Western Mass Distance Project

West of Gardner, MA – There may not have been Blue skies in Western Massachusetts this Sunday, but there most certainly were Blue podiums. The Wolfpack split up this weekend for a tactical hunt of several Western Mass road races.

In the birthplace of Volleyball, Holyoke, MA, at the HCC Cougar Crawl, Abby Woods Mahoney and Laura Hutchinson were able to easily serve up a 1-2 sweep. Mahoney displayed pure dominance with a 17:54, good for first, followed shortly by fellow Wolf Hutchinson who cruised into 2nd place with an 18:23.

Meanwhile, over in the wholesome town of Longmeadow, MA, Kim Budri was a lone Wolf, able to secure a 2nd place finish in 20:14 at the 20th Annual Tim Paige 5k.

While her teammates were hunting down fast times on the asphalt, Kelsey Battige took to the trails for the Soapstone 24k. Battige covered the grueling 15 mile trail in 2:41:39.

Out in the far West, where exact records of the state line between New York and Massachusetts have been lost in time, Ivan Omar Cordero was on the hunt for Dead Presidents at the Inaugural Steel Rail Half-Marathon. Sporting a perfectly trimmed beard Cordero cruised to a 2nd place overall finish in a PR of 1:15:56, good for 3 Benjamins. It was reported shortly after the race that Cordero called his employer and submitted his resignation on the grounds that he was “making close to $240 per hour and you guys are no longer worth my time”. The Wolfpack fully supports his position.

Finally, the Wolfpack contracted out one Wolf to a group of runners who borrowed him “for purposes of reaching a beach” as was outlined in the contract. John Messer anchored team “Winner-Winner Chicken Dinner” to a 1st place division and 6th place overall finish at the Reach the Beach Relay.

“I thought I was literally going to the beach with some friends, I had no idea I had to run there”, said Messer of his experience.

But at the end of the weekend, all was well. The Lady Wolves made an assault on the 5k road racing scene in Western Mass, Cordero took home some cash monies for Wing Night at the Whip City Brewery, and the Wolves celebrated their first birthday as a pack.

Total Miles Raced in Blue: 60.08
Total Dollars Earned in Blue: $300.00
Total Podium Positions in Blue: 5
Total Beaches Reached in Blue: 1

Springfield, MA – This past weekend a small pack of wolves congregated in, what some might term, the heart of Western Mass — Springfield, Massachusetts — for the small, but monetarily rewarding, American International College Run For Education. The squad representing WMDP was organized at the last minute by WMDP member Russell Johnson to go for the team win and was certainly considered an underdog but was ready for the challenge. The race started in downtown Springfield with a scenic jaunt down State Street, cheered on by the enthusiastic locals trying to figure out what everyone was running from, and finished up on the beautiful, new AIC track. The pack was led by Ben Mears in (unofficial) 2nd place, whose struggles with course directions initially led to a huge PR of 13:56 until realizing the leader of the race, and the subsequent 8 finishers, had decided that the 5000m distance was simply too challenging and had run a more modest 4245m distance. Unlike all but one of the runners in front of him, Jacob Brewer was up to the challenge of the full 5k distance and officially finished in 2nd (unofficial 11th) and was followed closely by Troy French in an official place of 4th (unofficial 13th).  On the ladies’ side, WMDP’s Abby Mahoney successfully navigated her way to an (official) 2nd place with a time of 19:04. Once the dust had settled with the confusion over the course, the trio had led WMDP to a first place showing after scoring a total of 21 points, ahead of second place team Hampshire High Harriers scoring 27 points. As part of the win, the WMDP was able to designate a school of their choice to receive a $2700 donation. This donation will be going to Chester Academy, a public elementary school in Russell Johnson’s home state of New Hampshire.

“Running is a lot like life. Only 10 percent of it is exciting. 90 percent of it is slog and drudge.” – David Bedford

Boston, MA – The Lady Wolves of the Western Mass Distance Project have understood that slog and drudge. They have endured the long, unforgiving months of winter training with the ultimate challenge playing in the back of their minds – the Marathon.

5am pre-work run? Check.

Lunch hour sweat-a-thon? A co-worker’s dream.

Snowstorm hill repeats? Sounds like a fun Friday night.

Anything to get to the finish line of the Boston Marathon. With the winter behind them and Baby Blue skies ahead, the lady wolves showed up to Hopkinton ready to put on a show.

