Dominic Sclafani wins the 17th Harrison 5K Run by the Lake

(Harrison ME) Dominic Sclafani, of Harrison, won the 17^th Harrison 5K Run by the Lake for the third straight year on Saturday morning.

The Wheaton College (Norton MA) sophomore runs cross country there and easily bested the field today winning by over two minutes.

“It was just a workout,” he told me afterwards.  “I raced two days ago (Bridgton 4 on the Fourth) and didn’t want to push it.  I wanted to run a 5:20-5:30 pace per mile.”

Dominic finished in 16:48 and ran 5:25 miles.

Natasha Leighton, an experienced runner from Bridgton, led the women.  She finished tenth overall (21:28).

“This was the first time I’ve done this race,” she said. “It’s actually hillier than I expected.  I usually do a 4^th of July race but couldn’t so I decided to do this one instead.”

As I stated above, Dominic cruised in uncontested.  The race for second?  About as exciting as it could be!  David Krall entered the final forty-yard (?) stretch on Lincoln Street with a ten-yard lead over Cameron Gilmore.  Didn’t look as if there was enough race left for Cameron to catch Dave, but he did.  Trust me, Dave didn’t slow down.  It was about Cameron closing with a rush.

Plenty of heat around even for the 9AM morning start.  Yesterday was in the 90’s.

This race has (always?) been run during Harrison’s Old Home Days Week in the past.  Surprising (to me) OHD was called off……no carnival, no parade etc..  I thought that the 5K might suffer the same fate but saw it listed in the Bridgton News with day and time changes.  It was formerly on Wednesdays starting at 7PM.

The changes certainly impacted the turnout.  There were only sixty-four finishers and none from any of the nearby camps.  Maybe next year?

Dominic: “I think I’ll run the race in Lovell (July 20^th) but that would be my last one before I get back to school on August 17^th.  I have changed my major (formerly bio/chem) to physics/chemistry.  I was always more interested in physics than I was in biology.  I have increased my mileage since the summer started and it has helped taper my asthma a little bit.”

Natasha: “Marathons are kind of my thing.  I have done twenty-four of them.  I like to do 5K’s because it helps with my speed and leg turnover.  I plan to do the Baystate Marathon in Lowell (MA) in October and the Boston Marathon in April.  I have lived in Bridgton for five years and work at the Bridgton Hospital.”

Race results

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)