Road Relays Preview.  This upcoming week, instead of a weekend run we encourage all members to find a partner, grab a baton, and get your road relays on!  It's a fun day that has been a welcoming race for many new members, no matter the pace, and we plan to keep it that way.  So invite a friend to take their first step, with the club as a member or just through the enjoyable race we host as a team.  Please remember to sign up online soon!


TEAM STUFF

Sunday Morning, 2/23: Road Relays  www.roadrelays.org

Yearly dues----à https://runsignup.com/Club/NJ/NewBrunswick/GardenStateTrackClub

 

Team website--------------->  www.gardenstatetc.org

Team Facebook Fan Page---->   https://www.facebook.com/groups/159501487397707/

Team Blog---------------> http://gardenstatetc.blogspot.com/

Team YouTube Channel---> http://www.youtube.com/user/GardenStateTC 

 

This Week in Training

By Chris Tafelski (cjtafelski@yahoo.com)

Monday - comfortable run + 7x8-10s hill sprints

 

Tuesday - progression run.  Start out very easy, and progress down to threshold pace, then get down to 5k pace for the last 2-3 mins.  For an idea of what something like this looks like, if I had a 60-minute progression run, I would start out very easy, and progress to Daniels M pace by the 20 minute mark.  By the 45 minute mark I would be at T pace, and with 5 to go I would really be rolling.  You should finish feeling like you could have gone another mile in the middle if you had to.  You don't want to be all-out at the end.

 

Wednesday - medium run of 15-20% of weekly mileage

 

Thursday - super easy 40-60 mins or OFF.

 

Friday - 7-10x1k @T pace with 1:00-1:30 recoveries.  If your 1k reps are longer than 4:00, run 800s instead.  Finish with 4x200 at mile pace

 

Saturday - same as Monday

 

Sunday - long run!


 

What is this email?

The GSTC Weekly Email is a collaborative effort to bring club membership an accurate and entertaining update on all team events, runs, results, workouts, quotes, and even mishaps every Sunday night.  It is also often referred to as “The Email” or, by more prominent members of the running community, “error-fraught spam.”  If you’d like to submit anything that would contribute to any of these sections, please email us! 


Monday, February 10, 2014

Fwd: (2/10-2/16): Road Relays; Eight Wins at Monmouth

Intro

The GSTC Weekly Email is a collaborative effort to bring club membership an accurate and entertaining update on all team events, runs, results, workouts, quotes, and even mishaps every Sunday night.  It is also often referred to as “The Email” or, by more prominent members of the running community, “error-fraught spam.”  If you’d like to submit anything that would contribute to any of these sections, please email us! 

 

2014 Yearly Club Dues

 

https://runsignup.com/Club/NJ/NewBrunswick/GardenStateTrackClub

 


ROAD RELAYS: TWO WEEKS

Sign up HERE. GSTC’s longest-running tradition, doubling as a fund-raiser and a chance to run in funny clothes.

 

This week, we would like to spend a few minutes talking about the art of the event.  Most races are fairly simple:  run race, finish race, get a free bagel, go to awards ceremony, go home, done.

 

The Road Relays is a little more…elegant, or shall we say…complicated.

 

The Art of the Team Name

Should you be funny?  Ironic?  Inappropriate?  Witty?  Traditional?  Deciding on the team name really solidifies your team’s identity.  For example, in 2013 names ranged from gems like “Bearded Cat Ninjas” to “Vicious and Delicious.”  A sibling duo called “Unfortunately Related” signed up, along with the Roig Father-Daughter combination of “Roig Rage.”  We aren’t sure if the “Awesome Bros” lived up to their name last year, coming in at 53rd place and all, but “Pink Dynamite” sure did, as did  “Kenya Catch Us.”  One appropriately named team was “Yo Mamma Runs So Slow…” (finishing in at 124th), along with a masters team titled, “Over the Hill Gang”  And, to be quite honest, we haven’t a clue what the team named “Beasts of the NJ Wild” looked like, and…we think we wanna keep it like that.  Likewise goes for “We Got the Runs.”  Hey, keep it classy, right?

