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DARIEN, Conn. Jeff Watson of Stamford and Wilton's Mary Zengo won the 2011 edition of the Darien Road Race, but the real revelation may have been the second-place finish of Danielle Simms.
"This is my first road race ever," she said at the post-race awards ceremony. "I had no idea I would do this well."
Simms did compete in track when she was a student at Darien High School, but not in running events. "My coach put me in the shot put," she laughed. "I guess I should go tell him I was in the wrong event all along." Simms' time of 41:26 came out to a 6:41 per mile pace for the 10K distance and put her less than a minute behind Zengo, a veteran road racer who has won this event many times.
Almost 600 runners signed up for the 10K and accompanying 1.5-mile loop race, an event record. "I think this was the biggest and also smoothest this race has ever been," said event chair Mary Green.
The races, which started and finished at Pear Tree Point on a warm day under clear skies, have benefited the American Cancer Society since their inception. Each year the top fundraiser has been presented with the Jim Fixx award, named after the late Greenwich runner and author whose "Complete Book of Running" fueled the running boom of the 1980s. Perhaps fittingly, this year's award went to Fixx's son, John, who placed second in the men's 50-year-old category.
Complete results are available at the race website.
You can contact Jim Gerweck at jgerweck@mainstreetconnect.us.
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