dawned
sunny and chilly. Some people saw frost on their ways to the race, but it
was in the low 50's by the time the race began, and it was near 60 when the last
of the stragglers left the Rec Area.
4.3 miles - High Bridge Road May 5, 2007 8:30 am. 50 degrees - sunny and bright |
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Sheldon and Quist
Mid-Spring Champions
The morning of the Larry Kershnar Mid-Spring Challenge dawned
sunny and chilly. Some people saw frost on their ways to the race, but it
was in the low 50's by the time the race began, and it was near 60 when the last
of the stragglers left the Rec Area.
The course featured two fast, comfortable miles at the start, a few hundred yards of the rugged eponymy of High Bridge Road, and then a grueling two-mile struggle back to the start/finish line.
Jeff Sheldon was out like a shot, and had a ten second lead as he turned onto South Street in just 2:20. That's just under half a mile from the start, so, if you do the math, you'll find that he was on pace to do the first mile in just over 5:00. From there, he cruised on to finish 1:44 ahead of rookie Ryan Cheng.
Chris Deming and Mark LoSacco finished just two seconds apart in 3rd and 4th.
Pam Quist won just as decisively among the women, finishing eighth overall in 28:51, ten places and two and a half minutes ahead of "Keyless" Eunice Bussom. Lisa Andrews followed two more places and forty seconds back.
Recent birthdays
Our records suggest that a few people have celebrated birthdays recently. Belated, and perhaps badly mis-timed birthday greetings go out to Eunice Bussom, Scott Bussom and Lou Denaro.
People
Just before the mile mark, "Keyless" Eunice Bussom suddenly turned around on the course. She caught back up about half a mile later and explained the situation. We were reminded of our distant friend, Keyless Bob Derringer.
Tom McNulty
is in a cast for the next few weeks, after an injury sustained playing
basketball with his kids. One report has it happening as he tried to beat his
son to a rebound. Nora Hulton approves
of the cost of running Roxbury races, free most weeks with occasional $5 entry
fees. For months, Larry Deming has
brought his children, Collin and Amanda
to the races. Little brother Chris Deming
joined the family way this week and brought his mother and his wife
(alas, I got neither of their names).
Steve Benoit returned to Roxbury after being mostly absent for over a year. Welcome back, Steve. Lou Denaro reports success in last week's fitness test. He was required to run 1.5 miles in under 14 minutes. He'd set a goal of 9:00, and came through in 8:59. He says that the course was NINE LAPS an that his hips were getting tired from all the turns. Congratulations, Lou.
Last Week vs This Week
For the first time this season, we ran exactly the same course two weeks in a row, so we get to play the game of "Last Week vs This Week." Thirty one people ran both weeks. Twenty four of us went faster this week, a mark of experience, better conditions, or maybe the motivation of a championship race that cost us $5 each. We averaged 36 seconds faster. John Kane showed the biggest improvement, vaulting from 38:57 last week to just 34:12 this week, an improvement of 4:45. Mo van Moffaert slowed the most, due in part to the six hours she ran at Lake Waramaug last weekend. She slowed from 40:04 to 43:59, 3:55 slower.
Scott Benjamin was closest to the average improvement, 37 seconds faster, whereas the average was 36 seconds faster. Bob Lewis and Joe Mendes split the Consistency award; Bob was 11 seconds slower while Joe was 11 seconds faster. Jeff Sheldon's winning time was 23 seconds slower this week than last.
Complete details are in the table following the results below.
Safety
Safety is important to us, as we don't run on closed roads and generally like each other.
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 on the right we have this week's winner, Jeff Sheldon.
Below that we have a crowd scene from the start, featuring Lou Denaro in the foreground, with a lot of people you might recognize in the background.
Then there's George Hermann, happy to be finishing the race.
Below that is a photo of a (male) turkey, showing off before last week's race in front of two (female) turkeys, off to the left and not visible in the photo. It's that time of year for turkeys. The turkey did not run the race.
Then we have Larry Deming and his mom. Note she came prepared to cheer, wearing a Boston Marathon t-shirt and those things you get at sporting events for making encouraging noises. These say "Go Deena". I'm not sure if that means Deena Drossil or Deena Kastner. What do I know?
Along side the results we have Lynnie Zuback and Sinnead Blevio smiling, with Ron Karl behaving himself in the background. Where's Sinnead been this year? Then there's a shot of Mark Zerbe in his red vest. Then we have brightly colored Brian Vanderheiden and Mark LoSacco. Near the bottom of the column, a shot 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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Alternate races
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Last Week vs This Week
| This | Last | imprvmt | ||
| 1 | John Kane | 34.12 | 38.57 | 4.45 |
| 2 | Ron Karl | 51.49 | 54.46 | 2.57 |
| 3 | Sharon Gawe | 38.21 | 41.05 | 2.44 |
| 4 | Charlie Euston | 44.54 | 47.00 | 2.06 |
| 5 | Brian Winthrop | 38.55 | 40.41 | 1.46 |
| 6 | Harry Ong | 33.10 | 34.55 | 1.45 |
| 7 | Terri Sacco | 39.02 | 40.30 | 1.28 |
| 9 | Dan Lynch | 31.19 | 32.46 | 1.27 |
| 11 | Mark Zerbe | 30.31 | 31.53 | 1.22 |
| 14 | Bob Satterlee | 37.18 | 38.13 | 0.55 |
| 10 | Corinne Bellemare | 48.30 | 49.24 | 0.54 |
| 18 | Lynn Zuback | 33.15 | 34.05 | 0.50 |
| 15 | Ed Sandifer | 29.55 | 30.42 | 0.47 |
| 16 | Brian Gildea | 30.30 | 31.15 | 0.45 |
| 23 | Scott Benjamin | 34.29 | 35.06 | 0.37 |
| 21 | Mark LoSacco | 27.10 | 27.39 | 0.29 |
| 29 | Lisa Andrews | 31.57 | 32.21 | 0.24 |
| 24 | Prasama Sangkachand | 48.56 | 49.20 | 0.24 |
| 22 | Lou Denaro | 28.31 | 28.54 | 0.23 |
| 25 | Russ Pribanic | 32.07 | 32.28 | 0.21 |
| 26 | Steve Haas | 29.26 | 29.46 | 0.20 |
| 28 | Jack Zamary | 30.43 | 30.58 | 0.15 |
| 35 | Chris Deming | 27.08 | 27.22 | 0.14 |
| 34 | Joe Mendes | 29.18 | 29.29 | 0.11 |
| 33 | Bob Lewis | 35.42 | 35.31 | -0.11 |
| 32 | Mike Ruospo | 28.19 | 28.06 | -0.13 |
| 31 | Larry Deming | 36.08 | 35.49 | -0.19 |
| 37 | Jeff Sheldon | 24.30 | 24.07 | -0.23 |
| 40 | Paul Butler | 35.19 | 34.25 | -0.54 |
| 39 | Walt Schuttler | 43.41 | 40.18 | -3.23 |
| 41 | Mo Van Moffaert | 43.59 | 40.04 | -3.55 |
Current points standings
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Over all |
Women |
Other |
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Created May 5, 2007
