Twenty Liberty athletes – roughly a quarter of the club’s membership – took on the great James Joyce Ramble, once again the national 40-plus 10K championship, from Dedham’s elegant Endicott Estate on Sunday.  It was a magnificent sea of blue before, during and after the race.  Support crew Maria Rojas Duran & Caitlin Sweeney brought the tent (pitched on the wide estate lawn next to Michelle Lebrun & Bob Fitzgerald’s New England Runner tent), Jennifer Stewart & Karen Lein held signs, Amanda King (& others?) brought tasty baked stuff from western Mass.  Nothing not to like here!

Things got even better once the starting horn sounded.  The course goes through Dedham Square, past St. Paul’s Church (did everyone catch the carillon playing the “Chariots of Fire” theme as we ran by?), over the Charles and up (and up) through Noble & Greenough School before heading back to Endicott, the last mile in reverse of the first.  It’s a challenging course both physically and mentally, in part because, when you’re running the first downhill mile, you know that the rest of the race is going to be net uphill.  The wicked double-hill in the school, gradual ups-and-downs along the way, plus that final uphill mile are wearing and weary-ing.  When you hit the finish line you know you’ve run a race.

As a club and team effort this was one of the finest Liberty showings of recent years, with long-time members and newer ones together lighting up the roads.  Let’s take a look, by age groups and teams.

* Denotes medalist

40-44: (4) Helen Bresler 45:38, (10) Kathy Materazzo, 49:49

45-49: (10) Kara Brown 52:54

50-54: (7) Jennifer Hood-DeGreinier 46:58, (10) Maria Zullo 65:46

55-59: *(3) Pauline Entin 45:01, (7) Alison Conway 49 :50, (9) Melanie MacFarlane 53:44

60-64: *(3) Mary Cass 44:48, (4) Amanda King 46:15, (7) Judy Jungels 46:38, (8) Lauren Leslie 47:28, (10) Viki Bok 49:28, (15) Joanne Hill 55:42

65-69: (6) Julie Menosky 48:18, (7) Anne Shreffler 52:23, (12) Brenda King 60:10

70-74: *(1) Marge Bellisle* 53:20

75-79: *(1) Jessica Wheeler 54:34

85-89: *(1) Barbara Belanger 85:41

Teams: 40+ --  5th of 6, 2:28:41 (Bresler – Materazzo - Brown, Zullo)

50+ -- 2nd of 4, 2:22:07 (Entin – Hood-DeGreinier – Conway, MacFarlane)

60+ (A) – 1st of 5, 2:17:55 (Cass – A. King – Jungels, Leslie)

60+ (B) – 2nd of 5, 2:30:27 (Menosky – Bok - Shreffler, Hill – B. King)  [Genessee Valley 2:30:51]

70+ -- 2nd of 3, 3:08:27 (Bellisle – Wheeler – Belanger)

And now onto . . . Age Grading!  Nine runners, nearly half the Liberty contingent(!), made it over the 80% age-grading medal threshold, with five among the women’s top 20.

(6) Mary Cass 89.26%, (9) Amanda King 86.47%, (13) Jessica Wheeler 85.94%, (15) Julie Menosky 85.07%, (19) Lauren Leslie 84.25%, Barbara Belanger 82.56%, Judy Jungels 82.45%, Viki Bok 80.84%, Pauline Entin 80.25

Notes: Paul Carlin of Ann Arbor, Michigan writes “The Running Professor” blog about masters racing, producing detailed previews and recaps of USATF series events.  He always tries to predict the top 3 in each 5-year age group.  Liberty’s Marge Bellisle, Mary Cass, and Julie Menosky are among those who’ve appeared in Paul’s predictions – add to that list Pauline Entin, whose 55-59 3rd place made Paul look good! . . . injury hampered the strong Shore AC 60s team, resulting in Liberty’s A & B teams going 1-2, a rarity worth celebrating – both teams would have medaled even had Shore been 100%, Genessee Valley just 24 seconds behind the Bs . . . Your coach had a good day too, repeating as M70-74 and #3 in the men’s age-grading.  (Some of that good Liberty luck must have rubbed off.)

I aim to keep race recaps to one page for easier reading – kind of hard to contain this one, but just made it :)

The Big Weekend Race Report: April 18-20, 2026

Where to start?  Let’s go with the 14-strong volunteer crew at the convention center, representing Liberty at packet/number pickup.  In no particular order, there were:

 Jessica Bodner, Maria Zullo, Orlee Berlove, Julie Menosky, Maria Rojas Duran, Jen Hood-DeGrenier, Carrie Benedon, Kaileigh Maguire, Loomis, Jamie McLaughlin, Laurie McDonough, Priscilla Karnovsky, Viki Bok and Melanie MacFarlane.  (There are a gazillion great photos of this group and of all the weekend’s events posted to Slack.)

