Race Results Current Month Other Months		October 1996 Race of The Month Topsfield Foliage Classic, October 20th We don't have the official results yet, but we do have this exciting race and party report from Mr. Peanut himself, Charles M. Schultz The race start and finish was moved to a local elementary school to allow people to warmup in a gym and the volunteers not to drown. The kitchen in the cafeteria quickly became the food tent and the lines to the bathrooms were much more civilized. Finally Ron Trippet had a urinal the right height for him. The entire Topsfield police force turned out to stop traffic and save drowning runners. Luckily there were neither. Eight turns - eight cops. The 1 1/2 mile fun run was cancelled. Surprisingly, a number (at least 10 by my count) of the 5th thru 7th graders decided to run the 5 miler. There was plenty of water for everyone. We ran through the Ipswich River which was overflowing in the first mile, then through white water rapids as streams came across the road since their normal culvert routes were foliage filled, and then skirted a waterfall as a normally babling brook began blowing lunch big time over a stone wall in mile two. The rest of the race was as blurry as Bob Gillon's glasses. "Water, Water, Everywhere, and not a drop to drink". Bob Gillon finished 2nd overall. Al Nagle and Sandy Newman-Levy won trophies in their classes. Derrick and his son, Trippet, and I got a good cold shower. Soap was optional. The party at Sandy's was supurb. Plenty of food, drinks, and a prize winning cheese cake. Missy and Todd, Linda Gillon, Ann Tassinari, Ginny and some spouses finished the list of revelers. We gave my wife the task of discovering what couple, not married, is involved amourously. She began working up various hypothesis which where all wrong. Then we made the mistake of introducing her formally to Todd who immediately blurts out that he is the boyfriend of Missy. So much for the entertainment. Oh yes , there is a rumor that next years food is already frozen away because there were to many no-shows. It may be wise to let Ron Trippet eat first and follow his lead. Yea.. I'm wordy.. so what! Love Chuck Other October Races: October 5th Coming in 67th and 3rd in her age group at the T.K. O'Malley 10K in Scituate was our own South Shore native Kerry Kirkendall. She completed the course in 43:07 (6:57). October 13th The Hudson Boys & Girls Club Duathlon was held around Gates Pond in Berlin, MA on this crisp, fall morning. The leaves were in their red and golden splendor, as was our trail enthusiast, Scott Duhaime. Yes, Virginia, this was a mountain bike/trail run duathlon! These events are not for the faint of heart, but Scott likes to head off the beaten path. The trail was a 2.3 mile hilly loop around the lake on a dirt and gravel road bed. The runs were one lap each, sandwiched around a 7.5 mile bike leg consisting of three laps with one short single track/technical section added in per lap. His splits were 14:54 (6:29 - 16th), 28:45 (14th) and 15:37 (6:47 - 11th) and overall time and place were 59:14 and 10th respectively. What was his favorite part, you ask? "The massage tables were right at the finish line..." You've gotta respect the distance. Bruce Davie completed the Bay State Marathon in 3:13:38, barely missing qualifying time for Boston, but that doesn't tell the whole story. According to Bruce "I think I can safely say that the first 24 miles were the fastest I have ever run (in a marathon). I banged out 6:50 miles (2:59 pace) for the first 21 miles, hitting the splits on the nose. Miles 20 to 24 were tough, but I managed to keep going, resisting the urge to walk that had overtaken me on previous races. Unfortunately, something went horribly wrong between 24 and 25 miles, involving my legs turning to jello and my brain shutting down. All I really know is that I hit the road a few times and that the next thing I remember is sitting down in the medical tent by the finish line. Apparently, I lay down for a few minutes and was then stubborn enough to insist on walking to the finish - fortunately, a friend of mine was nearby to guide me, as I was totally out of it and was apparently weaving across the road. I returned to my normal self within minutes of sitting down at the finish - it was like waking up from a dream. So, I ended up running about 3:13, 3 minutes too slow to qualify for Boston next year, but I think I'll be coming under strong spousal pressure to give marathoning a miss from now on - it was a big scare for my wife to see me hobble across the finish line and not recognize her. On the positive side, I feel in some ways happier about this performance than about my last marathon, in which I also walked a lot of the later stages, but on that occasion it was a lack of mental dedication to the race - yesterday, I may have suffered from excessive dedication. I don't really know what caused the problem, but suspect it may have been that I didn't drink enough electrolytes or sugar in the race - I had been very careful to drink a lot of water, but perhaps that wasn't enough. In any case, I think there may be a lot more 10k's and maybe even some track races in my future." Janice Smaga ran the Baystate 1/2 marathon race, finishing as the 5th master's female and 186th overall in 1:40:18 (7:39). Also running in the half was Al Nagel, who finished as the 8th Senior Runner and 103rd overall in 1:33:17 (7:07). October 14th CRC had three representatives at the Tufts 10K for Women on a warm, sunny and breezy fall afternoon. Melissa Mendel felt recovered enough from her amazing 1/2 marathon race two weeks prior to run at a 6:38 pace to finish 90th in 41:05, new member Jackie Atherley was 234th in 45:51 (7:24), and Beth Bouthot placed 687th in 51:08, a pace of 8:15. October 20th Other brave souls besides the ones in Topsfield ran in the rain. In Medford, Jeff Phillips and Eva Golebiowska competed (swam) in the Irish American Track Club/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care 5K. Jeff was 51st in 22:57 (7:24), while Eva was 81st in 27:45 (8:57). October 27th Kerry Kirkendall ran in the Boston Police Chase. She has this to say about the Internet: " Well, you may already know that I ran the Boston Police Chase 5-miler on Sunday, and that I ran a 33:18 or something like that. Missy called me at work to tell me she saw the results posted on the internet, and this is before I had even spoken to a soul. Sometimes it's a bit eerie, this "universal knowledge" acquired via internet. Everyone knows your life before you breathe a word! Whatever the case, it was a fantastic day for a race, and the Boston Police Chase always promises a fun crowd and a great post-race party. This year was certainly no disappointment ....plenty beer a pourin', bagpipe a playin', banana a' peelin', and yes....even an Elvis in a jumpsuit....looking rather svelte, I might add. He must be doing some running these days. Later." Also racing was Al Nagel, in a 5K. It was the Cambridge Family YMCA, and Al had his best 5K race of the year, finishing 30th overall and as the 2nd Senior in 18:48 (6:04). Running in the Marine Corp. Marathon was Eric Gaidos. Not fully recovered from his first "official" marathon in September and dealing with 75 degree weather, Eric completed the Marine Corp in 3:59:45 after taking 6 minutes to cross the starting line with 19,000 other runners. Time to take a break, Eric! Up in Maine, Keith Kennedy and Bob Gillon, had quite a race. Keith grabbed bragging rights by one foot, although both finished in 37:02 (5:58). Linda Gillon had her best 10K in years with a 51:30 (8:18).