The Christmas Eve Run ( Sterling Center to O’Connors Restaurant in Worcester) , was well attended as the over one hundred CMS and even some non-CMS runners left Sterling center at the stroke of noon. The weather was cold and windy, but spirits where high as we made our way down Rt. 12 . A special Thanks to Volunteer Kevin Fallon who was good enough to assemble and man a rolling water stop out of the back of his truck. Thanks Kevin!! Also volunteering Jan Mcnamara, Stu Thurston, Harry Hovagimian, and Dale Ames. A large spread of food awaited the runners at the end as did the bartenders who we put to hard labor. Another great event organized by CMS Board member Lisa Mentzer . Thanks Lisa!!

The Main Street Mile, was not only well attended, but well staffed, with many volunteers coming downtown to help out the YMCA . This race is always a tough one to time, runners pile into the chute at a fast pace. A large group of timers at the finish made short work of the results. Organizer Marty Coleman made sure no one left without a prize. Thanks to my wife Annette Lemerise for organizing the volunteers. Thanks Annette!!

The Annual Freezer Five 5-Mile Road Race was held the following day at the Houghton school in Sterling. After a night of celebrating I was running a little late in getting all the needed supplies to the event, but knew our always reliable duo of Jan McNamara, and Joe Alfano would have registration setup before I arrived. What a surprise I had when I pulled in the parking lot to see Jan and Joe standing outside the locked building!! Registration was to start at 9:00 am, I check my watch, 8:35. I figure this must be considered an emergency, so I call the Sterling Police in a panic. They take my name and number and tell me to wait for a call. Within 3 minutes a very groggy maintenance man is on the phone and I give him the news he is needed at the school. He arrives a little after 9:00 and we again are lucky enough to have a large group of volunteers who go to work setting up. After the hectic start, all else goes well and the race goes off without a hitch. The new logo on the category winners sweat tops was a hit (snowflake with 20^th annual Freezer Five in a circle around it). No way would we change the infamous (re) icycled logo for the T-shirts. Some things are sacred. The DVD player we used as a Grand Prize, resulted in a large crowd of runners sticking it out to the end. The gym was packed when we drew the first name. I won’t tell you the names of the first two who went home to early, but the third time was the charm as Rich Hurley of Leominster went home a happy man with his Sony DVD. Nice way to start the year!

And lastly, the board of directors received a letter of resignation from longtime CMS member and head coach Bill Gaudere. Sighting reasons of work schedule uncertainty, Bill decided it was time to give up the position he has held for some ten years. Bill will be a hard man to replace. His years of commitment to CMS are greatly appreciated and we wish him good luck in his future running . Thanks Bill !!!

Kevin Fallon

Lisa Mentzer

Marty Coleman

Joe Alfano

Bill Gaudere