 

The Art of the Team Outfit

Okay, so you have a name.  Fantastic.  But now what?  What do you wear?  It’ll most likely be cold, but not THAT cold…it’ll almost be March, and it’ll be 11:00am.  That said, you wanna distinguish yourself from the other teams.  Maybe the same shirt?  Funny hats?  Face paint?  Hey, whatever you wanna do.  It’s your team, your team picture, your day…you look however you wanna look.  However, the more unique you look, the more fun you will have.  That is written somewhere in some book.  Or on the Internet.  Everything is in the Internet.  Yeah, there.

 

The Art of the Handoff

This all starts with selecting what color baton you want.  Green for good luck?  Red for Rutgers?  Purple for your toenail color?  Please, discuss this with your teammate prior to the event, as bickering moments before the race is just weird.  Actually, come to think of it…that might be fun to watch.  Bicker away. 

 

Next comes the art of the handoff.  Once you’ve decided on the color, you’ll need to practice the baton exchange.  After all, there will be three handoffs.  Do you do an open or blind handoff?  Research the Internet on that one.  Also, spotting your teammate is important, as well.  You wanna be ready to go, with your sweats off, as your partner comes barreling down the final stretch.  This is when wearing a bright purple outfit, or a funny bow on your head, may come in handy.  It’s almost like trying to spot your luggage on the carousal.  Maybe you can tie a bright red ribbon on the top of your partner’s hair.

 

The Art of the Team Picture

Everyone likes the team picture at the end.  It’s tradition.  The question remains: how do you look?  Do you wanna sport the “I just ran for 1000 miles” look?  Or, “Hello, I just ran a race and look even cuter now than I did before” look?  Or, you can simply just try to make it look good for the Facebook profile picture.  It’s your call. 

 

This finally segues into the “Post Race Party” at Mike’s Courtside.  How do you wanna roll up to it?  Still in costume?  Sporty, yet clean?  Or heck, iron and throw on your finest tuxedo tshirt?  Decisions, decisions.

 

 


RESULTS:  GSTC WINS 8 EVENTS AT MU

 

Riddick Launches 7th Farthest Throw in USA

West Long Branch-  Monique Riddick continues to have a breakthrough season this winter, and after Saturday’s competition…she is ranked 7th in America.

 

The Indiana University grad and Edison resident put the shot 16.64m, or 54 feet and 7.25 inches, to win the event by over fourteen feet.  Not only did she break the meet record and her own facility record, she set a new PR, climbing up the national ranks now to #7 in the land.

 

The USATF Indoor National Championships are the weekend of February 22-23 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Although she is the fourth GSTC member to make the national championships “Status of Entries” list, she will become the first club member to actually compete at the national meet in two weeks.

 

Ross Sets Facility Record…Twice

Saturday’s Monmouth meet seemed, more or less, like a rerun of Princeton’s meet.  The main character prevailed the same way; the only change was the supporting, background roles.  Oh, two facility records tumbled this time around.

 

In the men’s 500m, Tyrone Ross sat on Kelly Fisher for two circuits, finally using the final 100m to push by the veteran from North Carolina with a 64.64-64.81 victory.  While far from his best time, it was good enough to break Bayaan Oluyadi’s facility record of 65.79 set in January of 2013.

 

The “Ageless Wonder” once again found himself trailing the 4x400 relay by about four strides on the anchor leg.  The 34 year old former Big East Champ from Seton Hall, who also anchored the 1997 Metuchen HS 4x400 that won the national title in 3:12, got quickly to work, using a fast opening 200m to catch the Rider University anchor.  From there he sat patiently for the next 150m, uncorking a monster kick in the final straightaway to pull away from RU.  His 49.4 split, very fast for the slower, non-banked surface, helped the GSTC win 3:22.33 to 3:22.83.  It also broke the facility record of 3:23.92, set by a very good Essex County team a year ago.  He teamed up with Ricky Garcia, Mike Saparito, and Kevin Persson for the win.

 

The GSTC men finished 1st and 2nd in the 4x800 relay.  Eder and Waite teamed up with Jaris Rousseau and Norbert Kuter for the dubya.

 

Garcia, Waite, Goglas, Ogletree Win Events

Garcia used a sizzling 54 second opening 400 to run away with the men’s 800m in1:54.55, the club’s #2 fastest time ever run indoors.  In a bizarre twist, he was sitting on two Rider 800m athletes when they both, with one 200m lap to go, dropped out.  It was clearly done by design, which is an unusual occurrence on the collegiate level.  Teammate Saparito was second in 1:55.57 and Matt Eder fifth in 1:58.77.

