James “Jim” Pawlicki won the Nahant Half Marathon on Sunday in an easy 1:19:45. At least it started out easy for the CMS masters runner. Jim opened with a 6:24 and was feeling out the guy closest to him. After a few miles he found out that the guy (Gonzalez Roberto) was going to be attempting to run a 2:35 marathon very soon so the race was on. Per Jim’s Strava entry, “We were all business after 7 miles. Chess match through mile 12 where I got ahead with 15 second win.” Gonzalez crossed in 1:20 flat.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later that the first open runner crossed. Brayton Osgood placed third in 1:24:06. To keep up the run of masters on the podium, Camille Napier Bern won it outright for the women and was 4th overall in 1:26:25. Audrey Mangan was the next woman in 1:30:07 and she was also 8th overall. Audrey was the first runner under the age of 30. Two women in the top ten…not a bad day for the ladies!

In the 5k, Kylynn McKinley continued the trend of women dominating the event by being the first overall to break the tape. Kylynn ran a 19:34, followed by the 2nd female finisher (Jenn Mocarski, 22:08). Patrick Richardson rounded out the podium as the first guy in 22:10.

For more on the race, check out Jim’s blog entry on it.

Venturing out west, but keeping it inside the 495 belt, we see that Francis Cusick won Wilmington’s 11th Annual Half Marathon in 1:14:41. Francis cruised through the line with a cushion of over two minutes on runner up (and defending champ) Carl Hartford, who ran a 1:16:54. Carl won last year’s half in 1:17:22.

A couple of Angry Chickens flew the coup next: James Sullivan was 3rd in 1:17:10 and Alex Eld 4th in 1:17:12.

Ildiko Gaal was the women’s champ in 1:23:33. The November Project runner had been on the Level before after winning the Run With the Beavers trail race in RI earlier this year. Like Cusick, she had a cushy lead over her rivals for the day: 2nd and 3rd place were a few minutes back in 1:26:28 (Beth Dollas) and Alexandra Morss (1:27:38).

Surprise, surprise…Joe O’Leary was the top masters runner on the day. Joe won a close one over Christopher Smith, running a 1:20:36 to Smith’s 1:20:50. Tracy Vanisky was the top women’s masters runner in 1:42:13.

There was also a 5k component, won by Brian Schell in 16:45. Benjamin Ndaya was his closest competition in 17:07. The battle for the top women’s spot was a little more competitive and featured two ladies who have been on the Level before. Biliana Mihaylova (CMS) earned the win 19:50.6 with Trish Bourne (Greater Lowell) right on her heels in 20:00.2. They finished 5th & 6th overall, respectively, and Trish was by far the fastest senior runner in the race. No word yet on whether or not Biliana made it rain with her winnings.

Going back even further, we take a look at the Apple Harvest races on Saturday in Harvard, MA. Roy Van Cleed ran 1:01:31 to take the title (and the bigger pie, no doubt). He needed to run fast because Michael Narcisi was there, and he was most likely fueled by his raging pie addiction. Mike ended up running a 1:03:40, and we don’t know if he lost due to eating too much or not enough pie ahead of the race. For Narcisi it was a tune up race as he gets ready for the Baystate Marathon, where he’s looking to set a new PR.

Emily Malone was the women’s champ and she impressively came in 6th overall, running a 1:08:06 FTW. Morgan Maccuaig was next in 1:10:51.

The top masters runners there were Christian Munz (5th overall, 1:08:01) and Michele Liguori (21st overall, 3rd woman in 1:15:15).

In the 5 mile race, Jason Hoffman dominated. Hoffman crossed the line in 28:37 and second place didn’t come across until 31:10 (Blaine Alverez-Brook, a senior runner). The top woman was Mallory Coppenrath in 36:38.