First Half-Mile Causeway Run A Success

A light gray mist hung over the harbor, which was as dark and flat as a slate chalkboard. A cool ocean breeze kept the temperature in the mid-50s early Sunday morning. It was perfect weather for running.

Approximately 90 runners, many of them young, participated in a half-mile race across the Causeway from Devereux Beach to the Neck to raise funds for the Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of Marblehead, in the first of what organizers hope will be many future races.

Marblehead High School junior Henry Pratt organized the event, which he called a success.

"About a week ago, it looked like we'd only have about ten runners," said Pratt, who is a member of the MHS cross-country, indoor and outdoor track teams. "But now we're all out of T-shirts."

Participants, who paid a $20 entrance fee and received a commemorative T-shirt, lined up in the parking lot at Devereux Beach for the short run across the causeway, while family members and friends cheered them on from the top of the sea wall and at the finish line.

Runners were broken down into different age groups, and the winners of each division received gift certificates to local businesses, who generously sponsored the race along with local banks.

Pratt had approached Ed Harvey, president of the Citizens' Scholarship Foundation, about his idea for the fundraiser. The Marblehead chapter of the foundation has given out more than $2.1 million since 1988 in need-based scholarships to high school students to help pay for college.

While longer road races may attract hundreds of elite runners, Pratt said he chose the half-mile distance to attract different age groups, including young children, and to inspire broad participation.

"We wanted to get some different age groups," Pratt said. "There were some young kids out there, even some second graders."

The first group of racers to cross the causeway -- the men's high school and college division -- was the most competitive group, which included many of Pratt's friends and teammates from the cross country and track teams. That race was won by MHS track star Andrew Graf.

Graf's father, Norm, ran in the adult men's race, sprinting across the finish line in third place.

Norm Graf, 57, said he has been a runner since a young age, when he ran in a road race sponsored by the American Legion. He hopes the younger generations will be inspired to take up running.

"For the young kids, this might be the start of their running career," Graf said. "I got started at their age."

Pratt, who intends to keep running competitively when he goes to college, said he hopes to make the Causeway Half-Mile an annual event.

"I'd love to have this as an annual event," Pratt said. "Hopefully, I can pass this off to my teammates in the future."