It turned out to be a fantastic day for racing and post-race activity at Doyle’s as the forecasted weather front finally pushed in and the sun broke through right before the race start in Franklin Park.
Despite the challenging nature of the route’s first two miles, the men’s race went out hard, sub-5, and was won by Kevin Somers of the Jamaica Plain Runners (RC?) in 25:44 with HFC’s Scott Wisnaskas second in 26:03 and Kevin Gray third in 26:17.
NER Central heard that Somers was actually a bit down the course on a warmup when the gun sounded and looked to DQ himself immediately after the race, but for Pub purposes, we’ll keep him right where he is because the serious Series foam was flying in a battle for the overall fourth spot between early Pub leader Joe Navas and seasoned Saucony veteran Chris Teague.
Navas managed a gap by the turnaround but Teague hung tough, placing just 8 seconds and 1 point behind the Whirlaway speedster in 26:32. It’s not yet panic time for the battling Brit as this keeps him within three points of the top spot.
The women’s race was even tighter following Heather Cappello’s 28:15 scamper (1 second off Caroline Bjune’s course record). In a reversal of fortunes from An Ra’s Mo’r, it was defending and 2005 Pub Princess Mimi Fallon edging BAA teammate Lara Johnson by 7 seconds in 29:59. Bingo, overall tie! Next up for the duo is the Boston Marathon so the playing field will remain level (irrelevant of Johnson being 27 and Fallon 43) when the tie is played out at the Irish Village.
Canada’s Sarah Healey (nee Dupree) is currently in third but we’re not sure (as with many) that her legs will move south for the third race. That puts young Merideth Leenhouts in the bronze position, 2 points ahead of “young in mind’ Marge Bellisle. Leenhouts’ former Franklin High School coach, Pat Sweeney, says she’s not in serious shape, so we’ll see what transpires down the road.
Team Fabulous hired guns Liane Pancoast and Melanie Hire are also among the top 10.
On the men’s side, the mysterious Corey Fehnel resides in third with Lee Danforth (running Boston) and Mike McGrane (working Boston) both having good races to move into the 4-5 slots. Andrew Holmes and Tyler Andrews are also new names, sandwiching two-time defending Pub champ Terry McNatt in 7th with the SRR’s Joe O’Leary in 9th.
We will forgo age-group speculation except to mention that when visiting the standings, the men’s and women’s Veterans divisions as well as the women’s Senior divisions look to be pretty much set for consistent Pub participants at this early stage.
The entire NER staff stayed long enough to view one Pussycat Doll dancing atop a van roof in the parking lot to a driving Euro beat, but our departure (unlike An Ra’s M’or) occurred at a fairly civilized hour, thus preventing post-race party palaver. As we departed, the last two good-byes were imparted to Chris “Wingman” Spinney and Mike McGrane, who were heading into Doyle’s “for a beer.”
ÛÓBob F. Doyle’s Results Pub Series Women’s Standings – Men’s Standings – Schedule
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