GLEN RIDGE, NJ — The 22nd running of the Ashenfelter 8K Classic and Tom Fleming Run is all-set for Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, with a minor change. The Tom Fleming Run has been lengthened to 1.24 miles, or 2 kilometers, and has been re-named the Tom Fleming 2K to honor local marathon sensation, Tom Fleming, two-time winner of the New York City Marathon. The 8K is this year’s USA Track & Field New Jersey 8K championship, but is also open to anyone who can walk, jog or run 5 miles.
Race proceeds benefit the Glen Ridge Educational Foundation.
Olympian and former Glen Ridge resident Horace Ashenfelter, the event’s namesake, won the steeplechase event at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and the AAU James E. Sullivan Award, which is awarded annually by the Amateur Athletic Union to “the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.”
The Tom Fleming 2K begins at 8:15 a.m., while the A8K Classic begins at 9 a.m. The 8K and 2K road courses are USATF-certified and considered to be relatively flat and fast. The 8K course consists of a figure-8 loop, mostly along Ridgewood, Forest and Hawthorne avenues with two water stops through historic, gas-lit Glen Ridge. Maps of the 8K and 2K course can be found at ashenfelter8k.org.
Participants will be able to pick up their race packet between 3 and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23, at Glen Ridge High School, 200 Ridgewood Ave., and beginning at 7 a.m. on race day. The race used the Bib Chip method of scoring.
Participation is charged. Runners can register online or at race-packet pickup times and locations.
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