Marblehead, MA, November 25, 2017 – Write-up and chart courtesy of Mike Pelletier and Linda Desjardins.
Shalane Flanagan! Her high school. Her presence right after winning the NYC marathon in a pace that was faster than her half-marathon PR! Maybe that’s why this usually small 5K race had 750 finishers, and that’s not even counting the Kids’ 1 mile race and the 2 mile walk. The place was packed!
It was really beautiful weather…chilly but warming quickly as the sun took over. This was a nice and gentle course, oblong-shaped, and the second mile took us up Seaview Avenue so we could do a few hills before heading down Humphrey Street to blast the finish. Personal note: with one-tenth of a mile left, I was running in a gap between those faster and those slower and right there on the sidewalk, a cheerer-on was leaning in to the street, looking right into my eyes, smiling, and I heard “Good Job. Good work.” It was accompanied by a fist pump and was shouted out by SHALANE! I don’t remember my feet hitting the ground after that. I floated in. I wish I had hung around the finish line rather than taking a short walk to savor my “moment” – I missed some great photo ops with Shalane. Mike and Cheryl posted some wonderful photos.
The race had some strong Striders participating. First was brand-new Strider Caitlin Kelly of Nahant who ran 21:30 in the super competitive F2029 division. Steve Keenholtz ran a great 24:32, placing him 5/19 in the 60-69 group, two days after racing in the Salem Wild Turkey 5 miler. Next was Senior Master Jill Page in 25:53.6. Four places back was Senior Master Eunice Panetta in 27:17.4. The next strider to finish was Cheryl Welsh in a fine 29:11, especially impressive as she had also raced 5 miles on Thanksgiving, too. She was 20/51 in the 50-59 group. Next speedster only 13 seconds behind, was Mike Pelletier whose 29:24 earned him silver (2/11) in the 70-99 group, two days after taking a silver at the Wild Turkey 5 miler in Salem . A mere 29 seconds later, Dave Newhall crossed in 29:53, 3 rd in the same group as Mike, and collected bronze. In another 14 seconds, Linda Desjardins finished in 30:07 and she was 5/13 among women 60-69. Seventh in the same division was Bonnie Hallinan, fresh off her age-group victory in the Wild Turkey 5 Miler.
Hope Abramson and Karen Johnson returned to the roads and ran together across the finish line: Hope in 42:56.8 and Karen in 42:56.9. Jenny Reynolds walked and ran, her troubling back feeling a little stronger, and finished in 45:18. We’re all looking forward to Mill Cities next week. Please run or volunteer! It’s a wonderful relay race, a great post-race gathering, and we’ll get to see Roger Perham get a very prestigious award for his contributions to running.
At the Mill Cities Relay you can also congratulate Gary Freedman who did his usual stellar job as Back the Track Race Director and who will be running on one of our teams at Mills Cities.
Back the Track 5K
| Caitlin Kelly | 11th/73 | F2029 | 21:30 |
| Steve Keenholtz | 5th/19 | M6069 | 24:32 |
| Jill Page | 12th/51 | F5059 | 25:53.6 |
| Eunice Panetta | 16th/51 | F5059 | 27:17.4 |
| Cheryl Welsh | 20th/51 | F5059 | 29:11.2 |
| Michael Pelletier | 2nd/11 | M7099 | 29:24.2 |
| David Newhall | 3rd/11 | M7099 | 30:00.3 |
| Linda Desjardins | 5th/13 | F6069 | 30:07.4 |
| Bonnie Hallinan | 7th/13 | F6069 | 31:10.9 |
| Hope Abramson | 50th/51 | F5059 | 42:56.8 |
| Karen Johnson | 12th/13 | F6069 | 42:56.9 |
| Jenny Reynolds | 93rd/95 | F3039 | 45:18.2 |
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