Memorial Day Marathon salutes Red, White and Blue Foundation

LENOX – The fourth annual Memorial Day Marathon, which included a trail race, a 5K, 10K, half-marathon and one of the toughest full marathons in the East, took off running on Saturday and Sunday in support of the Red, White, and Blue Foundation.

The Red, White, and Blue Foundation helps create programs for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and reintegrate them into civilian society.

According to Race Organizer Matt Linnick, more than 1,400 runners participated in the two-day event, which also featured a kids’ race despite the cool and rainy conditions.

“We switched to team Red, White and Blue, which is a young, energetic organization that does reintegration programs for veterans,” Linnick said. “There was a natural connection with those guys – a lot more here running on the course and a lot more running with the flag.”

Van Mullikin, 26, from San Antonio won the marathon with a course record time of 2:37:22; Jennifer Flaherty of Easthampton crossed the line as the top female finisher and was 12th overall with a time of 3:30.02.

With only 380 runners during the inaugural race, Linnick is pleased with the direction the race is going, and to see the participants more than quadruple over the four years, gives reason to think the race will be around for many years to come.

“Everybody has been supportive, not just in Lenox, but Great Barrington and with the county sheriff’s office, while the impact is pretty wide-reaching with over 30 states represented and four different countries,” Linnick said.

Top finishers from the trail race include 23-year-old Ryan Hudyncia from Fort Plain, N.Y., at 1:14:13, who ran a 7:58 pace. Top female finisher was Kehr Davis of Great Barrington, who finished the trail race at 1:19:59 at an 8:35 clip. Malcolm Wilber, 18, from Great Barrington finished fourth overall at 1:18:03.

Local running legend Kent Lemme won the 5k at 17:01, with Stephen Foley and Brandon Williams, both from Pittsfield, coming in right after Lemme. Amanda Wright from Becong, Mass., was the top female finisher with a time of 20:23.

Brad Mish from Boston won the 10k, with a time of 34:12 with a pace of 5:31 overall. Kathryn Marshall placed first for the women at 44:52, with a pace of 7:14.

In the half-marathon, Kevin Collins placed first overall at a time of 1:13:46, with a 5:36 pace, while female top finisher Cailyn Clark finished at 1:31 with a 7:01 pace.

Posted by Tim Davis on May 30, 2013. Filed under Community Events,News,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry