2005 Roxbury Race #17

4.8 Miles - Judds Bridge Road

June 11, 2005

8:30 am. warm and humid 

   

Epidemic of Slow on a Steamy Morning

    Summer came for real to this week's Roxbury Road Race.  The heavy, humid heat, together with all the people who were taking it easy in advance of the Litchfield Hills 7 mile race the next day, made the race an average of 1:07 slower than we were on the same course a week earlier, when the weather was beautiful and Litchfield was still a week away.

    Slow can still be exciting.  And fun.  When Starter du Jour Chris Powederly said "Go!" Jeff Sheldon went.  By the time we got out of sight of the starting line, he was already 30 yards ahead, pursued by a tidy little pack of Ken Merrick, Lou Denaro, Mike Abraham, Alison Lind and Mark LoSacco.  By the mile mark, the his lead had probably grown to 30 seconds, and Dangerous Ken Merrick was smiling, knowing that Jeff had gone out too fast.  Just about the turn-around, Dangerous Ken showed why he has that nickname and caught poor Jeff, and by the finish line he'd build a lead of just over a minute.

    Among the women, former Florida State Seminole star Alison Lind ran away from everyone for the second week in a row and finished fifth overall.  Alison is a former star for Nonnewaug, and Google tells us she finished 10th in the State Open in 1999.  Now she's out of college and in the area for the whole summer.  She plans to enter a Physical Therapy program at Columbia in the fall.  Let's hope she keeps healthy so we can watch her run fast all summer.

The Handicap Race

    The Handicap is next week. We've done the handicap table, and here it is: Handicap table.  It's chaos, but it's a lot of fun.  

Nora

    WebGuy was in Cornwall over the weekend, so he stopped at the flower shop to see how Nora was doing.  She's on crutches for another two months, three weeks after breaking her foot.  She's cheerful, and misses Roxbury and she promises to come down when she can to help at the finish line.  From all of us: take care of yourself, Nora.

This week vs Last

    It was a tough week.  20 people ran this course both last week, and only three people managed to run faster this week than last week.  All three finished in the top six, led by Lou Denaro, who improved by 1:22.  On the average, we were 1:07 slower this week.  Most average was Steady Scott Benjamin, exactly 1:07 slower.  Winner Ken Merrick was most consistent, improving by three seconds.

    Usually, when we run the same course two weeks in a row, we enjoy an overall improvement, usually about 20 seconds, so this week's big slowdown made headlines.  (See above.)  It was probably due to two factors, the heat and the Litchfield Hills race on Sunday.

Vermont City Marathon Results
    Mark LoSacco - 3:13:21 (chip time of 3:13:16, splits of 1:36:08/1:37:13) 121st place
    Tom McNulty - 4:57:41 (chip time of 4:55:35, splits of 2:21:24/2L34:11) 2037th place

    Congratulations to both.  You can check complete results at http://www.runvermont.org/.

Safety

    Fossil has three rules of running:

  1. Be safe

  2. Have fun

    Be nice to the drivers.  For the most part, they like us, and they are proud to have us running in Roxbury.  Smile, and, if you wave, be sure you us all five fingers.

Punctuality

    We started almost on time today.  With your continued cooperation, we hope to continue.

Pictures

    We got some new pictures.  Up top, we have two-time winner and former Nonnewaug star Alison Lind.  Doesn't she look like Mary Decker in this picture?  Then we have winner Ken Merrick discussing race strategy with second place Jeff Sheldon before the race.   Below that "Critter" Chris Powderly did the start and finish this week. He doesn't seem to be enjoying the paperwork.  Then we have two Hermanns, Laura and George, with Suzanne Gallup in the background.  Along the side of the results, we have Paul Butler, looking like a winner.  Then a crowd scene from the start back in March. Below that, this week's winner Ken Merrick tries to straighten out the telephone pole with his Achilles.  The next shot is a post on the Pavilion, with Al Mletzko behind it.  Way down at the bottom, we have the Fossil with his friend the dragon, and three sets of mystery feet.

