Saturday, June 21, 2025 in Medford at the Hormel Track – Writeup by Linda Desjardins.
All races have a competitive feel to them; but not all feel like a cut-throat competition. The 26X1 Relay Invitational is one where, of course, every team wants to do well; but camaraderie is the predominating atmosphere of this gathering. Many teams have tents where teammates gather, all wearing club gear, and every team has a chance to chat with each other while watching the race go on and get together to cheer like mad for teammates – and everyone else in general!
Our NSS tent was there and so were our 26 entrants. We all feared the heat today and those with later starts literally and figuratively sweated out how bad it would be on the track. Well, in retrospect, not so bad at all. At the start and hand-off point, as soon as the track curved left, surprisingly, there was a welcoming breeze, and on the straightaways, a nice cross wind which really tamped down the effect of the heat. The encouragement each teammate offered to others helped ease nerves, as did the reassurance that we would all just strive to do our best. And we did! All 26 Striders ran the four loops and dug down as deeply as they could to complete the mile. When they went by our tent, easily identified by their Strider singlets, we did our best to hoot and holler them on! We had Mike and Katie organizing us all, Katie at the opening “registration” end of things and after she ran her mile, helping Mike who was keeping us in proper order while tracking our times and overseeing hand-offs, and both were offering endless support and encouragement. When each runner checked back in to the NSS tent, they were treated like conquering heroes.
But going back to the camaraderie mentioned earlier, what’s so special is how many of the other clubs cheered us on and congratulated us and vice versa. There are no barriers, no sour grapes, no whining – just a positive atmosphere that made us all glad we got to bounce around on a cool track, be with great runners from all over, and enjoy a snack tent that had variety and yummy offerings. Few things beat a nice cool slice of watermelon after a race, except maybe the boxes and boxes of fresh-baked pizza. It was really a memorable and enjoyable day.
Our finishing results, compiled by the woman we all missed dearly, our leg-braced Jill, follow. We all recognized how difficult not being there must have been for her; but her spirit was with us as we navigated the race we are glad she introduced to the North Shore Striders. It’s a favorite.
The North Shore Striders team placed 20th overall out of 29 teams with a time of 3:09:23. That time represents a 7:32 improvement over our 2024 finish when we were 25 out of 30 teams! Pats on the back to all who were part of this team accomplishment.
OVERALL TIMES BY RELAY ORDER:
1. JOE SHAIRS 5:18 ( 3RD AGE GROUP)
2. WES LASSEN 5:47
3. JOHN LINSLEY 5:37
4. CHRIS MCCARTHY 6:29
5. KATELYN BOAMAN 6:36
6. BRANDON-DORR SWENDIG 4:53 (****FASTEST TIME ***)
7. NINA NETTO 8:53
8. DAN BERNHARDT 7:03
9. LIZA BATHURST 9:21
10. SEAN DUNLEAVY 6:34
11. NATE EKBORG 6:21
12. MELISSA WHITTEN 7:31
13. JULIE MENOSKY 7:03 (4TH AGE GROUP)
14. LINDA DESJARDINS 11:53 ( 1ST AGE GROUP)
15. JOAN KLEMM 7:37 ( 9TH AGE GROUP)
16. RYAN AYERS 8:25
17. MAUREEN O’REILLY 6:48 (2ND AGE GROUP)
18. JOHN MCFADDEN 7:04
19. VANESSA FREEDMAN 7:57
20. MATT GILLIGAN 6:36 (6TH AGE GROUP)
21. GARY FREEDMAN 9:53
22. DAN HEALEY 6:05 (2ND AGE GROUP)
23. REBECCA HILL 6:59 (7TH AGE GROUP)
24. JOHN AYERS 5:15 ( 2ND AGE GROUP)
25. JENNIFER O’NEIL 7:51 ( 10TH AGE GROUP)
26. KERRY CHRICHTON 8:00
RYAN AYERS SPEED LEG 82 SECONDS
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