Congratulations to all of the Running Bears who were able to make it to our final day of Spring practice. 

Our End of Season race saw Jake Shackelton, a fifth grader from Hampton, ace the double-loop one mile course turning in a time of 6:39. Though Caedon Jones hasn't been able to make too many practices, he was there in superb form for the last day and not only ran an exceptionally well-paced mile, but did it in 7:23 to place second. Caedon is a first-grader in Mrs. Knapp's class at Stillwater Township School and at a young age, has already shown quite a talent for the sport. Another talented young man placed third. Stillwater School's David Michelman, who is in the second grade, came back off of a stellar performance at The Stampede to take third in 7:55. 

 On the girls' side, Stillwater School fourth-grader, Stephanie Block was the clear cut champion running 7:56. Despite several set backs during the season, Stephanie rose to the occasion and used her long stride to carry her through the mile. We were thrilled to see Hailey Foster return for the last day of Bears to race. She and Ashley Rose Gordon worked the race together and finished second and third with Ashley at 8:06 and Hailey at 8:08. Also first grader's from Mrs. Knapp's class, the girls celebrated with post-race brownies.

This season's Coach's Award went to Jake Shakelton for his dedication and tenacity for the sport of running. Jake continually takes it upon himself to get out running, and Coach Dean has been good enough to meet him every Sunday at the trail to give him some extra coaching. Jake, the sky is the limit for you. Keep that fire burning!

 The Most Improved Awards went to Emily Popek, Andrea Nykaza and Angelina Giuliano. Emily had to literally make a case to me to allow her to run the mile-and-a-half loop early on in the season. Though I was skeptical that a first grade girl and a new runner could achieve this, I let her do it. Not ony did she finish, she did it with a smile. Needless to say, Emily ran the mile-and-a-half for the rest of the season. And Mrs. Knapp must be feeding the kids some great inspiration in the classroom because like Caedon, Ashley and Hailey, she too is in Mrs. Knapp's class. From Mrs. Malestrom's first grade at Stillwater, Andrea was another Most Improved Runner. Andrea had a few meltdowns after "The Fastest Bear," but then realized it was because she was giving it nothing short of her all. Andrea improved markedly throughout the season to be able to go the distance in the beginning Group Run, conquer the hill and then run fantastically in the relays. Angelina is another first grader, who attends school in Blairstown. She was a little shy to even start running, but did and as the season progressed, she worked up to running not only the half mile comfortably, but an entire mile. She even competed in the Stampede Mile. 

The Best Attitude awards went to David Michelman and Ashley Rose Gordon. David literally came from nowhere to win "The Fastest Bear" one day. His improvement was pretty unprecidented but was overshadowede by his contageous enthusiasm for the sport. Ashley often went into practice saying she wanted to only run the half mile, but every single time, she readjusted her attitude and did the full mile even completing the mile-and-a-half one practice working with Logan Zoppy. Though some of her peers tried to get out of running the hills or "dogging it," Ashley alwasy rose to the occasion and completed all that were assigned to her. She also had a fantastic Mile race at The Stampede. 

Final awards and thanks went out to Coach Dean and Coach Katie. Thanks so much for your help. Dean got a snazzy beach outfit complete with surfer shorts and a tank top from The Bears and Katie, who will be a senior captain on Kittatinny's Cross Country Team this fall, received a bright running outfit.  

 Parents, please know that it has been my utmost pleasure to coach your children this spring. Each and every one of the kids has exhibited stellar efforts and has made some great improvement.  Please know that it has been a delight wot work with your kids and see them thrive in the many physical and mental benefits of the great sport of running. 

Though there is no formal Bears Running program in the summer, I am available for private coaching. You can call/text me at 973-271-6624 if you want to pursue this.

FALL RUNNING BEARS 

The fall Bears Youth Running Program will resume in September, and I am looking to do Tuesdays and Thursdays. It will be held at Lodestar Park in Fredon. For information and an application please e-mail me at LaurieGordonRun@aol.com. Also, I could really use some people to volunteer as Assistant Coaches. In exchange for helping me, your child/children will be able to part-take in the program free of charge. Please shoot me an e-mail or text if you want to be an Assistant Coach.

Coach Laurie 

FOR FULL RESULTS OF THE 2012 STILLWATER STAMPEDE, PLEASE CLICK ON

"STAMPEDE 2012 RESULTS" ON THE LEFT SIDE BAR.

THERE YOU WILL FIND THE FULL RESULTS PLUS A LISTING OF OUR OVERALL AND AGE GROUP WINNERS. 

THANK YOU JEFFREY KATZ

Jeffrey Katz is a local attorney who is the Bears primary sponsor. Thanks to his support of The Bears, we are able to continue this vital program, AND it now runs three seasons of the year. We are most appreciative and grateful of his support and belief in the program and his generosity.

STAMPEDE IS TREMENDOUSLY AWESOME SUCCESS

SUNDAY, MAY 20th -- Mother Nature was on our side for a stunningly tremendous 2012 Stillwater Stampede! Rochdi Yousefd, of Morris Plains, was the champion clocking a blistering 15:29 for the 5-kilometer race... and to boot on a course that includes a rakish uphill at the 1.5-mile mark. He was just 28 seconds shy of the Stampede 5K course record. On the women's side, it wasn't close to a course record but it was a nice personal vindeta for 49-year-old Suzanne Laburt who ventured to Stillwater from Greenwood Lake, NY to prove that age doesn't matter if you train properly. She clocked 20:01 and out-ran many women who were much younger.  "I love coming to this race, and to win at 49 was so great," she said. 

 Kyle Brightbill, of Warren, NJ, was second in 16:17, and Kittatinny Regional High School's own Blake DiGiaimo was third in 18:13, one of his personal bests. 

 Lindsey McKee was the second female. A student at Ramapo College, she ran 20:27. Lisa Wilburne, who runs for North Warren Regional, was third in 21:44.

The Mile "Fun Run" became a greatly anticipated event for 8 first graders from The Stillwater Township School along with a number of other participants from all around the area. For the first time, we had them run a double loop course which added a lot of excitement as their parents could see them and cheer at the turn around cone. On the boy's side, Stillwater School fifth grader, Zachery Loppy, was the champion with Daniel Manzer, a first grader at Stillwater, second. For the girls, Ashley Rose Gordon used a combination of pacing and sheer guts to take first. She is also a first grader at Stillwater. Her friend and classmate, Clare Schwartz, was second.  

 Special accolades to Running Bears' David Michelman. A second grader at Stillwater, David surprised his coach and parents by insisting on doing the 5K race.  He ran 9:30 pace and turned in a 29:26 for the three-point-one-mile race and then even upped the anti and jumped into the mile race too.  

Another Bears shout out goes to Jacob Jiuliano who completed his first 5K. The 12-year-old from Blairstown ran 37:36. His sister, who is also a Bear and in the first grade, Angilina, rocked it out in the mile.

 The beauty of the day was underscored by some awesome music which added great energy and enthusiasm to the marquis 5K and following Mile Run and Tiny Trot. Thanks to Tran and Ruth Whitley for being such great DJs and providing some senseational rock n' roll as the back drop.  

 Many thanks to the Bears' parents who baked for the post-race "goodie table" and to all of those who vounteered at the event.