Three or four in one recap!

Three races in one day plus another the day before and Lauren managed to squeeze in a marathon, so the writing may be a tiny bit behind, but the running sure is up-to-date!

New Hampshire Marathon

Long-time Strider Lauren Hamilton, with whom many of the Salem Saturday Slackers have trained, won the F50-59 Age group at the New Hampshire Marathon last Saturday, October 1^st. Lauren’s outstanding time of 3:49:27placed her 7^th overall among the women and is a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon. Lauren is one of the North Shore Striders who train at the Peabody HS track on Thursday nights under the tutelage of Coach Fernando Braz.

Fall Frolic 5K, Beverly, MA

Recap by Linda Desjardins. The course was familiar to many – Lynch Park – loop around Beverly, downhill finish. It’s used for Beverly Homecoming and Louise Rossetti and probably other races, too. We all knew the roads and agreed it’s a runner-friendly course. And after a reasonably strong showing last week at Lone Gull, we were psyched. It was a misty start, about 55 degrees. Pretty favorable running conditions. There were a lot of participants, especially young folks, in fact, probably predominantly young folks. It was the first stab at this race for many of us and comparing notes after, we realized we shared many similar reactions. As we headed toward the starting line, we noticed all the children were being positioned up front with the adults and numerous folks with jogstrollers being sent to the rear. Most of us assumed that there was to be a staggered start; probably the kids first then the adults. No. There was one start. Consequently, the first mile involved trying to pass kids who had rabbited out and stopped suddenly, darted across the street to see friends, turned around to find friends, ran slowly then stopped, then started. The jogstrollers functioned like plows with the pushers seeming not to realize that they were using their equipment like battering rams. It was obviously an inexperienced group and we were attempting to be understanding; but to us, this was a RACE and we were trying our best to run our best. Impossible. It was great to see so many youth involved; but we’re not sure this approach worked for everyone. It was more like a fun run, except none of us expected that. We all ran negative splits…after the clogged-up start the runners started spreading out and by around halfway, something resembling race effort could be approximated. Not entirely. The consensus: it was frustrating. Nevertheless, many Striders ran so well one could only conclude they rose above the situation. Kudos to them.

Name	Place	Age Group	Time	Age-graded %
Bill Kobus	1st/5	M6069	22:34	72.3%
Gary Freedman	6th/25	M5059	23:17	65.6%
Jennifer O’Neil	3rd/39	F5059	24:12	70.76%
Mariellen Hayward	2nd/12	F6069	25:33	71.34%
Cheryl Welsh	10th/39	F5059	26:53	66.37%
Michael Pelletier	1st	M7099	27:16	68%
Neil Bernstein	2nd/5	M6069	27:34	59.77%
Linda Desjardins	4th/12	F6069	29:44	67.6%
Mary Stevens	29th/39	F5059	31:17	54.2%
Armand Claveau	2nd	M7099	36:21	50.36%
Jenny Reynolds	64th/74	F3039	45:03	32%
Nancy Wilson	1st	F8099	53:49	46.35%

Stone Tower 15K, Lynn Woods

Here’s a brief description of the Stone Tower Races by Tom McMahon:

The weather was pretty good. It looked like it might rain but never did more than a few sprinkles. The course was pretty dry and posed little problem from that aspect.

While warming up I talked briefly with Bonnie Hallinan. I asked her about the 15K which she was about to start. She described it as a tough challenging race. I could see from the course map that it wanders all over the very large Lynn Woods reservation. (Much, much larger than we see at the annual relays !) This made me even more comfortable with my decision to run the 5K which was advertised as pretty challenging as well. Soon a fairly large enthusiastic contingent for the 15 K took off, as that race started 15 minutes before the 5K. I did not see Bonnie after she finished so I don’t know how it went for her this year.

Yes, the 5K is a challenging race. Of course it’s a bit longer than the 2.5 mile Relays course but that’s not the real story. It’s starts further back at the entrance to the parking lot, then ascends that series of tough rises when you get onto the path. I think we went about 1.25 + miles along the main path before turning on to a trail on the left. This is much tougher than the Goat Trail. It is fairly steep with rocks and roots and quite long. I started out pretty well passing several people but didn’t realize how long it was. It just kept going up and I had to walk short sections. It was definitely tough! There was a water stop at the top which was helpful. The descent was pretty difficult as well because it, too, was a long path with plenty of rocks. Unfortunately for me a few people I had passed going up, then went by me on the way down. I was being a bit careful where I put my feet.

Finally we got back to the main path but only went s short distance before we entered another path, not too long, but again needing attention for your foot placement, that arrived near the ball field for the finish.

Thoughout a lot of the race I could see Dave Jefska up ahead of me but I just could not close the gap. Overall, it was a good course and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a nice nearby trail race.

Name	Place	Age Group	Time
Hope Roe	1st/5	F5059	1:34:30
Bonnie Hallinan	2nd/4	F6069	1:57:20

Stone Tower 5K, Lynn Woods

Name	Place	Age Group	Time
Dave Jefska	1st	M6069	30:24
Tom McMahon	2nd	M6069	30:51
Tom Lima	3rd	M6069	35:26