October 24, 2012

Plans for the HiTOPS half marathon on November 4, Princeton’s first half marathon in over 20 years, is, in part, a result of a collaboration between HiTOPS Teen Council alumnae Jennifer Chung, and Gloria Orellana.

Ms. Chung and Ms Orellana have been working side-by-side with HiTOPS staff for nearly two years to bring the Princeton Half Marathon to fruition.

HiTOPS developed the Princeton half Marathon as a platform for raising awareness about the importance of adolescent health to community health. Although adolescence is generally a healthy time of life, behavioral problems — such as smoking, substance abuse, risky sexual behaviors, eating disorders, and suicide ideation — can either begin or peak during adolescence, and can determine health status and risk for chronic diseases in adulthood. HiTOPS teaches young people the importance of making healthy decisions by weighing actions and consequences. The 2012 half marathon is highlighting the importance of early mental health screening.

The Princeton Half Marathon reached its cap at 1,000 runners three months after its announcement, and will bring runners from 18 states and three different countries. Residents along the course have offered their lawns for stationing water tables. Volunteers from all over the community are invited to assist in passing out water to runners.

“This is what it’s all about,” said Ms. Chung, “I wanted the race to be about the Princeton community and making positive changes in people’s lives. Who else but HiTOPS embodies that exact sentiment?”

Part of the attraction to the Princeton Half Marathon is the opportunity for participants to explore the town’s lesser known pockets of nature and history. “Princetonians are committed to health, fitness, and achieving goals,” Ms. Chung said. “Princeton was the perfect place to spark this health effort.”

As a Teen Council member during the 1996-1997 school year, Ms. Orellana remembers feeling that she was a part of a group that made a difference. “The Princeton Half Marathon excites me because it is an event that celebrates health and well-being in many ways,” she commented. “It celebrates its runners who run the distance, the tremendous community involvement, and the mission of bringing health education and crucial health services to the youth in the community I grew up in.”

Ms. Chung, who was in the HiTOPS Middle School Teen Council in 1999-2000, said that she “absorbed all the lessons and values she taught to fellow peers — including building confidence in one’s body and actions, and thinking for oneself.”

HiTOPS’s Teen Council is a select group of peer educators who receive 224 hours of leadership training and sexual health education, and present up to 30 peer education workshops a year. Last year, 1,200 youngsters benefitted from programs in schools, juvenile justice facilities, and community organizations.

HiTOPS is a non-profit organization located in Mercer County. For nearly 25 years, HiTOPS has provided adolescents with knowledge, risk reduction strategies, and resources to help them reduce risk behaviors and make health enhancing decisions. For more information about HiTOPS, visit www.hitops.org.

 

August 22, 2012

ON MR. HINDS’S PLAZA: Diners at Witherspoon Grill were enjoying the fine weather Saturday on Albert Hinds Plaza, which will be a dancer’s dream Friday between 7:30 and 10 p.m. when the Central Jersey Dance Society hosts a dance social. The DJ will be the inimitable Loui B. (Photo by Emily Reeves)

Once word got out last spring about the first-ever Princeton half marathon, which will benefit HI TOPS Health Center, registrations began to pour in. It wasn’t long before the maximum number of 1,000 entrants was reached for the 13.1-mile race, which will wind through town on Sunday, November 4.

Runners who didn’t sign up in time still have an opportunity to take part in a similar event just a few miles away. The Trenton half marathon, which counts HI TOPS as one of the organizations it will benefit, is scheduled for the following Saturday, November 10, in the capital city. Nicknamed “the double cross” because it traverses two bridges, the race will also benefit such charities as Ryan’s Quest, Alexander’s Run, Caroline’s Hope, and the Community Blood Council of New Jersey.

Referring runners to the Trenton event was the idea of Catharine Vaucher, HI TOPS’s director of development and marketing. “We hit our limit in early July,” she said. “And there are many, many people still contacting us who really want to register. The Trenton race has a much larger capacity and they haven’t reached their goals yet, so we asked them and they thought it was a good idea.”

Brian Barry, the Trenton half marathon’s race director, was happy to collaborate. “Some people thought that the Princeton half marathon would be competition for us. But I look at it as an opportunity for us to partner together,” he said. “This is a first for us and a first for them, and it has worked well.”

As of last week, just over 1,200 runners were signed up for the Trenton event. Barry said he hopes to have 2,500 by the time the runners set off just outside the Trenton Thunder stadium on November 10. The course will take participants down Center Street, up Broad Street around the Battle Monument, over the “Trenton Makes” bridge into Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and then back into New Jersey via the Calhoun Street Bridge to Cadwalader Park.

