Summer race series.  Race, train, or run to stay fit.  Points series for age group prizes at the end.

Wednesdays                 5:30pm  Registration               $5 per race, $30 for all eight races

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Course and 3.7 Mile World Records:     8/30/06 - Matt Cartier - 20:18

                                                          8/23/06 - Jennifer Rapaport - 22:04

2008 records          7/16/08  - Brian Sinico - 20:54

                             7/23/08  - Chandler Ortega - 24:55

2008 Series News and Results

Week One Results and Standings   The concert was cancelled but the runners ran anyway.  Great turnout for the first night. Several first time runners made a mark tonight with first timer Chandler Ortega taking the women's race.  Dan Damasca won his first race in fine time.  Men's 40-49 was crowded tonight with 9 challengers in that division.  Hopefully next week we will have a concert to enjoy after a hard run. 

Week Two Results and Standings    Nice run today by the field with 20 of 22 runners running a season's best time, even though the temperature was up this week.  Chandler Ortega won overall again for the women.  Brian Sinico showed up and ran a season's best time for the men. 

Week Three Results and Standings   The rain held off for the race as 17 out of 19 runners had PBs.  Dan Damasca continues to dominate the rained out concert races and Chandler Ortega won her third straight.  A few runners posted a PB nearly a minute and half better than their previous time. 

Week Four Results and Standings  Beautiful weather, but a little warmer.  Great turnout.  Still 70% of the field had a PB.  Dan proves he can win even if there is a concert.  Wide open woman's race this week, with newcomer Molly Murphy edging out Shiobbean Archey.  Alice Murphy and Lauren Farry joined us from the Berkshire Lightning and both had very fine races.  Hightlighting the points categories, close 3-way battle between Scott Bradley, Pete Lipka, and James Schworob in the Men's 50s.  Multiple contenders in the Women's 40's and 20's.

Week Five Results and Standings  The race was moved to Springside Park at the last minute.  That didn't bother Chandler Ortega though as she won the race outright.  Eric Keegan won the men's race for the first time.  Big thank you to the Parks Department for helping us out at the last minute.

Week Six Results and Standings Nice crowd tonight that ran well.  Many PBs tonight and quite a few new runners.  Chandler Ortega ran well with a PB to win the women's race.  Matt Cartier arrived tonight and was challenged by newcomer Tim Van Orden.  They battled it out to the finish with Matt pulling out a 1 second victory.  Many close contests in the season point totals as well.

Week Seven Results and Standings  First race on Cascade St.  Nice course, this one seems like a winner.   Speaking of winners, Dan Damasca and Chandler Ortega continue to rule.  First run on the new course so everyone had a PB, but the per mile times were very impressive. 

Week Eight Results and Standings  Perfect season ender - Record crowd, perfect weather, great new course.  Newcomer to the area Shawn Rumery captured the men's race edging out Dan Damasca, Luke Breslin, and Steve Roberts in a close finish.  Chandler Ortega continues to setup her cross country season with her seventh victory of the season.  The PHS cross country team came out in strong numbers to enjoy the course.  Thanks to all for a great summer, see you next year.

2007 records     8/22/07 - Steve Roberts - 21:46

                        8/15/07 - Corinne Hillman - 23:59

2007 Series News and Results

Week One Results and Standings  Opening night, the hardy group that showed was rewarded by the rain holding off until the race was over.  There were two hotly contested divisions tonight, women's 14-16 and men's 40-49.  Kate Kellar, Taconic XC running held off 4 others to take the F14-16 and Steve Roberts did the same.  Both runners also won the men and women's overall respectively.  All runners had a 2007 PB tonight, but I'm sure that new PBs will be established soon.

Week Two Results and Standings Great weather.  A little warm but nice clear air.  Women's 14-16 and Men's 40-49 continue to be the hot categories. Skye Bagley was the woman's winner and Steve Roberts continued his winning ways.  Good showing in the Men's 17-19 with Bryan Betters winning that category.  Despite the hotter weather, all but one runner had a 2007 PB tonight. 

Week Three Results and Standings Lots of new faces tonight including 5 who traveled from Texas to be in the race.  They thought the night felt cool, but they don't have hills like that in Texas.  For us New Englanders it was a good hot night.  New season records for both men and women, Steve Roberts continues to improve each week, but 3 different women have held the record this season.  Taconic XC continues to show up in force as this series clearly has become known as the best way to improve your times.  80% of the runners posted a PB, a statistic that continues to amaze me.  The concert afterwards was a real treat as well.

Week Four Results and Standings What a spectacular night!  Weather was perfect.  We are just over halfway and the standings are very close.  Particularly interesting battle in the Male 14-16 category with a 3-way tie for first place.  Corinne Hillman, Monument XC star finally showed up and set the best women's mark for this year. Monument XC runner Jim Kelly ran for the first time and gave Steve Roberts a battle, but in the end it was age before beauty and Steve continued his streak, 4 wins in a row, which is a record by the way.  It was nice to see Laurie Schwartz there as she put a lock on the Female 50s.  I enjoyed the band this week, a lot of Grateful Dead, very good music.

