Here’s to Clydesdales, Athenas

Sunday?s Stone Tower Trail Run Challenge at Lynn Woods included two runner divisions you may not have seen at many other races: Clydesdale and Athena. It?s good they were included.The Clydesdale division is for men 200 lbs. and over, and the Athena division is for women 150 lbs. and over.Race director Liam Brady has run as a Clydesdale himself. He remembers participating in “The Big Man Run,” a race that involved stopping at multiple bars and eating a hot dog and drinking a beer or soda at each one. There were three weight groups for Clydesdale runners, as well as for women.?A lot of runners, guys, are 140 (lbs.), deer,” Brady said. “We?re wolves and bears. Because of that experience, I never forgot how much, if you are a heavier runner, you?re not going to finish at the top of too many things. You?re kind of ignored or underappreciated.”Perhaps that is even more the case now, given the prevalence of so many skinny people running (including those on the cover of running magazines), or the touting of running as a means to lose weight. But the Stone Tower races have shown more of a welcoming spirit.On Sunday, there were a total of 18 Clydesdales and Athenas at the 5K (11 Clydesdales, 7 Athenas) and 14 for the 15K (9 Clydesdales, 5 Athenas). The top three in each group received medals.?I had the opportunity as a race director to set a standard for what I?m doing, the opportunity for me to include a group I belong to,” Brady said.He said that Athenas “are sometimes a little underrepresented.”?Being a guy, I have certain blind spots for these things,” he said. “I?m not always as aware. Women desire to be more discreet about such things as age and weight. I?m like a black Lab. Guys tend to be, ?It is what it is,? Bill Belichick, you weigh what you weigh. … We don?t care talking about it, we?re kind of an open book, like Popeye (?I am what I am?).”He said that for women, “weight is a more prickly issue,” and that “maybe it comes down to some kind of social stereotyping pressures society puts on women.”However, he said, “I don?t buy into it. A person?s beautiful because of who they are, what they are. Athenas are my sister, my hero, to me. We?re in the same family. We?re runners. We?re a family of runners. I don?t judge people on that stuff. That?s why I include them. … All the Athenas are my heroes and all the Clydesdales are my brothers. I would do more if I felt I could tap it.”In fact, he said, “I think a couple were pretty fast,” mentioning the 7:50 mile pace and 1:12:59 finish by Lynn?s Richard Lally, who led all Clydesdales in the 15K and finished 22nd overall. Brady also noted the pace for the second and third-place Clydesdales in the 15K, 8:09 for Kevin Elwood of Boxford and 8:45 of Sean Bailey of Medford.As for the “Clydies” in the 5K, the top paces were 7:45 (Jonathan Harty of Boston, fifth overall), 8:44 (Sean Ferguson of Lynn, 10th overall) and 8:55 (Benjamin Caplin, also of Lynn, 15th overall).Nuriat Charlton of Lynn led the Athenas in the 15K, followed by Holly Sippel of Georgetown and Erin Gilbert-Williams of Peabody. J.T. Del was top Athena in the 5K, followed by Kelley Pagliuca and Rachel Montoya, all from Lynn.To all the Clydesdales and Athenas, congratulations! I hope more races include these divisions.In the 15K, the top four runners all averaged a sub-7-minute mile pace: overall winner Bernat Olle of Cambridge in 59:19, a 6:22 pace; James Pawlicki of Lynn (1:00:22, 6:29); David Long of Beverly (1:01:39, 6:37) and William Jackson of Salem (1:04:54, 6:58). The top female finisher was Emma Kosciak of Somerville (1:09:45, 16th).In the 5K, the top three finishers were Jason Matulewicz of Marblehead, 22:01; Michael Madden of Boston, 22:03; and Douglas Wilson of Lynn, 22:41. The top female finisher was Lenia Ascensio of Marblehead, 26:22, eighth overall.Volunteers included the bagpiper, Lynn policeman Ned Shinnick; Lynn Woods Summer Cross Country Race Series director Bill Mullen and race series founder Joe Abelon; M