photo album of race: https://picasaweb.google.com/108068965297410963590/WildTurkeyFiveMile2011?feat=email#
Record number of runners finish Salem Wild Turkey race
By Jay KumarcorrespondentThe Salem NewsFri Nov 25, 2011, 05:53 AM EST
SALEM — Despite temperatures in the low 30s yesterday morning, a record 1,450 runners cleared a little extra space for Thanksgiving dinner at the 8th annual Wild Turkey 5-Mile Road Race in Salem.
Salem Common was mobbed with runners and spectators as the race kicked off at 8 a.m. The course made its way through the downtown before heading out to the Willows and looping back.
Alex Gomes, 22, of Peabody was the winner, finishing in a blistering 26:18 (a 5:16 per mile pace). He edged out Nick Rennie, 28, of Salem (26:53/5:23) and Michael Nickerson, 22, of Salem (27:15/5:27). Laura Kennedy, 29, of Brighton was the top female finisher and 11th overall with a time of 29:31 (5:54).
The race capped off yet another successful year for Salem’s burgeoning road racing scene, which has grown annually in terms of the number of races and participants. The Wild Turkey is the largest event, with 1,603 registrants this year from more than 20 states.
“Every year it’s gotten larger,” said race director Doug Bollen, who’s also director of the Salem Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department. “I don’t know when it’s going to cap off.”
This was the first year the Wild Turkey race included chip timing, in which computer chips attached to the runners’ race bibs registered their start and finishing times. “Chip timing made a big difference,” Bollen said. “It made everything run smoother at the start.”
Chip timing has become more common in larger races such as marathons, but Bollen envisions it eventually becoming as common as technical running shirts at races.
Bollen also oversees the Salem Road Race Series, which this year included six events and rewarded participants who were able to complete all of them with a hooded sweatshirt. Of the 400 who signed up for the series, 120 completed it. Next year’s series has been expanded to eight races, with some interesting additions: The third annual Olde Salem Greens 5K Snow Shoe Race Jan. 7 and the Miles Over the Moon 4-Mile race July 13.
Tim Short of Middleton, who along with Bollen runs the North Shore Road Race Guide site (www.northshoreroadraceguide.com), said the Wild Turkey race helped kick off the current North Shore running boom in 2004. Now there are multiple race series’, including the one in Salem and others run by the North Shore YMCA, the North Shore Trail Race Series and the YuKanRun series, which debuted this year.
“You’re starting to see a better community built,” said Short. “Newer runners are learning from veteran runners.”
As great as the current boom is going right now, Bollen said he knows at some point, things will slow down.
“I think some races are going to go away. There are too many,” he said. The ones that survive will be more unique, whether it’s a different distance such as a 1-mile sprint, held in interesting locations such as cross country or trail events, or simply traditional favorites such as Thanksgiving and Homecoming festival races.”
The Wild Turkey race maintains a wide appeal, drawing participants as young as 7 and as old as 79.
“It’s a good homecoming run. Everybody comes together,” said Alison Phelan, co-president of Salem’s Wicked Running Club. “Sometimes you do a race for other reasons than running. We had a good time