Loyal participants in the Lundgren Road Race, a 36-year tradition in Londonderry and one of the oldest races in New Hampshire, may have noticed a change in its name for this year’s Old Home Day event.
Although the Chamber of Commerce named the 5K road race after Londonderry State Rep. David Lundgren, founder and a longtime sponsor of the event, this year’s race was re-named, albeit temporarily, the Londonderry Old Home Day 5K road race.
According to Lundgren, the Chamber’s decision to name the event the Lundgren Road Race was not based on his financial contributions, but rather as a way to honor his service to the community and the race, working with Londonderry High School track coach Larry Martin to grow it into one of the largest races of its kind in the state.
“Last year, I decided to step down from sponsoring as a way to pass the torch and to allow others to become involved. It seems sponsorship was somehow confused with the reasoning behind the name of the race,” Lundgren said. “I did not expect that my business logo remain on the back of the T-shirts anymore as sponsor, but it was brought to my attention that somewhere a decision was made to take my name off and now call it ‘The Londonderry Old Home Day Road Race.’ Unfortunately, I was not able to find the right person to clarify this mix-up in time for the race name to be corrected on the front of the shirts, but was grateful to see the other forms of communication were rectified.”
Martin said the planning committee for the 5K didn’t know the history of the race, and the removal of Lundgren’s name when he withdrew as a sponsor was an honest mistake.
The committee had assumed the race was in his name because he was the primary sponsor, according to Martin.
By the time the committee was made aware of the error, press materials for the race had been distributed and the T-shirts had been ordered, according to Martin.
“I tried to intercede once we found out,” he said.
Although Lundgren’s name was taken off the name of the race on the T-shirts, he was informed applications for the event referred to “The Lundgren Road Race.”
“That’s not enough,” said Lundgren, whose company, Lundgren Chiropractic, committed a substantial amount of money to the Town as a sponsor for 35 years. “It got me very upset because after all these years, I felt like I was thrown under the bus and no one could give me an answer.”
Lundgren wrote a letter to Town Manager Kevin Smith in an effort to rectify the issue. He said he also sent a copy of the letter to the Old Home Day Committee and the Town Council.
Smith said it’s his understanding Lundgren’s name has been restored in the name of the road race.
Martin met with members of the Old Home Day subcommittee on Monday, Sept. 28, to discuss the issue and to announce his company, Embroidery Creations, will sponsor the event moving forward.
“I gave (the Committee) the history of the race, and everything in the future will say ‘Lundgren 5K.’ His name will be on the front of the T-shirts, but not on the back as a sponsor,” he said.