 

Dennie Waite continued his impressive indoor season, winning the 1000m leading wire towire in 2:30.90.  While teammates Kyle Price (2:32) and Atilla Sabahoglu (2:40) finished 2-3, Waite was in control the entire race, splitting 29-59-1:29-2:00.  Had there been someone to chase, there’s good reason to think he may have taken down the club record of 2:28.

 

Ken Goglas coasted to an easy win in the 3,000m, finishing 1st in the thirteen man field in a time of 8:51.58.After sitting on Rider’s Jon Knipper for a few circuits, he took control of the race, opening up a larger lead with every lap.  He eventually won the event by 23 seconds over Knipper.

 

In the women’s mile, the lead pack of Cheyenne Ogletree, Molly McKeon, and Danielle Branco were together until 400m to go, when Ogletree opened up a large gap, winning the race in 5:10.71.  Teammates Nicole Salge (5:27) and Brittany McCann (5:41) finished 6th and 10th, respectively, in the event.  

 

Other Top Performances

The women’s 4x800 were barely edged out for the win, as Salge, McCann, Erika Meling (who won her heat of the 800m), and Chelsea Callan battled Monmouth the entire race, finally losing contact by two seconds in the very last lap, 10:01-10:03.  The women’s 4x400 ran their best time of the year, finishing second in 4:17.14 with Eva Gaye McKenzie, Erin LaCosta, Grace Chong, and Alexis Mbakwe teaming up for the SB.  Finally, Add Victor snagged bronze in the 60HH.

 

Full results can be found here.  

 

Duran Wins in Boston

Alina Duran continued her hot hand this weekend, both literally and metaphorically.  The GSTC’er threw the weight 17.91 meters, winning the very large and competitive field at the Valentine Meet at Boston University.  She is just short of the 19.50m standard to qualify for the national championships.

 

Robyn Evangelist added a 2:17.30 800m earlier that day, equaling her PR.

 

Millrose Games

For better or for worse, the GSTC had some last minute injuries, family obligations, and news that our DMR "C Team" was no longer an accepted entry.  Regardless of these many last minute changes, the club is excited to announce the Distance Medley Relays for Millrose Games:


GOLD TEAM, Women's A:  Robyn Evangelist (1200), Tiana Davis (400), Chelsea Callan (800), Cheyenne Ogletree (1600)

GOLD TEAM, Men's A:  Andrew Golato (1200), Kevin Persson (400), Ricky Garcia (800), Dennie Waite (1600)

BLACK TEAM, Women's B:  Nicole Salge (1200), Erin LaCosta (400), Erika Meling (800), Angela Dunn (1600)

BLACK TEAM, Men's B:  Kyle Price (1200), Josh Chavanne (400), Mike Saparito (800), Eric DuBois (1600)

 

Team Runs

Monday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 track workout at Highland Park HS

Tuesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ Rutgers Student Center (RSC)

Wednesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ RSC

Wednesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 track workout at HPHS

Wednesday: (Morristown Enclave) 6:15 group run @ Morristown Running Company

Thursday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 group run @ RSC

Friday: (Central Enclave) 4:15 group run @ RSC

Saturday: (Morristown) 9:00 group run @ Morristown Running Company

Saturday: (Central Enclave) 10:00am track workout at HPHS

Sunday:  TEAM RUN:  9am MANASQUAN RESERVOIR

 

Quotes of the Week

“It occurred to me that my neighbor directly ‘stage left’ is a cat.  Humans do not live there.  Multiple creatures do not live in there.  Just one, single catr.”  -Paul Matuszak, via FB

“Running the morning after a storm has become a game for me…dodging ice and snow piles and ducking branches…extra points if I don’t fall.”  -Jennifer Lucas, via FB

“Sometimes, finishing a race can be the happiest thing in life ever!”  -Atilla Sabahoglu, via FB

“I think mother nature makes snow days so I have more free time to work on the GSTC roster.”  -women’s captain Angela Dunn, via FB

“You can’t win races in the spring and summer without putting in the miles during the winter.  It’s going to be a long, cold run tonight.”  -Keith Grunchacz, via FB

“They have arrived.”  -Alina Duran, via FB: the captain beside a picture of her new throwing shoes

“I totally want to volunteer for the Grand Prix.  Free stuff and elite track are like my favorite things.”  -Dennie Waite, via email

“I told my mom I can’t leave yet….I want to watch my team run the relays.”  -Mo Riddick, GSTC thrower, excited about the remaining part of the GSTC track meet.

