By Chris Paul
The annual Enterprise Bank Boot Scootin’ Boogie 5K race was held on Saturday night, Aug. 21 in Londonderry, as one of the final events of the Old Home Day celebration.
The race, which has been run in Londonderry since 2015, took the place of the long-standing Lungren 5K a few years ago, was followed by a Brewfest. The race started and ended at the Londonderry Athletic Fields Association (LAFA).
There were 829 runners posting times at this very warm running event, about 150 of them being from Londonderry.
The overall winner of this year’s race was Ryan Dodge, an 18-year-old Bedford runner, with a time of 18:34.2. Coming in second, at 18:51, was Chris Connelly, 28, of Quincy Mass. Nathan Binda, 16, of Auburn was the third competitor to cross the finish line at 18:59.2.
The first Londonderry runners to finish were: Jake Donnelly, 22, at 19:21.5 placing eighth overall; Mason Turek, 15, in 16th overall at 20:31.9; and Bob Courtemanche, 54, in 43rd place at 22:03.9.
The first-place female runner to cross the finish line was Mary Klene, 39, of Manchester. She finished in fourth place overall with her time of 19:03.7.
In second place for the female racers, was Jennifer Mortimer, 40, of Bedford. Mortimer finished with a time of 19:55.6 and was 14th overall. Stephanie Burnham, 41, of Hudson was third with a time of 20:33.9.
The top three female Londonderry runners were: Laura Zube, 44, in 56th place overall at 23:08.5; Micho Ahern, 33, at 24:20.8; and Cari Hogland, 53, finishing with a time of 26:06.8.