Worcester, MA, October 10, 1998

What a mess!

For the past several years, the CMS 52-Week 5K Series has run the April through September races on Wednesday evenings at Orchard Hills Athletic Club in Lancaster, Massachusetts and the October through March races at Worcester State College in Worcester. For a variety of reasons, the CMS powers-that-be decided to effect some changes this year, switching the September and October races to Assumption College in Worcester. The September races were scheduled for Wednesday evenings, while the October races were planned for Saturday mornings.

Only two runners (yes, two) materialized for the first Saturday morning run on October 3rd, in part because the October/November newsletter/race schedule was delayed in production and did not get in to circulation until after the race.

The newsletter/race schedule did find its way to most CMS members two or three days before the scheduled run at Assumption College on the 10th. One problem: the newsletter schedule listed the race as being run at Worcester State College.

The timing & scoring crew along with three runners, oblivious to what was in the newsletter, showed up at Assumption. About a dozen others went to Worcester State looking for the non-existent race. Three of them (see below) ran the course and timed themselves. Thus we have the explanation for the two sets of results which follow.

Subsequent to the race, CMS officials decided to cancel the balance of the October races at Assumption and switch them to WSC. Unfortunately, events were just as bizarre the following week. That sad tale will accompany the results of CMS 52-Week 5K #43.

Assumption College

Worcester State College

The volunteers: Well, we even managed to mess this up. Jan McNamara (Princeton) was at the Assumption race, but beyond that we aren't sure. It seems that the sheet on which the names of the volunteers was written apparently spontaneously combusted.

revd November 9, 1998,  Marc