2010 Westfield Pizza Run Review

There is a well known adage that states that there is a story for every finisher in a race. The 2153 men, women and children who braved 90 degree heat and high humidity to finish the ninth annual Westfield Downtown 5K and Pizza Extravaganza on Wednesday July 21 produced a variety of compelling stories.

The Winner

19 year old George Galasso of Holmdel needed a fast tempo run to augment his summer training so the Princeton University student hopped on the parkway for the 25 mile trip north and accomplished his running goal. His 15:48.30 time was easily enough to out run recent Union Catholic graduate DJ Thornton of Rahway, who ran for The Running Company. Galasso, who ran 9:15 for 3200 meters as a 2009 senior at Holmdel High and 8:35 this past winter as a Princeton freshman, was wary of Thornton’s finishing speed and tried to mitigate his kick by taking the race out hard from the beginning. Taking the lead in the first 400, Galasso was able to maintain a steady 5:05 pace that would not allow any other runners to catch him.

“I was hoping someone would try and catch up to me, but I was happy with the performance. It was very hot out there, but it has been that way for weeks, so I was used to it,” said Galasso.

“It’s really a great race to have in the middle of the week in the middle of summer. If it fits my schedule, I would like to come back next year and try to defend next year,” added Galasso.

The Coach

There are not many coaches who can outrun all the members of a top ten cross country team, but former Westfield star Chris Tafelski is not your ordinary coach. Tafelski,30, of Garwood, is an assistant to veteran Jack Martin and although he finished fifth in 16:37:47, he seemed more excited by the performance of the teenagers who will make up the bulk of next year’s Blue Devil squad.

The top three town finishers were rising seniors Andrew Kirna and Zach Lizmi and junior John Kirna who ran together, all finishing within a second of each other in 17:11.99,17:12.05 and 17:12.17 respectively. Junior Evan Tarlow was a minute behind in 18:11, just edging top Cranford finisher Eddie Baker.

“They have been working really hard as a group all summer and this has been an extremely challenging summer to train in,” said Tafelski, who has also benefited from staying healthy in his training.

“I have been getting my workouts in but it is only a matter of time before those kids beat me. They are very excited about this fall and their results are fantastic for the middle of summer.”

The new girl in town

The first question asked to 20 year old Elisabeth Stocking, the top Westfield female finisher, running 20:29 was how come she didn’t run for the top rated Westfield cross country team. Her replay was that she went to high school in Singapore and the family just moved to Westfield last year. Stocking was not that avid a runner until she moved stateside.

“I am just starting to get into running. It is exciting to be the first town finisher,” said Stocking, who edged her 16 year old brother Teddy, who ran 21;17.

Their father Carl,49 also ran the race and finished in 24:19.

The perennial

Don Hessemer of Fanwood was a little disappointed with his time of 25:12.23that was two minutes slower than his 2009 effort.

“I just couldn’t get going tonight. Maybe it’s just old age,” said Hessemer 54,who has competed in all nine years of the race.

“I have been doing some encouraging track workouts and I thought I could at least get under eight minutes a mile but a lot of other runners had a rough night out there, too. The air was stifling, but the pizza was good and it’s always great seeing old friends”

The Mayor

“It was great night for Westfield and a fantastic chance for us to show off our beautiful town. I am sorry I had to miss this year for the first time,” said Mayor Andy Skibitsky.

“I am really proud of the all the Westfield people who helped to pull off such a fantastic event.”

As he has done the past few years, Skibitsky interviewed race participants for a television broadcast. He was also a proud father, with his sons Shane, 18, Troy, 16 and Chase,14 all finishing.

“It doesn’t get better for a father than this,” said Skibitsky.
The Running Store

It didn’t seem possible that The Westfield Running Company could be an even bigger part of the race than in previous years but their new and larger location on Quimby Street made it the place to congregate before and after the race. Owner Gene Mitchell, a four time winner and the course record holder, was out of town and unable to compete. Although they did not finish first, Running Company members were ubiquitous in the top 50 and would have easily won a team competition had there been one,


Cranford contingent

The race included a large Cranford contingent including Amy and John Montuori, who ran the race together. When asked what drew them to run the race, John was quick to answer “Pizza”. Margaret McHale of Cranford participated in the race for all nine years and said she was there “To keep the tradition going.” Athletic Director Marc Taglieri was at the race to support his wife Christine who ran 26:35.

A stirring battle for 72nd place was won by 14 year old Connor Mcmahon edging his 46 year old father Joseph by a second. The first Cranford female finisher at The Firecracker 4 Mile, Jessica Barr, topped the numerous Cranford women competing.


The race director

While some huge lightning bolts at 6:30 and a moderate rain may have scared some runners, Sherry Cronin Executive Director of the Downtown Westfield Corporation (DWC), who had the largest stake in the evening, was not worried.

“We had people who were totally on top of the radar and correctly predicted that we would have a clear window from race time through 8:30,” said Cronin.

“We have control about whether the race would be delayed and we would have pushed the start back if needed to ensure the safety of every runner.”

Entries swelled past 2500 and Cronin declared the online registration a success. “It really helped us out logistically to have running chips attached to the numbers. It made things much smoother for the volunteers.”

