2003 Roxbury Race #17 - Handicap race

Staggered Start Scrambles Results

    The annual Handicap race followed a complicated and secret formula that let regular runners start promptly, but made the fast runners hang around getting stiff and nervous, waiting as long as eleven minutes to actually start the race. 

    Carl Myhill, starting two and a half minutes behind the first starters, came roaring up Apple Lane at the finish with a confident Ron Karl in hot pursuit (actually, kind of cold, damp pursuit, ad the dreary wet spring is turning into a dreary wet summer).  It came down to the wire with Carl ahead of the Karl by a bare two seconds.  It's the third time Carl Myhill has won the Handicap race.

    Over the next two minutes, 93% of the 30-runner field finished in a rush that showed everyone just how smoothly that finish line team is working these days.  Way to go, folks.

    The results are a bit complicated.  Our first table shows the order in which people actually crossed the finish line, along with how much after "scratch" they started, and their adjusted times.

    The second table shows how the race would have come out if we had all run the same times we did to day but all started at the same time.   Bryan MacWilliams had the fastest time of the day, an excellent 13:31, and Marge DeMarrais was fastest among the women, in 15:42.

Safety issues

    We always try to emphasize safety in the Roxbury Road Races.  We put up signs to remind drivers that we are on the roads.  We have an unwritten rule not to take advantage of traffic in the tactics of the race.  Dan Lamb sometimes wakes up the neighbors with his cries of "Car up!" and "Car back!" but it warns us of oncoming traffic.  Still, there's nothing like eternal vigilance.

    We're reminded again of what can sometimes happen by a hit-and-run accident on Rt 302 in Newtown, just over a mile west of Ed Sandifer's house.  About 5pm on Thursday, May 28, a 43 year old female runner was hit from behind by a red pick-up.  The driver left the scene, but police have seized what they believe was the truck and have located witnesses. Speculation is that there will be an arrest soon.  More details are on page 5 of the June 6 issue of The Newtown Bee.

    With luck, the guilty party will will be found and convicted and justice will be done, but justice cannot undo the injuries to the runner, or spare her from months and months of rehabilitation.  A conviction cannot undo the fact that a car full of fifth grade girls saw the unconscious runner heaped by the road, her shoes knocked off by the impact.  They will not soon forget the scene.

    Accidents will sometimes happen.  This time, it seems clear that the accident was caused by a careless driver, but even careless drivers, bad drivers and intoxicated drivers will cause fewer accidents if we are more and more careful.  We won't prevent all accidents, and maybe this runner wouldn't have been able to prevent this one, but we will prevent some of them.

    Be careful out there.

Pictures

    Pictures today show eventual winner Carl Myhill chatting after the race with Charlie Euston and Bob Satterlee.  On the right is Mario Hasz finishing.  Farther down, Sharon and Shiloh finishing a few weeks ago.  This week, Sharon ran but Shiloh was sick.  Even farther down is Lou Denaro, taken on a day when people might have needed sunglasses, not a dreary day like today.

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

This week's Roxbury results

Theoretical results

Last modified: June 7, 2003