In Honor of Judy


It is Race #19 on the 20/20/20<5@45 schedule after I failed to make the 5 minute cutoff in Falmouth, MA. Sideways rain, strong headwinds, and water over my ankles in the last quarter should have told me not to run in the event and just save my body from the race pounding. However, since I had traveled all that way I decided to give the Main Street Mile a shot, but by the half mile point, I knew there was no chance of breaking five minutes in those crazy conditions (no one did). So I chose to bounce back on Tuesday evening, with the “Sprint With Judy.”  

The “Sprint With Judy” One Mile Road Race took place in Woodstock, CT, just over the MA border. I was looking to run one more event in MA , but mile events were not available and this was close enough (as my Mom and Dad grew up in nearby Webster and Dudley, MA). Judy Nilan was a social worker at the Woodstock Middle School. The school and staff that loved her so much started a 5K road race in her honor in 2006 called “Jog With Judy.” I ran in the auxiliary portion of the fund raiser entitled, “Sprint With Judy.” Instead of the 5K road race, the “Sprint With Judy” takes place on one Judy’s favorite running roads, but it is a mile. So instead of a jog, it is a sprint. In 2009, the organizers will make the “Sprint With Judy” a part of the 5K festivities every May. I have been invited to not only race again in Woodstock next year, but also to speak to the Woodstock school system. It should be a great time! Here is a photo with Race Director, Chris Mayhew, congratulating me after the “sprint.”



If you would like to donate to the Judy Nilan foundation, you can send a check to the following address:

    Jog With Judy Fund
    c/o Chris Mayhew
    Woodstock Middle School
    147B, Rt. 169
    South Woodstock, CT 06267


Thanks to Dr. Brian Bigelow in Nashua, NH, I was able to perform at a high level on Tuesday evening, even though it was my fourth race in nine days. Dr. Bigelow is a avid bicyclist and runner himself and he knows the importance of making certain that I am in proper alignment. I ran a 4:45 and surprisingly felt some bounce in my legs before the race.

I fly to NYC tomorrow afternoon. The 5th Avenue Mile in New York City on Sunday will be my fifth race in two weeks. I am hoping to conclude my 20/20/20<5@45 quest in NYC on 9/21. My 20 week time period concludes on 9/27. There would be no better ending than to break 5 minutes in “The Big Apple.”



Posted in - My Daily Journal 2008.

3 Comments

  1. Congratulations on your 4:51 finish at Sept. 21’s Fifth Avenue Mile, and congratulations on accomplishing your goal of 20 mile races under 5 minutes in 20 weeks!

  2. Quite impressive! Congradulations. I am just about to turn 48 and have set a goal of running a 5-minute mile at age 50. I started training about 6 months ago from pretty much a standing start (probably couldn’t have broken 7 minutes for a mile without losing a lung or two). Yesterday I ran a half-mile time trail in 2:50 (1:16, 1:34 — yeah, I went out a bit too fast didn’t I). So that’s some good progress. A long way to go though. I ran a 5:12 at age 40 after about 8 months of not so intelligent training. Then got hurt. Hoping to take it more gradually this time. Pretty much following the Daniel’s Formula. I’ve been getting in 20 miles a week in 4 days of running and will be slowly increasing the milage. Have’t done anything faster then temmp runs yet but plan on adding some intervals in a few weeks. Anyway… good luck with your next goal and if you are running in the northern N.J. area maybe we will cross paths.

  3. This is all a shock, Judy basically raised my handicapped brother Steven at his school/home till he was 18. She was a nice lady. My mother just found this all out when she tried to search and facebook judy because they would exchange emails, but she never replied after that winter when she was murdered. Very sad and shocking. But to see her live on through the community is good. She still lives on, still doing a lot for everyone through other people.

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