Gate City Striders

…and Summit Shutesbury Road! 

GCS-Triad team members post-race

33 GCS-Triad Racing Team members braved the elements and the 2+ hour ride to Amherst, MA for the 35^th running of the DH Jones (formerly the Town & Country) 10 miler. This race was the first of seven New England Grand Prix Races and early indications were that the impending storm was going to make racing conditions an absolute mess. Fortunately for our strong-willed runners, the precipitation held off until the end of the race and the fast times (despite the huge hills) were indicative of the great day of racing that was had for the regions best runners.

Rich Smith was our fastest male runner. He finished in a time of 57:03 (5:43 pace) which was good enough for 43^rd place overall and first on the Mens Open Team ahead of Frank Pilhofer (1:04:03). Randy Macneill was the next fastest GCS-Triad runner after Rich finishing in a time of 1:01:07 which was just enough to hold off Steve Wolfe (1:02:26) & Joe Rogers (1:02:50) for first place on the Mens Masters Team. Steve Tomasi finished first on the Mens Seniors Team with a time of 1:07:16 outpacing Len Hall (1:07:58) & Richard Galera (1:08:11) for the win. And, John Lewicke led the way for the Mens Veterans Team with a time of 1:14:15 which was good enough for 5^th in his age-group amongst all of the 60+ competitors and first on the team just ahead of Rick Stetson (1:17:53) & Joe Noonan ( 1:18:24).

On the womens side, Karen Pattelena ran a very strong race while finishing in a time of 1:08:37 which was good enough for 6^thoverall in her age group and first on the Womens Masters Team ahead of Janice Platt (1:15:49) & Heidi Havron (1:21:24). For the Open Women, young Callie Hartnett lead the way with a fine 1:13:05 over Julie Hanover (1:16:18) & Alison Findon (1:23:38). Aline Kenney ran as a “Team of One” finishing in 1:31:21 which was good enough for 3^rd overall in her 60+ age group and grabbed an "asterisk" for achieving the USATF age group guideline for that distance. Way to go Aline!

Full GCS-Triad race results can be found here.

Our next New England Grand Prix race is The New Bedford Half-Marathon on March 15th in New Bedford, MA. It is the 32^nd annual running of this classic race which features a fast loop through a historic seaport city and has been rated in the top 25 Half-Marathons in United States by Runner's World magazine. For additional race information, including a course map and directions to the start please check out the race website.

Any current club member can run any of the seven New England Grand Prix races free of charge regardless of the number Grand Prix races you're able to run. And, the race entry fees will all be pre-paid by the club so that there are no up-front costs for you. Just show up and run! It couldn't be easier! Plus, we'll also be organizing our “world-famous” team carpool from Nashua to New Bedford, MA on the morning of the race. So, many of you will be able to kick back, enjoy that first (or second) cup of coffee and relax on your way down to the starting line!

In order for us to receive the team discount on the entry fees I need to get our team list into the race director no later than March 1^st. After that, it goes up another 10 bucks! So, that doesn’t give us much time to get our team (and act) together. If you would like to join The Team for another great GCS-Triad Racing event please e-mail me no later than Friday, February 27th and let me know.