SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — On Saturday, Nov. 19, sunshine and nearly 60-degree temperatures greeted the more than 250 runners in the Two Towns Turkey Trot 5K and Kids’ Fun Run fundraiser for Seth Boyden School.
The atmosphere was sociable, even festive. Race founder and 2016 sponsor Susie Adamson of Keller Williams Midtown Direct Realty, a Seth Boyden alumni parent, described the event as “wonderful and family-friendly, with not a lot of pressure. It’s such a fun way to bring everybody together in the community.”
The 5K looped through South Mountain Reservation on Bear Lane and Crest Drive. The first-place finisher was 45-year-old Michael Steiner of Maplewood, with a time of 19 minutes and 8.85 seconds. Another Maplewood resident, Elizabeth Athaide, finished first among the women — at only 13 years old! She completed the race in 22 minutes and 37.37 seconds, in 11th place overall.
Before the event, Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca and South Orange President Sheena Collum had declared a friendly competition between the “two towns” of the race’s name. With Steiner’s victory, Maplewood took the bragging rights for 2016.
The 222 runners in the 5K and 34 children aged 3 to 12 in the Fun Run made up the largest turnout in the race’s history. Participants came from all over Essex County and from several towns in Union County, and even from as far away as Mendham, Raritan and Staten Island.
A major highlight of the race was the participation of local women’s triathlete club Team TRIumph with guest of honor Lindsay in an adaptive running chair. The chair was provided by Celebrate Love Always, a nonprofit organization that increases the awareness about and availability of aerodynamic wheelchairs that enable mobility-challenged users to participate in races. The foundation is considering the joint Maplewood-South Orange community as the recipient of its next donation under the auspices of Team TRIumph.
Lindsay, whose chair was helmed by TRIumph runner Brigitte D’alfonso, had a wonderful time. “She said the race was awesome and that she was proud to showcase the running wheelchair,” Lindsay’s mother said.
For Rhonda Panken, a Team TRIumph member and parent of a Seth Boyden fourth-grader who also ran the 5K, the event was very meaningful. “I’m grateful that Team TRIumph was so enthusiastic about benefiting Seth Boyden. It was truly special to have Lindsay join us and participate using a Celebrate Love Always adaptive chair. My daughter and I both had a great time, and we look forward to doing it again next year!”
CompuScore of Wall logged the times of all of the runners. Emcee Kevin Kraft, a Seth Boyden parent, awarded prizes after the race, including a TD bank gift card for the men’s and women’s 5K winners and prizes for each men’s and women’s age group winners. Every child in the Fun Run received a medal; the first finisher in each of the four age brackets won a trophy.
In addition to Adamson, the sponsors of the race were Seven Point Wellness of Maplewood; Wilber’s Painting of Millburn; Community First Soccer of Maplewood/South Orange; CKO Kickboxing of Maplewood; and Stop & Shop.
Seth Boyden parents Rodney Fontil and Stacy Merriweather Fontil organized the race and worked closely with newly re-elected Board of Education member Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad to promote it.
Text and photos courtesy of Alison Poe, with additional photos from Kadee Duffy-Shipman and Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad.