Wicked Summer Continues
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer! The weather has been absolutely fantastic. It’s been great seeing people share posts of their travels during the vacation season.
This week looks like we are going to get some challenging weather – Coach Braz sent out some good advice on adjusting. It’s also a good reminder how we have to stay hydrated. Here’s a mid-summer update.
Big Success with Miles Over The Moon! Our signature summertime race was held this past Friday. This was a tremendous success for the club, we had 388 registered runners with 351 crossing the finish line. This was the largest turnout we had for MOTM since 2018. Coming off of COVID has been a difficult time for road races so we were thrilled with this result.
The weather was absolutely perfect with dry and relatively cool conditions as the sun set over Collins Cove. We had tremendous support through the City with many spectators spontaneously coming out to cheer on the runners. Other running clubs had strong showings, including Cambridge Runners, Mystic, Notch Brewing, and North Shore Striders. Lots of smiles and positive comments all around!
Chris Nolin took some awesome videos which are posted on our Facebook page. Mike Fitzgerald was kind enough to take pictures, more to come! Keep your eyes posted.
Our after-party at Brothers was well attended and we presented four Academic Scholarships to graduating High School Students. Of particular note was that some Wicked members bound together to create a sponsorship in memory of Frank Johnson who passed away this year. It gave us a great chance to remember and toast Frank together.
We did have an amusing circumstance as race winner and club member Dan Vassallo was mistaken for a suspect under pursuit by the police. I was riding in the Salem Police escort vehicle in front of the race. Dan was absolutely tearing up the course (eventually finishing with 20:10 – a 5:02 pace) with a large gap between him and the next runner. As the course took its right hand turn from Bridge to Osgood street, I realized that I needed to get out of the cruiser to take care of something. The cruiser, with its lights and siren on, had trouble pulling over on the narrow street, so Dan, at his incredible pace, ended up passing the cruiser. For a few moments, the cruiser was still moving behind Dan. As I finally got out of the vehicle, one of the spectators asked me if we needed help “catching that guy”. This caught me off guard for sure, but then I realized how the resulting spectacle of a whooping cruiser “chasing” such a rogue at high speed through an ordinarily quiet neighborhood in Collins Cove could be easily misinterpreted! Suffice to say that the citizens of Salem are attentive individuals who care about their City! I’m happy to finish this story by reporting that Dan was able to complete the course without apprehension.
I could go on and on about a wonderful evening! Of course none of this would have been possible without strong support of our many volunteers who took up roles across the course – thanks to each and every one of you. Finally, a big shout-out of thanks and appreciation to our race committee who worked tirelessly for months on the event: Laurie Brennan, Ron Brennan, Lauren Gable, Nicole Goggin, Ana Gordon, Mark Janett, Richard Kee, Caitlin Kuconis, Paul Kuconis, Carrie-Ann LaBreque, Kim Murtagh, Kelly Phelupin, and Laurie Richardson.
Sea of Red this Thursday at Gentile! Our brewery / run club tour continues this Thursday night, July 21st, 6:00PM at Gentile Brewery in Beverly. The run starts at 6:00 but getting there a few minutes early is a good idea. Hope to see you then!
Lynn Woods 2022 – Registration Required
The second relay in our WGP series is Wednesday night, August 24th. Teams are being formed and the entry is FREE with your membership. Please use the following form to sign up.
Summer BBQ
Our annual summer BBQ is scheduled for Saturday, August 13th 2:00-5:00PM at Forest River Park in Salem.
Wicked will provide beef burgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, buns, condiments, water and paper goods. Please bring a dessert or a side dish (salad, potato sald, chips, snacks) – include your item in your RSVP. This event is BYOB/soda.Please use the following Evite for more details and to RSVP (no later than Wednesday, August 3rd): http://evite.me/kDZawF8chG
Upcoming Events
All club events (not including regular runs such as Monday BackBeat or Tuesday Track) are shown on our website. Close on the horizon are:
- Wednesday, July 20: Board of Directors meeting. Open to all members. Tom’s house: 3 Emily Lane in Danvers, please email wickedpresident@gmail.com if interested in attending.
- Thursday, July 21: Wicked Visit to Gentile Brewery.
- Saturday August 13: Summer BBQ
- Sunday August 14: USATF race: Bobby Doyle 5 Miler
- Wednesday August 24: Lynn Woods Relay
- Sunday August 27: USATF race: AutoFair NH 10 Miler
- Wednesday August 21: August Board of Directors meeting
