Sports

Nearly 1,300 Race in Sheehan Classic

The two-day runner's festival, capped by the 5k Sheehan Classic, attracted more than a thousand to downtown Red Bank.

Since the Sheehan Classic moved to Red Bank in 1994 it's been a draw for thousands of runners from New Jersey and states beyond who line up on Broad Street one (near) summer's day for one of the area's most scenic races.

Though event details have changed like the date - the race was typically held later in the season - and the distance - the Sheehan was reduced from five miles to a 5-kilometer race to help encourage participation - nearly 1,300 registered racers and countless hundreds more descended on Red Bank for the two-day runners' extravaganza. 

The Sheehan began on Friday with the opening of a runners expo in and later children races. The main event went down on Saturday, with an official 1,296 runners packing the borough's downtown and waiting for the starting bell. When the race was finished, just over 15 minutes for the winner, and over an hour for a few participants, the runners again gathered in Marine Park for a celebratory event.

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Taking first in the Sheehan Classic was Johnathan Phillips, 28, of Brooklyn, NY, whose pace time of 4 minutes, 58 seconds a mile saw him finish the race in a brisk 15 minutes and 24 seconds. The top female finisher was Maria Pavkovitch who finished the 5k race in 18 minutes and 19 seconds.

Though there can only be one race winner, like Highlander, everyone who participated in Saturday's Sheehan Classic was a champion for making the effort. Check out our famous from this weekend's event.

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For a complete list of winners, sortable by everything from name to age to pace, click here.


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