The unseasonably warm, 85 degree weather did not deter runners from comming out for the first ever Fox Point Sunset 5 Mile Road Race on September 22. Well over 100 entrants enjoyed either the beautiful 5-mile course or the 1-mile fun run on the school grounds. At the finish, the participants enjoyed a well-deserved cool down of refreshments, which was followed by an awards ceremony.

The friendly staffers at the Race Registration Table are depicted below.

In the fun run, the top finishers were:

7-8 year old Boy/Girl: Matt Coleman and Candace Maldini, both of Newington;

9-10 year old Girl: Cilee Foley of Portsmouth;

11-12 year old Boy/Girl: Joshua Dufton of Newington and Alicia Salter of Somersworth.

In the 5 miler, the top finishers were: Durham's Michael O'Brien, 42, won the men's race with a time of 26 minutes, 19 seconds, beating second-place finisher Casey Carroll (27:24) by more than a minute. Portsmouth's Justin Orr placed third in 28:43. Harkins, 24, won the women's race in 36:23, finishing ahead of Newington's Margaret Graciano, 16, who was second in 36:55. Newington's Suzanne Lebell was third in 39:16.

All Newington finishers were as follows:

Women

Margaret Graciano 36:55
Suzanne Lebell 39:16
Donna Eames 42:18
Libby Smith 42:20
Elizabeth DeVincenzo 1:15:14
Sandra Clark 1:21:24

Men

Robert Harrington 37:35
Jack Anderson 38:10
Martin Leighton 43:33
Russ Cooke 44:13
Glenn Trefethen 1:11:22
Kenneth Clark 1:21:24

The winners of the Fox Point Road Race Raffle were:

1rst prize - Ruth Mitchell of Newington
2 round-trip Pan Am tickets

2nd prize - Susan Patten of Newington
$100 Gift Certificate to Runners Alley

3rd prize - Joe Graciano of Newington
$50 Gift Certificate to Decathalon Sports

The Newington School Supporters received great support for this event. The proceeds will benefit the Technology Plan and will be used to supplement the purchase of a wireless computer system at the Newington Public School.

The NSS would like to thank all of the sponsors, runners and volunteers for making the race a success!