by Dave Camire
LOWELL, MA - 99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer, you take one down, you pass it around, 99 . . . . . Well, you know the rest. This year's Brewery Exchange Classic had, as could be expected, one on the best post race parties in New England. Would you expect anything different from a race sponsored by a micro brewery?
Foxboro's Sean Tynan was first in the beer line posting a fast 15:22. He was just five seconds off of the course record set last year by the UK's John Lisiewicz. "I took the lead on the bridge, the first bridge, and I went through [the first mile] in about 4:36," said a somewhat winded Tynan following the race. Tynan's second mile was not quite as quick as he passed through in 9:37, still good enough, however, to maintain his lead.
Second place went to Rich "Lightning" Bolt of Lunenburg, a mere second behind Tynan in 15:23. Bolt, a former All-American cross-country skier at St. Lawrence University, spent the first mile in fourth place. "I was in fourth most of the way, just before the mile mark I pulled ahead of the third place guy," said an exhausted Bolt. "The guy in second place seemed to fade on the hills about half way through the course.," he added. It was at this point that Bolt "bolted" into second place. Not bad for a guy who trains just six months a year.
The women's division was won by Carol Barford of Hudson, MA in 19:08, well off Sue Lachances' course record of 18:20. Barford, who is a grad student in environmental micro-biology at Harvard, edged out fellow Cambridge Sports Union teammate Sue McNatt (19:14). "I took the pace out fast from the first mile, said Barford. "In the second mile there was a hill and I slowed down a great deal, but by that time people were telling me I was in the lead and I was able to hold it together," she continued. Although this wasn't Barford best 5K time, it was good enough to win.
Coming back from an eight week injury, local senior star Stoddard Melhado of Littleton placed 33rd with an impressive 17:31. "It was my first race in eight weeks having been a bit injured, so it was a lot of work," related Melhado. It wasn't quite as fast as I'd like to run, but it was a good course," he added. This was a view that was shared universally as many runners left Lowell happy and, perhaps, a bit tipsy (hopefully everyone had a designated driver).