"Track is clear (from all snow)...where's the weekly email?"  -Ricky Garcia, via text

 

TMA

Our poor women’s 4x400 b team checked in, received a hip number for their anchor, and continued with their hour-long warm up.  They were told they’d be in heat two, but when heat one finished….they were the only ones assigned in heat two, and were thus asked, by meet management, to step off the track. 

 

This Week in Club History

In 2012, we celebrated Timmy Morgan’s birthday with a cake after a group long run at Six Mile Reservation.  However, in true Tim style, he….went to the wrong trail head at 9am.  So we waited for another thirty minutes, only to learn that…he has gotten lost navigating from one trail head to the other.  Sigh. 


Gold Star

By Ashwin Anantharaman

Anna Cook

 Anna has been emailing with Erin Lacosta since last week to nail down logistics and hopes to get to a practice this week or early next week.  She has been researching different track clubs in the area and was very impressed with the range of locations, coaches, and community service GSTC offers.  After seeing that and realizing that how much better everyone in GSTC gets she decided that we were the best club for her. Her goal is to get back in shape for competing in the jumps by late spring or next indoor season. Her PR’s are 5’8 in the high jump, 16’9 in the long jump, and 35’ in triple jump.  Her pre-workout routines include listening to music while stretching/warming up.   Outside of track she has become interested in yoga and also enjoys reading, learning to cook, and occasionally watching trashy reality tv.

 

Joshua Gonzalez

Josh joined GSTC 2/1/2014 because he wants to step up my running. This means he wishes to run faster and efficiently. His goals are maintaining an 8 min mile pace, complete his second full marathon in under 4 hours and his half marathon in 1 hour 45 minutes!. He warms up with a light jog but after that he is focused, smiles and drinks coffee to give him some energy. He also wants to learn more about how to prepare himself before a run/race as he feels it will make him a better overall runner. Outside of running he enjoys biking, playing with his Apple or Android electronic, watching a good movie, and most importantly being a great dad and husband.


Steady Striders

By Amy Denholtz

This weekend the steady striders group will do a Road Relays route preview, in Buccleuch Park in New Brunswick, on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014 at 9am.  Please park next to the pavilion (in the area on the right immediately before the Gazebo and circle).  Please email Amy, at adenholtz@gmail.com, with any questions or to RSVP!


TEAM STUFF

Sunday Morning, 2/23: Road Relays  www.roadrelays.org

Team website--------------->  www.gardenstatetc.org

Team Facebook Fan Page---->   https://www.facebook.com/groups/159501487397707/

Team Blog---------------> http://gardenstatetc.blogspot.com/

Team YouTube Channel---> http://www.youtube.com/user/GardenStateTC 

 

This Week in Training

By Chris Tafelski (cjtafelski@yahoo.com)

Monday - comfortable run + 5x8-10s hill sprints on 2:30-3:00 rest.

 

Tuesday - fartlek run of 2:30/2:30 cycles.  Pickups should be at T pace, recoveries should be about T pace + 30-40 sec.  Finish the run with 2x200 at mile pace, 2x200 at 800 pace on full recovery.

 

Wednesday - medium run of 15-20% of weekly mileage

 

Thursday - super easy 40-60 mins or OFF.

 

Friday - mile reps.  Start at T pace + 30s, then cut off 10 secs each time.  Do 4-5 reps, so you'll either be ending at T pace or T pace -10s.  Take 1:00 recovery.  If your miles are 7:00 in duration or longer, you can either do one rep less, or run 1200m reps instead.   We did this workout about a month ago.  Try to proress the workout by going for one more rep, or going 5s faster per rep than last time.

 

Saturday - same as Monday.

 

Sunday - long run!




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Garden State Track Club
2013 USATF Track and Field National Champions
2013 USATF East Region Track and Field Champions