The Melrose YMCA Spooky Sprint has been a popular race with Melrose Running Club members for years.

It starts across the street from where the club meets and many runners come out for the 5K run with their kids.

This year the MRC had 38 runners, which may be an all time high.

MRC at the Melrose YMCA Spooky Sprint

The top Melrose Running Club finisher was Charlotte Tysall at 18:52! She was the second place women’s finisher over all, and came in 9th place over all.

Nicola Tysall came in first in her age group at 24:08! Nicola ran with her mother who also came in at 24:08.

Kate Sikkema came in second in her age group at 24:54, but she had her dad Mike to hold her back! After the race Mike said that Kate had improved her finish by more than a minute over last year’s finish.

Cynthia Berger came in second in her age group at 24:11 and Judy Dolan placed second in her age group at 29:47.

Ed Bradford came in first in his age group at 19:10! Ed was the top men’s finisher for the MRC and came in 11th place over all.

Congratulations to everyone on your great runs.

Running Melrose YMCA Spooky Sprint

Many of us have run this course many times, but it is still challenging. The race starts on East Foster Street next to the YMCA. All the way up Foster it is up hill until we turn right onto Lebanon Street.

Lebanon rolls a little bit and then goes down hill as we approach the right onto Sylvan Street. Sylvan has another hill and then we run through the gravel parking lot behind the ball fields and track at Pine Banks.

When I first started running on the gravel it felt odd and it seemed difficult to solidly land my feet. I thought about slowing down to avoid rolling an ankle. About half way across the parking lot it suddenly felt natural and I passed a few people.

At the end of the lot we ran across the wet grass to Woodside Road. Woodside winds behind the care takers home and has a bit more hill. On this road at about 1.6 miles they had the water stop. It was a cool day and few people seemed to be stopping.

We ran Woodside out to Main Street and took a right. The road seemed closed or at least patrolled, so some of us ran on the side of the street. We were now about two miles into the run and people were slowing down.

As we approached the intersection with Sylvan Street I remembered that this race had a few turns before the finish.

There were police at the Sylvan and Wyoming Street intersections. The smaller streets were not controlled. As we approached Grove Street it became apparent the the street was open to traffic and many people ran on the sidewalk.

The crowd of runners was pretty thin as we ran up Grove. At the corner of Dell Ave we took a left and a small crowd cheered us on. I could hear someone close behind me on Dell Ave so I kept pushing.

As we turned left onto Foster I heard steps getting closer. I kept pushing but three or four people younger than I passed by quickly.

I had a good run and felt comfortable and in control the entire race. I finished in 67th place at 23:39 for a pace of 7:37. I could have started closer to the front and pushed harder and maybe placed third.

But for some reason, that drive was not in me. With 42 days to my marathon, I approached this race as a speed workout. Avoiding injury so I can continue training is more important than placing.

Apre Spooky Sprint

People were hanging out after the race. A lot of people were there with their children and many people knew each other.

I quickly headed for the donut table and picked up half of a chocolate glazed donut. It’s better to grab a donut from the back of the rack and before the kids get there!

I watched one little boy touch three or four donuts like he was buying fruit. He settled on the fifth half jelly donut he touched, which looked just like the other four. But what do I know?

These cup cakes looked really good. But I had a donut and was able to resist.

I got to talk with many MRC members, but not everyone. When people are wearing costumes, it can be difficult to tell who they are!

There are a lot of photos on Facebook. The photos posted here are from Rob Busby and the YMCA’s photographer.

Melrose YMCA Spooky Sprint Results

Run Well My Friends!

Andy