Last weekend's rain was just starting as two dozen runners linedup shivering alongside Fresh Pond shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday.
Race organizer Phil Keeley advised the gathering that the coursehad been shortened to avoid sledders and slipping on an unplowedhill.
'Ready!' he shouted: 'Get set! Go!'
The runners bolted - about two-thirds of them beginning one 2 1/4-mile lap around the pond and the rest doing two.
Just over 13 minutes later, Bob Strout of Salisbury was first tofinish the single-lap race. Keeley's assistant, Diane McLaughlin,called out the time, while the other assistant, Joe MacDonald, handedStrout a numbered popsicle stick, the marker all runners get toindicate their order of finish.
'It was pretty bad,' Strout said, catching his breath. 'Snow,puddles, dogs.'
Now in its 30th year, the weekly Saturday morning race aroundFresh Pond, a municipal reservoir and Cambridge's largest open space,has become a local tradition and a Boston-area favorite.
Organized by the North Medford running club, the normally 2.5- and5-mile races are held every Saturday - rain or shine, not to mentionblizzards, bitter cold, and withering heat. They have not beencanceled in at least 15 years, which is how long Keeley has beenorganizing them.
The races are competitive running in its purist form. There are noentry fees, no T-shirts, no sponsors, and no refreshments other thana drinking fountain.
The only reward for winners is a small-type listing in the sportssection of Boston Sunday Globe. The results are sometimes omitted ifspace in the newspaper is tight, but usually, the first- throughfifth-place winners for men and women in each event are listed.
The races draw world-class athletes, as well as weekend joggers.As many as 300 racers have shown up and as few as a half-dozen.
US Olympians Joan Benoit, Cathy O'Brien, and Lynn Jennings haveparticipated, as have three-time Boston Marathon winner Fatuma Robaof Ethiopia and world cross-country champion Kenenisa Bekele, also ofEthiopia.
O'Brien of New Hampshire holds the women's course record for the 5-mile event (25:29), while Jennings holds the 2.5-mile course record(12:04). The men's 5-mile record is held by John Doherty of GreatBritain (23:16), who also recorded the world's 9th fastest five-miler. The men's 2.5-mile course record is held by Jon Richard(11:08), also of Great Britain.
Area high school track and cross-country teams often use the racesas tune-ups at the start of their seasons.
While the Fresh Pond races draw top athletes, they also are eventsthat anyone with persistence can win, or at least get a listing inthe paper. In bad weather, the fields sometimes get so small thateveryone who participates finishes in the top five.
The races were started in 1973 by then-North Medford Club memberBen Fudge. A few years later, Fred Brown, a top Boston-areamarathoner, took over the races and organized them until Keeley tookover.
Steve Langlois, 40, of Medford is a regular.
'There's something about the familiarity of it,' he said. 'It's areal treat. The people who run it are so generous with their time.'
Louise Rossetti, 81, of Saugus, is another regular. As shefinished the one-lap course Saturday, the two-lap runners werepassing her.
'I'm slow and getting slower every year,' said Rossetti. She saidshe is drawn by 'the camaraderie - all the nice runners here.'
