Yeah, runners are different
Paddy Kelly 2001 race report

By John Goldrosen

BROCKTON, FEB. 11--Hey, this is a WINTER race. You wanna run in shorts, go to Florida! It usually has been on the chilly side for this race the last few years. But even by the standards of hardy New England runners and Paddy Kelly history, this was a bit excessive: the thermometer topped out around 20, and with winds up to 30 mph, you figure out the wind chill. [Use the Windchill calculator on the CRR home page.] So when I arrived at the Time Out Cafe Sunday morning, I was glad for the high number of pre-entrants we had, because I didn't expect much more than a handful of post-entries. Well, we got over 90, almost as many as we had last year on a (comparatively) nicer day. We wound up with about 20 more finishers than in 2000. Yeah, runners are different.

Kevin Gorman shook off the effects of last weekend's Swamp Rat doubleheader (15K on Saturday in Lynn and 10 miles on Sunday in Maine) and returned to win the race for the second year in a row, in a time of 26:36 (5:20 average), 8 seconds ahead of Mike Norton, with teenager Jamie Gallagher (who got to use his beer ticket?) finishing third another 20 seconds back. Among the women runners, Madalena Boudreau continued her string of local victories, finishing in 31:01 (6:14 avg.), followed by Lynne Clay (31:38). Karen Boen, who had been such an interesting and inspiring speaker at our annual banquet the week before, inspired herself to a third-place finish in 31:51. Among other notables, Colonial member Bob Ruel was first master and fourth overall in 27:16, Larry Olsen repeated as first senior (and 12th overall), Dave Regan outraced Maine's Carleton Mendell for the 70+ trophy, and Colonial's Irma Walat was the first 60+ woman by a wide margin. In spite of the strong headwinds through much of the first half of the race, 66 runners averaged under 7 minutes per mile.

As race director, I spent the morning worrying about everything when there was nothing to worry about, thanks to our many volunteers, the help of the Brockton and Avon police, and the assistance of John and Debbie Burke from Bay State Race Services with timing and race results. I heard compliments on the race organization, traffic control, and support on the course. I am told that the beer was cold, and I can vouch that the pasta was al dente.

Thanks to all of you who volunteered your help, both during the planning and preparation of the race and on race day, to make this a successful race. I especially appreciate those of you who worked outside on such a cold day. At the risk of missing someone, here's the list of volunteers: Curt and Jan Jarva, Al Donaghy, Sue and Walter Simmons, Beth Hackett, Steve Smith, Barbara DeCarli, Dave Gorman, Tom and Susan Yellope, Dick Carnes, Cal Goodwin, Clayton Gardner, Dave Thompson, Andy Brennan, Ron Marston, Chris and Erin Hollander, Rick Hayes, Bob Sheehan, Charlie Grainger, Ellen Litt, Lori and Amanda Noel, and Wayne Southworth Sr.