Due to the increasingly competitive standards for entry, several were pushed to the second wave start. Never to be discouraged, Annie Paredes used this to her advantage, and used the clear roads ahead of her to set her own uncongested pace. “This year I started in the second wave, first corral, which at first I was bummed about but I was wrong. I literally was able to toe the start line of the Boston Marathon. This definitely gave me a shot of adrenaline to start the race”.

Hitting the roads of Hopkinton, baby blue singlets let it all out and set a blistering pace. While most will attest to running the Boston Marathon as a 26.2 mile long dance party, racing it is a sufferfest of speed and strength. As Sarah Romain’s third time entering the Boston Marathon, she prepared herself for the hurt. “Everyone says, don’t go out too fast. That’s the key to the Boston Marathon. Keep it conservative and save it for the hills. I thought… I’ve done this before. I’m not afraid of the hills, this is the year to race this thing. So, of course I went out too fast and wretched on the hills. Finishing hurt, it was painful. But it was a whole new world of digging deep, and I can say that I raced it, I gave it my all”.

With the mantra Right onto Hereford, Left onto Boylston and straight home ‘till morning, WMDP brought in their top three with 3:01, 3:02 and 3:08, good for a 6th place team finish. While there were epic performances from all, PR shoutouts go specifically to: Sarah Romain for 3:01:38, Annie Paredes, 3:02:38, Madeline Weber, 3:08:51, and Vanessa Diana for 3:31:21. On the men’s side, Jason Ayr represented with a 2:27:30, which made him good for a 55th place finish and Mathew Weissinger finished well in 2:46:56.

They followed the lesson plan and basked in the glory. They did as they always do afterall, Respect The Process.

Hey runners! And walkers. And friends. And family. Join us Sunday morning in Stanley Park, Westfield, MA at 10AM for a community fun run – Run For Boston.

In the wake of these events let’s do what we do best; run. We will be running/walking laps of the Stanley Park Athletic Fields to support those in the eastern part of the state during these tragic times. Donations are open and anything we collect will be donated to The One Fund Boston. This event will not be timed, so bring your own watch! Also we welcome snacks and water! We’re working on music. Parking available at the WSU commuter lot.

So come hang out! Run, walk, dance, sit, whatever you want! We hope to see you there! More details to come…

Visit the event’s Facebook page for the most up to date information

Repeat (verb): to do. make, or perform again.

New Bedford, MA – The concept of a Grand Prix originated in French racing, meaning “The Grand Prize”. The idea of a Grand Prix is to accumulate points, or status, in a series of competitions for an ultimate “prize”. The Wolves from Western Massachusetts, particularly Kevin Johnson, have picked up on this idea as the 2013 Grand Prix continues.

The second installment of the 2013 USA Track & Field New England Grand Prix Championship Road Series transpired on the windy streets of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The harriers of New England were served 13.1 miles of southeastern Massachusetts asphalt on the sunny mid March day in the Baystate. The front of the race took its time in figuring each other out as last years winner, Mathew Pellitier, braved the wind and fulfilled his maillot jaune duties. It was not long before the pack was stirred and the New Kids on the Block would take their hand at the is “Half” distance, lead out by Sean Duncan and Kevin Johnson.

Matty P would not go down without a fight, but as the waves settled it would yet again be the Peoples Champion, Kevin Johnson, who was first to shore in his second Grand Prix victory of the 2013 season. The Powder Blue fought its way to the finish, seeking the dominance of the 10-Mile campaign, however the Unicorns of the Boston Athletic Association would not let the young Westerners run away too easily. The Golden singlets slid their hooves into the weak openings allowed by the Wolfpack, but once the dust settled it would be the Blue again, proving the 117 year old club would need to bring stronger resources to the starting line to take down the start-up from the Western side of the Commonwealth.

The Lady Wolves would go on to claim their second top 10 finish in the Grand Prix, led again by their fearless leader, Sarah Romain, in 1:23:42. Sarah was followed shortly by fellow Lady Wolves, Anne Paredes, in 1:25:09, and Madeline Weber, in 1:30:28, to round out the scoring Pack.

In the poetic flow of the previous installment, the second Chapter of this beautiful racing series reads quite nicely. Make your justifications, find your reasons, but at the end of the day it is all part of the Process, and… Well. Never mind.