Sons of Italy 5K

By Stavros Kanaracus

Thankfully there were no suns of Italy this Saturday am.  Instead we had a cool slightly drizzly am for the first of the 2 Memorial Day Weekend challenges. As you know or don’t know the Sons of Italy 5 miler and now 5K has continually been on the move, starting on River Road in Andover and moving to Marston Street in Lawrence at the original Sons Of Italy headquarters, them moving to Lawrence Stadium on the 4th of  July and then to a church in Methuen and now to their new headquarters near the Whirlaway Golf and Running Center.

And of course, the course changes from the Apple Orchard hill, to crossing the railroad tracks prior to the train, running the back streets of Lawrence, to an absolutely flat course in 2012 to a new special  5K Marxhall McCluskey designed course in Methuen.  Lots of folks don’t like to miss this race given the lavish spaghetti dinner and homemade sundaes and unique t shirts.  This year a camouflage T-shirt with every imaginable logo. Topping that are additional trophies for the first 3 military veterans and a fun run as well. So as you can see, outdoing Marshall it not always possible even if you are Dave Labrode, the Race Director for the next day’s Baldi Run, the second part of the Challenge.

So now it is almost time to start but I have stayed inside avoiding the cool drizzle while saying hello to Justin Lutz, a fellow Raytheon employee and top notch runner.  I asked  Justin how he got here and he mentioned a flyer posted at Raytheon.  I mentioned to the scorer as we approached the start to keep eye on Justin, as he could win this thing.  John MacKenzie informed me about the hill at the start but provided no further details.
Off we went at 10 am and slightly uphill to the lights (110&113), a left and up and over the hill and now a right turn and up and up and a left turn and up and a right and up and up.  Is this the Mt Washington Road Race or what?   Quite ridiculous, with no warning.  Really ridiculous,  with no warmup.   When I finally reached the top, I was in the slowest of motions. Down and around and up and left and right and left and down and up and down and who knows where to Route 110 for the longer than expected run to the finish, thankfully with a slight downhill.

Yes , Justin Lutz won, in 15:39. Don’t know how he did it but I did notice that he ran the BAA 5K in 15:19 so my 24.:40 was not all  that bad and 2nd Vet.(wow).   Marshall is always able to come up with a new twist and this years’ was running out of results for the 70+ folks.   In any case the food was worth the agony.  Justin left with his trophy.  He also won the same size trophy for the first military vet which I later handed over.

For full results click http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/ma/May25_23rdAn_set1.shtml.

Mountain Washington 2013

By Stavros Kanaracus

from Leo Kenney Photography

Yes, lucky me I got in by the Lottery.  I did miss the last 2 years and what I remembered from those attempts was the start of my walking efforts began once I ran the initial flat quarter mile of the Auto Road.  Well maybe I made it another 100 yards uphill whereupon my heart rate zoomed and I proceeded to walk.  But this time I had trained on the treadmill set to 15 degrees and 3.1 m.p.h. for at least 30 minute intervals strengthening the walking muscles instead of the running ones while also stretching out the calf muscles thereby preventing pins and needles at the 1.8 mile mark where the road really turns steeper.   A good 6 months effort here with no Pack Monadnock, Mt. Wachusett or Christian Hill repeats. So I am ready on this cool day with the 39F at the top and a 30 mile wind out of the north yielding a windchill of 27F.   But weather or not, after my brief warmup I went with a singlet.

My goal:  To realize a life long dream, that of finishing ahead of an excellent hill runner, Jim Fitzgerald whom I could never top even at my best time of 1:37 a while back.  Jim has climbed Mt. Washington numerous times but of late that has not been the case.   So after Dave McGillivary said a few encouraging words and thankful ones as well in lieu of the Boston Marathon,     You would be glad to not have to be Dave.   I started in the back with Jim and was able to reorient by image of the past 15 years as I gradually moved ahead of him once we hit the hill.  I lasted about 1.8 running and switched to walking once the walkers passed me, alternating thereafter, running the flats, walking the hills.     My brother Nick appeared at mile 1.6 via the Pinkham notch trail, whereupon he proceeded to ask myself and other runners a series of questions about the course such as , “Are you having fun?  You don’t look like it.  Is this the first time you started walking?  Are you familiar with the course?  Why would you want to run such a brutal race?  You don’t look like you are having fun.   What age group are  you in?”   I anticipated Nick running with me but he had too many inquiries to make and once done he handed me a pack of energy dots.  Of course with sweat drenched hands I was unable to open the package.  “Hey Nick how about opening these things?”   He did and then off he went downhill.  He did mention that the lead runners impressed him with their speed of ascension.   Well most live in Boulder and weigh in at 130.