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

 

   

 

This week's results: 

 
This Last
1 1 28.15 Ken Merrick 35 ( 5.53 min per mile)
2 3 29.21 Jeff Sheldon 25 ( 6.07 min per mile)
3 10 30.20 Mark LoSacco 36 ( 6.19 min per mile)
4 6 30.31 Mike Abraham 45 ( 6.21 min per mile)
5 7 31.05 Allison Lind 24 ( 6.29 min per mile)
6 11 31.33 Lou Denaro 44 ( 6.34 min per mile)
7 9 31.46 Mike Ruospo 40 ( 6.37 min per mile)
8 32.19 Ed Sandifer 53 ( 6.44 min per mile)
9 33.36 Jeff Tindell 55 ( 7.00 min per mile)
10 8 33.36 Brian Vanderheiden 35 ( 7.00 min per mile)
11 35.30 Mike Mayer 42 ( 7.24 min per mile)
12 35.44 Bruce Goulart 55 ( 7.27 min per mile)
13 35.55 John Kane 53 ( 7.29 min per mile)
14 16 36.12 Jeff Field 35 ( 7.33 min per mile)
15 36.13 Jack Zamary 41 ( 7.33 min per mile)
16 17 36.30 Pam Quist 41 ( 7.36 min per mile)
17 13 37.41 Mark Zerbe 44 ( 7.51 min per mile)
18 37.45 Chas Greystone 49 ( 7.52 min per mile)
19 20 38.06 Dan Lynch 42 ( 7.56 min per mile)
20 23 38.59 Chris Norris 36 ( 8.07 min per mile)
21 22 39.08 Paul Butler 47 ( 8.09 min per mile)
22 25 39.18 Bob Lewis 40 ( 8.11 min per mile)
23 26 39.26 Scott Benjamin 47 ( 8.13 min per mile)
24 39.37 Tom Fisher 45 ( 8.15 min per mile)
25 21 39.49 John Murphy Jr. 54 ( 8.18 min per mile)
26 40.35 Harry Ong 65 ( 8.27 min per mile)
27   40.36 Laura Hermann 15 ( 8.28 min per mile)
28 41.33 Dave DeBoy 35 ( 8.39 min per mile)
29 41.40 Tom McNulty 39 ( 8.41 min per mile)
30   42.57 Suzanne Gallup 60 ( 8.57 min per mile)
31 43.09 Sameh Hassan 35 ( 8.59 min per mile)
32 44.04 Bob Satterlee 57 ( 9.11 min per mile)
33 44.39 Mo van Moffaert 45 ( 9.18 min per mile)
34 30 45.26 Steve Schoeller 50 ( 9.28 min per mile)
35 33 46.25 Sharon Gawe 52 ( 9.40 min per mile)
36 32 46.42 Ron Karl 60 ( 9.44 min per mile)
37   46.42 Meg Genoter 33 ( 9.44 min per mile)
38 47.34 George Hermann 47 ( 9.55 min per mile)
Alt 3.55 mi
39   45.13 Prasama Sangkachand 45      
40   45.19 Corinne Bellemare 46      
alt 0.41 mile
41 4.00 Harry Mayer 9
42 4.30 Chris Powderly 52

 

 

 

 

 

This week vs last

 

This Last Improvement
1 Lou Denaro 31.33 32.55 1.22
2 Mark LoSacco 30.20 31.31 1.11
3 Ken Merrick 28.15 28.18 0.03
4 Jeff Sheldon 29.21 29.07 -0.14
5 Mike Abraham 30.31 30.15 -0.16
6 Pam Quist 36.30 36.02 -0.28
7 Jeff Field 36.12 35.41 -0.31
8 Allison Lind 31.05 30.30 -0.35
9 Mike Ruospo 31.46 31.10 -0.36
10 Dan Lynch 38.06 37.14 -0.52
11 Chris Norris 38.59 37.54 -1.05
12 Scott Benjamin 39.26 38.19 -1.07
13 Sharon Gawe 46.25 45.14 -1.11
14 Bob Lewis 39.18 37.57 -1.21
15 Paul Butler 39.08 37.46 -1.22
16 Steve Schoeller 45.26 42.54 -2.32
17 John Murphy Jr. 39.49 37.14 -2.35
18 Ron Karl 46.42 43.47 -2.55
19 Brian Vanderheiden 33.36 30.37 -2.59
20 Mark Zerbe 37.41 33.25 -4.16

 

Created June 12, 2005.

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