This past Saturday, July 30th, marked the 16th edition of the River to Sea Relay Race across New Jersey. This race is a favorite among locals and brings out some pretty "heavy hitters" in the running community year after year. Each team consisted of seven runners and they each ran two legs of the 92 mile course. Lining up this year was a team of Garmin ambassadors put together by Garmin employee Gary, who was also a member of the " 7 Runners with Forerunners"  team.

"Since the race was handicapped and we started nearly four hours after the first team, our goal was to win  the fastest overall time", said Gary, who with over 25 years of running experience was the team veteran and owns a marathon PR of 2:32. "It was amazing, as always, to see so many Garmin Forerunner GPS watches on the wrists of competitors when we passed them by. It shows that no matter what level runner you are, there is a Forerunner for you," Gary continued.

Gary and his six teammates were totally stoked about using Garmin's newest touchscreen Forerunner 610 GPS enabled watch. Team member Chris Pannone recently qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials with a time of 2:18:24, in his marathon debut. Yes, you read that right! In his first marathon! Pannone, a former University of Colorado standout had this to say, "The 610 far exceeded my expectations. It was slim, light-weight and I loved the vibration motor alert at each mile marker." The youngest member of their team, Mike Soroko holds a PR in the mile with a blazing 4:07. "I have to be honest, I sweat with the best of them in this heat and the 610 never once jumped screens or gave me any difficulty while navigating my splits between my turn running," Soroko said with enthusiasm.

 
Team "7 Runners with Forerunners" did indeed capture the overall fastest time at this year's Sea to River Relay and had smiles at the finish to go along with it. Congrats to them and all the competitors in this great event. In our book, the sign of a true runner is when there is a Garmin Forerunner tan line on your wrist, a true badge of honor. Just ask Gary, pictured here, who tried to take that to the next level!

Team "7 Runners with Forerunners"

1. Gary Rosenberg    2. Bobby Pappizian    3. Joshua Hibbs    4. Sean Donohue

5. Anthony LaMastro    6. Mike Soroko    7. Chris Pannone