Verrington, Molloy, Urrutta and Miae Run to Victory in Bradford

Beauchesne (439), Urrutta (528), Verrington (474) photo Dave Camire

"I went to a dance just the other night, everybody there was there."
Dave Clark Five, 1965

Bradford, MA -- At this year's Bradford Valentines Race, "Everybody there was there". Over 560 came to the dance according to race director John Burke. This must have made Burke glad all over, especially since it was a record number of entrants.

The race field was a Who's Who of Merrimack Valley stars. Toeing the starting line were the likes of Dan Verrington, Craig Fram, Kara Molloy, Eric Beauchesne, Abedon Pichardo, Marty Lechleider, Steve Peterson, Kevin Retelle and Jose Urrutta. Even Bradford resident, and mountain running legend, Dave Dunham, was in attendance to cheer on his training partner Verrington.

5-Mile Winner Kara Molloy photo Dave Camire

Even before the starting pistol was fired, it looked like a three-way battle between Fram, Verrington and Beauchesne. The battle, however, was quickly reduced as Fram reported he was suffering from a bad cold and would not be running at 100-percent. This left Verrington and Beauchesne to battle it out over the five mile course through beautiful Bradford.

According to Verrington, "[Lowell's] Jose Urrutta took the lead for the first half mile." Urrutta was competing in the accompany 6K which he eventually won. This left Verrington and Beauchesne to duke it out. As the race progressed Verrington slowly pulled away for a 20 second victory.

The women's division was never in doubt. Westford's Kara Molloy took the lead from the start and was never challenged. She finished almost two minutes ahead of second place finisher Michelle Cutler of Belmont.

Team Hynes photo Dave Camire

In the men's masters division, Andover's Marty Lechleider had the task of trying to catch the sub-par Fram. "He told me he had a bad chest cold and it was just a tempo run," Lechleider said of Fram. "I was able to keep him in sight for about two miles". Lusann Wishart of Londonderry, NH captured the women's masters title in 34;13.

Boxford's Wendy Burbank continued her winning ways by capturing the women's seniors (37:21) while Arthur Dickey of North Andover (31:23) took the men's title. The veteran division was won by Londonderry, NH resident Eldon Burkinshaw (34:47) and Charletown, MA resident Shirley Foley (45:00). The seventy and over division was captured by the amazing Carlton Mendell of Portland, ME (45:16) and the equally amazing Louise Rossetti of Saugus, MA (59:19).

The 6K race was held simultaneously with the 5-miler and featured some tough competition. Lowell's Jose Urrutta led all men (20:16) and Miae Jacobs of Wilmington (23:10) led all women.

Since this was a valentine race, a couple competition was held. Although the official results show the team of Frank Johnson and Gail Dierauer as the winners in a fine time of 52:16, the unofficial team of Kevin Hynes and Kevin Hynes garnered most of the attention. Both team members ran an impressive 28:25. Not bad for someone in a strapless, but then again, what would you expect at a dance?