By Chris Paul
The Greater Derry Track Club’s Kid’s Summer Fun Runs raced off to its 47th year of competition on Monday night, June 27.
As always, there was a huge turnout of children of all ages taking part in the races held on the track at Londonderry High School.
The free races are held every Monday night through August 1, with the exception of July 4, starting at 6:30 p.m.
The club asks that families participating donate nonperishable food items before each race.
Races are run in several age groups, from two-on-up, but only ages 9-13 are recorded for end-of-season prizes.
In the younger age groups, every participant receives a ribbon for competing.
The top three finishers in the final races of the evening are as follows.
For boys’ 9-year-old group: Andrew Solovyeva of Hudson took first, Dominic Ambrose of Londonderry was second, and Cooper Cimeno of Londonderry was third.
In the girls’ 9-year-old group: Kendell Cimeno of Londonderry took first, Brooke Reiff of Windham was second, and Calina MacGillivray of Londonderry was third.
In the boys’ 10-year-old group: Ben Barry of Londonderry took first, Tyler Barry of Londonderry was second, and Ryan Janco of Windham was third.
In the girls’ 10-year-old group: Dannicia Leblanc of Fremont took first, Brook Tilton was second, and Addisyn Thomas of Londonderry was third.
In the boys’ 11-year-old race: Mason Blundell of Windham took first; Beckett O’Brien of Londonderry was second and Cameron Cimeno of Londonderry was third.
In the girls’ 11-year-old group: Addison Ntengeri of Wilton took first, Stella Dutton of Londonderry was second, and Elizabeth Gustavson of Chester was third.
In the boys’ 12-year-old group: Patrick Ramsey of Londonderry took first and Logan Reiff of Windham was second place. and there was no third place finisher.
In the girls’ 12-year-old group: Madison Doherty of Chester took first, Jocelyn McGarry of Windham was second and Sophia Haskell was third.
In the boys’ 13-year-old group: Joseph Gustavson of Chester took first, Nathan Smith of Derry was second, and Skyler Donovan of Concord was third.
There were no girls running in the 13-year-old group.
The free children’s running series begins each week at 6 p.m. at the Londonderry High School track. The program continues July 19, 26, and Aug. 2.
Non-perishable food donations are appreciated to help support local food pantries.