Photos by Daniel Jackovino The traditional Thanksgiving Day race had about 2,700 finishers.
The traditional Thanksgiving Day race had about 2,700 finishers.
GLEN RIDGE, NJ — Hometown favorite Pelle Nogueira finished second in the 24th annual Ashenfelter Classic 8K on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23.
The race was won by Jean Uminski, of North Brunswick, with a time of 24:09.07. Nogueira finished at 24:13.99. The first female finisher, in 21st place overall, was Roberta Groner, of Ledgewood, with a time of 26:41.15. This was a national record in the 45-49 age group.
In 76th place,Tsutomo Bessho was the second Glen Ridge resident to finish, with a time of 29:44.92.
In finishing third last year, Nogueira had run a faster race with a time of 23:52.17 or so it seemed.
Race coordinator Dan Murphy said in a telephone interview Monday, Nov. 27, that an inspection of the course after last year’s race revealed it was 26 feet short of eight kilometers. Consequently, a national, 60-64 age group record that had been set by Nat Larson, of Amherst, Mass., had to be discounted. Larson returned last week, a year older but still within the same age group, and clocked 27:46.81 for 32nd place and a national record.
“It’s frustrating,” Murphy said. “You pay to have it certified and they do it wrong.”
Two male runners in the 90+ age group finished. They were Nathaniel Finestone, 94, of Mountainside, and Arch Seamans, 91, of Rockaway. They have run the Ashenfelter 8K before.
“We start the race for them one-half hour before,” Murphy said. “They are proud and amazing.”
In an interview Sunday, Nov. 26, Nogueira said his latest race was OK.
“It was a good performance in the grand scheme of things,” he said. “The object was to win, so it’s disappointing. It’s not what I wanted, but I just got beat by someone better.”
Every race is different, he said, and there are no guarantees.
“There’s no ‘ifs’ in sports,” he said. “If the ‘me’ of last year was in this race this year, I would have won, just looking at it on a piece of paper. But that’s not how you run a race.”
He said, at the beginning of the race, the pace was slower than last year. At the two-mile mark, the lead runners were 10-15 seconds slower.
“But after the two miles, the pace was the same,” he said. “The only difference was the slower pace at the start. If I wanted to run as I did last year, I’d have taken it to the front.”
He said his conditioning was the same as last year.
“The guy who won wasn’t in the race last year,” he said. “If he was, maybe he could have kept up. I don’t know how much energy was still in him at the end.”
The last five kilometers, he said, were run at a 4:50 mile pace, maybe faster.
“We were definitely in good shape for this,” he said. “I wasn’t focused on my pace, but winning. That’s always a better goal.”
Nogueira said the winner is also a member of the Garden State Track Club, like himself.
“He’s pretty quick,” Nogueira continued, “and definitely does a faster 5K than I do. I’m more of a longer distance runner. But based on his results, after the race, he was more of a middle distance to distance runner. I’m more long distance.”
Nogueira is flying out to Sacramento to run in the California International Marathon on Sunday, Dec. 3, where he must finish with a time of 2 hours 18 minutes or better to qualify for the U.S. Olympics Marathon Trials, in February.
It will be his first marathon although he has run a half-marathon.
“It’s a stretch, but I’ve been training well,” he said. “Even if I don’t qualify, I’ll know where I’m at in the marathon.”
Murphy said he believes the Ashenfelter 8K, which had about 2,700 finishers this year, has hit its critical mass and he does not foresee an increase in participants.
“The weather this year was perfect,” he said. “Thanksgiving Day races are usually the most popular. You get non-serious runners. And I have to thank Fran Wong and Marsha O’Grady, of the Glen Ridge Foundation, for their work. They did a seamless registration. Also the Kiwanis Club and the police; the entire community helped out. The race is a well-oiled machine.”
Photo Gallery Courtesy of Brianne Aumack
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