MILE HIGH: Jeremy Sallade, 8, of Princeton flies to the finish line in winning a heat at the recently-held Princeton Community Mile. The third annual mile event, hosted by the Princeton Athletic Club (PAC), took place at the Hun School track. Princeton resident Michael Fonder provided a highlight of the evening as he set a new event record with a time of 4:27.0.
(Photo by Bonnie Davis, Courtesy of the Princeton Athletic Club)

Billing itself as a community of runners within the Princeton community, the Princeton Athletic Club (PAC) recently held two events which are becoming annual fixtures on the local running scene.

In mid-June, the PAC held its third annual mile running event, the Princeton Community Mile, at The Hun School track.

The competition featured four heats so that participants had the opportunity to run with others of similar paces.

“The weather was great, high 70s and sunny,” said event director David
Kimmel of the PAC.

“We also had a number of people come back from past years, and it was good to see several families sign up and run. Sometimes a parent was running in one heat and their kids in another, and they took turns cheering each other on.”

In the final heat of the evening, Princeton resident Michael Fonder set a new Princeton Community Mile record with a time of 4:27.0. Chris Sallade finished second in 4:44.1 with Noah Chen taking third in 5:05.3.

The top finisher in the first heat was 8-year old Princeton
resident Jeremy Sallade with a time of 7:05.2, followed by Steve Dans in 7:13.7 and Stephanie Weber in 7:21.7. In the second heat, Princeton resident Jamie Reuland finished first with a time of 6:46.8, followed by Gourin Bhagavathi in 6:55.4 and Euen Ekman-Gunn in 7:05.6. In the third heat, Princeton resident Clara Blättler finished first and recorded the fastest female time of the evening as she ran 5:52.9, followed by Rob Borham in 5:57.4 and Rich O’Brien in 6:02.9.

A week later, PAC returned to Hun for its All-Comers Track Event, which included a 3,000-meter run, an 800-meter run, a 100-meter dash, and a 4×400 relay.

Benefitting from another good weather night with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-70’s, the meet attracted a good turnout. In the 3,000 meter run, Princeton High track star Jacob Rist took first in a time of 9:34.4. The top women’s finisher in the 3,000 was Erin Grosskurth of Dix Hills, N.Y., as she finished in 12:35.2.

In the 100 dash, the men’s winner was Romano Foti of Princeton with a time of 12.2 while Blättler was the fastest woman as she clocked a time of 13.5.

In the 800-meter run, Rist posted his second win of the evening with a time of 2:05.4. Jadee Gordon of Trenton was the first woman, clocking a 2:42.1. In the 4×400 meter relay, the quartet of of Noam Chen, Alex Harvey, Antonio Pinheiro, and Rist, all of Princeton, placed first in 4:01.3.