Firefighter James Rice Memorial 5K

Recap by Mike Pelletier.

Twenty-one North Shore Striders laced up their running shoes for the James Rice Memorial 5K, the first Grand Prix event of 2016 where the only way to earn points was to run. Within forty-five minutes, the results were in for the 305 finishers and thirteen of the NS Striders had earned medals.

Gold medals went to Sean Michael Kay, David Farley, Joe Dasilva, Lauren Hamilton, and Linda Desjardins.

Silver Medals went to William Kobus, Rosie Kyes, Natalia Kay, Michael Pelletier, and Cheryl Welsh.

Bronze Medals went to Aidan Kay, Sean Kay, and Vanessa Diranian.

Finishing just out of the medals in 4th place in their respective age groups were Marianna Kay and Armand Claveau.

New Striders David Farley, Joe Dasilva, and Cheryl Welsh had outstanding debuts in the club with Dave and Joe each finishing first in their respective age-groups and Cheryl finishing second in her age group. Dave and Joe are long-time experienced road racers who have just recently joined the NS Striders. Cheryl, on the other hand, had run several half marathons before joining the Striders, but was making her debut at the 5K distance.  What a debut it was as Cheryl bested 18 other Senior Master women and finished 2nd in the division behind teammate Lauren Hamilton who was using the 5K as speedwork before Boston.

Overall	Name	Place	Div	Time	Pace
2	Sean Kay	1st/29	M0118	18:10	5:51
12	Aidan Kay	3rd/29	M0118	20:54	6:45
22	David Farley	1st/11	M6069	22:23	7:13
23	William Kobus	2nd/11	M6069	22:25	7:13
25	Joe Dasilva	1st/4	M7079	22:50	7:21
26	Lauren Hamilton	1st/19	F5059	23:10	7:28
32	Sean Kay	3rd/32	M4049	23:47	7:40
33	Rosie Kyes	2nd/40	F4049	23:52	7:41
35	Vanessa Diranian	3rd/39	F3039	24:03	7:45
59	Natalia Kay	2nd/28	F0118	25:56	8:20
83	Michael Pelletier	2nd/4	M7079	27:20	8:48
89	Marianna Kay	4/28	F0118	27:47	8:57
104	Linda Desjardins	1st/3	F6069	28:12	9:05
106	Thomas McMahon	5/11	M6069	28:18	9:07
117	Cheryl Welsh	2nd/19	F5059	28:47	9:16
154	Maureen Kelly	6th/19	F5059	30:56	9:58
171	Mary Stevens	7th/19	F5059	31:27	10:08
194	Marisol Ficaro	10th/19	F5059	33:07	10:40
239	Armand Claveau	4th/4	M7079	36:09	11:38
241	Brianna Kyes	23/28	F0118	36:42	11:52
284	Jenny Reynolds	36/39	F3039	43:51	14:07

After the race, Linda Desjardins said, “This was the first time I ever complained about a downhill in a race. That second to last downhill had me fearing I’d fall on my face. Of course, if I were running up it, I’d be complaining even more.”

I replied, “I know what you mean…. I was coming down that hill in front of two very large guys and thinking that if I fell down in front of them, they would squash me like a bug.” It was great motivation to stay upright.