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GREENWICH, Conn. In the quarter century-plus that the Beachfront Bushwhack has been staged, George Buchanan has crossed the finish line first more often than any other runner.
Nicknamed "Cannonball" for the devil-may-care way he hurtles down the hills on a course, Buchanan points for cross country-races such as the Bushwhack. In its early years, the race was held at a North Greenwich estate until it moved to Tod's Point more than a decade ago.
Now 53, Buchanan may have lost a step and a place or two to his younger rivals but not without a fight. On Sunday, he ran on the heels of Norwalk's Yee-Ning Cheng, a whippersnapper at 22, before letting the youngster pull away over the second half of the 5-mile course en route to a 29:16 to 30:32 victory.
The women's winner was even younger. New Canaan's Sarah Endres is only 13, but she showed her elders her heels in taking the female crown in 33:54, good for 17th place overall.
Nearly 300 runners, plus more than 100 in the accompanying Max's Mile kids race, slogged through beach sand and jumped logs and haybales as part of the action in the penultimate event in the Volvo of Stamford Greenwich Cup. The concluding race is the 3-mile Jingle Bell Jog on Dec. 11.
Complete results from the Bushwhack are available on the Threads & Treads website.
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