Sunday Run

Last Week – We did 7 miles for the short and 14 for the long on what ended up being a cooler day than expected. As cloud cover kept the sun from warming us, and a stiff breeze made the wind chill even cooler, the group made their way through Stoneham to Friendly’s and through a series of hills in and about Spot Pond.

This Week – The weather should be sunny with temperatures approaching 40 as we do our last run in February. We’ll be heading over to Breakheart to run part of what was once the Wakefield version of the Law Enforcement Memorial Half, which became Boston’s Run to Remember. The group will be looping Breakheart as we break into the longer training distances of the season with half runners get in 9 miles and the long runners stretching it out to 18 miles.

The Route –

Start 1- This week we start up Main Street towards Ell Pond. Say ‘Hi’ to the Clarence DeMar monument for luck and bear right onto Green Street to a traffic light where you turn left onto the Lynn Fells Parkway. Follow the Lynn Fells all the way to the Saugus entrance to Breakheart on the left. Follow the road up to the upper parking lot at the headquarters building. Look around for Derm in the parking lot for the water stop.

Start 2- All runners, short and long, will head into Breakheart. We’ll be taking the outer loop around Breakheart Reservation. We typically go in the right side and run counterclockwise through the woods, bearing right at the fork in the road at the swimming area. Some runners like to go clockwise, others like to just run the flat side, so feel free to improvise, just don’t cheat yourself out of miles. Make your way back to the headquarters parking lot for a second water stop.

Half-Finish- The half runners backtrack the way they came to finish up their 9 mile run, along the Lynn Fells Parkway to the left on Green Street and back onto Main Street to finish at Brueggers.

Long 3- The long runners will had back along the Lynn Fells but will turn right onto Main Street in Saugus at the first set of lights. The group will continue on Main as it becomes Farm Street in Wakefield and stop at Bobby’s water stop on the right at Wakefield High School.

Long 4- After the water stop you’ll continue on Farm Street to a right onto Water Street and an immediate left onto Montrose Street. This windy hilly road will bring you to its end where you turn left on Salem Street. Salem will fork left, but you’ll bear right onto Lowell Street.

Lowell Street will bring you up to Lake Quannapowitt near the Gingerbread Construction Company. Cross to the left side of the road, turn left onto Quannapowitt Way and look for Nicole at the water stop in the Comverse parking lot.

Long 5- After this stop you’ll make your way over to North Ave, choosing to either go along the dirt path or follow the roadway through the parking lot. At North Ave go left and follow it all the way back to Main Street, where Derm’s final water stop will be waiting for you at Nick’s Pizza.

Long Finish- From here you’re going back to Melrose along Main Street, straight back to Brueggers to finish your 18 miler.

Water Stops- I won’t be around this weekend, but Derm, Bobby and Nicole will be at Breakheart, Bobby and Nicole will head over to Wakefield High School ahead of the pack, and Nicole will eventually make her way to Lake Q to keep up with the pack. After the last runner comes through, the water stop volunteers should pack up and head to the next stop to let the volunteer know who to expect when, with Derm cutting over to Nick’s ahead of everyone. Eventually all water stop help will congregate at Nick’s to finish up the day.

Roll Call! Who’s in?

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 22nd, 2020 at 10:50 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.