COLTS NECK – Every so often a coach has a vision. It may be related to one of his athletes, maybe his school or maybe his family. Colts Neck head cross country coach Jim Schlentz (pictured) had a vision to move the Cougar Invitational, formerly hosted at Buck Mills Park in Colts Neck, to one of New Jersey’s best attractions, Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township.
On September 25, 2010 the 1st Annual Six Flags Wild Safari Cross County Invitational will commence. The first meet of what could turn out to be an annual early season tradition will be limited to just 100 boys high school teams, 100 girls high school teams and 25 each boys and girls middle school teams. It will be based on a first come first served basis. The varsity course, a 3.1 mile layout over mostly flat terrain will at approximately 1.1 miles head through the woods, along a creek, over the creek on a wooden bridge, and then through a gate that leads into the Animal Safari. The course will travel through the Wild Safari for approximately 1.2 miles before heading back near the start area by Hurricane Harbor for the finish.
NJRunners.com had a chance first hand to talk with one of New Jersey’s finest coaches on the move from Buck Mills to Jackson’s Six Flags Great Adventure. I asked coach Schlentz how long he knew that he wanted to move the meet
“I actually had no plans to move our meet (the Cougar Invite). I’ve always had this idea in my head that Six Flags would be a great place to have a meet.” “I’m a big believer that if we can combine running with fun the kids will love this sport. It’s what we focus on at our running camp, xcucamp.com.
I then proceeded to talk about the obstacles a meet director can face when trying to put on a meet at a place with the magnitude as high Great Adventure. I asked Jim if the management at Six Flags have a hard time being convinced why this was such a good idea.
“No!” “At first I didn’t know anyone at Six Flags” “This past summer I found out that the Six Flags president was an old friend of mine, I got in touch with him and explained my idea to him and he loved it”
“We came to the park to look around for possible courses and they said to us “let’s make it work!” They came up with the idea of having the race go through the Wild Safari”.
They then proceeded to drive through the Wild Safari to find the perfect place to erect a course. The more they looked, the more excited they all got. All parties involved are extremely excited about making this a very special event. It’s no doubt this will become a special event as there will be a special discounted park rate of only $20 + tax to get into the Theme Park. The scheduled that has been set up for the meet will allow teams to get done racing faster so they can spend more time in the park. You can find the meet schedule on the official meet webpage.
The races will all feature music playing in the background, clocks at the one and two mile marks and of course at the finish line. There will also be a special “All Six Flags Great Adventure Team” award ceremony in the park. For more information on the meet on the meet including awards information, parking, directions, nearby hotels, course maps or to fill out an entry contact Jim Schlentz @ jschlentz@aol.com or visit the official meet webpage linked above.
Reach Matt Shatkus at mshatkus@milesplit.us