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Gerry Sullivan could make a claim for being the area's King of the Trails. In the spring, he placed second at the Leatherman's Loop, a 10K run in Pound Ridge, N.Y., the granddaddy of local trail races. Last month, he won the inaugural Run the Farm race in Katonah, N.Y.
So it made sense that he'd show up Sunday for the third leg of the informal Trail Triple Crown, the Beachfront Bushwhack at Tod's Point in Old Greenwich.
As is his habit, Sullivan took a long warm-up, covering the entire 5-mile layout before the race, and his familiarity with the course paid off as he ran away from the rest of the 300-plus runners, his 27:34 besting runner-up Jan Sopko of Stamford by almost a minute.
"This is totally different than the two New York courses," said Sullivan. "It's drier, but a lot more twists and turns. And the trails are really narrow in a lot of places."
New Canaan's Caroline Murray usually confines her autumn running to the soccer pitch, where she's a midfielder on the high school squad playing in the state semifinals this week. Murray, a top track runner for the Rams in the winter and spring, won the women's division by placing 12th overall in 32:00, more than a minute ahead of Shannon Duff, one of the top road racers in the area. The two had dueled over 6.8 miles of asphalt a month ago at the Great Train Race from New Canaan to Wilton, with Duff prevailing and Murray taking third.
In addition to the open 5-mile race, more than 120 youngsters participated in Max's Mile, a short race dedicated to the memory of Max Scotti, who had regularly participated in the Bushwhack until dying of cancer just before last year's race.
Complete results of both events can be found online.
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