SNEAKER FACTORY RACERS BECOME A RUNNING CLUB It began about fifteen years ago, according to Dean Shonts. Not the club, but the transformation of an elite racing team into the Sneaker Factory Running Club. Unlike the other Morris County based clubs, the club was first a racing team before it was a running club. "Some of us were running for the Shore Athletic Club and some with a club called Central Jersey Track Club," said Dean Shonts, whose name will always be associated with the Sneaker Factory. Shonts no longer is the owner of the Millburn running store that carries the club name. He and his wife Betty have moved to the Shore in preparation for retirement but Shonts will forever be linked to the store and the club that began in 1977. "At the time you had to be invited to come into the club. You had to be serious about it and come and train with us." said Shonts, who at the time was the AAU's long distance running chairman. |
"There was no Masters, no women," said Shonts. "There was just distance."
As the running boom developed, so did the need for road racing clubs as opposed to the track and field clubs that dominated at the time.
"We wanted a club that was road race oriented and not track oriented," said Shonts.
Not surprisingly, since it was an elite team, membership remained small. That changed when women's running blossomed and elite women began to run with the Sneaker Factory men.
"A lot of women came and were doing our track workouts with us. They became very competitive," said Shonts. "One year we had four girls go to the Olympic Trials."
But as their elite core began to get older and less competitive more people were invited to join the club. Part of the motivation Shonts admits was that the club needed more club volunteers to help with races they were putting on at South Mountain Reservation.
The evolution accelerated when Shonts moved to Morristown about fifteen years ago and the Tuesday night group run became a fixture with the members. Each Tuesday evening the club has either a track workout or a challenging road run. After the run the group gathers at a local establishment for post run refueling.
It was the group runs that first brought newly elected club president Nancy Dolan of West Caldwell to the club. Dolan was in the Team in Training program that gathered on Saturday mornings in Millburn to run from the Sneaker Factory store.
"At first I was attracted because it was closest to my house," said Dolan. "Some of the Sneaker Factory runners were running with them [Team in Training] on Saturdays. It seemed like everyone was nice and I was looking for a club at the time."
Dolan ventured to a Tuesday night run only to learn that the expected road run was instead going to be a track workout. Since the club workouts are not for the squeamish Dolan could have been excused for turning around and going home, but she gutted it out.
"I did the track workout and I got to know people," said Dolan. "It was great fun."
Dolan can be described as one of the new kind of Sneaker Factory members. She makes no claims of speed, but rather tries to be involved in many activities.
"I know that in a lot of running clubs the people are very competitive," she said. "But there is a place for everyone. I am not the fastest person for sure."
Dolan said that the club is organizing activities outside of running and racing, like a fun night of bowling.
Men's team captain John Sabatino of Morris Plains echoed Dolan's sentiment, although his job is to see that the club has full teams at the New Jersey championship races.
"We're like all the other clubs," said Sabatino. "We have potential runners, both open and masters. We usually always field teams, especially on the men's side."
Sabatino also has to reassure his runners that they are needed even if they are not the fastest on the team.
"Some people say, 'I'm not top seven on the team, so why should I run?' 'I can only run twenty minutes in a 5K. I'm not going to score. Why even show up?'"
Sabatino said that he is trying to get more team support and to reassure his runners they are wanted even if they are ninth or tenth and don't score.
"We've actually picked up in the last six months," he said. "People are coming to our group runs. It's mostly just word of mouth. We've also created a little post card that tells about the club. You don't necessarily have to be a serious runner to join."
"You don't have to be competitive," said Sabatino. "Fifteen years ago in Sneaker Factory, you had to be sub 20 (in a 5K) for a guy and 22 minutes for girls. I almost felt bad for someone who was just average in a race."
"You couldn't even train with anyone from our team," he said. "We've changed over the years. A lot of people have formed groups within the club. You can call them, fast, medium and slow, but they have camaraderie."
He added that the beer and pizza after the Tuesday workouts is key to the club's camaraderie. While being the fastest team is a good goal he said, forming a club is more important.
"We were a racing team," he said. "But now we are more of a club than a racing team."
Originally published by the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey on Sunday, February 24, 2008
Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2008
