16th Annual Melrose Run for Women a Great Success

Many women spend Mother's Day relaxing, starting with breakfast in bed. But not in Melrose! Here, many moms -- like me! -- get out of bed early in the morning, lace up their running shoes, and head over to Pine Banks Park for the Melrose Run for Women, a 3.5-mile road race that has become a local Mother's Day tradition.

This year was no exception: despite pouring rain right before the race's scheduled 9:00 am start, more than 1,000 women of all ages showed up to run and walk the beautiful course that winds through the Swains Pond neighborhood in Melrose.

But, before the adult runners hit the road, the kids took center stage. This year, the Kids' Races returned to the Melrose Run for Women, and they were more popular than ever. The youngest kids (those 5 and under) ran first, a 50-yard dash down the new track at Pine Banks. If you missed seeing this race in person, you can catch a quick glimpse of these adorable runners in the video posted with this blog. The older kids, those aged 6 and up, ran next, a 1/4 mile course also on the new track. Everyone had a blast! You can see more photos from the entire event on MAAV.org.

Then, the adult runners lined up for the start. The rain stopped while most of the women were on the course, allowing us to run in (relatively) dry conditions -- a nice change from the earlier downpours. Caroline Bjune of Andover was the top finisher, covering the course in a record time of 20:11. Jeanne MacDonald of Melrose finished second. To see all of the results, head over to Coolrunning.com.

After the race, many of the participants and their families enjoyed massages, music, and the freshly-baked snacks awaiting them in the nice, dry tent!

All of us at the Melrose Alliance Against Violence were thrilled to see so many folks enjoying themselves at this year's race. We'd like to thank everyone who participated in our "Love is...Love isn't..." Photo Project.

The money raised by this event is invaluable to MAAV. The funds raised from this year's race will support our Melrose CARES Community Mentoring Program, which provides support for at-risk middle school students in Melrose. We'd like to thank everyone who showed up at the race to run, walk, or cheer someone on -- we were so impressed to see how many hearty souls made it out on a rainy Sunday morning! We'd also like to thank all of the businesses and individuals who sponsored the race this year.

And we'd especially like to thank the Melrose Running Club, including Race Director Liz Tassinari, for the amazing work they do to sponsor this event year after year. It's no small feat to plan and execute an event of this size, but somehow they manage to make it look easy!

We're looking forward to seeing all of you at the 17th Annual Melrose Run for Women, next year!

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