Fast or small, it’s all hands on deck for the final two months of the spring season!
June 1- Stomp the Monster 5k (June 1)- open women
June 7- College Ave Mile (June 7)- all divisions
June 16- President’s Cup (June 16)- open men
June 22- Lager Run (June 22)- masters men
June 26- Sunset Classic 5 Miler (June 26)- open, masters women
How the GSTC Changed the Game
A Brief History of the College Ave Mile
The USATF has a National Championship Road Mile. The New York Road Runners host the 5th Avenue Mile that had 5,469 finishers in 2012. Other USATF associations, like the Bay Area’s USATF-PA Association, have the mile on their road racing circuit. Yet, for decades, NJ hasn’t had their own road mile.
Until, of course, the Garden State Track Club came along.
One year after the club’s inception, a small group of club leaders, including the men’s team-captain at the time, Jeff Perrella, decided to set the foundation for such a race. After numerous meetings at Skinny Vinnie’s pizzeria, along the race course in New Brunswick, the group got the appropriate approvals by city council and, after months of planning, put on an event that had 125 participants. The overall winner, Christian Hesch from California, was later DQ’ed due to his doping bust weeks later. Perrella, just .79 behind, was given the gold in 4:22.94, and GSTC’s Jamie Liberti won the women’s race in 5:15.23.
In 2013, some elements were added to bring it more of a family event. Table games, a relay at the event’s end, and a beer garden/BBQ were introduced to the event. However, due to a last minute miscommunication between RUPD and NBPD, the food and alcohol portion of the event, perhaps the part people were most anxiously anticipating, were removed. Regardless, the number of participants doubled, as Kyle Price and Cheyenne Ogletree, both club members, won the overall race.
While the event was getting traction with the running community, it was only hitting dead ends in the Long Distance Running (LDR) Committee. The club proposed a rule to change the Grand Prix Category One distance, as it previously only included the 3k-5k distance. The LDR committee voted down this proposal, 9-0, in 2013. Although no one seemed to know of a 3k road race, most members just couldn’t be convinced the road mile was, in fact, a deserving member of the distance running road racing family.
A year later, USATF-NJ Executive Committee President Ed Neighbor revisited the idea, repackaged the proposal to the LDR Committee, and in January of 2014, the LDR Committee not only approved it to be a recognized distance in the Grand Prix, they voted the College Ave Mile to be one of four “all-divisions” championship races in the state of New Jersey.
Okay, enough with the history, It’s time to find a partner and sign up. It’s gonna be even bigger and better this year!
Meet the Vietnamese: Week 1
As everyone who owns a Facebook account knows, the Vietnamese National Athletics Committee selected the adidas GSTC to coach their prized possession: the women’s 4x400 relay of Quach Thi Lan, Nguyen Thi Oanh, Nguyen Thi Thuy, and Nguyen Thi Huyen.
In Vietnam, they put the last name first, and the first name last, so their names are Lan, Oanh, Thuy (“Twee”), and Huyen.
After week one, a few highlights include a leak to the Vietnamese media about the “poor training conditions” in the USA. This has, evidently, created a bit of a stir in the Vietnamese Athletics Committee, resulting in them demanding even more information about our facilities, team, and coaching. It appears that all has settled down, as no one seems to know who provided such false information to Vietnamese journalists. This is, indeed, a big deal to the country, as there are the first athletes to ever leave Vietnam to train in the USA.
Meanwhile, it also appears that, in Vietnam, they do not use shower curtains. Evidently all bathrooms just have large drains that deal with the excess water. Well, we found this out the hard way when the landlord called, complaining of dripping water from the second floor where they lived. Upon delivery of a shower curtain, they looked at it in great wonder; we had to put it up for them. We weren't about to explain what a TMA is.
The athletes, themselves, are talented. However, they haven’t demonstrated a burning interest in fighting through the pain of a hard track workout. In fact, they have shown very little interest in really grinding their teeth, especially with aerobic workouts. Coaches Erika Meling, Mark Parisen, and Chuck Schneekloth have been using translator phone apps to communicate with both athletes and team managers.
