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The seventh race of the Westport Road Runners Summer Series turned out to be a surprise belated 70th birthday celebration for New Canaan's Bob Goldblatt. A three-decade veteran of the venerable summer running fixture, Goldblatt was joined at various points of the 6.8-mile run by his three sons, their wives, and his five grandchildren. The group included his youngest grandchild, one-year-old James, who slept in a Baby Jogger for the last third of the run. Amazingly, his family, clad in neon orange shirts, had been able to keep their plans a secret, and it wasnt until the grandkids joined in past four miles that he realized the full extent of the operation. Goldblatt broke a special finish tape at the end, then celebrated over cake and coffee with family and many of the 116 other runners who completed the race.
Up front, it was youth rather than age that was served. Trumbulls Matt Klein, just 16, won by almost two minutes, his time of 37:19 less than two minutes off the 35:21 record set in 1997 over an easier version of the course. Seven places behind him Cara Costich of Wilton, preparing for her second season on the Cornell cross country team, won the female competition by an even greater margin, finishing in 44:38, almost four minutes ahead of the next woman.
For the third week in a row runners were treated to excellent racing conditions, cool with low humidity. Next Saturday the competition moves east to Burying Hill Beach for an 8.4-mile race. Details, as well as complete results from Saturday's race, are available on the Road Runners website.
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