2008 Race Report

The 11^th Annual Groton Town Forest Trail Races were held on October 19, 2008, once again amid peak fall foliage.  It was partly cloudy and the temperatures were in the low 50s, nearly perfect for running, except for a fairly thick coating of leaves that made the footing a bit less sure than usual.  There were 90 finishers in the 9.5 mile race and 95 in the 3.4 mile race. This year, the 3.4 mile race was sanctioned by USA Track & Field – New England and was part of their Cross Country Grand Prix Race Series.  The increased competition brought down the records!  Four female runners (Meghan Lynch; Caitlyn Clark, 23, of Cambridge, MA; Halaina Demba, 22, of Ayer, MA; and Sumner Fletcher, 23, of Uxbridge, MA) broke the old women’s course record, and three male runners (Kevin Somers; Matthew Germain; and Ryan Miller, 25, of Haverhill, MA) broke the old men’s course record!  First place went to Kevin Somers, 30, of Jamaica Plain, MA in a blistering time of 18:48 that peeled 50 seconds off the course record.  The first female finisher, and 9^th overall, was Meghan Lynch, 22, of Somerville, MA in 21:54, who took a full 2:11 off the course record!  Suzanne Williams, 39, of Rutland, MA finished in 21^st place overall and set a new 30-39 age group record of 25:22, which is 1:43 faster than the old record.  Matthew Germain, 26, of Haverhill, MA finished in 2^nd place overall and set a new 20-29 age group record of 19:11, which is 3:03 faster than the old record!  The overall winner of the 9.5-mile race was Greg Hammett, 31, of Chesterfield, NH in a time of 58:17.  Greg established a new record for the 30-39 age group with his time, beating his own record, set last year, of 58:44.  The first female over the line was Pilar Meltz, 33, of Boston, MA, in a time of 1:10:11.  Last year, Stanley Dutton of Antrim, NH smashed the men’s 60-69 age group record by over 5 minutes, finishing in a time of 1:13:24.  But that record fell this year to Marshall Randolph, 60, who finished 16^th overall in a time of 1:11:17, thus taking another 2:07 off the age group record! 

2007 Race Report

The 11^th Annual Groton Town Forest Trail Races were held on October 19, 2008, once again amid peak fall foliage.  It was partly cloudy and the temperatures were in the low 50s, nearly perfect for running, except for a fairly thick coating of leaves that made the footing a bit less sure than usual.  There were 90 finishers in the 9.5 mile race and 95 in the 3.4 mile race. This year, the 3.4 mile race was sanctioned by USA Track & Field – New England and was part of their Cross Country Grand Prix Race Series.  The increased competition brought down the records!  Four female runners (Meghan Lynch; Caitlyn Clark, 23, of Cambridge, MA; Halaina Demba, 22, of Ayer, MA; and Sumner Fletcher, 23, of Uxbridge, MA) broke the old women’s course record, and three male runners (Kevin Somers; Matthew Germain; and Ryan Miller, 25, of Haverhill, MA) broke the old men’s course record!  First place went to Kevin Somers, 30, of Jamaica Plain, MA in a blistering time of 18:48 that peeled 50 seconds off the course record.  The first female finisher, and 9^th overall, was Meghan Lynch, 22, of Somerville, MA in 21:54, who took a full 2:11 off the course record!  Suzanne Williams, 39, of Rutland, MA finished in 21^st place overall and set a new 30-39 age group record of 25:22, which is 1:43 faster than the old record.  Matthew Germain, 26, of Haverhill, MA finished in 2^nd place overall and set a new 20-29 age group record of 19:11, which is 3:03 faster than the old record!  The overall winner of the 9.5-mile race was Greg Hammett, 31, of Chesterfield, NH in a time of 58:17.  Greg established a new record for the 30-39 age group with his time, beating his own record, set last year, of 58:44.  The first female over the line was Pilar Meltz, 33, of Boston, MA, in a time of 1:10:11.  Last year, Stanley Dutton of Antrim, NH smashed the men’s 60-69 age group record by over 5 minutes, finishing in a time of 1:13:24.  But that record fell this year to Marshall Randolph, 60, who finished 16^th overall in a time of 1:11:17, thus taking another 2:07 off the age group record!