Ashenfelter, in white, competing with his arch-rival, Vladimir Kazantsev of Russia.
If you’ve been seeing the traffic sawhorses around Glen Ridge, that’s because the Ashenfelter 8K is tomorrow. (Race starts at 9 a.m. Map here.) This story originally ran in the Essex Running Club Newsletter, December 2008 and also appeared on Bongiovanni’s blog, Wise Contradictions.Â
One of the most pleasant surprises about living in Glen Ridge is that it’s home to some serious runners–including one Horace Ashenfelter, who won the gold medal at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. Dan Murphy–another serious runner–took over the organization of the town’s Thanksgiving Day “turkey trot” and renamed it in Ashenfelter’s honor. Ever since I first did the race in 2006, I wondered about Ashenfelter–where does he live? Does he still run? What was it like to compete in the Olympics? I asked around–and got some answers. Ashenfelter was still running strong and is friendly. After being encouraged by some fellow Essex Running Club members, I wrote him a note and pitched a story. I got the impression that Ashenfelter was accustomed to answering questions from curious runners and was honored that he granted the interview. When he competed in the Olympics he was an FBI agent and defeated Vladimir Kazantsev, from the USSR when the Cold War was going hot. Have you had a chance to meet someone you deeply admire? How did it go? I’m glad I had a list of questions and that I recorded the conversation. I have to say, running a steeplecase sounds like fun. It’s great to have folks share their stories.
On Thanksgiving Day at the Ashenfelters, four children and twelve grandchildren don their sneakers and run an eight-kilometer race before sitting down to dinner. The 1952 gold medal winner, Horace Ashenfelter, for whom the race is named, is still going strong and inspiring runners of all ages.