I really thought I had a sub 2 hour ordeal however when I reached the halfway point at 59 and change I knew 2 hours would be out of reach.   Wasted too much time at the start shuffling across the initial flat stretch.   Nevertheless my treadmill training really helped and I moved along the 3 To 4 mile cold downwind uphill stretch without agony.  Too much elevation to try and run.  Once we turned the corner 5 to 7 were directly into a cold wind.  Disappointed, I couldn’t run for the cameraman and once I got to the finish (2:03) I grabbed a Polartec blanket, a hot coffee, not moving from my seat in the Visitor’s Center for an hour as my hands thawed out and then luckily finding  my ride down.   I did realize my dream and without fail encountered Dave Dunham on his way down.  The Hart’s Turkey Farm post race dinner was outstanding as was recognizing the 93 year old finisher prior to the winners.  Unfortunately Lou Peters at 88 was not here this year. He said he would be here if he got in.

I did have to put my hands on my knees to make the last turn but that was about it for that strategy which I had used at starting at mile 4 in the prior two attempts.  The other fortunate items were finding a ride down on the day of the race and warming up prior to it.  And as Will Mason said just before exiting the bus on his way to the starting line at Boston,  “Next year I am really going to train.”

For complete results, go to http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/nh/Jun15_53rdNo_set1.shtml.

26 x 1 Club Challenge Relay

by Frank Georges
GLRR Communications Director Emeritus

26x1 Team Photo by Jimmy Shelton

On June 22nd, 60 Greater Lowell Road Runners ventured to Tufts University in Somerville, MA to take part in the annual 26 x 1 Club Challenge Relay. This event involves fielding teams of 26 people, each of whom runs 1600 meters with a baton before handing it off to the next runner. The race opens up with a speed leg of approximately 590 meters to make the race be equivalent to the full distance of a marathon. Each scoring team is co-ed and consists of at least 10 females. This year 13 teams from 7 clubs competed against each other, with the objective to be the first to carry their baton over the finish line after running 105 ½  laps around the Tufts’ Ellis Oval track. Our club hoped to improve upon its third place performance from last year.

GLRR again finished 3rd in this year’s race but with a faster time that would have won the event just a few years ago. The club’s time was 2:22:41 and bested last year’s time of 2:26:39 by almost four minutes. We faced stiff competition from the top teams of the Somerville Road Runners and Cambridge Running Club who finished first and second in times of 2:17:26 and 2:19:13 respectively.

The club had many individual outstanding performances. Erin Roberts put down the oars from her nearby crew practice in Cambridge long enough to run a 5:11 split, which was third fastest for any female on the day and enough to win the 20-29 division. Lindsay Willard followed up with a 5:19 split that gave GLRR an early lead which we held for nearly half the race. Lindsay’s time was fourth overall for women and third in her 30-39 division. Trish Bourne carried the 40-49 division with a 5:58 to repeat as fastest female master again this year. Liane Pancoast ran 6:08 to seize the 50-59 division where Lynn Graham was also third with a 6:48. Johanna Riley ran 8:08 in the 60-69 division and continues to garner awards in her age division despite just starting to run competitively only a couple of years ago.

On the men’s side, Steve Gendron led all GLRR’s with a 4:36 which placed third in the highly competitive men’s 20-29 division. Matt Curran and E.J. Hrynowski placed 1-2 in the seniors 50-59 division with times of 5:07 and 5:12. Tom Peters won the 60-69 veterans division in 6:35 and Jon MacKenzie was second in the 70-79 division in 8:09. Many GLRR men ran under  5:00 for their split including Matt Theodoros (4:45), Cody Freihofer (4:47), Andrew Downey (4:48), Michael Smith (4:57) Jason Bui (4:58), and Justin Patronick (4:59).

GLRR’s second full team, called Greater Lowell Road Runners B, did better this year and improved to 2:51:18 from last year’s time of 3:17:15. Every runner on this team was able to run a mile in under 8:00 and most were well under 7:00. Quite a few were under 6:00. It shows the speed in the club has gotten much deeper and that we have a lot of runners who span across a variety of age and gender categories  and are committed to their fitness.

Because of the unprecedented interest in the event, we had more than enough runners for two full teams. To ensure everyone who wanted to run 1600 m was able to do so, a special team was created and 8 more GLRR runners ran on this team. Some even set p.r.’s here as well.

