2003 Westfield Downtown Pizza Review

The picture told the story of the second annual Westfield Downtown 5k better than any narrative could. Piled high to the side of the finish line were over 300 empty boxes of pizza donated by local restaurants which were tirelessly distributed to runners and spectators by the Westfield Jaycees.

Everything about the race held Thursday evening July 24 on the streets of downtown Westfield came up roses, from the weather, which for the second straight year was nearly perfect to the flawless race organization led by race director Mark Zenobia of On Your Mark productions (OYMP) and Downtown Westfield Corporation (DVW) chairman Alan DeRose who was ubiquitous, managing numerous tasks simultaneously.

“This race could not have happened without the great volunteers “, said Zenobia,who cited the 100 Westfield Jaycees led by their energetic leader Craig Stock. DeRose was pleased with the turnout of 1102 finishers which was 220 more than last years’ inaugural event. “There was a very good word of mouth about this race”, said DeRose

The competitive side of the race was dominated by former local high school stars. Winning easily was former Roselle Park star, Anthony De Benedictis who smashed the course record with an impressive 14:58 clocking. De Benedictis, who runs for the Sneaker Factory took the lead early and was never threatened. . Former Cranford standout Tim Styler,also of the Sneaker Factory was third in 15:45.

As expected the battle for top Westfield finisher was a battle between the young and the old with 1997 Westfield High graduate Chris Tafelski outrunning Rick Pingitore.
“I figured someone younger than me would win the prize”, said Pingitore, one of the top masters runners in the state.
“Westfield has a lot of great young runners and is a tremendous running town”, added Pingitore, who was also second master and tenth overall with a 16:51 clocking.

Tafelski,eighth in 16:29 , has resumed training after taking time off to complete his student teaching duties. “I just wanted to make a good showing for the sneaker Factory”, said Tafelski who recently learned he will be joing the Westfield High School faculty this fall as a science teacher.

For the second straight the top Westfield womens’ finisher was former Blue Devil star Lauren Saul but unlike last year when she was first overall woman,Saul battling leg injuries settled for fourth outlasting Sheila Courter of Westfield.

Mike Borik,41st overall in 18:39, was the top Scotch Plains finisher,while Maureen Maguire was the top Scotch Plains woman. Steven Moore led the Fanwood finishers with a 20:42 clocking,good for 120th overall.. Susan Graff was the top Fanwood female and was second in her age group.

Tracy Willem was the top Cranford women’s’ finisher while Styler led the men.

Firecracker (2003)

July 4,2003 was the type of day that shore concessionaires were dreaming about during those endless rainy spring weekend.
It was hot and sultry, the type of day that most runners don’t look forward to but since we’re such an adaptable bunch, we wore less, drank more water and adjusted our times accordingly, while relieved that it wasn’t over 100 like 2002.

As for me, the running day would have been notable except for the little detail of a race in between. In running 17 of the previous 18
Firecracker 4 miles, I had never come close to missing an 8 minute a mile pace until last year when I finished in 32:07. My first go around in 1985 was my third race in three days and with dead legs I had run 26:03. What a difference 18 years make!

This year I had the excuse of a race 36 hours ago,the 5 mile Sunset Classic in Bloomfield which as many of you know is a race with two big uphills and downhills that saps the quadriceps. I was still feeling the race as I woke up on July 4. The first order of business was to try and help my fast improving 10 year old Sarah do her best in the one mile fun run. After giving her my best pre race stretching and bounding exercises the gun finally went off and a majority of the runners sprinted as fast as they could. I had warned Sarah tha this would happen and she was ready,realizing that she would pass many of these. Since the course had no real measurements I had to guess by the time where the halfway mark was. I was running an 8 minute pace very easily but Sarah started to struggle a little so I was backpedaling while helping her finish. I gave her the “it’s only the length of a soccer field” exhortation several times before she gave it one good finishing burst and broke 9 minutes for the first time.

I was ecstatic as I walked to the starting line. Several of my friends told me I looked worn out. I was dripping with sweat as a I walked up to the starting line and before I knew it the gun went off. It actually seemed better for me as I didn’t want to go out too fast.When I hit the fast first mile in 7:20 I just hoped to hold on and break 30 minutes but the heat and my previous runs got the best of me and by mile three I needed a very quick walk to get my mind and legs back.I looked very strong to spectators at the last 100 yards as I outsprinted a few people but the damage had been done and I hit another personal worst 33:17. The disappointment was somewhat muted by winning a nice raffle prize in the post race ceremony but my third subpar performance in four races had me baffled.

But alas I had a way to save the running day. After flooding my insides with water,bananas and bagels I decided to stick to my original plan of running the 6 or so miles home to Fanwood. Despite the 90 plus degrees and my tired legs I knew a way home that was mostly shady and the reward would be a swim. It was a struggle at times but there were a lot of great little experiences including several people very generous with spraying me. When I got to the last mile and half I was joined by a nice guy named Oscar from Chile and immediately I started talking about my favorite subject,soccer. When I told him that I coached he seemed very interested and it just so happened that in one of the driveways was a two day old copy of the local newspaper “The Suburban” which had a picture and an article about our team. He said that he had a copy of it at home that he usually threw out but would read it when he got home. I don’t know if he ever did-but perhaps I’ll see him on the roads again and find out.

Minutes later my run ended in a little under an hour and some vicious leg cramps but I knew I had earned a relaxing afternoon before seeing fireworks that night.