Big Turnout To Honor John And Jessie Kelley At Ocean Beach Race

A few things about the John and Jessie Kelley Race:

The course is 11.6 miles, starting and ending at in New London. It winds into Waterford, past Harkness Memorial State Park and up to Waterford High School, over the hill at Willettes Avenue, past and down to the oceanfront along Pequot Avenue for the final stretch.

This is the Kelley Race’s 49^th year. It exists today thanks to the efforts of SNERRO, which takes charge of timing, putting volunteers on the course to direct runners and hydrate them at its 10 water stations. It is also one of the last free races around.

This year there were 500-plus runners on the course, along with scores of onlookers who cheered racers from street corners and front lawns. Many were ready with their garden hoses, offering a refreshing spray to runners who wanted one.

All of this in honor of two figures who are well known and beloved in the community of runners here. 

One of them, John Kelley, is a legendary athlete, whose lengthy roster of accomplishment includes his 1957 Boston Marathon win, and running for the United States in two Olympics. Kelley has also amassed an impressive string of victories in competitions like the Manchester Road Race, The Mount Washington Road Race and the original Ocean Beach Race.

Saturday's race was an emotional one because of Kelley’s recent illness. Scott Edwards, his son-in-law, spoke a few words before the race, saying that Kelley had wanted to wish everyone out on the course a good race and a safe one.

Many of the runners who were at the line Saturday have known Kelley for years and anyone you could have asked will have described him as an incredibly warm, kind person, one who will take an intense interest in people’s lives and has forged any number of meaningful connection with people in our community. I, like so many others, have witnessed his warm heart and feel lucky that I have known him personally.

His late wife Jessie, for whom the race is co-dedicated, also radiated kindness and was well known for being incredibly friendly. Generations of runners have walked into Kelley’s Pace in Old Mistick Village and received advice from both of the about shoes and guidance about running in general.

Somehow, I had never done the race before. In the months leading up to it, I asked several veteran runners about the course. Most told me not to expect anything easy. It was a long distance, with long shadeless sections and a mean pack of hills, including the heartbreaker at Willette’s Avenue.

With a large cross section of speedy people from the region competing, I could expect that any time that I ran would be well eclipsed by the elite.

I assigned myself the loose goal of running under six-minute pace.

With the crack of the starting gun however, it was hard not to get swept up in the excitement of the race. I blew by the mile mark in 5:25—way too fast.

A bunch of people from Central Connecticut State University and were up here, cracking jokes and generally enjoying themselves. I was not in the shape I needed to be in order to stick with them, and forced myself to dial it down.

The course wound past Harkness and then through some neighborhoods around Great Neck Road.

I felt a thrill of glee when I passed the 5-mile marker in 29 minutes, faster than I’d run that distance in college. I was flying merrily below six minute pace as Great Neck spilled onto 156 and then up the incline onto the post road.

Then at Willettes Avenue I hit the hill. Two hills actually. It hurt. I’ve driven over those hills a million times without a second thought, but this time the incline was impossible to ignore and painful. Against protests from my legs and lungs, I heaved my weary body up to Ocean Avenue, over the top and down to Montauk. The honeymoon was over, that was for sure.

With 3 miles left to go, I would have been fine with the race ending right there. Much to my chagrin, I felt blisters forming underfoot. My movements became slow and uncoordinated. If I had the willpower, I might have punished myself through to a faster finish but my heart wasn’t in it.

Montauk met Pequot Avenue by the waterfront. I had been playing a cat and mouse game with another runner for about half the race, but here I gave up the game.

With a final effort I pushed over a final hill and sputtered in to the finish. 1:10:05—6:03 pace per mile. It was a slightly slower than I’d hoped, but not a disaster. The effort had earned me 16^th place.

Some people from the fire department had put a hose up in a tree. I walked into the splatter of water and let it wash away the stinking sweat. Other runners, dazed and happy, stood beneath the stream like pilgrims in rapture.

The win that day went to Michael Conway of West Hartford with a time of  1:00:46—a blistering 5:14 pace and ten minute improvement over his last year's 15th place time. Next in line was Sam Alexander of Waterford, who rocketed up from a 77th place finish last year. Two more West Hartfordites: Everett Hackett and Nick Aguila took third and fourth. First woman of last year and this year, Laura Brustolon of Mystic, 23, the course in 1:11:34.

Some other notable finishers included Victor Haddad and Peter Pantellis, both over 80, who took on the 11.6.

As runners streamed in, they could look forward to free bananas and cups of clam chowder from the Bee and Thistle Inn. Other freebies came from PepsiCo, which donated several coolers worth of drinks to the race. There was also live music from Run For Cover, a group of runner/musicians that does popular covers. Plenty took advantage of the ocean, available for free, to cool off.

Way Hedding, who has been the architect of the Kelley Race for years, was pleased that the race had run smoothly and drawn a big turnout.

“It’s for a great guy and his wife,” said Hedding.