Oh, and it was funny when one team manager, when shopping in downtown New Brunswick, thought a lamp cost $999. His frustration were quickly appeased by the news that it actually cost $9.99.
The Viets will debut in Black and Gold this Monday at the Swarthmore Last Chance meet, where they surely will have the middle lanes in both the 400m and the 4x400m.
Weekend of Results
North Enclave Rocks the SL 5k
The Auteri father-daughter combo of Karen and Peter lead a nice showing of North Enclavers this morning at the Shepherd’s Lake 5k. Karen was the first finisher in 19:41 as the third female and winning her 30-39 age group; her pops ran 22:11, good for 1st in his age group. Upstart master Don Weise, finally recovering from a long injury, was 2nd in his 50-59 age group with a 21:34 finish. Fran Beideman was also second in his 60-69 age group with a 23:44.
Gruchasz Runs #2GSTC Five Miler
Hoboken- Adam Gruchasz finished the Hoha 5 Miler in 26:20 today. Once Internet results are published, this will become the #2GSTC time in the distance behinf Jeff Perrella’s CR of 25:02 when he won the Spring Lake 5 Miler on May 26, 2012.
Minervini Wins 5k
Mark Miniverni won Dylan’s Dinosaur Stomp 5k with a 19:46 time. [we are not making this up]
Salge Wins AC 5k
Atlantic City- Nicole Salge, an alum of Spotswood HS and Stockton State, picked up her first dubya of 2014, winning the Shirtley Mae 5k in 19:49. Heck, a little faster and she would have won the T-Rex Race with Mark Minervini! Masters Susan Goglas won the 60-64 age group with a chip time of 27:37.
Last Week: Weiss Finishes 5th
Fort Lee- Don Weise finished 5th overall in the Escape to the Palisades 6k Trail Race. Not bad for a 51 year old! He was the second masters, just three seconds behind a 40 year old, and the first person over 50 to cross the finish line.
GSTC Racing Schedule
USATF-NJ Grand Prix
6/1 Stomp the Monster (open women)
6/7 College Ave Mile (all divisions)
6/16 President’s Cup (open men)
6/22 Lager Run (masters men)
6/26 Sunset Classic (open, masters women)
Spring Track and Field
5/12 Tuppeny Twilight (Swarthmore)
6/14 adidas Grand Prix (Icahn Stadium, NYC)
6/24 NYRR Speed Series @ NYC
7/8 NYRR Speed Series @ NYC
7/22 NYRR Speed Series @ NYC
Team Runs
Monday: (track and field) SWARTHMORE LAST CHANCE INVITE
Monday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 @ Rutgers Student Center
Tuesday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 @ RSC
Tuesday: (South Enclave) track session TBA
Wednesday: (Central Enclave): 5:30 @ RSC
Wednesday: (Morristown Enclave) 6:15 group run @ Morristown Running Company
Wednesday: (track and field) Team workout 5:30 at Highland Park HS
Wednesday: (South Enclave) 6:30 @ trail at Elk or Williamstown bike path
Wednesday: (Princeton Enclave) 5:30 @ Turning Basin Park on Alexander Road
Thursday: (Central Enclave) 5:30 @ RSC
Friday: (Central Enclave): 4:15 @ RSC
Saturday: (track and field): 10:00am at HPHS
Saturday: (Morristown) 9:00 group run @ Morristown Running Company
Sunday: Team run TBA on Facebook!
Steady Striders
By: Mark Parisen
Hey Striders,
Happy Mother's Day! Hopefully you all enjoyed the holiday and the warm weather!
This week we are going to bump up the distance of the runs a little bit.
Also, now is a great time to start searching for a partner for the College Ave Mile relay portion of the event, it can be a teammate, friend, or family member!
If you need help finding a teammate, reach out to myself or Erika and we will hook you up with someone!
Monday: 20-35min Run
Tuesday: Cross Train (Bike, Swim, etc.)
