Runners say 'Cheers' to return of live racing to North Attleboro
That’s because this race, a 3.1-miler organized by the Community VNA to raise money for its hospice care program, had the added benefit of turning into a reunion for runners, who last year were forced to do the race virtually.
And what a reunion it was!
People were so glad to be mixing with their friends at North Attleboro’s Veterans Park near town hall that the race itself was almost anti-climactic.
And who could blame them, because on Sunday, Veterans Park was transformed into a place where, like the Bull & Finch Pub (the real name of Cheers made famous by the long-running NBC-TV sitcom), everyone knew their name.
You couldn’t take a few steps in the park without someone greeting you by your first name, and it was an experience to savor --- and proved a powerful antidote to the constant drone of doom-and-gloom news that we hear nightly on network news and around the clock on cable TV stations relating to the resurgent COVID-19 virus and the Delta variant.
People were so relaxed that they were even getting massages offered by a couple of vendors in the park both before and after the race.
But I digress, and I shouldn’t because the race put on by longtime race Director Mark Young and his dedicated group of volunteers was as superb as ever.
Runners stood silently as the national anthem was played at the park with music provided by the Attleboro area’s omnipresent disc jockey, Nate Adams.
A few minutes later, a field of 105 runners and walkers made their way down South Washington Street, headed for the course’s one steep hill on Sutherland Road.
The runners were spread out as they took the first steps in what was the first live race in North Attleboro in just about two years, as the 17th annual Run/Walk to Remember, the last race in North Attleboro, had been held Aug. 4, 2019.
There was a lot of good energy --- and goodwill --- throughout the race, and as Young made a point of saying during the post-race awards presentation, the good vibes extended to the finish line.
The top five runners --- overall winner Patrick Healey (17:27), Alexavier Almeida (17.35), Brendan Johnson (17:37), Shane Cataloni (17:41) and Ethan Sylvia (17:43) were separated by a mere 16 seconds and made a point of shaking hands after the race, Young said. They were all in the 19 and under category.
The fast times continued for the first three women to finish: Lauren Augustyn (10th at 19:58), Anna Boyd (11th at 20:00) and Elizabeth Borah (12th at 20:02) --- all of whom also were in the 19 and under category.
All of the runners and walkers finished with a smile on their faces, as they were overjoyed to be back running again.
Let’s just hope that we don’t have to wait another two years to run a race in the Attleboro area again.
The race’s complete results are at raceentry.com/results/5k-runwalk-to-remember-community-vna/view/2021?c=3624
The Kessler family: Father-daughter earn age-group awards
I had the pleasure of running the last half- to three-quarters of a mile with James O’Reilly of Glocester, R.I., who outkicked me to finish in 40:01. He’s 75, and I congratulated him after finishing and spent some time chatting with him.
It turns out he started the Rhode Island Road Runners in 1987 and we both ran the centennial Boston Marathon in 1996.
CUTLINE: The first photo at the start of the column, was taken post race by Joe Viola, a member of the North Attleboro Senior Center's Jabber Walkers walking group. It shows father and daughter, Larry and Alana Kessler, wearing their age-group medals. Alana won her age group while Larry finished third in his.
The other two photos were taken by Mark Stockwell of The Sun Chronicle and show Alana Kessler heading for the VNA 5K finish line.
LINK TO THIS COLUMN, WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN THE TUESDAY, AUG. 3 EDITION OF THE SUN CHRONICLE:
Congrats to the father-daughter duo! Now, you can do “Survivor” together!
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