MRC Racing Series

If you look at the Racing Series tab on the Melrose Running Club page, you will see that I have a schedule for 2019.

Some races have not posted details and some of them may not. As such the list and dates may change.

The Running of The Leprechauns just settled on March 17 in Medford this past week. They had problems getting a permit for the Malden Irish American Club.

Towns are getting tighter with race permits. Cambridge has really flipped from being runner friendly to pushing races out of town. Malden seems to be picking up the slack, but it appears there is a limit to their racing endurance.

2019 Schedule

We had 22 runners at The Great Stew Chase and 31 at The Super Sunday Race event. For details on those races please click through to my blog.

We also had three people volunteer at The Super Sunday race. Volunteers are crucial to the operation of any running event. Many of you know the challenges of managing our two club races. Volunteers make it happen.

We had enough people on our team to qualify for a VIP tent which everyone seemed to enjoy. In the future we will try to get a team tent at any event that offers them.

We do have a team for the Running of the Leprechauns. So far we are in second place and you know we can’t stand for that! Registration is still open so please join our team when you register, and earn your points.

The post race event will be inside and I’m not sure about team tents or tables.

As I mentioned above, the schedule is not written in stone.  Several races still only list 2018 information.

These races have dates and registration is open:

Not a Walk in The Park 5K – Saugus – April 27th

Gold Star Run 10K and 5K – Saugus – May 25th

Howling Wolf Half and 6K – Stoneham – October 27th

How will 2019 Work?

I’m sure that some of you are curious how you can win a jacket or another prize in the 2019 MRC Racing Series. In the past we counted each race as one point. Who ever ran the most races won.

As people missed races or got started late they began to loose sight of the prize. We all know the real prize is running and good health, but I digress.

The details are still being finalized but here are the basics.

A 5K will count for 1 point.

A 5 Miler, 10K or 15K will count for 2 points.

The Howling Wolf Half will count for 5 points.

Since the Howling Wolf is in October it will give people a chance to catch up and possibly win.

So as you sign up for races, keep the prize in mind and choose wisely!

I’m sure you have questions so let me know.

Run well my Friends,

Andy

I’ve been away for a while, so I thought it was time for an update.

June Races

We had 29 runners at the Melrose Firefighter’s 5K on June 17th and 4 MRC runners at the Lahey Health 5K on June 23rd.

I may drop the Lahey race from next year’s schedule as it doesn’t seem to be very popular with the club. They had 1075 runners but we only had four run.

The Melrose Fire Fighter’s had 341 runners and Melrose Running Club had 29 runners and the 2nd largest team!  Our team also came in 2nd in the over-all team time results, just 1:09 minutes behind Team Kay  Family.

Charlotte Tysall was the 2nd place female over all  with a time of  20:45!

Mike Sikkema was the 5th male over all and 1st in his age group.

Lisa Tysall won her age group!

Diarmuid Cahill came in 2nd in his age group and many other runners finished in the top 10 for their age group.

Jennifer Tinney 5 Miler and 5K

Melrose had six runners journey to Boxford for this small-town race. Stephanie Lawson ran the 5K and the following ran the 5 Miler:

Cynthia Berger

Greg Berger

Regina Curran

Thuy Dang

Mary O’Connell

I didn’t see any age group wins or over-all wins for these races.

The Standings So Far

With six races to go, here are the current standings for the top group of runners:

Thuy Dang has run all 8 races

Sheph Lawson and Mary O’Connell have run 7 races

Durm, Charlotte and Andy have run 4 races.

Thuy, Steph and Mary still have a shot at the jacket. The rest of us are running just for the fun of it, as always!

Upcoming Races

Cure SMA 5K

August 25th at 8:30 AM Lower Common, Wakefield, MA

Join team Melrose Running Club. Entry is $35 and there are NO FEES! Fundraising is suggested but not required. Just enter $100 into the amount field. The Race Director told me that they will not bill you for the difference, but would be thrilled if you raised a bunch of money.

Maybe the club can do a raffle basket or a 50/50 drawing? Anyone have ideas?

September 22nd is the BCBS Island Run 5K and 5 Miler. The boat leaves at 9:00AM and proper ID is required.

$50 includes your race, lunch, 21+ beverages and round-trip ride to Spectacle Island. A deal that can’t be beat!

Hallmark Health still has nothing on their we site. The Howling Wolf Half moved to October 28th so we will have two races in October and don’t need a 3rd. May have to drop Hallmark if I don’t hear from them.

We do need a November race though. Give me some ideas!

And we wind up the year with the Bill Rodgers Jingle Bell Run in Somerville. No date yet but I’ll keep you posted.

Andy