In a close race, Glen Ridge native Pelle Nogueira was second to Jordan Brennan, of Colt’s Neck, in the 26th running of the Ashenfelter 8K, on Thanksgiving Day.
According to the published CompuScore times, Brennan’s clock time was 24:18.33 with Nogueira at 24:18.39.
A 2017 Glen Ridge High School graduate, Nogueira was the top Glen Ridge finisher the previous three years finishing third, second and fifth. On Sunday, he spoke about his latest effort.
“I’d say I pretty much raced the way I should have,” he said. “It was a perfect execution and I feel good about it.”
He did not expect to win the race, he said, and was treating himself as the “underdog,” but did not know if that was the best word for it.
“I had to make decisions before the race,” he said. “There were a lot of approaches. One is to lead from the start and hope everyone drops off. But I didn’t have the confidence to do that.”
Over the summer, he said he tried leading from the start, but did not win.
“I had the fitness to be competitive, but not to lead from the beginning. If I had my shot, it was to make a move right at the end,” he said. “But there was a huge bunch at the beginning, about ten guys from the beginning. A few miles in, the pace picked up and I was able to cover that move.”
He said that sometimes a runner can get overwhelmed with a lot of other runners in front of them. He started to struggle when it came down to four runners out in front, but said he was able to cover all their moves.
“When there are four guys left, you’re looking at a 25-percent chance of winning,” he continued. “The eventual winner made his move with a mile to go. That was aggressive. On the hill, at Ridgewood and Maolis, I thought it was going to be a 4th-place day for me, but I found some energy. It was a really big push. It was really cool to feel that adrenaline.”
But the gap between himself and the winner was too big to make up.
“It was a second place finish in a good way because I came from behind from 4th to 2nd,” he said. “That made things a little more positive for me. I think I ran the race smart. The execution was great. The guy who won, his fitness was greater.”
Nogueira said he will have to improve his fitness for next year, but in retrospect, looking back on the race, he was not disappointed.
“You have to look at it through a successful lens,” he said. “There were times when I didn’t know if I could get myself to this competitive level. The Ashenfelter 8K is a very difficult race to win. The best you can do is be in the best shape possible for next year to move the 2nd-place finish into a 1st-place.
Next year will be here before you know it and I have to be ready for it. How I approach the race, those decisions will evolve with time. The best thing I can focus on now is to maximize my fitness. But how I confront the race will evolve.”
The second Glen Ridge runner to finish the 8K race on Thanksgiving Day was Matthew Rosenberg, in 73rd, at 29:14.61. The first Glen Ridge women finishers were Deanna Leighton, in 589th place, followed closely by Kristin Cullinan, in 602nd. They ran 39:30.06 and 39:35.78, respectively. The first woman to finish was Jennifer Pesce, of Vincentown, NJ, in 58th place, with a 28:56.91 time.
Nogueire said his next race will be the Donut Run, this weekend, in Montclair. In January, he will compete in Tallahassee, with the Garden State Track Club, in the club cross-country championships.
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