Haddonfield, home to runners

Haddonfield is to runners what Atco is to drag racers, a special place in South Jersey where speed is the object and fellowship is a byproduct.

Erin Donohue, an Olympic runner from Haddonfield, said it best after a parade held in her honor in July: "There is a sense of community here, and you are always representing more than yourself."

Haddonfield residents gave Donohue, 25, a big sendoff before her trip to the Beijing Olympics, where she competed in a women's 1,500-meter heat. However, the Haddonfield High and University of North Carolina graduate did not reach the final.

No problem. Chances are that some of the borough's 11,000 or so residents will be running alongside her this fall.

"My cross-country runners do the weekly run all year," Haddon Township High girls' coach Sylvia Smith said. "It's on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. It's a course through Haddonfield.

"Even though the kids compete against each other, they know each other. There's a sense of camaraderie."

Smith was talking about the Haddon Township and Haddonfield runners jogging together along the same route with middle schoolers and adults. Runners from Haddon Heights and even Moorestown join in. Moorestown is not in the Colonial Conference, which Haddonfield's boys' and girls' cross-country teams seem to dominate each year.

Nick Baker, the Haddonfield boys' cross-country coach for the last 26 years, said the Bulldogs have won 20-plus sectional and conference championships, as well as nine state group crowns.

Mike Busarello, the Haddonfield girls' coach for 21 years, said the program has been so successful that it has led to four state titles. This season, the Bulldogs are favored to win their fourth consecutive NJSIAA state Group 2 crown, fifth straight South Jersey trophy, and fourth Colonial Conference crown in a row.

Busarello credits the community with the championships. Everyone from adolescents to aging adults can be seen running past the ice cream shops and restaurants that line Kings Highway in downtown Haddonfield, especially on Wednesday nights.

"The community has a rich, long tradition of not only kids running, but just people running," Busarello said. "To run is something that is normal here."

Those runners can get to Pennypacker Park and Tavistock Country Club in a hurry. The park offers a 5,000-meter cross-country course that crosses the Cooper River and a shorter trail for middle school runners and the less durable.

Tavistock is an 18-hole golf course in a hilly area that undulates for miles.

"I go for a run before school, around 7 a.m., and I see all kinds of people running, jogging, walking," said Colin Baker, 17, a member of Haddonfield's cross-country and track teams and the coach's son.

"Smack dab in the middle of Haddonfield every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. all year 'round people from all over show up."

The meeting place is a sporting goods store owned by Dave Welsh, 31, a former Haddon Township harrier. The run is a 6.7-mile trek that starts in front of the business and meanders through the streets of Haddonfield and Haddon Township to Crystal Lake Pool for the first 31/2 miles.

The runners backtrack through Haddonfield before hitting the hilly area around Tavistock and then heading back to the store.

Welsh and his staff close the doors to the shop and run with 40 to 120 others, who include high school and college runners, coaches and anyone else who cares to join them. Within an hour, most have returned to the store, and Welsh opens the doors in case they need shoes or athletic garb.

The run has been going on for 11 years and has become a significant part of Haddonfield's running culture that sprang up in the 1970s, when Paul VI was king of the hill, followed by Haddonfield and Haddon Township, according to Welsh.

Parents have not only passed on the passion to their children, but they still run with them. Haddonfield coaches such as Baker and Busarello have been part of the cross-country programs for a total of 47 years.

"The greatest show of support was when Erin Donohue made the Olympics," Colin Baker said. "The parade and ceremony at the high school stadium were impressive. That definitely sums up the community spirit in Haddonfield."