Saturday was a morning for two traditional races, the BAA 5K and the Lexington 5-miler.  In the latter, Pauline Entin won a competitive 50-59 division in a fine 35:26.  Meanwhile, back at the Common, five (that we know of) Liberty runners raced in the former, none of whom could find each other afterwards amidst the huge crowds: Jennifer Hood-DeGreiner (22:42, 15th 50-54); Jackie Shakar (23:06, 3rd 65-69); Kaileigh Maguire (24:37, 95th 30-34); Ashley Robbins 24:57, 117th 30-34); Anne Shreffler 25:21 (7th 65-69).  Jackie and Anne both finished ahead of one Joan Benoit Samuelson in the 65-69 division, something that nobody can ever take away from them!

And yes, there was another marathon on Saturday, the fourth (we think?) 26.Dru, er, 26.True two-looper Tour de Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, Mattapan and Dorchester.  The official Liberty support station (8.5/21M) in Dorchester consisted of Joanne Hill, Catherine Xie, Margaret Keaveny, Caitlin Sweeney, Maria Rojas Duran, Laurie McDonough, and eventually Anne Shreffler, whose Uber couldn’t get her to the Liberty spot in time and who went to straight to the finish area instead.  Dru Pratt Otto looked great all the way, those hot-pink calf-socks making her easy to spot.  “Old” friends and Pioneers Alia Qatarneh and Jeanne Po were also on the scene, and I have a feeling that Vicky Shen was too but I just didn’t see her?  This race improves each year: it began with almost a flash mob kind feeling and out of necessity has progressed into a well-organized and -supported alternative event.  While it remains unsanctioned and uncertified and there’s no time clock, volunteers were numerous and enthusiastic, traffic control and signage were good, and on the parts of the course (at least half I’d guess) that I ran I didn’t see anyone running in the street.

But we’re not done, folks.  There was something on Monday, and there’s hardly a need any longer to try describing the Boston Marathon in words.  (Here’s where being able to view photos on Slack really helps.)  To start, here are the numbers: Amanda Perri, 3:05:39 (1:33:57-1:31:42, a 2:15 negative split); Veronique Vanderhorst 3:27:44 (1:44:42-1:45:02); Madeline Miller 3:30:24 (1:45:42-1:44:42, 1:00 negative split); Ashley Robbins 3:40:45 (1:47:53-1:52:52); Jennifer Stewart 3:34:26 (1:46:07-1:57:19); Maureen Speedy Larkin 3:43:27 (1:45:49-1:57:38); Sarah Hutchinson 3:44:57 (1:49:51-1:55:06); Mary Cass 4:05:21 (1:57:48-2:07:32); Margaret Keaveny 4:19:37 (2:01:39-2:17:58).  Veronique and ‘Speedy’ were 54th and 79th in their respective 10-year age groups.   It’s been in my mind lately that it’s been a long time since a Liberty runner broke 3 hours, and that maybe someone from our current generation should take a crack at it.  Well, Amanda came very close, averaging 7:05/mile.  Her large negative split shows good pace sense on this mercurial course, and that there’s more there.  (Few marathons have point-to-point tailwinds, but results like this have to get runners thinking.)  Oh, and Maria Zullo’s husband Barry Sussman broke his goal by :01 in 3:17:59 (91st M60-69).

Liberty support, as usual, went up and down the length of the course: we’re aware of Kathleen Kearnan, Helen Bresler and Loomis in Framingham, also Kara Brown + sister, Caitlin Sweeney, Vicky Shen, Orlee Berlove and, at the 21M top-of-Heartbreak spot, Catherine Xie, Sara Vannah, Joanne Hill, Karen Lein, Laurie McDonough, Anne Shreffler plus whoever I may be forgetting.  On this unforgettable day.

Well done in every way, Liberty athletes/supporters!

The former and perhaps future Upton loop course was hilly from start to finish. This year’s

revised version (due to road work on a bridge, we’re told) was a no less relentlessly hilly out-and-back

(plus a pair of ‘keyholes’). The second keyhole came just before 5 miles, and anyone who ran this one

will likely shudder at the mention of Juniper Road.

Upton is a classic “leafy suburb” -- large homes amidst woods, some old, many new, much of the

course shady and scenic. The right turn up Juniper Road, though, revealed a spacious, freshly-

landscaped development – which few will have noticed since Juniper Road was just a monster hill climb.

Neither iteration of the Frank Nealon course feels easy at any point, right up to the long haul back up

Pleasant Street to the high school that heaves into view with the finish line still nearly a half-mile away.

