Community Corner

Sheehan Classic Honors Rumsonite Doc for 20th Year

The races begin on Friday and run through Saturday.

The next couple of days mark the 20-year run of a classic — The George Sheehan Classic races.

The two-day Red Bank-based event that draws thousands and honors the memory of George "Doc" Sheehan, a former Rumsonite, Red Bank cardiologist, writer, philosopher and runner is set to start Friday afternoon and run through Saturday.

Events to highlight the race, which has been dubbed one of the top 100 of its kind in the country, will begin at 2 p.m on Friday at Marine Park with the Runners' Expo Village and t-shirt pick-up and the Kids' Classic race at 6:30 p.m. and entertainment to follow.

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On Saturday, the main event, the at 6:30 a.m. with the t-shirt pick-up and Runners' Expo in Marine Park. The race starts at 8:30 a.m. on Broad Street on a USA Track and Field-certified course, and is followed by the famous Sheehan Post-Race Picinic in Marine Park and Post-Race Party at Brannigan's.

Red Bank officials have advised that the Saturday race will close off borough streets from Maple to Prospect Avenue from 7 to 10:30 a.m. " Maple will remain open for north/south traffic only and Front Street will be open for east/west traffic," according to a notification on the Red Bank website. "Additionally, Broad Street from Front Street to Harding Rd will close at 4 a.m. that day to allow for set-up. That area will also re-open at approximately 10:30 am."

Find out what's happening in Rumson-Fair Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The 5K race was trimmed down last year from 5 miles to kilometers, or 3.1 miles, in an effort to attract more runners and make it easier for casual athletes.

The race, before it became the George Sheehan Classic, was first set in Asbury Park in 1981 and aptly named the Asbury Park 10K Classic. After becoming a premier running event in the nation, upon Sheehan's death in 1994, the race was moved to Red Bank and renamed to honor the man who has been referred to as the “father of the running boom” in the United States.

The Sheehan family is releasing a book in 2014 honoring Dr. Sheehan's life 20 years after his death.

For more information on this year's Sheehan Classic, click here.


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