Many runners also met personal goals and the club seems to be getting faster as a whole with each of the last few years passing. Winning this event one day will no doubt be a “challenge” but it’s one that is within reach as we can continue to improve.

The results for the teams GLRR are below. The first leg is the 590 meter speed leg. The other legs are mile splits. Full results can be found at: http://www.srr.org/events/club-challenge-marathon-relay/test/26x1/view.cgi.

Greater Lowell Road Runners A

Total   LTime Lg Runner            Age Sex
0:01:29 01:29  S Steve Gendron      25 M
0:06:48 05:19 01 Lindsay Willard    34 F
0:11:59 05:11 02 Erin Roberts       25 F
0:16:57 04:58 03 Jason Bui          32 M
0:22:06 05:10 04 Bash Zaganjori     30 M
0:28:05 05:58 05 Trish Bourne       49 F
0:33:17 05:12 06 E J Hrynowski      50 M
0:38:35 05:18 07 Mike Girouard      43 M
0:44:52 06:17 08 Julie Dragon       33 F
0:49:28 04:36 09 Steve Gendron      25 M
0:54:15 04:47 10 Cody Freihofer     25 M
1:00:23 06:08 11 Liane Pancoast     55 F
1:06:54 06:31 12 Allyson Casey      34 F
1:12:15 05:21 13 Kevin Carnabucci   40 M
1:17:22 05:07 14 Matthew Curran     56 M
1:22:29 05:07 15 Alex Eld           24 M
1:27:13 04:45 16 Matt Theodoros     31 M
1:33:28 06:15 17 Zona Sharfman      36 F
1:39:42 06:15 18 Susan Bourque      38 F
1:46:10 06:28 19 Amanda Benoit      29 F
1:51:22 05:12 20 Scott O'Brien      31 M
1:56:28 05:06 21 James DeLuca       29 M
2:01:16 04:48 22 Andrew Downey      29 M
2:06:13 04:57 23 Michael Smith      31 M
2:12:42 06:29 24 Carmen Liron-Espana46 F
2:17:42 05:01 25 Joe Morasse        33 M
2:22:41 04:59 26 Justin Patronick   33 M

Greater Lowell Road Runners B

Total   LTime Lg Runner            Age Sex
0:01:42 01:42  S Fil Faria          48 M
0:08:07 06:24 01 Scott Casper       45 M
0:16:01 07:55 02 Paula Canela       40 F
0:22:37 06:35 03 Tom Peters         60 M
0:30:07 07:30 04 Kate Maslowski     32 F
0:36:54 06:48 05 Lynn Graham        51 F
0:43:26 06:32 06 Ken Goodin         58 M
0:50:10 06:44 07 Ken Skier          59 M
0:57:50 07:40 08 Laura Boerman      49 F
1:03:50 06:01 09 Marc Shaponick     48 M
1:09:45 05:55 10 Adam Sherer        47 M
1:15:49 06:05 11 Andy Bourque       45 M
1:22:33 06:43 12 David Burns        47 M
1:27:57 05:24 13 Fil Faria          48 M
1:33:32 05:35 14 David Penn         52 M
1:39:39 06:07 15 Candice Gagnon     31 F
1:46:12 06:34 16 Sarah Moseley      27 F
1:52:31 06:19 17 Howard Hersey      54 M
1:58:44 06:13 18 Ronald Desmarais   51 M
2:05:05 06:22 19 Bethany Knoettner  38 F
2:11:44 06:39 20 Lee Fox            34 M
2:18:44 07:00 21 Mary Casey-Gorman  51 F
2:25:47 07:03 22 Madeline Febo      53 F
2:33:12 07:25 23 Martin Hosek       43 M
2:39:49 06:37 24 Sarah Moseley      27 F
2:45:23 05:34 25 Keith O'Brien      49 M
2:51:18 05:55 26 Frank Georges      35 M

Other Greater Lowell Road Runners

Total   LTime Lg Runner            Age Sex
0:02:29 02:29  S Joe Ferris         63 M
0:09:56 07:28 01 Matthew Shapiro    41 M
0:18:27 08:31 02 Joseph Ferris      63 M
0:27:19 08:53 03 James Shelton      58 M
0:35:28 08:09 04 Jonathan MacKenzie 74 M
0:41:34 06:06 05 Leonardo Medina    48 M
0:50:38 09:04 06 Rick Marais        61 M
0:58:23 07:45 07 Dennis Price       32 M
1:06:31 08:08 08 JOHANNA RILEY      65 F

May Race Results

So what were the sane people doing in May?