All of which is by way of saying that the 18 marvelous Liberty women that took on this race

represented themselves and their club exceedingly well. Here’s how they finished:

Madeline Miller 1:04:56; Mimi Fallon 1:07:19; Catherine Xie 1:07:19; Mary Cass 1:10:49; Maureen

Larkin 1:10:52; Pauline Entin 1:10:58; Judy Jungels 1:12:03; Ann Liu 1:12:33; Amanda King

1:13:09; Ashley Robbins 1:15:49; Jackie Shakar 1:16:23; Viki Bok 1:18:21; Anne Shreffler 1:22:24;

Caitlin Sweeney 1:22:39; Margaret Keaveny 1:23:53; Kara Brown 1:24:51; Jessica Wheeler

1:29:44; Brenda King 1:35:09.

Highlights:

 This was Jessica’s first Liberty race and she was a ladle-winner, 3 rd in the 70-plus division. Mimi was

the day’s top division-placer with 2 nd in the 60-69s (ladle!)

 “ “ Anne Liu’s first USATF-NE team race with Liberty; Maureen in her second.

 The 60-plus group again stood out, and while Tracksmith took the 60s team title by a noodge

Liberty’s depth was crazy, with 9 of 33 age 60-69 finishers wearing Liberty blue.

 If you look up your result https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/197686#resultSetId-638590;perpage:10

you’ll find your 5M split and finish time, each with pace-per-mile. What stood out to me is that nobody

“fell off the table” but all in fact paced themselves well, a few slowing slightly in the second half but

many with negative splits.

 Amanda equaled her time from this race four years ago: this western Mass hills must agree with her!

 Madeline was really strong over 2nd half, averaging 7:06 through 5M where she caught up with me. I

picked up to 6:58s over the 2 nd half but Madeline pulled away, from me and a bunch of strong runners,

covering 5-9.3M at a 6:50 pace. Several, like Madeline used this as a Boston prep race, and all the

even- and negative-split pacing reflected a smart approach.

 Lots of close LAC packing, with Catherine and Mimi; Mary, Maureen & Pauline; Judy, Anne L &

Amanda; Anne S, Caitlin, Margaret, Kara right with or near one another. Love that.

TEAMS: https://d368g9lw5ileu7.cloudfront.net/races/results_bkrclrc3gzvsgwm71idvhbaslypi.txt

OPEN (top 5 times) – LAC 7 th of 13, 5:41:14 [BEN RC 5:41:22 & SRR 5:41:55] – Miller, Fallon, Xie,

Cass, Larkin

Masters 40+ (top 5) -- LAC 7 th of 11, 5:44:52 [Notch 6 th , 5:42:56] – Miller, Fallon, Cass, Larkin, Entin

Seniors 50+ (top 3) – LAC 5 th of 9, 3:28:59 [Tracksmith 4 th 3:26:45] – Fallon, Cass, Larkin

Veterans 60+ (top 3) – LAC 2 nd of 6, 3:28:59 (Tracksmith 3:26:45] – Fallon, Cass, Larkin

. . . Suddenly we find ourselves wishing that 50s & 60s teams scoring went 5-deep, you know? . . .

Oh, and breaking the 60s into 5-year divisions (as will be done for USATF-NE series purposes): 65-

69s = Jackie, Anne & Brenda went 3-4-9; 60-64s = Mimi, Mary, Maureen, Judy, Amanda & Viki went

2-5-6-7-9-11.

Many Liberty members, particularly those newer to the club, may not be familiar with USATF.  The letters stand for “USA Track & Field”, and it is the national governing body for our sport of running (and jumping and throwing), as is USA Swimming for that sport, and on and on for other Olympic sports.  Our local association, USATF-New England, is arguably tops in the nation, in the top three at the very least.

But like everything and everyone, USATF is hardly perfect.  When it was announced last year that the annual club cross country championships would be delayed a month from December to January to coincide with the world championships, a rarity on US soil*, it raised some eyebrows.  Having our own championships operate under the shadow of something “greater” has not always workout out well.  [*The last time a world XC championship was held in the United States was 1992 – right here in Franklin Park, where Liberty AC alumna Lynn Jennings won her third world title on a snowy March morning.]

This did not deter a flock of New England club athletes; in fact, the chance to see a world championship one day and take part in a national race was a draw for many, despite the fact that Tallahassee is far from the easiest destination to reach (as well as other, um, factors).  Among the first to get on board was Liberty’s age 60-plus contingent – fleet of foot, and their energy is second to none.  Six runners (Viki Bok, Mary Cass, Mimi Fallon, Lauren Leslie, Mary McNulty and Julie Menosky) signed on and began doing Friday workouts together; meanwhile, your coach’s own racing club, the Greater Lowell Road Runners, had a group of 60s and 70s men going.  So eventually the coach was in as well – couldn’t sit on the sidelines for this, eh?

