— 11th Annual Mystic River Herring Run
& Paddle 2007 —
Yes we had another rainy day for the Herring Run and Paddle in 2007
but we still had 35 runners and 25 paddlers come out and celebrate the
annual return of the herring to the Mystic River and to support the
Mystic River Watershed Association.
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In the 5 K men's road race Todd Callaghan won for the second year in a row
with a time of 17:43. Todd has three wins and one second place
finish in the past four years. In the Women's Race Anne Lightbody
made a last minute decision to run the race and was the first
woman and fifth overall with a time of 21:21.
In the 12 mile Kayak Race Ken Cooper was the first paddler to
finish with a time of 1:37:58. Cory Lancaster came in second with
a time of 1:40:05. Cory also competed in the 5K road race and
is this years Men's Iron Herring
winner. The race for third place was very close
with Wesley Echols just edging out Ted VanDusen, David Vandorp,
and Bill Baker with a time of 1:41:24.
Kathy Manizza came in third in the Women's 5K and then came in
first in the Women's 12 mile kayak race with a time of 1:46:22
to win this years female Iron Herring Award.
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Ron Shepard and Nick Lyesiuk paddled the first canoe to cross the line
with a time of 1:46:58 followed by Dan Rabinkin & Carina Peritore in 1:49:02.
Wesley DeNering and James Doucett had a close race for third with a
time of 1:52:34 just ahead of the team of Mike Ripple and Michael Melnikov.
The Spirit of the Herring award goes to Ann
Briand and Charlie Thomas who pulled a canoe up from the bottom of a
pond, drove to Somerville from Cape Cod, and completed the race in a
time of 2:31:00. We hope to see them at more races with a boat that
doesn't take on as much water during a race.
Thank you to our race Volunteers
We are grateful to Diane Tiexiera and the Boys and Girls Club of
Middlesex County for allowing us the use the Blessing of the Bay Boathouse.
Al Gehant of the Gentle Giant Rowing program braved another rainy day
in his patrol boat making sure all the paddlers safely finished the
race. Steve Delbanco helped set up the course at 5 AM. Officer Patrick
Johnston of the Everett Marine Patrol helped supervise the start of
the paddling race. We had a great registration and timing team of Janey
Tallarida (11th Herring Run), Caroline Broderick, Jorge Hernandez, Ander
Wilson, Matt Shuman, Michelle Hewitt, and Anne Lightbody. Michael O'Brien
organized the parking and shuttle bus. John Reinhardt and Terry Murray
provided on course direction along with the Somerville Auxiliary Police.
David Dahbacka and Jane Sauer took photos (more will be added shortly).
Sue Bass brought the display of winners from the MyRWA Photo
Contest. Dan Rabinkin and Carina Peritore set up the buoys for the
paddling race. Shawn Burke cleared and marked the portage between Upper
and Lower Mystic lake. Caroline Broderick, Ernie Meunier, David Lewis,
and Hiyam Nadel kept track of the racers in the Mystic lakes. Thanks
to all for making the race possible.
Thank you to our race sponsors
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