R-FH Run Postponed Due to Rain

The Rumson-Fair Haven Run has been rained out.

Due to forecasts of heavy precipitation from Tropical Storm Andrea, expected to begin in the early morning hours of Friday, the original date set for the run, organizers have officially switched the date to June 28.

The date has changed, but the event agenda has not.

The Rumson-Fair Haven Run is no in its 21^st year, hosting a Kiddie Dash, 1-Mile Run/Walk and the namesake A.J. Bruder 5K Race. 

The festivities will kick off at 6:15 p.m. on the Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School track with the Kiddie Dash, which is sponsored by area realtor Gloria Nilson.

The one-mile fun run/walk race will follow at 6:45 p.m.. And the competitive A.J. Bruder 5K race will close the event at 7:15p.m.

After the racing is done, there will be a party in Piping Rock Park, Rumson. The celebration will feature food, live music by local band The Haven, race awards and beer. 

The party, to be held under a tent rain or shine, is free for all race participants and $20 per adult and $5 per child for non-runners.

The R-FH Run organizers will also thank Gloria Nilson for her decade-long commitment to the run. 

“The Rumson-Fair Haven Run would like to thank Gloria Nilson for her longstanding commitment to this event which has raised over $300,000 over the years in scholarship money for students at both Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School and Brookdale Community College,” said Jack Howley, race spokesman.

The namesake of the 5K and inspiration for the RFH Run 21 years ago, Bruder was an avid runner and vice president of the Class of '78 who died prematurely of lung cancer.

He died on April 15, 1996 coincidentally on the day of Boston Marathon's 99th run. "A year earlier he had finished in the top 100," classmate Doug DiStefano told Patch. 

This year, A.J. Bruder would have been attending his 35th R-FH class reunion. He is sorely missed.

* Patch will feature a remembrance story on A.J. Bruder in the days before the race. Send us your memories of A.J., at elaine.develde@patch.com, and they will be included in the story.