Saturday’s world championship was something to behold: the best distance runners in the world at Tallahassee’s now-famous Apalachee Regional Park course, on a sunny and quite warm day dealing not just with the traditional course but a bunch of added obstacles: a faux-turf hill, a thick sand “beach”, a fake lake, a quartet of logs made to resemble alligators, and a mud pit created by hoses instead of clouds.  Lest that sound negative, it isn’t (entirely).  The competition was fabulous.  The day began with an 8K mixed relay, two women and two men per country, each running a 2K leg.  Australia came from behind on the final leg to win thanks to the great running of Olympic medalist Jessica Hull, a Liberty favorite (she happily posed for a Liberty group photo at a BU workout two years ago).  https://www.facebook.com/1667304850/videos/pcb.10163212697457740/1081364874081254

Sunday was a gift for “older” athletes: the day dawned 10-15 degrees cooler, with cloud cover, and paths had been cleared around the lake and Alligator Alley, negating the need to negotiate them.  The Masters 40 and over 6K (3-loop) race for women was first up, starting at 8:15, and the 60s team race, as expected, quickly turned into a duel between Liberty and New Jersey’s Shore AC.  Shore has been dominant lately and held on for first here; still, the women of Liberty shone, with Mimi Fallon (27:31) fourth overall and Mary Cass (28:18) sixth.   Lauren Leslie (29:30) took the 3rd scoring spot with Viki Bok (29:44) and Mary McNulty (32:04) backing up.  Fittingly, all five Liberty athletes received silver medals at the post-race awards.  https://www.flipsnack.com/USATF/2026-club-xc-masters-womens-6k

The next race, 8K for men aged 60 and over, took off at 9:15.  Suffice to say your coach came in first in the 70-plus in 34:17.  To use a word favored by our own Dru Pratt-Otto, “grateful” . . . !

These championships are not limited -- anyone can participate.  If you’ve never done one of them, you’re missing a wonderful part of the Liberty running/racing experience. Everyone should try it once if she can.  Worth noting: there were three complete women’s age 70-plus teams, 12 men’s 70+ (GLRR was 5th), and – wait for it – three full three-runner teams of over-80 men (!).

With White Stadium out to lunch for the foreseeable future, no access to the path on the back side and construction fencing extending to the edge of Pierpont/Playstead Road, Franklin Park was its old self, but different.  Changes involved a simplified use of three course elements: Playstead field, the Wilderness, and (of course) Bear Cage Hill.  The women’s 6K involved two of each in that order, while the men’s 8K added a third Wilderness-Playstead circuit.  (Open men ran 8K as a 10K course was deemed too complicated.)

Women of all ages raced together, Liberty contributing 19 of the 124 runners, nearly one-sixth of the total; ages ranged from Madeline Miller’s 39 to Jean Viera’s 74.  Carrie Benedon doesn’t get a lot of racing in right now but, encapsulating the Liberty spirit, she said, “I never miss this one!”  And Helen Bresler didn’t think she’d make it due to a changed work schedule, but there she was, short on fitness maybe, but still smiling.  Thanks to all, including non-racing support crew of Maria Rojas Duran, Anne Shreffler, Carlyn Uyenoyama and Maria Zullo.

It was mostly sunny and clear.  But.  It rained overnight, leaving some slick turns, wet leaves and muddy grass.  And it was windy.  Very windy.  Very very very very windy.  How windy, you ask?  When I started the men’s masters 8K, the day’s first race, there were nine tents from various club, Liberty’s among them.  After I finished and jogged back to the area only one remained (not ours).  As a result I think all of us who ran on Sunday found the course engaging, but beastly.  It was nonetheless a great day of New England running, with the largest overall turnout in years, 365 total entrants.

Liberty runners ran tightly together and this had a positive aspect in team scoring (see below).  With cross country scored by points (places added together) rather than by cumulative times, it turned out to be a glorious day for the Liberty Athletic Club.

