A great many folks wound up with quite a few reasons to enjoy the 2016 Greater Derry Track Club (GDTC) Mack’s Run for the Apples 5K Cross-Country Race last August.
That annual event – which drew a fine crowd of more than 125 runners – was run through the aromatic Mack’s Apple orchards in truly magnificent weather, with some talented teenagers excelling.
So it’s certainly understandable if the folks directing this year’s GDTC/Mack’s race have high hopes for the 2017 event, which will be held on the afternoon of Sunday, August 27 at 5 p.m. in the Mack orchards just off of Mammoth Road in Londonderry.
Runners come from all local areas to tune up for the fall cross-country season with this race. Longtime GDTC member Eldon Burkinshaw has been the director of this popular annual event for many years, and awards go to the top overall finishers as well as the top finishers in numerous age groups.
Teenagers stood up tall in the 2016 race, with Litchfield 15-year-old Jeff Allen finishing first overall in a time of 16 minutes and six seconds and Concord 16-year-old Jennika Mannesto pacing the females (20:06). The total number of finishers of that race was 129, which was the highest tally in several years.
Registration for this year’s race can be taken care of online via the track club’s website at www.gdtc.org. The pre-registration fee is $15, the race-day fee will also be $15, and families can pay one fee of $30. The family fee would cover two adults and an unlimited number of children who all live at the same address.
Custom race shirts will go to the first 75 entrants, and packet pickup and race-day registration will start at 4 p.m. at Mack’s Apples.
Professional timing is being provided by The New England Timing Company as has been the case for years now, and more information can be obtained by calling race director Burkinshaw at 432-9805.