2001 Roxbury Race #24

Kevin Harrington, Lynn Zuback triumph again

    This week's winners were the same as last week's.  For the women, the race was the same, but for the men, the race was quite different.

    Like last week, Rapid Lynn Zuback led wire to wire, or line to line, if you take things literally.  Peg Molina, setting us all a good example about how to recover from a lingering injury, patiently watched Lynn disappear and finished second.

    Meanwhile, among the men, has Kevin Harrington discovered the secret of hills?  If you don't speed up for the downhills, then you don't have to slow down for the uphills. Logical, isn't it?

    Here's how it works.  Keyless boB Derringer (who brought his new car to the race.  Does it come with spare keys, boB?) led the first half mile.  Then Jay Kuenzle led past his house and on to the two mile mark.  Aged Ed Sandifer passed him on the hairpin just after the two mile mark, and he could smell victory.  Just a quarter of a mile later, though, as if from nowhere, the two college kids caught Jay and Ed.

    Kevin Harrington runs for Central Connecticut State University, and Pete Gillen runs for Springfield College.  Both will be juniors this fall.  They turned the corner to climb back up south street and started up at the same speed they had come down.  This worked exceptionally well for Harrington, but Pete faltered a little past the three mile mark and gave up second place to Ed Sandifer.  

    Let's note that Sandifer's time was faster, and Gillen's time was almost the same as Harrington's winning time last week.  Zuback and fourth place Jay Kuenzle were both faster last week than they were this week.

    In the small world department, we note that two years ago, Pete Gillen won the first Roxbury scholarship.  His younger brother, Mark, was tragically killed in an automobile accident last winter.  Peg Molina ran the Boston Marathon this year as a fund raiser for the Mark Gillen fund, and it was in running Boston that she sustained the leg injury from which she is still recovering.

    Also, a report reached us this week that the father of sometime Roxbury runners Heather and Shannon Burns was the pilot of an aircraft that crashed last week in Washington.  More details will follow.  Our heartfelt sympathies go to their family and friends.

    This week's photo is from last month's championship.  Ken Merrick is holding the stick low for Mo van Moffaert, but she's got her eyes on the stick and is going to grab it with both hands, if she has to.

The Roxbury Races are now listed on the Internet both on CoolRunning.com and on HiTekRacing.com.

This week's Roxbury results  

Last modified: August 18, 2001