The Newsmagazine of Long Beach Island and Southern Ocean County

By David Biggy | on August 25, 2022

BACK TO NORMAL: The High Point Volunteer Fire Co. tradition that is the Dog Day Road Race returned to the summertime mix on Aug. 21. (Photos by LJ Hepp)

It may have been one of the smallest fields during the past decade, but the Dog Day Road Race was back in full swing Aug. 21.

Leading the way this year was Max Manganiello, a 19-year-old from Beach Haven who captured the top spot with a time of 26:49.77, nearly four seconds ahead of Eric Reitinger of Mount Laurel, who completed the 43rd edition of the 5-mile trek through Harvey Cedars in 26:53.47. They were the only two among the 676-runner field to finish in under 27 minutes.

Following the two leaders were Flanders’ Ryan Melendez in third with a time of 28:05.94, Tuckerton’s Nathan Boyd in fourth at 28:44.75, Ridgewood’s Teddy McCarthy in fifth at 29:50.36, New York City’s Ryan Feehery in sixth (30:50.66), and Morristown’s Jason Heap in seventh (31:43.97).

The first woman across the finish line, after blazing through the course in 32:11.31, was 25-year-old Colleen Buckley of Washington, D.C., who outpaced Jillian Smith, also of Washington, by some six seconds per mile. Smith finished in 32:41.92 at 14th overall. New York City’s Eileen Laverty was the third woman to finish, in 16th place, with a time of 32:57.50.

Rounding out the top 10 were Francis Eaton of Los Angeles, who placed ninth in 32:15.02, and Harvey Cedars’ Andrew Semsel, who crossed the line in 32:22.83 for the 10th spot. Moorestown’s Andrew Josephson (32:25.23), Bridgewater’s Nils Dahl (32:28.38), Howell’s Robert Iliff (32:32.56) and Lyndhurst’s John Burkhardt (32:43.77) completed the top 15, while Jeremy Dall (32:59.37), Thomas Hunt (33:13.62), William Clapp (33:14.51) and Shannon Hemmerle (33:18.71) finished 17th through 20th, respectively.

The youngest finisher near the front of the pack was Kendall Park 14-year-old John Gater, who swiped the 27th overall position with a time of 33:56.48, and the oldest among the top 30 finishers was Randolph 63-year-old Kevin Higgins, who ran through the finish-line chute in 33:59.89, good for 29th place.

Besides Boyd, eight others swiped the top spots for their respective age groups. Beach Haven’s Durkin McCarthy, who won the men’s 20-24 division and placed 32nd overall in 34:14.28, while West Creek’s Gillian Schriever won the women’s 25-29 division and placed 26th overall in 33:55.99, and Harvey Cedars’ Lindsay Masessa won the women’s 30-34 division and placed 24th overall in 33:41.36.

In the women’s 45-49 division, Beach Haven’s Meghan McDonough was the winner after she placed 98th overall in 40:08.54, while Manahawkin’s Patricia Yaiser snagged the top position in the women’s 55-59 division by placing 53rd overall in 36:49.29 and Barnegat Light’s Mariette Ackerman placed 548th overall in 1:04:57.40 to take the No. 1 spot in the women’s 70-74 division.

Haven Beach’s Dennis Flynn won the men’s 75-and-over division by placing 124th overall in 41:28.12, and Yvonne Reutlinger of Long Beach Township won the women’s 75-and-over division in 1:08:51.16, good enough for 586th overall.

To see the complete results for the annual High Point Volunteer Fire Co. fundraiser, check out dogdayrace.com.

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