A quarter century after a group of intrepid Rivah Rats gathered at the Lawrence Technical School and set off on the first ever Merrimack River Trail Race, more than 200 die-hard trailrunners set off on Saturday to log the next series in the 250+ mile annals of this 25-year-old race!
Cheers to Steve Peterson (seen here on the right with his trusty clipboard), as well as running legend Scott Graham, who's saving his legs for his big 26.2 outing from Hopkinton to Boston next week.
And the other guy? He's there for the Top 10 Chili
Speaking of which, former Rivah champ Dave Dunham stirs the pot
The calm before the storm.
One of these E Streeters is about to log his first official 10 miles as part of the Rivah series. Will he be back for more? It remains to be seen.
The other trio is just there for moral support. And the chili.
Cayuga! Petey and his red flag are ready to get this Silver Anniversary Edition underway!
With all the past year's shirts giving this race a banner start, the crowd is ready, too!
And they're off!
Here they come!
(Here's that E Streeter making his debut we were telling you about)
And there they go!
Because somebody needs to take the role of the sweep car
This day, to celebrate the Silver anniversary of the great race, a few of us retraced the steps of the first couple of year's race, which was actually an 11.5 mile course! (And that extra hiccup is what prevents this series from capping at a neat 250 mile mark. In truth, it's probably more like a 253 mile voyage.)
Some of the newer bridges don't appear ready for the weight of runners, though. At least not THESE runners. Nice recovery, Barry!
Finally, at the finish line, Scott, who has notched almost all 25 of these races,
chooses the messy way in
Andrew opted for the cleaner of the routes. He was thinking of the floormats of my car.
And afterwards? What else?
Top 10 Chili, of course! I had a bowl queued up to try it just to make sure the guys and gals who logged the full 10 didn't burn their mouths when they scored their own bowl. Noble, I know.
Congrats to all who've participated over the 25 years of this epic race, and kudos to Petey, Dave, Tom Scott, Scott, and anyone else who's hand a hand in keeping the landmark trailrunning alive.
If you haven't taken part, make sure to join the rest of the Rivah Rats next April for the 26th outing. I'll have a bowl of chili waiting for you at the finish!
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