On Saturday, John, Taugh, Chris and Tom & I will be participating in the 15th annual Jersey Shore Marathon relay aka RunAPalooza. We are the defending master's champs and will be looking for our third win in a row. We had to make some late changes to our lineup because Dale & Ken, 
our anchor legs from the previous years won't be able to make it. Their spots will be filled by Tom & Chris, both very capable of running good times. John will now be our anchor this year, as we had to juggle the lineup slightly.
our anchor legs from the previous years won't be able to make it. Their spots will be filled by Tom & Chris, both very capable of running good times. John will now be our anchor this year, as we had to juggle the lineup slightly.
Taugh leads us off by running the first 6.1 leg, Chris will run the next leg of 6.5, Tom will run the 4.5 mile leg, I will be running leg #4 which is 6.2 and John will finish up with the 3.1 mile leg.
The relay marathon is put on by the Jersey Shore Running Club which organiz
es many races along the beautiful Jersey Shore. It is a day full of running with a 1/2 marathon option, as well as the choice to run the full marathon by yourself. If you haven't been part of a relay marathon or longer, this is the one to do. The camaraderie is great and there is a real sense of running your best for the team. We also have a blast riding in the car following our team member.
We have been fortunate to have won the masters category two years in a row which is not bad since the average age of the team is about 50 years of age and the masters age group starts at 40. There are
mixed teams as well as a category for best costume. Last year there was a team dressed as the cast
members of the Jersey Shore. Two years ago there was a high school team of girls dressed as super heroes as well as the cast of Gilligan's Island. I am sure the guys on our team wouldn't be caught dead running in a costume.
es many races along the beautiful Jersey Shore. It is a day full of running with a 1/2 marathon option, as well as the choice to run the full marathon by yourself. If you haven't been part of a relay marathon or longer, this is the one to do. The camaraderie is great and there is a real sense of running your best for the team. We also have a blast riding in the car following our team member.We have been fortunate to have won the masters category two years in a row which is not bad since the average age of the team is about 50 years of age and the masters age group starts at 40. There are
mixed teams as well as a category for best costume. Last year there was a team dressed as the cast
members of the Jersey Shore. Two years ago there was a high school team of girls dressed as super heroes as well as the cast of Gilligan's Island. I am sure the guys on our team wouldn't be caught dead running in a costume.
They stagger the starts based on predicted times with the hope that all teams finish about the same time, right around 12:30 - 1pm. Our start time has been 9:40 each year and we hope to break 3 hours this time
around. 
around. 
Afterwards there is a huge party at the Asbury Park Convention Hall. The race itself starts at Seaside Heights , hugs the coast and runs along the boardwalk where it can. We were fortunate to have two great days the last two years which makes the day that much more enjoyable. The after party is at the Wonder Bar across the street from the convention hall and full of Jersey Shore history.
On Sunday, I will be running the Rutger's Unite 1/2 Marathon which is in it's second year. I didn't run it last year because I ran the relay the day before, but all my friends said it was a very good race. I probably would not have run it this year because of the relay again, but I entered it before the relay and then realized it was the day after RunApalooza. I am running the relay hard and will run the first 5 miles of the 
1/2 easy and see how I feel. I will determine weather I can run faster than 8 min miles at that point. I feel like I am in pretty good shape, but back to backs hard at 52 years of age are not usually good for me.
Many of my friends from the Raritan Valley Running Club will be running it, but Frankie T is coming in from NYC to join me for this one. We ran the Sleepy Hollow 1/2 about 1 month ago together and hope to do the same again on Sunday.
We will also be running the Hampton's 1/2 Marathon in September.
The Unite 1/2 starts at the Sonny Werblin center on the Rutger's Busch campus and finishes on George Street on the
College Avenue campus. There will be some hills but nothing major and I would have liked to run this race hard but just don't I will have it in me to do so.
Well, there it is, 19.8 miles of running in two days, with lots of friends and even more fun. I can't wait to post from each of these races.
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