2004 Contact We Care Review

At a little after two pm on Saturday afternoon, August 21, 2004,the sky openedup in torrents of rain and heavy wind gusts just like the weather forecastershad been ominously predicting all week. The wind was so vicious that it pickedup the volunteer tent and split it in two. But the weather soon improved, asthe rain eventually stopped and the stifling humidity broke and the ninthannual Fanwood Contact We Care 5Kproceeded according to schedule.

“The bad weather actually happened at the best time ,” said race director MarkZenobia of On Your Mark Productions (OYMP). “We had already set up and coveredeverything and it was better that the thunder and lightning didn’t happenaround race time as they had predicted.

”“We’re pleased with the turnout ,” said Jeff Stirrat, director of Contact WeCare. “We had over three hundred applicants again and might have done evenbetter if the weather forecast had been better.”

The overall winner was 27-year-old Tirhazovin Khalid of Parsippany,NJ in atime of 16:11 , breaking a two-year streak of Scotch Plains Fanwood HighSchool runners. The previous two winners Bob Wallden and defending championZack McGuire chose not to run.Walter Biner, a 2003 Scotch Plains Fanwood High School(SPFHS) graduate was thefirst Scotch Plains finished, third overall in 16:41 improving on his ninthplace finish a year ago.

“I have been training hard this summer on hills in Watchung Reservation so Ifelt ready for this course,” said Biner who will be running cross-country atthe University of Massachusetts this fall. Biner’s high school coach andcurrent Raider Cross Country coach Jeff Koegel was proud of his former pupil.

“Walter came to me at the beginning of the summer looking for help with histraining, so I shared my philosophy on college-level summer training with him. He really dedicated himself to logging the type of miles you need to succeed atthe 8K distance,” said Koegel. “A lot of the miles that he ran were not easy miles, either. It's very easy,living in Scotch Plains or Fanwood, to stick to the flatlands, but he has spenta lot of time running on the other side of Route 22 on the hills.”

Although she did not repeat as women’s champion, Raider senior Mary Shashaty improved her 2003 time by 33 seconds, running 19:47, 13 seconds behind theoverall women’s winner Kim Keenan-Kirkpatrick of Pittstown, NJ . Shashatyneeded medical assistance after the race because of breathing difficulties butwas pleased with her race.“I think I’m ready for a good season. I ran very well today,” said Shashaty.

“Although we didn't discuss any expectations before the race, my goal was forMary to run under 20:00, which is a big barrier for high school girls. She hadonly done so once before, at last year's Watchung Conference meet ,” saidKoegel.“I think she could have run faster had she not been suffering from anexercise-induced asthma attack during the race. I truly believe that she couldhave run about 20 seconds faster if her respiration had remained normalthroughout the race .”

The top Fanwood finisher was junior Josh Zinman who lopped 56 seconds off his2003 time with an 18:06, good for sixth overall and propelling Zinman to thetop of the SPFHS team.“I’m sure this was a big confidence boost for him going into the fall havingrun nearly a minute faster than last year. I think he still can improve onthat quite a bit. You have to remember that this was his first race since May22, “ said Koegel..

”His training has picked up over the past few weeks and it is starting to shownow. He still needs to work on his form a good bit.”Raider sophomore Allie Hoynes-O’Connor was top Fanwood finisher with a time of21:09 “ I know she was disappointed that she didn't break 21:00, but I thinkshe will just use that as motivation. I am hoping that Allie will get herselfdown to the low-20:00's this fall, “ said Koegel.

The most improved Raider runner was sophomore Adam Biner,Walter’s youngerbrother, who improved from 21:04 last year to 18:54 this year, 13th overall. “He seems to be picking up his effort in training, and he's obviously way aheadof where he was at this point last year. The key now is to get him used tobeing a varsity runner and dealing with the psychological pressures thataccompany that ,” said Koegel.

The top family performance was by the Bencivengo family of Fanwood, where the father 49 year old David was able to outrun his twin thirteen year olds, Gregand Lana in times of 19:46, 20:28 and 22:00 respectively. In addition to the main event over one hundred children between the ages of two and eleven participated in races from 25 to 200 yards and six wheelchair racerscompeted in a one-mile race. “It was a great day ,” said Stirrat.“We can hardly wait for the tenth annual race next year”.