The hope is that once White Stadium reconstruction is finished, we’ll be able to return to the traditional routes.  Both our USATF-NE cross country chair Fran Cusick (Battle Road coach) and director Steve Vaitones deserve big thanks for redesigning the courses and enabling us to race here this year, after last year’s “deferral” to the Highland Park course in Attleboro.  Now to the results:

Individual: Madeline Miller 25:53.5; Mary Cass 26:51.5; Mimi Fallon 27:07.2; Sim Piergentili 27:10.3; Kathy Materazzo 27:27.2; Helen Bresler 27:57:6; Pauline Entin 28:08.7; Jennifer Stewart 28:40.2; Lauren Leslie, 28:53.0; Viki Bok 28:58.9; Carrie Benedon 29:38.2; Judy Copley 29:48.4; Julie Menosky 29:59.2; Paige Boehmcke 32:41.3; Caitlin Sweeney 32:44.0; Melanie MacFarlane 34:21.3; Jean Viera 34:35.0; Dru Pratt-Otto 37:14.5; Karen Lein 44:40.0.

Teams (top 5 score in Open & 40+, top 3 in 50+ & 60+ with next 2 ‘pushing’ in all divisions

Open (5): 8th of 9 (223 pts) Miller-Cass-Fallon-Piergentili-Materazzo (Bresler, Entin)

40+ (5): 3d of 7 (39) Cass-Fallon-Piergentili-Materazzo-Bresler (Entin, Stewart)

50+ (3): 1st of 5 (15) Cass-Fallon-Piergentili (Entin, Leslie) – BAA (16) 1 back, Pauline (8th) 

pushing #3 BAA runner from 10th to 11th made the difference!

60+ (3): 1st of 2 (6) Cass-Fallon-Piergentili (Leslie, Bok) – GLRR 29

The 2025 USATF-New England road grand prix series concluded in grand style on Sunday, at the mouth of the Merrimack River up in Newburyport MA.  Conditions were chilly at the start but clear throughout with not too much wind interference, excellent overall running conditions.  More than 1400 completed a course that included stretches along Maudslay State Park and the Artichoke River, with the last mile on a wooded rail trail.

Liberty started/finished 17 athletes across all age groups with fine team & individual results:

Open (39-under): Catherine Xie, 1:36:55; Rachel Steely, 1:45:07; Ashley Robbins, 1:46:38.

Masters (40-49): Vicky Shen, 1:43:55; Jennifer Stewart, 1:46:24; Kara Brown, 1:52:20; Maria Rojas Duran*, 2:23:43.

Seniors (50-59):  Pauline Entin, 1:37:37; Veronique Vanderhorst, 1:38:31; Jennifer Hood-DeGreinier, 1:49:04**, Kelly Chiu, 2:06:05.

Veterans (60-69): Mary Cass, 1:37:03; Lauren Leslie*, 1:41:40; Jackie Shakar*, 1:44:00; Viki Bok, 1:51:26; Joanne Hill, 1:56:52; Dru Pratt-Otto, 2:07:53.

*Maria, Lauren and Jackie are 2025 USATF-NE Ironrunners for having completed all six races in the GP series – congratulations!!   **Jennifer’s 1st Liberty race -- welcome (always good to have more Jennifers)!

Other notes: Much gratitude, as always, to Maria for getting the tent to the race and set up – it is never an easy task but such a valuable one . . . Congrats to Jackie for winning the 65-69 age group; Pauline and Veronique went 4-5 in the 55-59s, Mary and Lauren 2-3 in the 60-64s.  (Keep an eye out for a piece [we think] in the forthcoming New England Runner issue on the remarkable 60-64 competition this year between Mary and Greater Lowell’s Trish Bourne) . . . The Jennifer-named-Stewart helped pace the Robbins-named-Ashley to a 10-minute PR . . . and finally: once again, whether your name is near the top of a list or not, your presence was huge, as Liberty’s ‘per capita’ participation has to be at or at least near the top of all USATF-NE clubs.

Now a look at team results:

Open (all ages, top 5 combined times):  Liberty 7th/13 (8:11:46, 1:38:22 average) – Catherine Xie, Mary Cass, Pauline Entin, Veronique Vanderhorst, Lauren Leslie

Masters (40+, top 5): Liberty 6th/12 (8:18:26, 1:39:42 ave.) – M. Cass, P. Entin, V. Vanderhorst, L. Leslie, Vicky Shen

Seniors (50+, top 3): Liberty 2nd/12 (4:53:11, 1:37:44 ave.) – M. Cass, P. Entin, V. Vanderhorst

Veterans (60+, top 3): Liberty 1st/6 (5:02:43, 1:40:55 ave.) – M. Cass, L. Leslie, J. Shakar

https://results.raceroster.com/v3/events/dutbkx7e2epftx4x/race/245903?filter_search=

Overall end-of-series results are still being compiled, but a glance at team standings after 5 races suggests:

• Open: Liberty was in 8th of 18 with 32 points, 1 behind GLRR – may move up as LAC finished 2 places in front of GLRR yesterday.

• Masters: Liberty 5th of 15 with 33 points, should hold that vis-a-vis GLRR & Tracksmith.

