Dwayne Penny Alexis crests the final hill near the gazebo in the final half mile of the course (photo: Tom Casper). Click photo to view larger.

Race Results: 6 & Under • 7-12 Year Old • 5 Miler

The weather was perfect on Sunday for a run on the trails!

Over 750 runners crossed the finish line between the three races. The kids races were the largest we have ever hosted with over 300 finishers.

It is great to see everyone out in the farmyard, especially the youngest out there – the future of trail running is being groomed at the Farm!

We want to thank the good people of Muscoot Farm, especially Sue, Rick, Jonathan, and everyone who helped out at the farm to get everything ready for this somewhat unusual (for a working farm!) morning activity. Muscoot Farm is truly a unique treasure in the Westchester County Parks system and we continue to be thrilled that they welcome us back to the farm each year as guests.

We had a multitude of photographers (Tom, Emily, David, Carol, Keith, Ciorsdan, and Rob) out there who volunteered their time for the morning. A big thank you to all of them! An outline with links to all of their photos is here.

The 5 Mile Races

Start of the 6 & under race (photo: David Gordon) Click photo to view larger.

Dwayne Penny Alexis finished first by a wide margin on Sunday with a finish time of 30:59. He narrowly missed the course record set in 2010 by Gerry Sullivan (30:48 in 2010).

Deanna Culbreath (#764) in the first half mile of the course closely followed by Ann MacDonald. (photo: Keith Realander). Click photo to view larger.

Deanna Culbreath won the inaugural Run The Farm in 2010. In her first time back to this event she won it again while breaking her 3 year old women’s course record. Her finishing time for 2013 was 36:20 which shattered her 3 year old 2010 record of 37:55 by over a minute.

Full results for the 5 mile race are here.

We also had a record breaking day as many of the overall and age group records fell for the kids races.

Oliver Shevick leads the 7-12 year old runners on the first big turn. (Photo: Emily Fagan). Click photo to view larger.

Kids Run The Farm

The Shevick family had a great day with Arthur (5) and Oliver (11) setting new course records in their respective races. Arthur ran the 1k in 5:04 shaving 14 seconds off the previous best. Oliver ran the 2k in 7:13 which shaved 17 seconds off the previous record. Brother Charlie placed 3rd in the 8 year old boys category and will be a force next year we are sure.

Shot from the Pole Cam at the start line of the 7-12 year old race. (photo: Rob Cummings). Click photo to view larger.

For age group records, Cal Farrell, 4 years old, set his second age group record, finishing the 1k in 6:01. Cal already holds the 2 year old boys course record set two years ago and it has remained unbroken since. Jacob Nalbandian set the boys 6 year old course record with a time of 5:07. Eamonn Sullivan set a new 10 year old boys course record with a finish time of 7:19. Will Moreo set a new 12 year old boys record with a finish of 7:23 in the 2k. Both Eamonn and Will then ran the 5 miler to complete their 6.1 mile Run The Farm multi-race day. Eamonn also won his age group for the 5 miler!

Margaret Puccio set a new girls 8 year old course record this year, finishing the 2k in 8:22. Margaret also ran in and finished the 2013 Leatherman’s Loop, becoming the youngest female finisher of that race.

Full results for the kids races are here: 6 & under race • 7-12 year old race

Drumming group Manekadang with Tony pre-race. (photo: Carol Gordon). Click photo to view larger.

The Farm, The Music, The People

This year you may have noticed we had drummers in place of the bagpiper. The group is called Manekadang with artistic director Maguette Camara. Just changing things up a bit in 2013! Thanks to the drummers for creating a beat for the runners and also at the awards ceremony at the end.

The Muscoot Farmer’s Market got into full swing an hour earlier than normal to accommodate our runners who were flush with running and farm bucks.

When we redeemed the farm bucks for real bucks at the end of the day the farm bucks top 5 champs of 2013 were 1.) Dutch Desserts, 2.) Meredith’s Breads, 3.) Hummingbird Ranch, 4.) Pickle Licious, and 5.) Hudson Milk. The vendors were loving the run and the runners on Sunday! Sorry to say this was the last market of the season at Muscoot — but some attend winter markets around Westchester & Fairfield — and they will be back at Muscoot in May 2014.

Registration volunteers in the barn. These wonderful folks and many others volunteer their time – thank you! (photo: Carol Gordon). Click photo to view larger.

We had many many volunteers who make this race a reality. The organizers owe a deep debt of gratitude to each and every one of them. Without them the race doesn’t happen.

Special thanks to the Westchester County Police, the Boy Scouts, and to the Somers VFD EMS crew for helping and assisting runners.

And finally — a huge thank you to the runners and families who came out to participate in this new tradition. We are blessed to be able to celebrate such a great event with all of you.

Peace.