2004 Roxbury Race #33

Sheldon, Krebbs win in fog

    Only fourteen seconds separated the top three runners this week. As they started back up the hill after two and a half miles, Jeff Sheldon had about a ten second lead on Ken Moffitt, who, in turn, had about ten seconds on Ken Merrick.  Things tightened up a bit on the hill, though.  As Ken Moffitt drifted back, first Ken Merrick, then Mark Andrejczyk came past, but Jeff Sheldon's lead was safe, as he held off the challenge to win in 26:02.

    Nobody finished between Theresa Krebs and Andrea Behling, in their race for the week's women's title, but almost two minutes passed by.  It wasn't really very close.

    Back in the pack, Kurt Thoennessen and Paul Butler had their usual close race, separated by only two seconds, but they almost got caught by Tom McNulty.  Running in stealth mode, he improved his best time by over a minute and came from about 40 seconds back to finish just four seconds behind Paul Butler.  It looks like you might have another rival on your hands there, guys. 

    Driving home, we all noticed that the green hills of Roxbury are starting to turn orange.  Invite your friends to the races for the next couple of weeks.  It should be spectacular.

    The runs, which start and finish near the Everett Hurlbut Community Park on West Apple Lane, are sponsored by the Roxbury Recreation Commission.

Improvements

    We improved an average of 35 seconds this week over this same course last week.  Ron Karl led the improvements, running over five minutes faster.  Improvements would have been even more dramatic, had an injured Ed Sandifer not been more than two minutes slower.  Paul Butler gets noticed for his consistency, running one second faster this week than last week.

    There are some distortions to these statistics.  A number of people took it a bit easy last week in advance of the half marathon in Ridgefield.  They might have been able to go faster last week than they did.

Marathons

  Many friends ran marathons this week and last.  Send us your results, and the results of your friends, and we'll 

   Don't forget about the Roxbury Marathon.  How else can you be motivated to run the down Hemlock loop 5 times in one day?  We need volunteers to help out for the race which is to be held Dec. 11th.  Let Bob Lewis or Scott Benjamin know if you can help out.

Pictures

    Up top, Roxbury's own Christina Clark and Mo van Moffaert warm up in the fog before the race.  Below that, Sinead Blevio and Paul Butler are ... warming up in the fog before the race.  And right below that, three of the top four finishers (guess what!) warming up in the fog before the race!!  

    A little farther down, we have Terry Lyons and Lynn Zuback, both of whom missed the race this week, posing in front of a line of SUV's belonging to the soccer team.  Terry was spotted in Seattle last weekend!  Then we have Peg Molina, Mike Abraham and Bob Lewis, on a sunnier day.

    Way down at the bottom, there's a guy with a baby dragon sitting on his hat.  Below that, the Slovenian Dragon remains.  At this point WebGuy Jr. is right to be afraid to get rid of him.

Upcoming Races
Monroe Madness Road Race Series - 2.6 miles - Sun October 10 - The Monroe Road Race Series is organized by Roxbury regular Mark Andrejczyk.

Marathons

Scott Benjamin has taken the lead in getting it organized.  If you have ideas, talk to Scott, or talk to Fossil, or eMail Web Guy (esandifer@earthlink.net )  We'll remind you of the issues.

1. When?  Saturday, December 11 
2. Course - We're considering 8.4 miles down to Judd's Bridge and back, followed by five 3.55 mile loops (Down Hemlock).    This would make it so we could have LOTS of water stops with just a few volunteers.  
3. Relays?  People seem to think we should include a marathon relay.  How does this sound for a relay - one 4-mile leg down to Judd's bridge, another one back up, two 7.1 mile legs, two laps each, and then one 3.55 mile leg, just one lap?  Tell Scott if you like the idea.
4. Who?  Scott Benjamin is Race Director, and many people are already volunteering.  When you volunteer, be sure to tell him what you are willing to do to help.  He'll try to keep a list.
5. If we want to use this to qualify for Boston or anything, there are some hoops necessary, like getting the course certified and sanctioned.  To certify the course, we need to calibrate the bicycle wheels on an accurate three or four mile stretch of road.  Does anyone know where there is a long stretch of smooth state or US highway with those green mile markers on it?  Contact WebGuy at esandifer@earthlink.net if you know such a stretch of road.

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

This week's results  

This week vs Last week

Created October 9, 2004