• Seniors: Liberty 2nd of 12 with 35, should hold v. BEN (32) which placed 1st at the half.

• Veterans: Need you ask? Liberty 1st of 6 with 29, GLRR a solid 2nd at 25.

Among individuals, Lauren, Mary & Viki were 2-3-6 in the 60-64 division; Jackie 1st in 65-69s and will win that group (you go Jackie!) while Anne Shreffler stood 4th and should still finish high despite having to miss Newburyport; also, Marge Bellisle was tied for 2nd among 70-74s.

And no, that wasn’t all . . . across the country in the wilds of the McDowell Mountains of Arizona (northeast of Phoenix but practically speaking in the middle of nowhere), Joan Butterton took on the same Javelina Jackass 31K Trail Race that Caitlin Sweeney did last year . . . Joan’s 4:37:48 was good for 5th in her age group and top 1/3 among both women and women/men combined.  Well done Joan!

The Bobby Doyle Classic/USATF-NE 5-mile championship finally arrived, and, eventually, so did the athletes once they made it through all the traffic backups (and perhaps a few didn’t make it because of them?).  The maxim by which I’ve lived for years, “arrive an hour before the start and you’re fine” didn’t apply yesterday – I’ve never seen traffic backed up so far, or so early, for this race.  (And for those who weren’t there, this also includes lines for port-a-potties.)

I’m not clear on why this was the case, but a little research suggests at least part of the reason. Back in 2016 this race had 678 finishers.  In non-USATF years, the numbers were lower, 400 or less.  Then in 2023, 809 runners finished, 854 in ‘24, and 1,018 this year.  Ohhh-kaaaay.  I know a lot of Liberty folks had difficulty getting there (I’ve only heard a couple of stories so far) and several clubs, ours included, weren’t even able to get tents set up.  (We found shade and made do, as it were.)

Remarkably, everyone (seemingly) kept their cool and ran outstanding races!  Miles 2 and 5 were tough, as expected, but outside of those, the course was favorable and mostly shaded.  Let’s get right to the numbers, shall we?

Individuals:

39-under: Madeline Miller 33:21, Catherine Xie 33:56, Margaret Keaveny 40:11, Ashley Robbins 42:37

40-49:        Maria Rojas Duran 53:02

50-59:        Pauline Entin 35:24 (Liberty debut), Veronique Vanderhorst 35:36, Alison Conway 38:20,

                    Melanie MacFarlane 44:23

60-69:        Mary Cass 34:24, Mimi Fallon 34:58, Lauren Leslie 36:08, Jackie Shakar 38:34, Viki Bok   39:10, Anne Shreffler 41:24, Brenda King 48:51, Helene Sussman 49:01

70-79:        Marge Bellisle 41:13

Marge was the champion of her division by a full 2:00.  In the 60-69s Mary, Mimi, Lauren, Jackie & Viki went 3-4-5-7-8 . . . !  (Fun facts: In 2018 Marge was the top 60-69 finisher for both women and men, and in 2019 Jackie and Marge were 1-2 in that bracket.)  Your coach ran 32:21 to win the men’s 70-79s.

Team results aren’t official quite yet but this is what they’ll look like. (3 score in 60+, 5 in all others)

Open (all ages):  6th of 11, 2:52:05 (Madeline, Catherine, Mary, Mimi, Pauline) [GLRR 7th, 2:58:06]

40-plus, 5 score): 4th of 10, 2:56:31 (Mary, Mimi, Pauline, Veronique, Lauren) [Tracksmith 2:57:17]

50-plus (5):          2nd of 8, 2:56:31 (same group)

60-plus (3):          1st of 5, 1:45:31 (Mary, Mimi, Lauren) [GLRR 2nd 1:50:52]

Note: This morning’s initial draft of team results contained an error by timing company RaceWire.  It showed the women’s and men’s 50-plus adding the times of only the top 3 runners, not 5.  Liberty was still 2nd but it was squeaky-close over Tracksmith (11 seconds total) and Greater Lowell (13).  Going 5-deep, Liberty’s depth comes into play and it isn’t close any more.

Other results: On Thursday evening Julie Menosky won the 60-plus division at the Beverly Yankee Homecoming 5K at Lynch Park (“I could run that course blindfolded,” says Julie.)  Her 22:51 was the first time she’d broken 23 in quite a while -- all that good 400m speed work?

Jennifer and Alexa Stewart headed to Milwaukee for the US Triathlon Championships, held in nasty weather conditions.  Jennifer managed to re-qualify for worlds at the Olympic distance on Saturday while Alexa, sadly, was “flooded out” from the sprint event after heavy overnight rains.  I’d report more on JStew’s race but I can’t locate a results page.  (Note to USA Triathlon: can you make finding results just a little bit easier?  With all the divisions in triathlon it’s difficult enough as is.)

