Writeup by Linda Desjardins and Jill Page.
“It’s gonna be a scorcher!” the weather folks told us all day. At race registration at noon, many many folks were getting their bibs and t-shirts and saying they weren’t going to run. Many said if they did, they’d alternate running and walking. Others said they’d go really slowly or walk.
But at 5:30, crowds started assembling outside the high school and while some were swapping from 10 miles to 5K, everyone seemed resigned to the fact that they’d run. The temperature, according to Garmin, was 95. And there were tons of runners.
The gun sounded for the 5K at 6pm and off we ran/walked/stumbled. As always, there was a mélange of runners, walkers, and jog strollers, and the participants came in all sizes, shapes and ages. As we scrambled down High Street, we were in it together. At just two tenths of a mile into the race, the first “citizen sprinkler” was spraying us and we cheered. I started counting the very much welcome and appreciated sprinklers (and those who didn’t could easily avoid them) and counted seven in the first mile. Part way into mile 3, I gave up counting once I got up to 20 sprinklers! Newburyport residents really understand road running and provide a very supportive environment. Some stood and clapped, some sat in beach chairs, held posters and urged us on. Some even had their own stocked water stops. Couldn’t be more rousing.
There was shade for the first mile and then…well the sun. But the crowd support helped us focus on their cheers rather than our overheated bodies. We made it back to Newburyport High School, up that dreaded driveway, remembering that the last tenth of a mile is groaningly miserable. When we crossed the finish line, we were immediately given medals and just seconds later, folks holding boxes of freeze pops (with one end already trimmed off) encouraged us to help ourselves. Most of us did. A frequently heard comment was “It’s all about the freeze pops!” We 5K runners were pretty much drained after our 3.1 miles and could really empathize with what our 10- mile teammates, with 7 more miles to run than we did, were going through. The final tally showed 1499 ran the 5K, and 508 the ten-miler. What a turnout!
Many striders ran (and raced), and some striders (ahem) snail-paced themselves through the very challenging heat. Kudos to all who took the 10 mile challenge and nice going to the 5K participants.
Some race stats I didn’t expect to see should bring Strider pride: In the 10-mile team competition, NSS was 19 of 40, and in the 5K, we were 19 of 53. Best wishes to NSS at the Beverly Homecoming races.
Our industrious, and quickly healing President, Jill, recapped individual results. Thanks, Jill.
10 MILE RESULTS:
- REBECCA IMPERIALI 1:32:53 4th AGE GROUP
- MELISSA WHITTEN 1:39:12 4TH AGE GROUP
- SIOBHAN STONEY 1:56:07 22nd AGE GROUP
5k RESULTS:
- DAN BERNHARDT 25:32 7TH AGE GROUP
- DAVID JEFSKA 29:10 4TH AGE GROUP
- RON IMPERIALI 31:52 31ST AGE GROUP
- LINDA DESJARDINS 45:20 2ND AGE GROUP
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