We had a beautiful day on Sunday for the 17th Annual Melrose Run for Women.
Each year this race gets a little bigger. Last year we had 1,003 registrations, and 943 runners and walkers finished the race. This year we had just under 1,100 registrations and 1,023 finishers. Liz Tassinari, the race committee and all of the volunteers did a fantastic job. The race was well publicized and well organized.
It was great to see mothers and their daughters come to pick up their numbers on race day. There were women with their moms and mothers with their young children. It was great to see the excitement of the young kids picking up their numbers. For many of them this was probably their first race, and they were doing it with their mom! What a great day to create family memories.
Everyone was excited about the race and there were smiles all around.
Dave Hayes did a great job with the t-shirt design as he always does. We had 800
shirts for our runners so a few late registrants had to go without. We also had many generous sponsors. The sponsors help cover the expenses of putting on a race like this and help the Melrose Running Club pass on more of the registration money to the groups we support.
Without our sponsors and the almost 1,100 runners who registered for the race, the Melrose Running Club would not be able to support these groups and the important work they do. As a club member, I thank all of you.
The Runners
There were 207 ladies in the 1-19 age bracket. Looking through the finishers list on cool running, I saw plenty of 7, 8 and 9 year olds. I also saw a 5 year old runner! Fantastic. Several children went along for the ride as mom pushed them in a running stroller.
We had five women in the 70-79 age bracket. Olga Anzuoni of Everett was first in this group and she is 78. Out of 1,023 runners she came in 475th. It’s great to see older people enjoying a race. None of the five women in the 70-79 bracket finished last either.
Here is a link to Paul Locke’s Flickr page for the race. These photos are at the 2 mile mark. Also from the 2 mile mark, these photos were taken every 3 seconds. Here are more race photos courtesy of Ted Tyler.
Here are the complete race results, posted on cool running. We had 50 mother/daughter teams this year. They are ranked by their combined finish times. As usual, there are some creative team names!
The Cause
The main beneficiary of the Melrose Run for women is the Melrose Action Against Violence. Their mission:
The mission of the Melrose Alliance Against Violence is to raise community awareness of domestic and teen dating violence, and to promote programs that work to reduce violence and encourage healthy relationships.
Our programs include community awareness activities, education and prevention programs in the schools, including bullying prevention, mentoring and peer leadership programs; and information, support, resource and referral services for victims, family members and the community at large.
The Melrose Running Club runs a Walk to Run program each year, and we always help and encourage new runners. This is part of our mission, and it changes lives. I’m proud of the work that we do to help people start running. But I have to say I am most proud of our support for MAAV. When I think of how our contribution helps women, girls and families in difficult situations, people who may have few resources and less hope, get the help and support they need I feel a great sense of pride.
Through the support of runners, local businesses and the community, we are able to help people make meaningful changes in their lives. Perhaps save a life. It is an honor to be associated with such an effort.
I would like to thank all of the runners, donors, volunteers and race staff for making this race such a huge success.
Well done my friends!
Andy
ยฉ 2014 anagelin
