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2.4 miles - down Chalybes December 7, 2002 |
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Bitter Cold for Season Finale
Biter cold greeted the 43 runners who
braved the 2.4 mile Roxbury Season Finale this week. Most people huddled
in their cars before the race, emerging only just before the race began.
The pen at registration froze. It was so cold
that people hardly even gossiped. Had they stood around and talked, they
would have spoken only of how cold it was at THEIR house. At Web Guy's
house, it was 7.
Bundled like a band of rummage sale refugees, most people had so many clothes they could hardly move.
Mike Abraham was able to overcome the conditions, though, with a fairly respectable 14:10. Nobody was very close behind, though with his nearest competition nearly half a minute back. On such a short course, that is quite a significant gap. Second place was hotly contested, though, even if "hot" is perhaps not the right word, given the conditions. David Hunt nipped (there's a better word, "nipped" Vern LaRoux by just one second, and Keyless Bob Derringer lurked 13 seconds farther back.
Marge DeMarrais was also not intimidated
by
the conditions, grabbing her first ever Roxbury Race win and ending Pam Quist's
string of 13 races without a loss (though with several missed races.)
Pam's streak went clear back to July, and included two wins over Marge DeMarrais.
Still, Pam was second, forty seconds back.
Conditions improved dramatically after the race. As the sun crept above the trees, temperatures rose rapidly, and by the time people were going home, it was 20 degrees warmer than it had been an hour and a half earlier.
After the race there were presentations in the pavilion, made far more comfortable by the lack of wind and the rising temperatures. The top six points finishers among men and women each got awards, and Bob Lewis was presented with a Service Award for his work in setting up the race each week. Three people, Gregg Scribner, Scott Benjamin and Bob Lewis, were recognized for participating in all 42 races this season.
Then the parking lot emptied, and the Roxbury Racers were finished for another season. The races will resume on February 15 at 8:30 am, when we will kick off the 27th Season with the traditional 2.4 mile race.
The Roxbury Races are now listed on the Internet on CoolRunning.com and on HiTekRacing.com AND on runningintheusa.com. All the great sites link to RoxburyRaces.com!
This week's Roxbury results
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Last modified: March 24, 2003