WESTPORT, Conn. As part of his pre-race announcements, Westport Road Runners director Laddie Lawrence notes the course records. "But today is not a day to go for them," he added before Saturday's 4.1-mile race from Compo Beach, warning the runners of the heat and humidity they would be battling.
Most of the participants heeded Lawrence's advice and treated the event more like a training run than a race. But at least one record was broken when all was said and done. The final tally of finishers was 167, half a dozen better than the previous high set in 2004. The high turnout was due at least in part to the postponement of the Norwalk Summer Series 7-mile race because of the predicted conditions, no doubt sending some of those regular participants to Westport to get their competitive fix.
In fact, the weather cooperated somewhat for the runners and organizers, as the sun stayed behind some high clouds for nearly all of the race, keeping the temperatures in the low 80s, still warm but well below what had been predicted. Coupled with a light breeze off Long Island Sound, it felt almost cool in comparison to the triple-digit temperatures on Friday. "We really caught a break with the weather," said Lawrence. "Last year it was much worse for this race."
A small group of front runners turned in some quick times despite the conditions. Nouredine Abdelfateh, a Moroccan living in Norwalk who had traveled to the race by bus, was first across the line in 21:12, just 37 seconds off Roy Mascolino's course record, set under much better conditions in 1983. "I was running in a group for the first miles, but I kept getting my feet clipped by the other runners so I took off," said Abdelfateh. Westport's Luke McCambley took the runner-up spot for the second week in a row, eight seconds back. Eneas Freyre also traveled to the race from Norwalk, but on foot, ran several miles to Compo Beach as a warm-up. He was third, 21 seconds back.
Mary Zengo of Wilton broke into the winner's circle in her second race of the summer, placing 13th in 26:31. Over nearly two decades, Zengo has probably won more Road Runners races than any woman and holds course records for two of them. Two runners from Greenwich, who managed to avoid the accident that tied up northbound traffic on I-95 heading to the race, rounded out the women's top three. Meredith Kalish, who like Abdelfateh won the Memorial Day 5-miler in Greenwich, placed 17th in 27:35, followed four places and 29 seconds late by Sharon Vos.
After the race many of the participants turned the run into an impromptu duathlon, jumping in the water to cool off as the sun began to break through the clouds. Complete results are available on the Road Runners website.
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