Ron Lombardi Masterful;
Kelly Heroux Wins Her Second
Ron Lombardi celebrated his
entry into the masters ranks with a 17:33 blue chip performance,
overcoming the weather and the competition to earn his annual
Snowstorm Classic victory. GSH’s fastest accountant has now won a
race each of the past three seasons.
True New
England weather enveloped Forest Park including cold temperatures
aggravated by a brisk wind and a slippery mix of ice, slush and snow
on much of 5K course.
A trio of
Harriers together with 22 year old Thomas Michaud (the youngest runner
in the field) broke from the pack soon after the start, but the race
quickly turned into a dual between Ron and teammate Paul Fratini.
Carlos Rivera dropped back early and waged his own battle with Tom for
the bronze medal. Ron and Paul raced neck and neck until the
duck ponds when Ron upped the ante one last time and outsprinted Paul
to the finish by four seconds. Carlos similarly surged past the
upstart youngster to win by the identical margin 18:01 to 18:05. Frank
Rucki (19:26) again captured senior honors by outrunning Steve O’Neil
(19:42) while Charlie Towse dominated the veterans with a strong 23:00
effort.
Kelly
Heroux gracefully glided over the frozen terrain in 21:32 to notch her
second women’s title of the season. Colleen Cummings just held off
Kristin Ashe 23:19 to 23:21 for the runner up position. Anne Franczyk’s
first Snowstorm Classic this season was a success as she won both the
master and the senior titles in 24:54 over Sue Grant
(27:00).
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