The huge turnout presented its own challenges. With such a large crowd in a constricted area, safety became a major consideration.

“We wanted to ensure that all of the runners are safe on the course and a
larger crowd means more volunteers and staff to monitor the race. We have
also communicated with the residents along the race route as we do every
year to ensure that they know when the race will occur in front of their
home,” said Cronin.

“The logistical issues are enormous for a race of that size, Everything is harder including setting up water stops, getting all runners to the start and making sure the registration lines move quickly .“

With another successful race behind her, Cronin looks forward to 2011.
“We will sit down and talk about what went right and what we can improve on. We are always tweaking to make it a better race.”

2008 Westfield Pizza Race Canceled

After several close brushes with nasty weather during its first six years, the seventh Westfield Downtown 5K and Pizza Extravaganza Race fell victim to all that Mother Nature could dole out Wednesday night and left the Westfield police no choice but to cancel the popular race. The decision was made at 6:30 pm, thirty minutes before the scheduled start time. With Doppler radar showing several powerful thunderstorms due to hit the area within the next hour the police told Race Director Sherry Cronin and organizer Mark Zenobia that they could not guarantee the safety of all runners due to the weather.

While clearly disappointed, Cronin understood the police viewpoint. “The runners and volunteers come first. If we cannot guarantee their safety then there is nothing else to do than what was done.”

Unlike other cancelled events, there will not be a makeup date for the race due to all the expenditures and contingencies already in place.

“We couldn’t do this race on another day. It’s just a freak weather event,” said Cronin, who wasn’t certain whether entrants will get refunds.

“We didn’t cancel the race on our own. We were told we had to so I am not sure how that affects refunds,” said Cronin.

As Cronin peered at hundreds of undistributed race shirts, she said wistfully, “We are going to have a major chore at the laundry to get all these shirts dried out.”

The decision stunned many runners, many who withstood difficult travel conditions only to arrive and hear that the race was cancelled.

“I guess they had to do it for safety, but I am still disappointed,” said a runner who preferred to remain anonymous.

“I am from Millburn and had planned to take the train here but when New Jersey Transit shut down for several hours I had to take the bus here. I wasn’t sure I would get here on time. Now this happens. I guess I’ll go out for a run so I can get something done.”

Race timer David Siconolfi, who has worked at over 1000 races in his career, said cancellations are a rare occurrence.

“We have them occasionally but they usually are snow related. The weather was crazy today. It was not easy setting up and I certainly understand the decision to cancel.”

After a record 2226.entrants last year, Cronin was hoping for 2600 this year. As of last Friday entries had passed 1600 but the horrible weather and early cancellation kept any kind of walkup entry to a minimum. The huge popularity had caused the organizers to slightly alter the beginning portion of the race, but the change will not be tested until next year.

With the DWC having already paid for 500 pizzas the cancellation resulted in Ferraros and Cosimos distributing pizza to the runners who waited on line in the restaurants.

The conditions made for a challenging evening for a dedicated group of sponsors and volunteers.

“Our race sponsors enable the event to take place since registrations alone
do not cover the cost for running the event,” noted Cronin.

The Westfield Jaycees were poised to hand out over the aforementioned 500 pizzas provided by Ferraro’s Pizzeria and Cosimo’s Pizzeria & Restaurant. Water, soda, cookies and paper goods were provided by ShopRite of Garwood. Additional cookies were supplied by Bovella’s Pastry Shoppe. Trader Joe’s supplied water for the race course which will be distributed by Girl Scouts. Stop & Shop and Lord and Taylor also provided bottled water. Over 100 volunteers, including many from the Westfield Y, assisted the DWC to ensure the event’s success.

Entertainment was provided by The Michael Craig Band on Quimby Street. The group consisting of Michael Doyle of Westfield and Craig Helgeson of Warren has been providing entertainment for all seven years of the race. The foul weather created extra challenges.

“We’re disappointed that we weren’t able to play this year but hopefully the weather will be better next year and we hope to be back,” said Doyle.

Pacing a wide and varied sponsorship list was Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield that returned to be a Gold Sponsor. Cronin was also pleased that over 75% of the sponsors are located Westfield’s Special Improvement District (the district which is managed by the Downtown Westfield Corporation).

Bronze sponsors for the event included Citibank, Commerce Bank, Fun Bus, Kiehl’s Since 1851, Lord & Taylor, Overlook Hospital-Atlantic Health System,, Qdoba Mexican Grill, ShopRite of Garwood, Verizon Fios, Weichert, Realtors, Westfield Pediatric Dental Group and Westfield Wealth Management. Contributing sponsors for the event included Capital One, JMK Auto Sales, Learning Express Toys of Westfield, State Farm Insurance Christine Cosenza Agency, Stop & Shop, and The Town Bank. Supporting sponsors for the event were Joseph A. Banker, DMD Creative Dental Care, Redco Engineering & Construction, Rita’s Water Ice, and Zamba Chicken. Downtown Westfield businesses also offered special promotions and giveaways at the event.

Perhaps the most disconcerting noise of a forgettable night took place at 7 pm, the exact time the race was supposed to start. A Westfield policeman yelled that people should get out of the road because Elm Street was being reopened to traffic. To everyone that was at least an hour too soon.