Recap by Linda Desjardins.
January 1, 2026, a chance to start anew and begin the year with a race. We awoke to a grey, cold, windy and snowy day – not very inspiring race-running weather for sure. Driving there on salt and snow-covered roads while the wind blew the flurries around was not encouraging either. Nevertheless, in Salisbury Center where the race had its start, runners were everywhere! The energy and sense of excitement generated by the anxious crowds erased any thoughts participants may have had about backing out. Some were all bundled up for the task ahead (some even ran with their parkas over their running gear!). And as always, some were in singlets and shorts. Air temp was 25 with a constant 23 mph wind, higher gusts, and a wind chill of 9. Two separate routes: the 10K course went north on 1A to Seabrook for about 2.5 miles and then backtracked to Salisbury Beach center and added a loop a little over a half mile on Railroad Avenue toward the State Reservation then back on Cable Ave. to the finish. Buildings and houses lined both sides of the road and hopefully that helped mitigate the wind’s impact. The 5K went south on 110 and took a left at the entrance to the State Reservation itself. The road to the reservation area was wide open and runners faced full wind exposure the whole time. At the turnaround at mile 1, the race doubled back and covered the same finishing loop as the 10K. Some very hardy souls then plunged into the Atlantic. They seemed happy to have accomplished both running and plunging tasks. Onlookers shivered appreciatively, thankful they were not diving in. Post race refreshments were available, and many runners and supporters gathered at the Carousel Lounge for free pizza. The combined total of 1089 finishers validates what we all know: runners have true grit.
Your North Shore Strider runners rose to the task. Four runners tackled the 10K. John Linsley blasted out a 41:56 race, making him the 30th finisher overall in a field of 353! He took 8th place in his age group. Next came Rosie Kyes in a speedy 56:50 and right beside her was Rebecca Imperiali dashing to an age group third with a time of 56:51. Not far behind, Mariellen Hayward was buzzing in with a time of 1:10:22. The 5K had 736 finishers. NSS competitors were Ron Imperiali who trotted out a 32:39 and Linda Desjardins who crossed the finish in 41:16, good enough for an age group second. We can truly say that everyone ran well but under the conditions, everyone ran exceptionally well.
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