While there have been shorter distance races held in Trenton in recent years, this is the first time for a half marathon. Any trepidation people might have about running through Trenton’s streets is unfounded, Mr. Barry said. “Any distance run in an urban setting is going to run through some nice sections and some less than desirable sections. But overall, this will be a good experience,” he said. “It’s up to us to make sure the course is safe, and we will. It’s a fun thing for people to get out and do. Frankly, we haven’t encountered too many people who have those concerns. They do the Broad Street run in Philadelphia through some of the worst neighborhoods in the city, and it’s fine.”

The run is being organized by BOSS Events, a non-profit organization formed under the auspices of the Road Runners Club of America. The group’s mission is to promote health and wellness throughout Mercer County.

“Running has become the most popular form of exercise in the last ten years, especially during the recession,” said Mr. Barry. “It’s free, it’s fun, and it’s a great way to be outside.”

The Trenton half marathon will also include a 10K race and a kids’ run. Organizers plan to make it an annual event. “Our hope and drive is to not only make this something every year, but to do other healthy-type events in the area to get people out and involved in the community,” Mr. Barry said. “We want to grow this. Hopefully next year we’ll have 5,000.”

The Princeton half marathon was designed to give a larger platform to adolescent health. “This year we’re really focusing on the importance of early mental health screening,” said Ms. Vaucher. “We really want to raise awareness.”

The race begins in Palmer Square and includes the Princeton University campus, Princeton Battlefield, Lake Carnegie, and several other areas of town.

Both the Princeton and Trenton half-marathons are certified by the national organization, USA Track & Field (USATF). Anyone who runs in both the events can qualify for a full marathon and receive a Mercer County Marathon medal, Ms. Vaucher said.


April 18, 2012

The November 4 HiTOPS half-marathon promises to be a win-win event for all involved.

As the first Princeton race in some 20 years, it will draw both local and out-of-state spectators who will be reminded, or, perhaps introduced for the first time, to the sights, sounds, history, and pleasures of Princeton. Local merchants’ associations are delighted about the event, and special weekend accommodation packages will be made available to out-of-town runners and their families.

The course of the race is a winner as well. Runners will proceed along a 13.1 mile route that highlights some of Princeton’s most renowned landmarks, including Albert Einstein’s house, the Princeton Battlefield, the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University, Lake Carnegie, and the Herrontown Woods.

It is anticipated that the race will attract 1,000 runners (134 have already signed on), and 3,000 spectators. “Early bird” registration is currently $65. A variety of sponsorship packages are available for both small businesses and large companies, who may call (609) 945-2345, ext. 5051 for details.

The most important winner to come out of the event will be, it is hoped, HiTOPS, which will benefit from both the proceedings and the spotlight it promises to focus on the agency’s work.

At Tuesday’s conference marking the official launch of the half-marathon, more than one speaker referred to the “unsung” accomplishments of the Princeton-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. HiTOPS’s “ultimate goal,” they say, is to nurture “healthy, empowered youth who make health-enhancing choices and avoid long-term negative health outcomes.” The organization’s 25th anniversary in 2013 made this an apt time to kick off a series of events to celebrate the occasion, said executive director Elizabeth Casparian. On November 4, that means all-day music and refreshments at Palmer Square, and a celebratory dinner in the Nassau Inn ballroom for runners and volunteers that evening.

Volunteers are key to the success of the event, noted Jennifer Chung, a long-time volunteer herself. At least 30 people are needed, and those who are interested are encouraged to visit the website http://princetonhalfmarathon.com.

Both Lieutenant Robert Currier of the Borough Police and Township Sergeant Thomas Murray helped to plan the race’s route and will continue to be involved.

“If any of you have kids, you know how valuable HiTOPS is,” said Borough Mayor Yina Moore in her comments at the press conference. In addition to lauding HiTOPS’s services, she noted that the upcoming half-marathon is an additional opportunity — besides traditional University sporting events — to bring outsiders to Princeton. Ms. Moore’s enthusiasm was not dampened by her admission that she “promised not to run,” citing an arthritic shoulder that hampered a symbolic Little League pitch as a telling precedent.

Speakers on Tuesday morning expressed the hope that the half-marathon will become an annual event in Princeton, and Ms. Casparian noted that HiTOPS looks forward to assigning a different theme to each future race. This year’s theme, she reported, is mental health, and HiTOPS has devised a “sophisticated” screening tool, based on confidential consultations, for assessing the likelihood that youngsters may have mental health issues that are associated with making bad decisions in the future.

Asked how much the screening tool costs, Ms. Casparian said that a separate price tag could not be put on it, because it is part of HiTOPS’s tradition of doing an assessment that looks at the whole adolescent.

For more information, visit http://princetonhalfmarathon.com, or write to info@princetonhalfmarathon.com, or call (866) 854-2RUN (2786).