LYNN — The 54th Lynn Woods 10 Mile Relay was held last week on a cool, overcast evening — ideal conditions for distance running. The race is considered one of the oldest off-road relay events in the country, tracing its roots back more than half a century.
Eighty-two teams competed, with each four-runner squad covering 10 miles on a loop course. Each leg measured 2.5 miles and followed about 90% of the original Lynn Woods race route, which dates back to the late 1960s.
More than half of the nearly 328 runners came from three North Shore clubs. The Wicked Running Club of Salem led the way with more than 60 entrants, while the Notch Running Club of Salem and the North Shore Striders of Beverly each entered more than 40.
The race featured 14 divisions. The top five teams in the men’s, women’s and coed open divisions received awards, while the top three teams in each remaining division were honored. Members of each division-winning team earned the coveted “The Woods” hooded warmup, while other top finishers received medals.
Race director Bill Mullen created a scoring program that tracked and recorded all runners’ splits.
The fastest women’s split belonged to the Winners Circle Running Club of Salisbury, which clocked 15:37 on the opening leg of the demanding course. The fastest men’s split came from Marblehead’s AJ Ernst of the Notch Kolsch Bois, who ran a blistering 12:36 on the anchor leg — one of the fastest times ever on the course. Ernst, a former Providence College postgraduate runner, was a second-team All-American in the mile.
Division winners:
Men’s Open: Notch Kolsch Bois, 52:23
Masters Men 40-49: Notch Lagered Forever, 1:02:48
Seniors Men 50-59: Wicked Vintage, 1:07:43
Veteran Men 60-69: NSA Run 4 Ever, 1:23:33
Super Veteran Men 70+: NSS Not Too Old to Run, 1:36:58
Women’s Open: Notch Kolsch Queens, 1:05:37
Masters Women 40-49: Notch Smoked Lagers, 1:16:33
Seniors Women 50-59: NSS No Goats to Glory, 1:29:30
Veteran Women 60-69: GlRR Seasoned Chicks, 1:25:29
Super Veteran Women 70+: The Ageless Warriors, 2:26:00
Boys’ High School: Newbury Park, 1:03:46
Coed (two of each gender): Notch Mix Pack, 1:06:24
Mixed Genders, Grades 8 and under: Matul, 1:46:50
Team Matul, made up of runners from the Lynn Woods Summer Running Series, included Jennifer Matul, 12; Lindsy Matul, 10; Evelyn Perez, 11; and Mailyn Perez, 7.
Complete results are available at www.lwrun.org under “Summer Woods” then “2025 Relay Results”. The summer series continues this week with races beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday’s event will be a 5.5-mile handicap race.
