Wanderers Open Season at Fighting Irish 5K

Wanderers opened up the new running season in impressive fashion at the Fighting Irish 5K in Chestnut Hill on March 13. The race was an early test of strength for some Wanderer runners, a Boston Marathon tune-up for others, and in one case a return to action after a two-year hiatus.

Not bothered by the blustery and cool conditions, Jeff Hayes smoked to a fifth place finish out of field of more than 550 runners in a time of 17:20. Fred Kenney again excelled finishing 29th in 19:42. A flurry of Wanderers came in less than two minutes later. Mike Branca posted a very strong time of 21:21 to come in 63rd. In a rare racing appearance, Jennifer Rezeli (in photo above), a Notre Dame alumna, converted all her excellent training runs into a 73rd place finish in 21:42. Chris Sanchirico showed that he is rounding into form finishing 82nd in 21:55. Paul Hines tuned up for the Boston Marathon in a time of 21:58 as did Martha Lamb who finished in 24:52. Susan Hurrey produced her usual impressive performance finishing 118th in a time of 23:12. Leslie Turchetti has also been getting down to business this spring and finished in 35:10.

Hilary Alger, after a two year layoff, finished in 33:12 pushing her one-year-old daughter Amelia in a stroller. Father Chris Sanchirico noted that "Amelia must have been first in her age group."

Pulling police duty for the race were Matt Palombaro, Megan Boyle, Chris Moore, Randy Clever, and Rock Steady. They supervised traffic at several intersections out on the course.

The Notre Dame Running Club of Philadelphia did a great job organizing the event, which is rapidly becoming a fixture in the Philadelphia racing scene.

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