Former Londonderry High School and current Gordon College cross-country star Damon Kilgore Jr. left the other 173 runners of the 38th annual Lundgren/Londonderry Old Home Days 5K in his dust on Saturday morning, August 19, winning the local race for the second time.
Kilgore, who first won the race as an LHS senior back in 2014, claimed the crown once again just before the start of his senior year of college at Gordon, which is in Wenham, Massachusetts. The talented athlete finished his successful run in 15 minutes and 45.5 seconds, more than two minutes faster than runner-up Jake Donnelly, also of Londonderry.
The 21-year-old LHS graduate, who also won the men’s 20-29-year-old division title, took a break from running in the Old Home Days race after first winning it back in 2014.
“Lundgren is seen as a kind of highlight event for high school runners. And after winning it, I wanted to step back and give other, younger kids a shot,” Kilgore said. “The town has given me so much and been so supportive, and I love running this race. This race is so special.”
The female winner of the 2017 race was current Londonderry High senior cross-country standout Kalin Gregoire, who took the title for the first time. She finished 13th overall in 19:31.8.
Along with being the top female finisher, Gregoire was the number one line-crosser in the girls’ 17-19-year-old class.
The annual 5K was run in cool, damp conditions, with a full cloud cover overhead and no glimpses of the sun. In other words, it was perfect running weather in the minds of a great many runners.
The first six finishers of the race were all Londonderry residents, with Kilgore followed by Donnelly (17:47.2), Will Heenan (18:06.5), Kerry Daley (18:06.7), Ryan Young (18:06.9), and Josh Leahy (18:45.7).
Hometown residents who also won age group titles were Linsey Gregoire among the 12-and-under girls (25:12.2), Grace McDonough in the 13-16 girls’ division (21:07.5), Kara Folsom among the 30-39-year-old women (22:52.3), and Karen Rimol in the women’s 50-59 division (28:51.3).
Male winners from town included Rolen Sanderson among the 12-and-under boys (22:15.3), Heenan among the 13-16-year-olds, Donnelly among the 17-19’s, Russ Lagueux in the 50-59 division (20:12), and John Loker among the 70-79 males (28:48.5).
Of special interest were the appearances of Dave Birse – a resident of Manila, the Philippines – who finished 30th overall in 22:10.7, and 92-year-old Lou Peters, who finished in 48:56.4. The Methuen, Massachusetts, resident has run in many of the Old Home Days races over the decades.