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The 30th Canton Fall Classic Road Race
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Recap of the 30th Annual Canton Fall Classic
Runners, volunteers and race organizers all breathed a sigh of relief that Saturday’s deluge cleared out in time for this year’s event. Race morning brought brisk but clear weather ideally suited for road racing. The Canton Fall Classic has long attracted a loyal crowd and 2018 was no different. The 10k and 5k featured previous winners for the men. Andrea Widberg grabbed a sweet victory for the women in the 10k in her 16th attempt! Andrea had two previous second place finishes along with a third. She was also the first Canton resident to cross the finish in the 10k with a time of 42.53. Former Canton resident and local chiropractor Eric Greenspan repeated his 2015 victory for the men with a time of 34.52 (almost a minute faster this year than 3 years ago). For the men in the 5k Canton’s Louis Raffetto repeated his 2017 win cruising to a 17.03 time. This was his third 5k win to go along with a 2014 10k first place. On the women’s side, the first to cross the line was a new face in Lauren Tarvin, also a Canton resident. Lauren ran 21.30 for a comfortable win over teammate Brenda Egizi at 23.00. It should be noted that Brenda’s time age grades to a national class 80%. Another time worth noting was 9 yr old Lauren Raffetto who made her dad proud with a time of 23.08 for third place. In the fun run Riley Durant was the overall winner. Race director Melissa’s daughter Sabrina Mayer repeated her 2017 girls win showing great promise for the future! To honor the memory of the tragic deaths of four Stoughton track team members this year’s race adopted Stoughton’s black and orange colors for 2018. There has been a strong connection over the years with the Stoughton track team as race director Harvey Blonder served as the head coach for 14 years. Race organizers also asked for a moment of silence before the main event out of respect to the victims of the Pittsburgh Temple tragedy. More than 500 runners participated in the 5K, 10K and Fun Run. We would like to thank our major sponsors: MS Walker, Orchard Cove, Bank of Canton, Dedham Savings Bank, Shelia Donovan Pilates, Republic Plumbing, Stanetsky Memorial Chapels, No. Canton Dunkin Donuts, Melissa Rose Kradin Foundation, Envision Bank, Marathon Physical Therapy, Frank Lamparelli Oil, Mahoney Law Group, Answer is Fitness, Prime Motor Group, Everwood Day Camp, Elite Health and Fitness, Cross Country Mortgage, Max Challenge, We would also like to thank our donors: Tree Top Adventures, Brilliance Auto Body, CAF Pension, Marathon Sports, Norwood Hospital, Canton Police Association and Compete Indoor Sports. The crew from Gentle Giant were an invaluable part of the success of the event. Merchandise donors included: MS Walker, Grillo’s Pickles, Zayde’s Market, Yasso frozen yogurt, Mariano Events, Roche Bros, Wegman’s, Shaws, Pastene, Denneno’s Pizza, Luciano’s, Foley’s Backstreet Grille, Home Theater Concepts, The Main Course, Outback, Not your Average Joes, Del Frisco’s Grille, Mandarin Taste, Chinatown, Rosettas, Stone L’Oven, Ming Du, Jake n’ Joes, Seasonal Specialties, Kramer Jewelers, Tree top Adventures, and Elite Fitness A word about our colors this year.
The Canton Fall Classic has long been not only a great Canton community event, but also an outstanding event for surrounding communities. This past year, Stoughton suffered an unimaginable loss when 4 high school students died in a tragic car accident. All four of those students were members of the Stoughton High track team. There has been a strong connection between the Stoughton team and the Canton Fall classic for almost 20 years. Race director Harvey Blonder coached cross country and track for 14 years at Stoughton High and literally 100’s of Stoughton team members have served in various support roles on race day. This year, to honor the memory of the four students and the community at large we have borrowed the Stoughton colors and will be donating a portion of the proceeds to the track team. |
Canton Fall Classic benefits B'nai Tikvah, the Canton Food Pantry and the Stoughton High Track Team
B'nai Tikvah and Canton Food Pantry are 501c3 charities
B'nai Tikvah and Canton Food Pantry are 501c3 charities