LYNN — The Lynn Woods Running Series enjoyed its second-largest field of the year with 170 runners taking on the cross country courses.
The standard kids’ race (1.59 miles) came with its largest field in the history of the program. Thirty-two runners, under age 14, finished the race. The top three were Lynnfield’s Marne Capolupo (age 7, 13:55) and Emily Conlon (age 9, 14:20), as well as Lynn’s Nathan Hogan (age 10, 15:28).
Six of the top seven runners in the 2.8-mile short race were under 19 years old in a field with 64 finishers. The course included the A-loop of the old 4-loop high school cross country course, and the Goat Path.
They were Peabody’s Luke Murphy (age 13, 19:24), Lynn’s Franklin Maldonado (age 18, 19:51), Peabody’s Aiden Trainor (age 13, 19:52), Wakefield’s Peter Swain (age 17, 20:43), Lincoln’s Emma Kjaersgaard (age 13, 20:48), and Lexington’s Julia Thiel (age 12, 21:50).
You could say Kjaersgaard (grade 8) and Thiel (7) are two of the top middle school cross country runners in Massachusetts, and their summer performances indicate successful years.
According to Joe Abelon, who assists the event and records times, “It is not unusual to see non-Massachusetts runners competing in the Woods Summer Running Series, as the word has been out. [It’s] one of the best off-road running opportunities in the Woods.”
The top five runners in the “I Hate the Dam” long race (6.2 miles) included three teenagers. Two of them were first-timers from Lee, New Hampshire. They were Lynn’s Rafael Villatoro (39.52), Saugus’ Chris Chapruet (40:52), Peabody’s Tommy Fogarty (age 17, 41:11), and, from Lee, Brendan Banafato (age 15, 41:36) and Levi Clapp (age 15, 41:36).
The first female win came from Reading’s Erin Hickey Reardon (50:04), followed by Lynn’s Kimberly Zia (52:17).
Bill Mullen introduced distributed bibs in 2007. Since then, 4,943 individuals have received a bib.
“We average 15-25 new entries each week – the result of much word-of-mouth – regarding the Woods Summer Race Series, as it experiences the 55th year of exciting off-road running,” Abelon said.