Wednesday: 25-40min Run
Thursday: Core Workout/Strength Training/Personal Training Session
Friday: 15 minute run + 4x20s Strides or Hill Sprints
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: Team Long Run (TBA On Facebook page)
SuperHero Half Marathon
It isn’t too late to register for the Superhero Half Marathon or relay this coming Sunday in Morristown! Club member Heather McDermott hosts the event, and currently it has over 2,000 pre-registrants. If you’re not looking for a race, but even a hard long run effort, this is the place to go. The SuperHero Events are always well well-organized. Check it out here! Use the code GSTC to get 15% off!!!
GSTC Trivia
We took the Vietnamese shopping for spikes earlier today. They refused to buy shoes made from a certain country. Which one?
A- Koreaa
B- China
C- Italy
D- Japan
E- AnisLand
Quotes of the Week
“Maybe we should advertise the College Ave Mile on Craigslist. You know, like a Strictly Platonic or Casual Encounter with a road mile.” -Adin Mickle, during the Leadership Team meeting
“Most of all, I am excited to be apart of a team again.” -new member and current medical student Stephen Ellwood, via email. It isn’t everyday where we get a new member who increases the team’s average IQ while decreasing the team’s average 5k time.
“How you tricked East Stroudsburg into giving you a degree, I will never know.” -Kenny G, while introducing Chris Schneider to the team. Incredible that Chris has been a member for four years, has now graduated college, and now will be with the GSTC full time. He is, currently, best known for winning the USATF-NJ 5k track title in 2012 but, with 50 meters to go, taking a cup of water from the designated water stop on the track and casually drinking it while running through the finish line in first place. There is no doubt he will be a yearly TMA contender.
“If we wanted fun we would join some softball league.” Andrew Tschesnok, via email
“Gnats, blisters & the burning sensation of sunblock/sweat dripping in the eyes; it was an interesting run.” -Mike Stomiany, via FB
Gold Star
By Ashwin Anantharaman
Owen Fayle
Owen joined in May '14 to improve his race times and train with faster runners. After seeing what GSTC has to offer he realized that this was the right club to help him. His goal is to break 2:50 in the marathon and he he hopes to do it this fall! Before races he likes to drink coffee like most of the runners on GSTC so it is very obvious that he will fit in just fine. Outside of running he likes to spend time with his wife and his daughter.
Nicholas Murphy
Nicholas is joining GSTC because he would like to be around other runners interested in training hard and smashing PRs. He didn't run in college as he didn't have a coach in high school that really embraced running so he learned to hate it. He reconnected with it when he became a teacher and found himself coaching track and cross country. He feels like he has some momentum in my training, and would like to keep it going. He managed to stick to my plan through the terrible winter (which included ~2 hour midweek runs), so he is feeling good about this summer/fall.He has Prs of 17:40 in the 5k and 36:28 in the 10k and 2:52 in the marathon. His goals are to run 16:xx in the 5k, 35:xx in the 10k and to run in the high 2:40s during the Boston Marathon in 2015. His pre race routines include eating 3 hours before the race, warmups and strides. His hobbies outside of running are being a musician which includes playing playing the guitar and singing. He also enjoys a nice game of golf when the weather is nice outside.
TMA: Totally Misunderstood Award
Tim Morgan himself gets the nomination this week for inviting us to a New Brunswick event five minutes before it happens. But truly, we just want Timmy Morgan to get his butt back into training shape, as 2014 hasn’t been the same since the award has changed (from Tim Morgan award to Totally Misunderstood Award) and since he hasn’t raced a single race yet with the team.
TEAM STUFF
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 + 8x8-10s hill sprints
Tuesday - 1.5M @ T, take 2 mins, then go 3x(3x400) at 5k, 3k, Mile. Take 1:00 between reps, lap jog between sets
Wednesday - medium run of 75% long run duraton
Thursday - super easy 40-60 mins
Friday - 4-5x mile reps@ T+10s, cutting down 10s each rep. Take 1:00 rest between reps.
Saturday - same as Monday
Sunday - long run!
What is this email?
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