Run To Home Base 9K                                                          May 4

Well not playing baseball, but our ladies team leader did outclass the entire women’s field at the Run to First Base charity run on May 4th.  There was a delay in posting this – while we verified she was in fact the winner – proof being it’s her up on the center field jumbo-tron (how many of you have been on the jumbo?).  Apparently some guy race with his wife or girlfriends’ number (don’t ya just hate that?  I sure do!).  So the results posted on-line are just a bit off.  Alas since her employer (BAE) paid for her charity entry, she’s not in her customary GLRR singlet, but we won’t hold that against her.  Congrats Liane.

Allyson Casey continued her comeback from plantar issues with a strong showing as well snagging second in her age group.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/ma/May4_RuntoH_set1.shtml

Westford Road Race                                                              May 5

In the 10K, Ann Marie Johnson shook off the disappointment of being denied a finish at Boston with a win at the Westford Road Race in 44:13.  Sue Bourque took third for the ladies in 45:20.  For the men, John Feehrer, Matt Story, and Kris Lokere all finished top 10 in their age groups.

In the 5K, Cindy Meklenburg finished 2nd in her age group with a 24:54.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/ma/May5_Westfo_set1.shtml

Good Times                                                           May 7, 14, 21, 28

Photo of an airborne Kara courtesy of Ted Tyler.

With one week left it is still EJ and Kara on top.  Kara has gone 9/9 and will go for the sweep on Tuesday.  Bring your brooms.  EJ has a 300 point lead and will likely be joining Kara in the winner's circle.  Fil and Jim Rhodes are in another battle for second in the 40s male age group.  Hopefully not a tie this time!  Liane, Madeline Febo, and Cindy Campbell are going for the GLRR sweep of the 50s ladies.  David Penn has a nice lead over the 50s men -- assuming EJs ascension to overall champ.  Jon Mackenzie, Rich Molloy, and George Bisson will be sweeping the 70s men.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/ma/May28_Revers_set1.shtm

Run To Remember Half Marathon                                    May 26

This race sold out pretty much instantly after Boston.  Runners saw this as a perfect way to pay tribute to all the first responders.  Justin Patronick had a strong showing finishing seventh overall at 1:16.  Scott Casper continued his strong running with a 1:48 -- a PR by almost 5 minutes.  Marli Piccolo got it done with a 1:50.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/ma/May26_Boston_set1.shtml

                       

Johnny Kelley Half-Marathon                                            May 26

James breaking the tape.  Courtesy of Capstone Photography.

James Sullivan raced on his third weekend in a row and broke the tape at the 33rd Johnny Kelley Half-Marathon.  Despite taking a wrong turn or two and on a slightly long course he was able to glide to a 1:16.  The Kid's running just keeps accelerating.  The Cape Cod Times has a nice writeup here.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/ma/May26_33rdTh_set1.shtml

Boston 2013

117th Running of the Boston Marathon

I will not be focusing on the evil that happened on April 15th.  You have 24-hour news channels for that.  There were many incredible performance that happened earlier in the day that should not be ignored.

First and foremost was James Sullivan's amazing 2:38 - a 17 minute PR.  He was making it look too easy all day.  Reports are that his feet actually touched the ground somewhere on Boylston.

Justin Patronick, Jason Bui, and EJ Hrynowski also clocked in under 2:50 at 2:44, 2:45, and 2:47.

Erin Roberts was our first female finisher in 2:57.  She cracked the top 100 in the Women's race, which is an astounding feat.

Jill Trotter and Trish Bourne led the Women's Masters team to 8th overall with 3:15 and 3:18 respectively.  Nice job ladies!  You can tell this picture is from late in the race because Trish is smiling.

I can't possibly mention all the great performances that day.  We had 7 runners until 3:00 and 29 under 3:30.  I was inspired watching everyone go by at mile 22.  Sorry to those I couldn't mention everyone.  Full GLRR results can be found at http://www.glrr.net/Misc/2013_Boston_Runners.pdf.

We of course can't ignore all the heroes -- both the first responders who saved countless lives and all who have donated to help the victims since that day.  The One Fund has collected $32 million.  Two local funds -- the Celeste & Sydney Recovery Fund and Bucks for Bauman have each collected over $750 thousand.  Amazing outpouring of support from across the country.  I've linked the pictures below in case you haven't had a chance to donate.

