Beverly Municipal Airport. October 18, 2026. Recap Submitted by Linda Desjardins and Jill Page.
Fall brings changes and today was no exception. The weather was the coolest it has been since the arrival of autumn, starting out at about 30 degrees, but the full sun mitigated the cool feeling and by the race’s end, we were comfy in 50 degree temps. The scenery getting to the airport displayed fall at its best: the trees were bursting with saturated colors and marshy spots offered a subtle contrast with light fog. Complete eye candy.
Running a race on airport runways was a novel idea to most of us. We didn’t know what to expect, except we KNEW it’d be flat. It was a newer race so there were a few minor bumps in the execution. Many runners were milling around the starting area. At least half of the runners chose to run in their race t-shirts, a bright aqua blue, making the pack a pleasingly colorful entity. There was no mat marking the starting line, and no PA system announcing “Ready, Set, Go!” Consequently, some of us got left in the dust when the race started before we were aware or ready. Sort of like the lyric in the Pink Floyd song Time, “No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.” But off we went, some of us already playing catch-up at the race’s start. The runway pavement was unusual in that the surface was scored horizontally, like it is before a paving project on the streets. This must provide extra traction for aircraft…and runners. It was also unusual to have such an open space with no cars, no trees, no roads or sidewalks – just the pavement in front of you. At various runway “turn off” spots the race veered to the right and left and back and forth to cover the 5K distance. A finish mat and a digital clock signaled the race’s end.
A pleasant post-race awards ceremony was held, a practice most races have abandoned; but it just felt good and right to applaud the overall and age-group standouts. The toy airplane awards were a cute innovation and there was plenty of post-race fruit to replenish the carbs expended by the 158 finishers who ranged in age from the youngest 0-14 age groups to the oldest group of 70+ runners.
North Shore Striders were well-represented in this smaller race, and many earned age group awards.
NORTH SHORE STRIDERS FLYBY 5K RESULTS
- 4TH PLACE OVERALL JOHN AYERS 18:30 ****1ST PLACE AGE GROUP****
- 16TH PLACE VINCE SWINIUCH 22:36 ****2ND PLACE AGEGROUP****
- 26TH PLACE JULIE MENOSKY 23:36 ****1ST PLACE AGE GROUP****
- 29TH PLACE ANNE KOHLER 24:00 ****2ND PLACE AGE GROUP*****
- 30TH PLACE ELLEN POVEROMO 24:05 ****3RD PLACE AGE GROUP****
- 35TH PLACE BILL KOBUS 24:39 ****1ST PLACE AGE GROUP****
- 91ST PLACE JILL PAGE 31:35 ****5TH PLACE AGE GROUP****
- 130TH PLACE SCOTT FRASER 41:56 ****8TH PLACE AGE GROUP****
- 133RD PLACE LINDA DESJARDINS 42:41 ****2ND PLACE AGE GROUP****
Leave a Reply