new
"bib chip" finish line system. It worked almost flawlessly and
partial results were ready ten minutes before the last runners finished; full
results just minutes after.6.7 miles - Painter Ridge November 12, 2005 8:30 am. 25-30 degrees, sun |
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Wally Jahn and Mike Hall were back this week
with their trailer, the red pick-up and the new
"bib chip" finish line system. It worked almost flawlessly and
partial results were ready ten minutes before the last runners finished; full
results just minutes after.
Wally Jahn and his crew from Road 'n Track Sports didn't say they might be back, but both Wally and Mike were a bit envious of the people who got to run in the race. The next time they come back, it might be to run instead of to time.
Jeff Sheldon completely dominated this week's race. He took a lead before we got past the first mailbox, and in the end clobbered WebGuy Jr by three and a half minutes, more than 30 seconds a mile. It was the biggest winning margin anybody remembers in a regular season race.
Among the women, Pam Quist went out just a little bit ahead of Caroline White and went just a little bit faster the whole way. By the end of the race, Pam, who is having an amazing season, built up a 51 second margin and finished in 12th place overall.
Personalities
Mo van Moffaert brought brownies and cookies
for after the race to celebrate Carl Hunt's finish in an Iron Man Triathlon.
Mo had worked with Carl earlier this year teaching him to be a stronger
swimmer. She says that at the beginning Carl "Zero-percent Body
Fat" was pretty much hopeless in the pool, but that he worked hard and
improved enough to do well in the Iron Man.
Kyle Knight has been missing for a few months, but we always know she'll come back and tell us where she's been. This time she's been off running a 50 mile race across Rhode Island. WebGuy did one of his usual probing interviews that went something like this:
Q: Did you break 10 hours?
A: Oh, yeah.
Q: Did you break 9 hours?
A: Not quite.
She was happy with her race.
"Mighty" Mo van Moffaert won a titanic race through the last mile against rivals Wendy Carlson, 12 seconds back, and the duo of Sinead Blevio and Chris "Critter" Powderly, just three seconds farther back.
The pattern of back and forth narrow wins between Lou Denaro and Jeff Tindell seems to have broken this week, as Jeff put more than a minute in to his rival. It was worth three places, too.
Hills
This weeks course is regarded by some as the most difficult of our courses. Though it isn't the longest, it is very long, and it has two very tough hills. Here's a table of the lengths and heights of some of our hills:
| vertical (feet) | length (mi) | gradient | |
| Ranney | 140 | 0.4 | 6.63 % |
| Painter | 375 | 1.1 | 6.46 % |
| Chalybes | 150 | 0.3 | 9.47 % |
| Judds Bridge | 175 | 1.9 | 1.74 % |
| South St | 195 | 1.3 | 2.84 % |
| Squire-Apple | 331 | 1.4 | 4.48 % |
Next
Week's Course
Next week we return to Ranney Hill, but it's the last hill on the course instead of the first. We'll go out Rocky Mountain and Hemlock to the top of Chalybes, down Chalybes, then left on Rt. 67 past the General Store to the base of Ranney Hill Road. There we go right, up and over, to the little piece of Painter Hill Road, right on Good Hill Road and back to South Street. We go left on South Street, half a mile to West Apple, then right, half a mile to the finish line.
Safety
Now that autumn is here, the sun is lower in the sky at 8:30 and the drivers might have trouble seeing us. Be extra careful.
It is safest if we face traffic as much as possible. Also, it is safer if we are all on the same side of the road, instead of making traffic drive between runners.
Fossil has three rules of running:
Be safe
Have fun
It's more fun if you run well
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 use all five fingers.
This week's pictures
Up top we see Chris Deming, eighth place today, trying to figure out his safety pin so he can pin on his number.
Then below that, from last week when it was lots warmer we have Nora Hulton, posing with friends Tom McNulty and Chris Norris. Note Nora's innovative foot gear. She's nearing the end of a long recovery from a dancing accident earlier this year, and hasn't been able to race since it was still cold back in the Spring. It was good to see her, and she helped out at the finish line, handing out sticks.
Then there's a photo of the start from a
race 
in
March, just to remind us what's coming up later in the season.
Along side the results we have Lynnie Zuback and Sinnead Blevio smiling, with Ron Karl behaving himself in the background. Then there's a shot of Christina Clark going fast, and then one of Fast Mario Hasz and his wife Diane, the Belle of the Finish Line.
Down at the bottom, we have three women smiling after the race, Fossil meeting a dragon in Germany, and a collection of three sets of feet.
The Roxbury Races are now listed on the Internet both on RunningInTheUSA and on HiTekRacing.com
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Created November 12, 2005
