Wakefield, MA, November 5, 2016 – Recapped by Mike Pelletier.
Linda Desjardins said to me, “On a chilly, cloudy day, in a race which truly was represented by all ages, on a course built for speed with zero inclines and great traffic control, the North Shore Striders strutted their stuff at this humbling, yet enervating and inspiring race.”
It is always a humbling experience for me to go to the Run For All Ages and compete against the fastest 65+ runners in New England. Last year I was 11th in my age group; this year I moved up to 10th when George Geis who had been 10th last year moved to a new age group where he finished 4th, only 4 seconds out of 3rd. Joe Dasilva retained 1st place in his age group and Nancy Wilson retained 2ndplace in her age group. Lauren Hamilton is getting better with age and went from 3rd in her age group last year to 2nd this year. The best improvement in a year was made by Tom McMahon who moved from 11th last year to 4th this year in the M6569 age group.
Bill Kobus and Linda Desjardins each dropped one place in age group competition, even though Bill ran the same exact time as last year. Linda fell only from 1st to 2nd and earned a silver medal to go with last year’s gold.
| OA Place | Name | Place | Age Group | Time |
| 31st | Bill Kobus | 4th | M6064 | 22:00 |
| 35th | Joe Dasilva | 1st | M7074 | 22:29 |
| 37th | Lauren Hamilton | 2nd | F5059 | 22:38 |
| 64th | Vanessa Diranian | 4th | F4049 | 24:57 |
| 74th | Tom McMahon | 4th | M6569 | 25:47 |
| 78th | Dave Jefska | 10th | M6064 | 26:11 |
| 93rd | Mike Pelletier | 10th | M7074 | 27:10 |
| 103rd | Cheryl Welsh | 8th | F5059 | 27:55 |
| 110th | George Geis | 4th | M7579 | 28:22 |
| 116th | Linda Desjardins | 2nd | F6569 | 28:53 |
| 159th | Mary Stevens | 13th | F5059 | 33:05 |
| 190th | Armand Claveau | 21st | M7074 | 36:50 |
| 198th | Maureen Kelly | 20th | F5059 | |
| 216th | Jenny Reynolds | 18th | F3039 | 45:15 |
| 231st | Nancy Wilson | 2nd | F8084 | 55:27 |
Another way to characterize the masters runners participating in today’s race is to use age-graded results which is something the New England 65+ Running Club does for the Run For All Ages 5K. In age-graded results each runner is ranked by percentage in his or her one-year age group. (AGE GRADE PERCENT: 100% = World Record Level, Over 90% = World Class, Over 80% = National Class, Over 70% = Regional Class, Over 60% = Local Class.)
Women:
| Name | Place in race among 72 women 40+
by Age Grade % |
Age Grade % |
| Lauren Hamilton | 14th | 76.13% |
| Linda Desjardins | 16th | 74.89% |
| Cheryl Welsh | 20th | 66.92% |
| Vanessa Diranian | 28th | 61.45% |
| Mary Stevens | 41st | 53.17% |
| Nancy Wilson | 56th | 49.56% |
| Maureen Kelly | 59th | 48.08% |
Men:
| Name | Place in race among 109 men 40+
by Age Grade % |
Age Grade % |
| Joe Dasilva | 9th | 80.48% |
| Bill Kobus | 13th | 75.66% |
| Mike Pelletier | 27th | 68.92% |
| George Geis | 29th | 67.05% |
| Tom McMahon | 35th | 65.84% |
| Dave Jefska | 57th | 61.51% |
| Armand Claveau | 90th | 51.13% |
Thank you, Mike, for taking the time to put this race into several perspectives. It doesn’t just fall into place by itself. I do have an affinity for races that acknowledge age graded results. Because I’m old :-).