What’s next? Cross country season!!

Lots of weekend Liberty racing news, almost all of which was concentrated on a 400-meter track in Weston.  First, though, we were pleased to have a Loomis encounter last Thursday – for those new-ish to Liberty, Amanda Loomis (always call her Loomis) is a veteran club member, great person, fine runner, and fellow denizen of West Roxbury.  She came out to the Thursday evening Parkway RC run and we did about 40 minutes (give or take) together, catching up and discussing her upcoming Chicago marathon plans.  Great to see you, Loomis!

Now, on to the USATF-New England outdoor meet at Regis College on Saturday.  Liberty was wonderfully represented both in individual events and, perhaps especially, the meet-closing 4 x 400m relay, with three teams – a 65-69 team trying for a national record, plus two support teams. 

Karen Lein ran the 5000m in the morning, while Mary Cass took on the 1500 (aka metric mile) and later the 200m (which she’ll soon run at US nationals in Eugene, Oregon) and.  Gilding the lily, Mary also threw the javelin as a follow-up to her initial foray at US masters nationals in Florida last January.  Lauren Leslie, meanwhile, continued her comeback by running the 400 and 800; both she and Mary also ran legs on one of the support 4 x 400m teams.

There was drama preceding the relay – to recap, the foursome of Jackie Shakar, Alda Cossi, Judy Copley & Julie Menosky broke – or thought they had broken – the US 65-69 club record last month when they ran 5:55 at the last Battle Road twilight meet.  It turned out, however, that a team from Greater Philadelphia had run 5:50 at the Penn Relays in April, so that became the new target.  Mind you, knocking 5 seconds from a 4 x 400 relay is harder than it sounds, more than 1 second per runner over a short distance.

Fine.  Until, at the prior weekend’s US masters outdoor championship in Alabama, Greater Philly ran 5:38, knocking a whopping 12 seconds off their own mark from April.  The Liberty group would need to improve from 5:55 to 5:38 – 17 seconds, a nearly impossible task – to get the record.

Spoiler alert: they didn’t run 5:38, but they did run 5:46.30, a 9-second improvement from a few weeks ago.  It was a remarkable effort and a true pleasure to watch. Jackie, Alda, Judy & Julie prepared well and it showed; they ran their hearts out.  Equally exciting were the efforts put in by the two support teams – Liberty athletes volunteered for this duty in order for any records to be legal.  Team B consisted of Caitlin Sweeney, Anne Shreffler, Jennifer Stewart & Kara Brown while Team C was Kathy Materazzo, Maria Rojas Duran, Lauren Leslie & Mary Cass.

Individuals: Karen Lein: 5000m, 31:39.42 (1st 60+); Mary Cass: Javelin throw, 16.40m (53-09) 11th of 12, 3rd 60+; 1500m, 5:51.18 (12th of 20, 1st 60+, 2nd 50+); 200m, 39.66 (15th of 15, 1st 60+); Lauren Leslie: 400m, 86.54 (4th of 5, 1st of 2 60+); 800m, 3:09.88 (4th of 4, 1st 60+)

4 x 400 relay: Team A 65-69: 5:46.30 (Jackie 85.26 - Alda 88.96 - Judy 83.24 - Julie 88.85);

Team B: 6:09.24 (Caitlin 85.04 - Anne 1:41.81 - Jennifer 85.71 - Kara 96.68);

Team C: 6:00.20 (Kathy 77.36 - Maria 1:48.06 - Lauren 88.34 - Mary 86.44)

Complete results here: https://live.harrierrace.com/meets/55006.  Finally, thanks again go to Cossi sister Lidia for providing an array of cold post-race noshables, and to Jan Holmquist for her ever-steady support even while wearing an achilles boot.  It was also good to share tree-shade space with friends from from Greater Lowell and CSU.

Next team race: Bobby Doyle 5-miler (Narragansett RI) in two weeks . . . !

The USATF-New England Road Mile and Falmouth Sprint Triathlon topped the marquee this weekend, with excellent group and individual results for Liberty.

              In its second year and again staged at Hopkinton HS, the road mile championship was #3 of the six-race grand prix series (designed as seven, the February 4-miler cancelled due to weather).  This was conceived and put on by our LDR chairs Amanda Watters & Mike McGrane (BAA), joined this year by Brian Cullinan (SRR), not by a commercial organizer or even a large club.  The same out-and-back course as last year was used, and while a baseball tournament affected parking a bit, there was plenty of signage and other improvements from 2024.  But let’s get to the races themselves.

