LYNN — This week’s Lynn Woods Summer Race Series feature race was the Tour de Woods IV, created by trailmaster Rich Lally. It differs from the usual weekly races in that many of the courses are on singletrack – much of which the runners have never seen before.
This week’s run was a 3-mile loop to the right of Walden Pond, and the second loop was over the dam for a 2.3-mile loop.
Ralph Villatoro, 32, of Lynn, continued to dominate the long-distance races with a time of 32:26 (6.08 pace) to take first place. Nathan Hammerschmit (Lynn; 36:18), Tommy Fogarty (Peabody; 37:07) and Chris Chapruet (Saugus; 37:23) rounded out the top four spots.
Francesca Boggs, 37, of Swampscott, was the first woman to cross the finish line with a time of 49:13 (9:18 pace), followed by Kimberly Zia of Lynn (49:57).
The youngest known runner to complete a Tour de Woods race in the series’ history was 10-year-old James Wilson IV of Lynn, who ran an impressive 8:38 per mile in 45:13.
The Mini Tour (3.7 km), the second round of the Tour de Woods, was won by 18-year-old Franklin Maldonado from Lynn in 15:49. His compatriot Brandon Sok (16:22) took second place, followed by Luke Murphy from Peabody (16:27).
Julia Thiel, 12, of Lexington, was the first female to finish with a time of 18:18. She also ran for Clarke Middle School and finished 10th in Division 1 at last year’s Massachusetts State Middle School XC Championships, helping her team to second place.
The winner of the children’s race (2.5 km) was 10-year-old Sabine Thiel from Lexington with a time of 13:39, followed by Emily Conlon from Lynnfield with 14:16. The first boy to finish was also from Lynnfield, with Parker Beal coming in at 14:45. Nathan Hogan from Lynn (14:50) and Allie Kent from Lynnfield (15:19) completed the top five places.
The bib numbers were first issued by Bill Mullen in 2007 for the Lynn Woods Summer Race Series. This week’s Mini Tour featured Carl Spencer of Saugus wearing bib number 2 and Ralph Viger of Peabody wearing bib number 34. Runners keep the same bib number each year. The current number of bibs is 4,995.
Wednesday’s series offering is the 53rd annual 10-mile relay race. Each team will consist of four runners, each running a 2.5-mile lap. The race begins at 6 p.m. Complete results and relay race information can be found at www.lwrun.org.
The event attracts 80-100 teams, so there could be 320-400 runners plus spectators. The parking lot is at the beginning of the softball field.
