Like A Rock Star

Last week, he broke the all-time record at Garret Mountain, this week St. Benedict's Prep junior Edward Cheserek took down Joe Rosa's 'unbeatable' record at Holmdel Park, running 14:53 at the Shore Coaches Invitational.

Even Rosa, now a Stanford freshman, called the Kenyan "the best cross country runner in New Jersey history."

His time would have been even faster had he not had to slow for a group of women who were walking with their headphones on at one point on the course.

Jim Lambert of the Newark Star-Ledger called it "the greatest race every run on N.J. soil." He added:

"Cheserek is like a rock star at these meets. Everyone wants to get as close to him as possible. When he was being interviewed there must have been 100 people circled around him. Some asked for his autograph and requested to have their picture taken with him. Cheserek obliged with a smile on his face."

To make matters even more amazing, it was Cheserek's first competitive run at Holmdel, although he had run the course with Joe and Jim Rosa over the summer.

In March, Marc Bloom interviewed Cheserek and asked him why he starts his races so fast (he blazed through the first mile at Holmdel on Saturday in 5:01, six seconds faster than Rosa's record split).

Said Cheserek, "I don't know how to run slowly."

That is becoming evident each and every weekend.