LYNN — The feature race of this week’s Lynn Woods Summer Race Series was the Tour de Woods IV, created by trailmaster Rich Lally. It differs from the standard weekly races, in that much of the routes cover single track trails – many that runners haven’t seen before.
This week’s covered a 3-mile loop to the right of Walden Pond, and the second crossed the dam to a 2.3-mile loop.
Lynn’s Ralph Villatoro, age 32, continued to dominate long races with a first-place time of 32:26 (6.08 pace). Nathan Hammerschmit (Lynn; 36:18), Tommy Fogarty (Peabody; 37:07), and Chris Chapruet (Saugus; 37:23) rounded out the top four.
Swampscott’s Francesca Boggs, age 37, was the first female to cross with a time of 49:13 (9:18 pace), followed by Lynn’s Kimberly Zia (49:57).
The youngest known runner to complete a Tour de Woods run in the history of the series was Lynn 10-year-old James Wilson IV, who ran a 45:13 for an impressive 8:38 pace/mile.
The Mini Tour (2.3 miles), the second loop of Tour de Woods, was won by Lynn’s Franklin Maldonado, 18, in 15:49. Fellow Lynner, Brandon Sok (16:22) snagged second, followed by Peabody’s Luke Murphy (16:27).
Julia Thiel, age 12 of Lexington, was the first female to finish with a time of 18:18. She also ran for Clarke Middle School and was 10th in Division 1 during last year’s Massachusetts State Middle School XC Championships, helping her team find second place.
The winner of the Kids’ Race (1.59-miles) was 10-year-old Sabine Thiel, of Lexington, with a time of 13:39, followed by Lynnfield’s Emily Conlon in 14:16. The first boy also hailed from Lynnfield, as Parker Beal finished in 14:45. Lynn’s Nathan Hogan (14:50) and Lynnfield’s Allie Kent (15:19) rounded out the top five.
The first use of race bibs for the Lynn Woods Summer Race Series were issued in 2007 by Bill Mullen. This week’s Mini Tour included Saugus’ Carl Spencer wearing bib No. 2 and Peabody’s Ralph Viger sporting bib No. 34. Runners maintain the same bib number from year to year. The current number of bibs is 4,995.
The Series’ offering on Wednesday will be the 53rd Annual 10-mile relay. Each team has four runners, each running a 2.5-mile loop. The race starts at 6 p.m. Complete results and information about the relay can be found on www.lwrun.org.
The event attracts 80-100 teams, so there could be 320-400 runners, plus spectators. It takes possession of the parking area from the beginning of the softball field.
