Lynn Woods Relay

Mark Flaherty, John Bowser, Jim Pawlicki, and Dennis Floyd
Photo by Bill Jackson via Samsung Galaxy S3

Lynn Woods is one of the best kept secrets for trail running on the North Shore. A record number of 109 teams were on the starting line for the annual Lynn Woods Relay race. Our team was made up of four former State College runners: hence 4 Vikings and an Owl. The lineup consisted of Dennis Floyd, Mark Flaherty, John Bowser, and I. We each run 2.5 miles of hilly terrain and hand off to the teammate. The four of us run in the Lynn Woods weekly races during the summer and on Sunday mornings as schedules allow. In addition, John and Dennis were teammates of mine at Salem State while Mark was a competitor at Westfield State in the mid to late 1990's. I started off leg 1 chasing down a former Salem State runner, Ryan Collins. He was tough in the first mile. I got into second place once I got past him. First place was way ahead so I held my position and crossed the finish in 14:33 which was the sixth fastest split for all runners. Mark Flaherty took off and held his own despite some tweaked rib cage muscles. He handed off to John Bowser to kept the 3rd place position he received. Then Dennis got passed at the start of his leg by David Long but finished strong. The team finished 4th overall. It has been a while since I ran the relay and am glad that I did it. Krissy and I made our way over to Prince Pizza with the Wicked Running Club for a great night.

 2013 LYNN WOODS 10 MILE RELAY AUGUST 21, 2013

4 . 3 VIKINGS AND AN OWL (101)         1:02:35

  JIM PAWLICKI               14:33     14:33

  MARK FLAHERTY              30:29     15:56

  JOHN BOWSER                45:45     15:16

  DENNIS FLOYD             1:02:35     16:50