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Concluding a summer season that set records in terms of temperature and attendance, the 31st annual Summer Cross Country Series at Waveny Park came to a close in appropriately hot temperatures and descending darkness. The series, which began in June, is held every Tuesday evening and often features races with out of the ordinary themes.
The final event is the Luminaria Loop, in which votive candles are used to mark the final stretch of the course. While they werent necessary for illumination Tuesday night, they added an almost religious note to the action. Indeed, for some of the series regulars, the event was a cause for some mourning. As far as I'm concerned, summer is over when Waveny XC ends, said Rob Leder, who ran almost every race this summer. Tuesday nights are going to seem empty for the next nine months.
In spite of the high temperatures that runners suffered through this summer, a record number of them turned out for the series races, with several fields topping the triple-digit mark, paced by the 2 Man 6 Mile Relay in July, in which 85 teams competed.
For the past three years the Luminaria Loop has served another purpose besides marking the end of the series. It has also raised funds for the medical expenses of Jenny Crain, an elite runner who was hit by a car while training and suffered traumatic brain injuries.
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