Marathon May-niacs

Marathon May-niacs

May was chock full of marathons.  The Angry Chicken BQ Hunters took aim at many in the area.

Walter Childs Race of Champions Marathon 2013                                      May 5

Ken getting reloaded.

Ken Cain got us started off on the right foot with a 3:07 -- good for 6th place in this small race out in Holyoke, MA.  That was good for 4th in his age group.  Gotta love being 40, eh Ken?  This was an 8 minute PR and a BQ for Ken only three weeks after running a 3:32 at Boston.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/ma/May5_Walter_set1.shtml

Cox Providence Marathon                                                                           May 12

Matt being stalked by Colin, who would pounce at 18.

The next weekend we had a split squad.  Ten of us headed down to Providence for the Cox Providence Rhode Races.  Jason Bui led the way here 4 weeks after Boston with an impressive 2:46 -- good for 7th overall and 2nd in his age group behind Patrick Moulton.  Next was Mark Reeder, who easily won his age group by 9 minutes with a 2:49.  Then in came James Sullivan on a leisurely Sunday stroll with a 2:57.  Colin Loghin was next in, netting an impressive 11 minute PR and only a minute and change away from a BQ.  Matt Story and Fil Faria then sprinted in (Fil's fault) to a 3:13:23 tie.  This was old hat for Fil, but a 4 minute PR and first BQ for Matt.  Zona Sharfman was the next Chicken in at 3:34 -- a PR and BQ.  Kristen Allen followed shortly thereafter with a 3:36.  Cullen Madden paced a friend in to a 3:58, afterwards wondering why he volunteered to pace someone for an entire marathon instead of the last 10 miles.

Jack Flynn was only half a May-niac but he easily won his age group by 5 minutes with a 1:37.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/ri/May12_CoxPro_set1.shtml

Maine Coast Marathon                                                                               May 12

James Deluca after his all-in effort.

Meanwhile, in the Lobstah State, James Deluca and Chris Hancock were tearing it up.  James' 3:02 was a 14 minute PR and good for 8th overall.  Chris' 3:04 came only 4 weeks after running a 3:08 at Boston and was good for 10th overall.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/me/May12_MaineC_set1.shtml

Sugarloaf Marathon                                                                                    May 19

Bash and a fashion challenged James.

Only a week later and the Pocotello Kid was back at it again.  This time James paced Bash to the sub-3 promised land with a 2:58 -- good for 13th and 14th in the race.  Paul Kelly also had a great race with a 3:30.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/me/May19_Sugarl_set1.shtml

KeyBank Vermont City Marathon                                                              May 26

Mike re-hydrating the right way.

Mike Girouard wraps up our May-niac coverage with a blistering 2:56 in less-than-ideal conditions in Burlington.  Reports are they actually got a foot of snow in the Green Mountains.  Luckily lower elevations stuck to rain.  Isn't it almost June?

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/vt/May26_25thKe_set2.shtml

April Race Results

We've already mentioned Boston and James Joyce.  What else happened in April?

Good Times Returns!

Start of Week 2's BYOB 5K.  Photo courtesy of Mike Stanwyck.

Spring officially starts when the Good Times start rolling again in Lowell.  Kara Haas swept the month of April and EJ Hrynowski has the points lead for the men.  Laissez les bons temps roulez!

Merrimack River 10 Mile Trail Race - April 13th

Pl Time         Name         Sex Age City/St        Team #

12 1:07:55 Keith Obrien M 49 Chelmsford GLRR 921

91 1:30:51 Stffan Zwirek M 34 Lowell         GLRR 978

126 1:35:42 Leonardo Medina M 48 tewksbury, ma GLRR 891

Alisa wins again!  Photo by Jimmy Shelton

Lowell Firefighters 5K - April 21st

Alisa Crueger-Cain notched another win with a 21 flat.  Following her was Marli Piccolo for 2nd overall with a 22:44.

Mary Casey won her age group by almost a minute, while Johanna Riley and Denny LeBlanc placed second in theirs.

Paula 10K happy - Photo courtesy of Jimmy Shelton

Groton Road Race - April 28th

In the 5K, Cody Freihofer and James Sullivan went 3-4 -- both breaking 17 minutes.  Cindy Meklenburg and Steve Kanaracus both won their age groups.

In the 10K, Scott Casper set a 4 minute PR despite being under the weather.  Paul Kelly, Paula Accomazzo, Mike Ballerini, Daniel Houston, and Johanna Riley all represented with solid races as well.