MARBLEHEAD — Olympian Shalane Flanagan, returning to her hometown after her triumphant victory in the New York City Marathon earlier this month, was the featured attraction in the Back the Track 5K at the Marblehead Community Center Saturday.
“It’s great to be here to help raise money for the track and promote exercise and a healthy lifestyle,” she said.
“Running makes people better people.”
About 1,000 runners gathered for the day that began with a two-mile walk, followed by a 12 and under one-mile kids’ run.
“It was really fun,” said 12-year-old Marblehead runner Ruby Calienes after her race.
The certified 5K run began near the U.S. Post Office on Smith Street and finished back at the Community Center.
Runners like Reading’s Chris Wicken, who donned a Thanksgiving turkey hat, and his wife Heather, were happy to participate in the race, and maybe burn off some holiday calories.
“We’re running off a lot of turkey this morning,” Chris said.
The winner of the race, Jordan Kinley, 33, of Salem, finished with a time of 15 minutes 44 seconds.
“It was fun, what a great race,” he said.
The first female finisher was Emma Spencer, 27, of Cambridge who finished in 17:15.
“It was a perfect course,” she said, excited to maybe meet Flanagan later and take a picture.
“She’s a real hero here in the area.”
Spencer got her chance when Flanagan handed out medals and awards to the race winners, including the Flanagan Cups, two traveling trophies given to male and female high school teams of three who had the best times.
The high school girls’ winners were a team from Austin Preparatory School in Reading, made up of students Bridget Kelley, Stephanie Casaletto, and Maggie Webster.
The boys’ winners were Kyle Saulnier, Harry Dibartolo, and Oliver Glass from Marblehead.
“It’s amazing to see all our hard work pay off,” Dibartolo said.
Race volunteer Tom Honan, whose daughter Maura ran cross country in Marblehead and now runs at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Ind., was happy to help support a sport so close to his family at the Back the Track race.
“It’s a great day,” he said. “Shalane really represents the town so well, it’s a real tribute to her.”
