75°
Hot and humid weather turned the fourth race of the Westport Road Runners Summer Series into a survival contest, and Westport's Nadeem Ahmad and Sharon Lemberger of Stamford turned out to be the fittest on a day when finishing times became immaterial.
"It was just brutal out there," said Ahmad, who outdistanced Tom Parise by a minute for the 23:18 win. It was the Suffield athlete's third runner-up finish in four Westport races this summer. "When we came out of the shade and turned onto Greens Farms Road, you could feel the sun just baking you," said Ahmad. "It was like a physical force. I tried to pick it up at the end and it was my slowest mile, even though it was downhill."
Lemberger, a former state cross-country champion at Norwalk's Brien McMahon High School, was a last-minute entrant. "I figured it would be mentally easier than running a workout by myself," she said. As it turned out, she wound up running virtually alone the whole way, finishing third overall in 24:32, equaling the highest placing ever by a woman in the 48-year-old series. Amy Fredericks, who won last week's 3.85 mile race, was the second woman and ninth overall at 26:31.
One hundred and seventeen runners braved temperatures in the low 80s with humidity only a few points lower at the Compo Beach start, and many didn't even break stride at the finish, continuing straight to the water for a cooling dip afterward. The Series continues next Saturday with a 4.75 mile race from Longshore Country Club. Complete results are posted on the Road Runners website.
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