              Seven races over three hours (9:00a – 12 noon), starting with (non-USATF) community and youth races, each relatively small.  Then came the five club championships (men age 60-plus, 40-59, and 39-under, then women 40-plus and 39-under).  For those who ran in the recent 26 x 1M relay, running the same time here would equate to a 2-3 second improvement given that (a) the relay was 1600m and a mile is 1609m, (b) the road contained speed humps and some rough spots, and (c) certified road courses are measured an extra .01 percent as a ‘short-course prevention factor’.

              In reverse race order, the women’s Open was the last and thus warmest race of the day.  The course was sneaky-tough, starting with a gradual downhill first 400m, a slight uphill to the turnaround, then the reverse on the way back, meaning an uphill last 1/4M – so it takes a gutsy runner to summon a strong finish.  Madeline Miller (5:42) put everything out there, finishing 25th and no one less than 2 years her junior in front.  Right behind came Catherine Xie (6:18), Rachel Steely (6:42) and Kate Gilmartin (7:26).  Check out these and everyone’s finishes on the race video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOK7mjC0or0&t=1935s !

              Speaking of great finishes – and there were plenty throughout the day -- about 30 minutes earlier the Masters women took off and, as anticipated, the women’s 60s race turned out to be a duel between a pair of great friends and rivals, Mary Cass and Greater Lowell’s Trish Bourne.  Or did it?  Trish went with the flow and made the most of the early downhill, opening a big gap on Mary. Mary crawled back after the turnaround, but making the last turn with 50 meters left, still had lots of work to do – which she did, just catching Trish at the line, both credited with 6:12s.  Not far back was Veronique Vanderhorst (6:21, 5th 55-59) followed by Alison Conway (6:37) and Lauren Leslie (6:40, 5th 60-64).  Jennifer Stewart ran into the asthma buzz-saw but stayed the course (she’s so tough) in 6:43.  Spirit-leaders Maria Rojas Duran (8:36) and Caitlin Sweeney (7:33) preceded Karen Lein’s 10:09 (8th 65-69).  Oh, and did we forget that other great 60-plus trip of Jackie Shakar (6:55), Mary McNulty (7:06) and first-time Liberty racer Marge Bellisle (7:17)?  Jackie (65-69) and Marge (70-74) joined Mary C. as divisional champions, while Mary Mc. Was 6th in the 60-64s.

You say you want team results?  Liberty was strong and deep all the way – again, particularly for a smallish, all-women’s club.  Details are below but a quick recap looks like:

·       Open (combined times of first 5 finishers): 6th of 12 teams, 31:08

·       Masters 40+ (5): 6th of 11, 32:33

·       Seniors 50+ (5): 3rd of 8, 32:45

·       Veterans 60+ (3): 1st of 7, 19:47

 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tougfP545l5cnjfi40I2EHcB-618vFOLPS7ar6QO_dk/edit?gid=411277888#gid=411277888

Younger runners don’t need to care about this thing called “age grading” because, we’ll, you’re young, looking to improve and set new PRs each year.  But after a certain age – 40 is the semi-arbitrary guideline – you start slowing down, so age-grading provides a standard of comparison.  Broadly, 100% = world record level, 90% = world class, 80% = national class, etc.  Here, Mary Cass tied for the top spot among all over-40 runners at 88.7%, while Marge (82.8), Jackie (82.7) and Lauren (82.5) went 10-11-12, with Veronique just outside 80% at 79.5.  Complete individual and team results for all races can be found at https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/166062/#resultSetId-565022;perpage:100

              Compared to a one-mile footrace, “sprint triathlon” is an oxymoron at 1/3M swim + 8.5M bike + 5K run.  But down in Falmouth that’s just what Viki Bok, Joanne Hill and Helene Sussman did.  If you haven’t read about it on Slack, Viki broke the bugaboo of finishing behind the same runner three years, er, running, and winning her 60-64 division outright in 1:02:51 (8:45, 26:51, 23:57), making up a 2:00 deficit on the 5K, 12th out of 308 women overall. Joanne was a strong 7th in that division (66th overall) in 1:10:20 (11:51 - 26:09 – 27:15), as was Helene in 10th/194th overall), 1:23:25 (12:27 - 32:14 – 30:08).

Complete results: https://my.raceresult.com/349294/results#1_BF013D (photos on Slack!)

Thanks to all who represented Liberty so well this weekend – three triathletes, 15 milers, and let’s not forget Margaret Keaveny and Jan Holmquist, who registered as Liberty volunteers to help out in Hopkinton, Jan at the check-in table (achilles boot and all) and Margaret ably handling start-area athlete access and egress.