Perfect weather for Culligan 5K

FALLS VILLAGE — On the beautiful autumn morning of Nov. 5, 40 hardy souls ventured forth on the Ed McGuire Culligan Cannonball Run, a 5-kilometer road race and an annual event in Falls Village. It is named in honor of the former fire chief of Falls Village, who was also proprietor of the area Culligan water company.The winner this year was Ethan Gasta, 15, of South Windsor, Conn., with a time of 17:29 . The record for the race was set in 2008 by Eamon Dempsey, who had a time of 16:18.Coming in second and third were Carlos Sarmiento, 37, of Torrington, at 18:47, and Marco Sarmiento, 34, also of Torrington, right behind at18:56.The first woman across the finish line (and fifth overall) was Marge DeMarrais, 47, of Sharon, at 20:08.Erica Merrill, 48, of Rowayton, Conn., was the second woman (ninth overall) at 21:14, and Cheyenne Schumacher, 12, of Colebrook, was the third female (10th overall) at 21:17.Falls Villagers finishing in the top 25 were: Jacob Horowitz, 17, 20:57 in seventh place; Bill Beebe, 59, 22:22 in 12th place; Cady Staats, 24, 25:08 in 18th place; Alan Lovejoy, 51, 26:11 in 22nd; and Jillian Cannon, 15, at 26:14 was number 23.Other townspeople who finished were Jessica Staats, Eric Ruquist, Catherine Atwood, Jenny Law and Sue Sweetapple.Keelin Hodgkins, 28, of Lenox, Mass., and the Crossroads Deli, called out before the start, “Tell my father I love him!”She finished 35th, with a respectable time of 33:36.Falls Village residents Susan Kozlowski, Michelle McGuire, Linda Paviol, Laura Werntz, Gail Clark, Megan Van Deusen, Jason Mechare, Madeline Mechare, Mary Palmer and Holly McEdward were among a group of 24 people who completed a 2-mile walk that started at 11:30 a.m. The road race began a little after noon.The youngest runner was Tyler Schumacher, 6, of Colebrook, who finished 21st with a time of 26:53.The senior runner was Torrigton’s Edward Regner, 83, whose sprightly time of 43:15 put him in 39th place.For full results, see www.greystoneracing.net.