Week Five Results and Standings Steve Roberts and Corinne Hillman continue to lay down excellent times.  Corinne sliced more than a minute off her previous best to record the best time for the ladies this year.  The 50 year olds finally showed with 5 battling it out.  

Week Six Results and Standings  The cooler weather increased the pace as the personal bests were reeled in left and right.  Steve Roberts continued his undefeated streak finally breaking the 22 minute barrier for the fastest time of the year.  Skye Bagley from PHS showed up to take top women honors, beating out Kate Kellar from Taconic by a few steps.  That will be quite a battle on the XC fields this fall between those two teams.   3 way tie for girls 14-16 with Skye, Becca, and Anna fighting for Division honors. 

Week Seven Results and Standings  Great night to finish it all off.  46 Finishers tonight for a new record attendance.  Steve Roberts goes undefeated this season.  Skye Bagley wins the women's race and leads an large flock of PHS XC girls.  Sean Rilla knocks 2 minutes off his PB to win the M1416 division.  Thanks to all for coming and we will see you next summer. 

Donors and sponsors

Western Mass Athletic Club

Ben Kaplan, New England Promotional Marketing

Berkshire Lightning Track Club

Price Chopper

Crescent Creamery

Maxymillian Construction

Armory Studio – Jim Squires 

2006 Series News and Results

Week One Results and Standings  Great opening event.  A real battle in the Male 20-29 year old category.  All runners had a PB at the 3.7 mile distance.  Steve Roberts set the Men's course record with sub 6 min miles, Justyna Makosa set the Women's record.  By the way, these are also World Records at the 3.7 mile distance since I could only find one other race at 3.7 miles and it was up a mountain.

Week Two Results and Standings   11 more runners joined us this week.  18 new Personal Bests and two course records, Steve and Justyna again.  Very interesting points battles going on.  Comment of the week "Weekly runs like this will make me faster."

Week Three Results and Standings  Hot Hot race today.  The sun mercifully stayed away, but the air was heavy.  20 hearty souls braved the temperatures and were glad they did.  Big competition among the 40 year old men.  Colucci won the week against 7 others in his category, but John Sevey maintained his points lead.  Immune to the heat, Justin May won overall for the first time with a time just off his personal best.  Quiet in the Women's categories with a few ladies grabbing an extra point.  First under 15 girls, Andrea and Rebecca Hall, showed up and ran respectable times.  The vision was achieved this week: Run a fun race, cool off in the lake, and enjoy music on the lawn with good friends.

Week Four Results and Standings  Temp was cool, but the races are heating up.  Almost every runner ran a personal best at this week's race.  A combination of lower temps and the Wednesday night races making people faster.  Some amazing improvements since the beginning of the season.  The more often a runner showed up for the Series the larger their improvement.  I take full credit.  All Divisions are becoming increasing competitive.  Big showings in the female teens and 40s and the male 20s, 40s, and 50s.  John Colucci set a new Men's course record and also a world record at the 3.7 mile distance.

Week Five Results and Standings  Perfect race conditions.  Photos.  Record breaking field.  New Women's course record by first timer, Erica Lewis by 12 seconds which also gives her the world record at the 3.7 mile distance.  Steve Robert's cruised to victory overall for the men.  Justin May continues to rule the Men's 20-29 year old division.  A tight race in the Men's 40-49, with several runners within striking distance of the leader, Dan Damasca.  Women's 40-49 division has a 3 way tie for second only a point behind leader Laurie Schwartz. The high school girls contingent continues to grow and I expect the attendance to increase as the approach of the fall season brings the XC runners out of hibernation.  Big appreciation for the legions of volunteers who make the race run smoothly each week.  Quote of the week: "I am really starting to like this course." 

Week Six Results and Standings A perfect Berkshire summer day.  Four women went under world record time tonight, with vacationing Jennifer Rapaport nailing the record time.  Matt Cartier finally showed up and smoked the course record and put Justin May into second again.  20 out of 28 people set personal bests again tonight as the group continues to show steady improvement.  Next week is the final race followed by a potluck dinner on the lawn.  Bring a friend, looking to end on the biggest race of the year.

Week Seven Results and Final Standings Spectacular weather followed by the best race of the season.  Season high 34 runners cruised to a combined total of 24 PBs.  The front running group expanded this week with several runners gunning for the top spot, but Matt Cartier bested his best with a new course and world record.  Women 15-19 division came alive with 5 runners led by Bethany Ricci.  Men's 40-49 division continued to be popular with 9 guys running tonight behind Dan Damasca.   We enjoyed delicious home baked treats after the race.  Top scorers in each division were awarded ice cream certificates.  Lore Kaplan, after volunteering at nearly every race, seized her opportunity and ran one race, scored one point to win her division in the most efficient manner.  Comment of the night "We run so we can eat a lot."  And they sure did, we left no crumb untouched as we polished off the meal and our first successful season.  Thanks to all who made it possible.  See you next year.