Press Release
Release Date – Immediately
September 1, 2008
Contact Information
Mark Vital
Highland City
Striders
(508) 229-3160
Run5kfast@yahoo.com
Great Road Race for a Great Cause
Early Labor Day morning from the beautiful Ghiloni Park on Concord Road in Marlboro, 40 runners ran
a torturous ten mile fun run through the stunning back roads of Marlborough and
Hudson. The 4th annual Laborious Labor Day Ten Miler had begun, and
it looked to be a fast group. Under perfect running conditions (sunny and 68
degrees), Chris Green from Marlborough
and Dan Ostigay from Gilbertville sprinted the 1st
mile in 5:20. The two of them stayed together through the first 5k as they passed
in 16.45. It wasn’t until the infamous Hosmer hill
(one mile long at the 7.9 mark) that Green pulled away and won with a time of
54.58. Ostigay ran the course in 55.19. The all-time course
record is actually held be Ostigay (9/2007) in the incredible
time of 54.25. The course record for a female competitor is Sumner Fletcher (11/07)
from Uxbridge in the time of 1.04.10.
Not too far behind Ostigay was Marlborough’s
Gary Cattarin (1st master) who completed
the course in a fine time of 1.01.04 for 3rd place. The 4th
place finisher was John Tanner (1.04.38) also from Marlborough. The first female runner was Heather
Arsonault from Leominster
(9th overall) in an outstanding time of 1.10.20. The 2nd overall
female was Liz Masterjohn (15th overall) from
Hudson in a
time of 1.14.43. The 1st female master runner was Elaine DeBitotto (16th overall) from Stow in a time of 1.15.18
This race was the creation of Mark Vital (MHS girls’ cross country coach
and President of the Highland City Striders) in 2003 and its primary purpose is to
raise can goods and community awareness for the Marlborough Food Pantry. Vital says, “I love
running and just wanted to help out. This type of run is great for the
community and a lot of fun for the runners.” Instead of charging an entry fee
to run, the recommended fee is ten can goods. “Many runners bring extra,” says
Vital.
The run was sponsored by the Marlborough Recreation Department and Marlborough High School
cross country teams, and organized by the outstanding volunteers from the local
running club, the Highland
City Striders (www.highlandcitystriders.org). The Highland
City Striders will also organize
the upcoming Marlborough Main
Street Mile (Oct. 5th) and the Tough
Ten Mile Turkey Trot (Nov. 30th). See their website for details and
applications.