Yesterday was the Chester 4 on the 4th Road Race. This is an event that I have run six times in the past, but this year, I skipped it to rest my legs, watch Shep, and shoot photos. This race is always hot and humid and yesterday was no exception. It was more humid than hot, but 900+ runners still lined up at the flag pole in the center of this picturesque Connecticut town. One quirk: this year, the start was 300 feet farther back. I’m not sure what the story is about that, but I’m sure there is a reason.
I got some great images. It was a photographer’s dream. There were front runners, there were barefoot runners, there was Debbie, there were veterans running in formation, there were kids, there were courageous runners, and there were lots of smiles. I had my pick of things to capture. It was great.
Debbie had a good run. She was 5th or 6th woman. The results are notoriously late (usually days!) for this race. We didn’t stick around long after she finished. I think the story of the day must have been that race organizers, the Chester Rotary, banned beer. This race is known for the suds that flow by 25 past 10:00 A.M., but this year, your ticket only got you soda or water. How unhealthy (at least the soda part)! Beer would have been better.
If the big story wasn’t the beer, it was the top woman runner taking it to the men. She was sitting in fourth spot when she went by me the first time, and she was positively flying. I’m not sure who she was, but she was fast. When she came by me again on the last climb, she was in third, and hot on the heels of second. When the second runner passed me, he yelled, “How far back is he?!” I replied, “It ain’t a he, it’s a she.” He grimaced and picked up the pace. His response, “A she?!” Yep.
We love this race. We may not come back every year, but when it is convenient, you can count on us being there. It has a great vibe and the course is classic with lots of tough ups and down. I’ll add a results link when it is available. They were using a new scoring system this year, so who knows when they will have it all figured out? In the past, each finisher got a slip of paper with their finish number that you had to fill out with your name and town. The 90% humidity has never really mixed well with those little slips of paper. Regardless of the heat, the Chester 4 on the 4th is one of those cool places to be on July 4th.
It turns out that the woman I referred to, is Cheryl Anderson. She ended up catching that guy to finish 2nd overall. Great performance. It must be a women’s record on this hilly course. Cheryl is no sandbagger. Apparently, she is a medical school student and doesn’t race much, but she still has speed. She was 32nd at the US Olympic Marathon trials in April. She ran a 2:41:45.
http://bostontrials2008.com/index.cfm?cdid=10960
A little more info:
http://www.runwashington.com/features/profileChAnderson07.html