Author: Rich Baber

2014 Strong Family Farm Chicken Run

Rich Baber

StartThe Strong Family Farm Chicken Run was a huge success in its first year. The weather was perfect, the farm was beautiful, and the crowds came out.

This 5K road race, and 2 mile walk was held to benefit the Strong Family Farm. This farm, a fixture in Vernon, was home to the Strong family for generations. Nancy Strong, who lives on the homestead, has deeded the farm to the town as a living museum. All of the proceeds from this event went to help defray the costs of maintaining this great institution.  

Events of the day

The day started with the kids race, a quarter mile loop around the farm fields. About 40 young athletes ran the course and crossed the finish line; all winners. The excitement continued with the 5K road race and two mile walk. About 50 walkers traversed a challenging route in a residential neighborhood before finishing at the farm.

The 5K road race attracted about 160 runners who completed a course consisting of hills, woods, and a rail trail. Following the race, an Easter egg hunt was held and awards were presented to the age group winners.

finish

Results

The 5K field had a number of fast finishers. The overall winner was Ken Clark from Somers in a time of 19:32. He was followed by Bruce Christenson from Bolton (19:33) and Jason Eanle from Vernon (20:06). The first woman to cross the finish line was Jillian Ellefson from Vernon in 21:46 followed by Izzy Erikson from South Windsor in 22:31 and Anna Nadolski from Vernon in 22:44. For complete results click here.

All in all it was a fun event, and everyone had a great time.

Planning is already underway for the 2015 race so put it on your calendar.

 

1st Annual Running With Scissors 5K a Huge Success

Rich Baber

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It was a rare spring-like morning on Saturday, March 29 at Lake Pocotopaug in East Hampton. Temperatures approached the fifties and a beautiful sunrise rose above the lake as over 300 runners, walkers, supporters and volunteers converged at Sears park to celebrate the life of Karen Pfaffenbach and participate in the inaugural Running With Scissors 5K run/2 mile walk.

Opening Ceremonies

The runners and walkers all converged at the starting line just before 10:00.  Drs Justin Lunbye and Heather Swales from the Hospital of Central Connecticut spoke . Then the Golden Girls, Cory Ucci, Joanne Pagliughi, Dorothy Winch, Monica Turning, and Karen Moore spoke. This group of Karen’s friends organized this event in her memory to support women’s heart health. Then members of Karen’s family said an emotional thank you to the assembled group and presented the organizers with a check.

Then it was time for Karen’s husband George and son Kenny to start the race, and off they went.

Run logo

Fast Five K

157 runners completed the 5K course, running around the lake, going uphill for the first half, and then turning around heading for the finish line, downhill all the way.

Awards were presented to the first three overall finishers, all of whom turned in fast times. The first male finisher was Luke Shane (17:36) of Glastonbury, followed by Matt Rolaff (18:26) of East Hampton and John Moyer (19:17) of Higganum.

The top three women were Mary-Alex Zickefood (21:45) from Andover, Jackie Keefer (22:27) of Manchester, and 12 year old Emily Sienna (22:57) from Moodus. Complete results available here.

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Walkers and More

In addition to those who ran the race, over 100 walkers completed the two mile course. On top of this, many showed up to volunteer and to cheer on the runners.

The event raised a sizeable donation for the Women’s Heart Health Center.

All in all, the event was hugely successful and everyone is now talking about the 2015 race. Photos coming soon.

King of Pain: Ten Miles of Tough

Rich Baber

KOP Winners

There were no T-shirts, no water stops, no cheering volunteers with cowbells, no medical tents, live bands, or police escorts, just 10 miles of grueling hills, howling winds, and single digit temperatures. Yes, it was the King of Pain Ten Mile Road Race.

Last Saturday, Feb. 8th, sixty seven intrepid runners, walkers, and relay teams lined up for the start of this no frills “fun” run hosted by the Glastonbury River Runners. The pre-race instructions were brief: “Be careful. You’re on your own out there”. Then they were off. A little over an hour later, the first of the participants approached the finish and forty five minutes after that, the final runner came in. In between there were many personal triumphs and many stories to go along with them.

There were people who had never before run a ten mile race, and then there was Neil Caron who had never run more than a couple of miles ever, and chose this event to test his mettle. And there were relay team members like Chris Goff who, after finishing the first leg, just kept on going to the finish. 

And then there were those runners for whom ten miles just weren’t quite enough. Laurie DeLuca got within a mile of the finish line when she decided she just needed to add two extra miles and then brought Gary Richards, Tony Maribelli, and Gordon Phillips along with her. And Art Byram, who showed up an hour and a half before the race, asked for a bib, and took off, running the entire ten mile course as a warm up before running the race a second time.

After the race, the main event took place, the potluck brunch. People enjoyed great soup, baked goods, and comraderie, while cheering on this year’s winners. Mike Keenan, who created this race and designed the course (now you know who to blame) presented the top three male and female finishers with crowns and granted them bragging rights for the next year. The three kings were Brett Stoeffler, Joe Hallisey, and Mike Keenan himself. And the three queens were Melanie Sandoval, Lanham Marks-Hamilton, and Brianna Carlson. And the final award went to Sasha from the Willimantic Athletic Club who, with his friend Jack Fulton, came in first place in the canine division for the second year in a row.  

But, of course, everybody was a winner. Everyone who had started the race conquered the course and crossed the finish line, and each one of them had a smile on their face.  As Art Byram said afterwards, “This is what a running club is all about.” We can’t agree more.