LYNN — This week’s Lynn Woods Running Series featured a handicap race, which were widely-popular during the earlier days of road racing in New England through the 1960s, according to event representative Joe Abelon.
Runners don’t all start at the same time. Slower runners start when the gun sounds, while others start at various time differentials afterward. The theory is that runners finish at nearly the same time.
The order-of-finish is determined by which runner crosses the line first, regardless of when they started. The one who runs the fastest might not be the runner who crosses the finish line first.
Marblehead’s Jennifer Hayden was the first female to cross the finish line, followed by Mary Herchenhahn, another Marbleheader, and Kimberly Zia of Lynn. Zia had the fastest female time (48:06).
The top three men were Beverly’s Mark Deluca, Lynn Classical’s Gianni Edmundes, and Haverhill’s Tom Lubas. The fastest male was Lynn’s Rafael Villatoro (35:40).
Top finishers in the kids’ 1.59-mile race were Julia Hutter and Brielle Hutter, both of Lynnfield in 17:06 and 17:27, respectively, as well as Reading’s Niall Reardon (18:34).
In the 2.2-mile Goat Path race, the top three males all hailed from Lynn: Franklin Maldonado (14:45), Eli Osgood (16:51), Christian Nunez (16:54). The top three females, also from Lynn, were Christine Phillips (19:13), Gerardy Chavez (19:31), and Alexa Chavez (20:03).
The last four days of competition will start at 6 p.m. due to less daylight hours. Results and a final schedule can be found here: www.lwrun.org
