SHARON – Runners of all ages braved cool temperatures and drizzling rain Saturday, May 2, for the 41st annual Sharon Classic Road Race, a fundraiser that benefits the Sharon Day Care Center.
The 5.3-mile run and walk began and ended at Veterans Field, looping around Mudge Pond and through scenic stretches of Sharon.
The race began almost half a century ago to raise critical funds for the daycare, located on the property of Sharon Center School. The center, which serves infants through age five, has since grown from two to five classrooms with 17 staff. It currently enrolls 60 children.
“It’s a great organization to support,” said race director Stacy Hudson, who has served on the daycare’s board for 18 years and helped organize the race for the past 12 to 15 years.
Hudson said the race draws runners from all over Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts, though many are local and return year after year.
Sharon Day Care Director Carrie-Ann Olsen said the event is family-friendly.
“It’s great when the kids come out and see their teachers here,” she said. “They love seeing us outside of school – it’s like we’re famous.”
Olsen’s seventh grade daughter, who attended Sharon Day Care in 2015, volunteered during the race.
“It’s a full-circle moment,” Olsen said.
The event kicked off with the annual “Kids Fun Run” and “Kids Not Quite a Mile” races for children ages two to seven.
About 120 runners were pre-registered for the race, though 84 placed in the race results, which were professionally chip-timed by Fast Track Timing. Hudson said the weather could have been a deterrent for some.
William Sanders of Marlborough, Conn. was the overall men’s winner with a time of 29:29.12 and a 5:34 pace. Linda Spooner of Sturbridge, Mass. was the overall women’s winner with a time of 35:46.74 and a 6:45 pace.
Among the top finishers was Wolf Donner, a 13-year-old Sharon resident, who placed fourth overall with a time of 33:22.4 and a 6:19 pace. He was the youngest registered runner in the group.
It was Donner’s first time running the Sharon Classic Road Race and his first-ever race outside of cross country meets at Indian Mountain School, where he joined the team this year.
Donner said he began running to improve his squash game, only to discover he is “better at running” than he is at squash. He said he didn’t do anything special to train, but ate a banana that morning and purchased a new pair of blue sneakers that he broke in the week before.
During the race, Donner said he focused on breathing and imagined himself on the return leg of the course as he ran.
“I had high hopes for myself,” he said, adding that he exceeded his own expectations after he and his mother looked up race times from previous years.
After Saturday’s finish, Donner said he plans to enter more races.
Aly Morrissey
Race volunteers from left: Todd Tufts, Amanda Lucas, Carrie Olsen, Stacy Hudson and Lynn Heacox.
