Lynn Woods kicks off 2013 summer race season

LYNN – With a twist or two, the Lynn Woods summer cross country races began for the 44th year at the Great Woods entrance on Wednesday.Click here for a photo gallery.Under calm skies and a better-than-expected forecast, about 200 runners assembled in the parking lot ? some of them even running down local streets in preparation for their race.This year, the starting times were staggered, with participants in the long race (4.6 miles) heading into the hills five minutes before the runners in the short (2.3) and kids (1.59) races. No matter which race people chose, they began to the sound of the cowbell.Steven Trainor, 21, of Salem won the Tour de Lynn Woods #1 in 29:06. He was followed by Kinnon Church, 20, also of Salem (29:51), and Jeff Hixon, 39, of Salisbury (30:48). The top Lynn finisher was 31-year-old Chris Carmody, eighth (32:52). The top female finisher was Scarlett Graham, 27, of Somerville (15th, 34:41).Adam Cook, 14, of Melrose won the 2.2-mile race in 14:04. He was followed by Michael McKie, 46, of North Andover (14:21) and Sean Conlan, 15, of Melrose (14:21). After them were two Lynners: 10-year-old Cameron Bennett (15:43) and 18-year-old Jonathan Nop (16:07). The top female finisher was Marie Duignan, 33, of Salem (16:40, 7th).The top three Kids Race finishers were Luke Chase, 15, of Reading (11:42); Matthew Brown, 9, of Nahant (12:30); and Colleen Osbahr, 12, of Nahant (14:02). Abigail Morris, 12, was the top Lynn finisher (20:51).The hills were as formidable as they have always been, with single-path trails in some cases testing runners’ hardiness. As for the infamous Goat Path, it was as ornery as any mule.Runners did get to enjoy an evening ambience, with big-band music playing over the parking-lot speakers, and refreshments, including cookies, granola bars and energy drinks. A clock at the finish line informed runners of the time it took for them to conquer the hills. The MC of the evening was race director Bill Mullen, assisted by race founder Joe Abelon.After runners finished their respective races, some of them lined the wooden fence by the parking-lot field to cheer on others. Then it was time to get hydrated, grab a cookie or two, and start thinking about next week’s race.Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].